So Hugh Jackman has stated that when he has finished this 3rd movie that he will be done playing the iconic Wolverine. If this is the case, what would be the ideal Wolverine movie? How would we want to see him go out? More importantly who could rock those claws when Jackman is no more?
So the fan theory is that they should allow Jackman to play Wolverine in the Old Man Logan storyline. This would be an interesting take on a fairly tired character. In this iteration we would see Wolverine in the future, a future that is controlled by the super villains and the heroes are the resistance, where Wolverine defends the X Mansion from a horde of super villains; after defeating the last one it is revealed that it was all a mass illusion created by Mysterio and that he actually killed every member of the X-Men. The rest of the story tells how Wolverine swears off using his claws and comes to deal with his grief and sets out on a path of revenge to wipe out every super villain.
There is a lot of material to develop in an Old Man Logan storyline, there are many different aspects that you could focus on, set this in a dystopian vision of the future ala Bladerunner and give it a dark gritty feel and I think that this plotline could work well, especially given how Old Man Logan actually ends.
The most probable plotline seems to be one that involved the return of Liev Schreiber as Sabertooth. Sabertooth aka Victor Creed was arguably one of the only highlights from the very shitty X-Men Origins: Wolverine. If presented in the right way, it would be interesting to see Wolverine face his arch nemesis one last time. While I can’t really focus on one particular plotline from the comic universe. I can pick a particular plot point. In some versions of canon Victor is responsible for the death of Wolverines love Silver Fox. This was referenced the very first time we see Wolverine when he encounters the Tyler Mane version of Sabertooth back in X-1. After the events of Days of Future Past however, the future has changed and we very well could revisit this plot point from an entirely different perspective. Nothing however, will explain why Sabertooth in X-1 looks so radically different from the one in Origins. No, not even the events of Days of Future Past since Creed existed as Live Schreiber before the events in Days of Future Past even occurred, so there would be no logical explanation for why Tyler Mane looks so radically different from the version of Sabertooth played by Schreiber.
Personally, what I would like to see is Omega Red be introduced to the MCU. If Wolvie is going out, why not have him introduce someone new to the universe. Marvel lacks in iconic villains with the exception of Magneto and Loki, the majority of villains in the MCU are either deceased or easily forgettable (Red Skull?) Omega Red, is a very interesting villain and would make an excellent antagonist to pit against whoever takes the reigns from Jackman. Omega Red is a serial killer turned super soldier originally created by the KGB to combat people like Captain America, the character is given two carbonadium tentacles which he can retract and control at will. Carbonadium was the Russian answer to Adamantium and while just as strong is far more malleable and allows for the greater flexibility you see in his tentacles as opposed to the rigidity of Wolverines claws. In addition, his tentacles also have the ability to leech off a person’s life force. This is to allow Omega Red to counter the effects of the carbonadium poisoning Red suffers because of the infusion process. He also wears armor made of the same alloy and can resist shots from Cyclops eye beams and even Wolverines claws. He is a perfectly balanced opponent for someone like Wolverine, and above all else he is actually interesting.
Whatever plotline they decide upon; this will be Hugh Jackman’s last movie (supposedly) as Wolverine. That will leave a hole in the cinematic universe that is not likely to be easily filled. Then the question remains, do you replace Wolverine, or do you just move on? If we move on we have a few options open to us. It might be cool to see X-23, a genetic clone of Wolverine with Adamantium claws in her hands and feet, there is a lot of interesting back story there and she could even possibly bounce off a revenge story for whatever villain ends up killing Wolverine or should kill off Wolverine. Another possibility is someone taking the role of Wolverines son Daken, again the revenge plot works well here as a son avenging the death of his father after having to be being convinced by other people important in Wolverines life to set aside the anger and hatred he harbors for his deceased paternal figure.
