The home release of The Wolverine teased Logan’s classic costume from the comics, and it could finally receive its due payoff in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Fox’s X-Men franchise brought many iconic characters and storylines to life. It covered many eras and even spawned different timelines, and yet, Wolverine’s classic costume only appeared in a deleted scene. While Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is unlikely to join Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘s Illuminati, the freedom that the MCU’s multiverse grants at least makes Logan’s suited-up cameo a possibility.
In fact, the cameo possibilities for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are virtually endless. Due to its explicitly multiversal nature, the Doctor Strange sequel can and will feature a number of variants, or alternate versions of already-known Marvel characters. In addition, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness can also tie in related non-MCU canon properties like the X-Men. Thanks to this fact, the film has the opportunity to fix an old missed opportunity from The Wolverine‘s post-credits scene.
The scene in question shows Yukio and Wolverine aboard a plane after the events of The Wolverine, ready to leave Japan. Yukio hands Wolverine a box, which he opens to reveal the iconic yellow mask and gloves Wolverine wears in the comics. Fast-forward to X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the closest Hugh Jackman got to wearing Wolverine’s classic costume was the futuristic suit Logan wears in the Sentinel-ridden future of 2023. X-Men: Apocalypse only featured a brief cameo by Hugh Jackman in his Weapon X attire, and Logan famously focused on an old Wolverine at the end of his life in yet another version of the dystopian future, where he only wears a suit and a tank top. Here’s how the suit could make a comeback in Doctor Strange 2.
Why X-Men’s Lack Of Yellow Wolverine Was A Mistake
The absence of Wolverine’s iconic yellow look was an oversight in the original X-Men series, but Doctor Strange 2 could correct course. Although Jackman was undoubtedly a good casting choice to play Wolverine, the consistent lack of the character’s classic outfit earned plenty of complaints from avid comic book readers. In most page-to-screen comic book adaptations, necessary adjustments to original costumes and powers inevitably happen, but in most cases besides Wolverine’s, the spirit of the comic book aesthetic remains. This has been the case for almost every major MCU character, and for many of the X-Men as well. Why the X-Men franchise never chose to incorporate Wolverine’s yellow suit and mask, then, even as a brief nod to the comics, remains something of an unfortunate mystery, especially given the fact that it was initially set up in The Wolverine‘s deleted post-credits scene.