The cameos and surprises unleashed in Deadpool & Wolverine were a dream come true, but there is no denying one detail in Hugh Jackman’s X-Men uniform tragically missed the mark.
Going into the billion-dollar blockbuster, no trailer or marketing could match the thrill of finally seeing Hugh Jackman suit up as Wolverine in not one, but multiple comic-accurate costumes. But now that the hype has faded, well-known Wolverine cosplayer Batsturd proves one crucial MCU mistake: Wolverine’s mask.
The scale, angle, and ‘drama’ of Wolverine’s head flares may be a matter of taste, but it can no longer be ignored that the movie’s addition of white eyes to Logan’s mask took away much, much more than it added.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Mask Was Perfect, Except For The Eyes
Deadpool & Wolverine Finally Gave Fans The Mask They’ve Begged For
There’s no denying that Logan’s brooding eyes are the windows into his tortured soul (as demonstrated by Jackman in the film). And it’s also true that the question of how best to adapt Wolverine’s comic look to film is a difficult one, beginning with Deadpool & Wolverine equipping ‘body armor’ to an unkillable, instantly-healing Mutant.
Rather than adapting the stylish sleeves of Wolverine’s most iconic X-Men suit, the film ripped them off entirely. But this could all be forgiven, if Wolverine’s iconic flared mask finally became a reality. The excitement of seeing this piece of X-Men movie history unfold is impossible to understate, as much for the character as Hugh Jackman specifically.
It was so thrilling, in fact, that audiences may not have noticed they were, for the first time, no longer seeing most of Jackman’s face. The emotional climax of the film was one in which Jackman’s performance was literally limited to his nose down. And quickly, some fans realized a comic-accurate Wolverine mask was not what they had gotten.
Jackman may not have struggled with the mouth-acting challenge, but how much more connected, invested, and affected would a viewer have been, if able to actually see Logan’s pain… not concealed behind a pair of white plastic lenses?
Wolverine Cosplay Proves White Eyes Work in Comics, Not Film
Acting Without Eyes is Harder For Actual Humans Than Drawings of Them
The debate over ‘white eyes’ for live action adaptations of superheroes isn’t going to end any time soon, and it’s fair to say there are some cases which support it. Giving Deadpool eyes as heightened and cartoony as his personality, humor, and knowledge of the camera makes sense. I’m a very literal sense, Wade Wilson’s ‘humanity’ is far from the core of his character.
By contrast, everyone who has made a Batman film (arguably DC’s most tortured, brooding, and Logan-esque hero) has decided that looking into Bruce Wayne’s eyes is crucial. A conclusion so self-evident, The Wolverine director James Mangold planned to reveal Logan’s first live action mask without a false lens in sight.
The debate is sure to rage on among fans claiming Deadpool & Wolverine‘s mask was flawless, and any critics are simply naysayers. But the cosplay above is just one of thousands preaching the opposite, and making us wonder gow much more effective this piece of Hugh Jackman history could have been.
After all, just because it might work for Wolverine in the comics, that doesn’t mean it can work on film.
- Created By
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Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Romita Sr.
- First Appearance
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The Incredible Hulk (2023)
- Alias
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James “Logan” Howlett
- Alliance
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X-Men, Avengers, Canadian Army, OSS/CIA, Avengers Unity Squad, Alpha Flight, New Avengers, New Fantastic Four, Savage Avengers, Weapon X, X-Force
- Race
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Human-Mutant