Odds are, as you sit and watch “Dark Phoenix,” the last thing on your mind is going to be “Where is Wolverine?” There are just so many ideas, so much plot, just so, so many things thrown at you, that it’s likely that you won’t even stop to think about Hugh Jackman or his legendary role as the most popular X-person. Alas, he’s not in the film, and some fans may wonder why.
Is it because the character has yet to be fully introduced during this timeline of the films, and wouldn’t make narrative sense at all? Nope. I mean, since when has story ever gotten in the way of a good cameo or A-list casting in the X-films? Is it because Jackman has already hung up his claws and sideburns after the success of “Logan?” Even though that makes the most sense, that’s not the actual reason, as told to Rolling Stone by “Dark Phoenix” writer-director Simon Kinberg.
In fact, the real reason is that including Logan/Wolverine in the film would have been…icky.
“If you know the ‘Dark Phoenix’ story, you’d want to really service the love story between Logan and Jean,” said Kinberg. “And I think the notion of Hugh Jackman, as great as he looks for his age, and Sophie Turner — it didn’t sit well with me. Or anyone else!”
Now, excluding all the people that will pull out plenty of examples of older men romancing women young enough to be their daughters in film, you have to agree that seeing Hugh Jackman making out with Sophie Turner would have been odd, to say the least. Honestly, this sounds a bit like Kinberg trying to make it seem as if the option was on the table, but creatively, it didn’t work out.
Let’s be real — there’s no fucking way that Jackman would have come back for “Dark Phoenix.” That isn’t to say that the film is a dumpster fire. It has some major flaws, but Kinberg’s latest is definitely better than “X-Men: Apocalypse,” which featured perhaps the most awkward cameo in superhero film history, where Jackman showed up for a brief second, looking downright goofy. It stands to reason that Jackman just knows when to say no, and knows that there’s nothing that “Dark Phoenix” could offer that would make him want to risk his legacy that was cemented with “Logan.”
All this to say, don’t expect some surprise Hugh Jackman cameo. It’s not there. “Dark Phoenix” is in theaters this Friday.