Hear Me Out: What If Liam McIntyre Was Wolverine In The MCU?

Marvel’s Wolverine is out on PS5 tonight, and the early reception has been mixed to say the least. I must admit I find some of the backlash to be a bit dramatic and think it’s likely been stoked by the internet’s general distaste for Sony at the moment now that it’s pledged to kill physical discs (not to mention just generally sucking all the air out of the room for a generation), but in any case, the game is coming in on a bad foot after middling reviews and the widespread circulation of meme-worthy clips. But you know what? I want to give props to one aspect of the game that I think might actually solve one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest problems right now: Liam McIntyre is pretty great as the titular hero, and I would actually be down to see him take over the role in the MCU now that Marvel is casting the next generation of live-action X-Men.

Hugh Jackman has owned the role of Logan, the slow-aging, adamantium-infused grump, for a quarter of a century since he began playing Wolverine in the 2000 film. Not a lot of actors get to live in a character’s shoes for that long, and he managed to hold onto the role throughout a prequel reboot that recast multiple characters. Though he ostensibly retired the role in 2017’s Logan, he came back in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, and is seemingly campaigning to show up in Avengers: Doomsday? Whether this is a gag or a hint that he will show up in the crossover film in December remains to be seen.

However, in the midst of all this multiverse nonsense, Marvel is now committing to making a new generation of X-Men movies with a new cast, including Sadie Sink, who debuted in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the telepath Jean Grey. Other names attached to the project include Kit Connor as Cyclops, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Naverrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, Christopher Abbot as Professor X, and Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister. Notably, there is no one here that’s set to play Logan in this new, MCU X-Men era.

Jackman has been the most consistent face of the X-Men films, so I understand that Marvel might be hesitant to replace him. However, if they’re looking for someone who has already proven himself as Wolverine, McIntyre would make a genuinely great pick. You wouldn’t necessarily know it from the inconsistent face model in the game itself, but McIntyre looks the part without Insomniac’s iffy rendering of his likeness.

3 days until Marvel's Wolverine comes to PS5: https://t.co/xBMJaqB4sC pic.twitter.com/x9a1g4oAIp

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 12, 2026

Inevitably, McIntyre taking up the mantle would invite immediate comparisons to Jackman’s performance, but through a combination of the actor’s more gentle demeanor as Wolverine and Insomniac just writing Logan as somewhat warmer than we’re used to seeing him, McIntyre does a pretty good job of differentiating his performance from the one we’ve seen time and time again. He’s still tortured and prickly, but he’s not a one-to-one replica of the same Wolverine we’ve seen for 26 years. He’s certainly recognizable as the same character while not retreading exactly the same beats.

Wolverine’s creative liberties will probably rub some Marvel diehards the wrong way, and I do think the game tries too hard to tie in too many Logan arcs and X-Men storylines at once, resulting in a story that might even be disorienting to people who aren’t at least moderately informed about mutant comic-book history. But McIntyre is one of the most consistently solid parts of the game. He has the range for the role, balancing softness and rage, even if the material doesn’t always do him justice. So, at this point, Marvel has a really solid 15-hour audition reel to look at while they search for the next Wolverine. The only downside to casting him is that we would once again miss out on comic-accurate short king Logan, as McIntyre is 6’1”.