Last week, a Change.org petition, started by Letterkenny fan Christopher Atkinson, gained traction online for casting proposition it posed toward Disney and Marvel Studios. As the on-screen future of the X-Men franchise now lies in the hands of Marvel Studios, Atkinson offered the studio “the only logical casting solution” for Wolverine in Letterkenny’s Jared Keeso (19-2, Monster Warriors), via Change.org.
While Marvel Studios finally retained the rights to X-Men characters, as well as street-level Defenders such as Jessica Jones and Punisher, how the characters will make their way into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe remains mystery. Comicbook mentions that, with WandaVision successfully launching Marvel Studios television division, Disney will serve as “the new home for the X-Men on the big and small screen.” In fact, many fans thought that Evan Peters (X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men Days of Future Past) appearance as Quicksilver in WandaVision might mark the first incorporation of a previously established on-screen X-Men into the MCU.
Since Peters character was ultimately revealed to be clever trick by in WandaVision’s finale, the first appearance of an established X-Men in the MCU remains to be seen. Though it’s unknown whether Marvel’s creative team will retain the actors from previous on-screen adaptations of the X-Men, Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Logan) has dismissed himself as a candidate for future adaptations of Wolverine.
“Hugh Jackman has repeatedly said he will no longer be returning to the character of Logan/Wolverine,” Comic Book Resources verifies “whom he portrayed total of twelve times, across nine films and three video games.” Though Jackman’s physical appearance bares a distinct deviation from the short, hairy and burly Canadian mutant of comic book lore, the actor’s name has been synonymous with the role of Wolverine for nearly two decades on film. “Hugh Jackman’s performance is definitive” Marvel director Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: End Game) spoke to the challenges of recasting the iconic character “you have to really find the right actor to come in and give a really different take to that character” (Comicbook).
Change.org petitioner Atkinson feels he has found the perfect solution to Russo’s trouble in the fictional Canadian town of Letterkenny, Ontario. In Letterkenny, Keeso not only portrays the show’s protagonist Wayne, but he serves as series co-creator, producer and writer alongside Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny, Lovesick). The Crave original, distributed on Hulu in the United States, has garnered cult following throughout it’s run, with season nine airing this past Christmas.
“Watching a single episode of his show Letterkenny fully establishes how Mr. Keeso would be the perfect casting choice for Wolverine” Atkinson opens his Change.org petition. The petition cites Keeso’s Canadian credentials, modest height, physical shape and history of playing “smoking tough guy” as qualifications for the role of Wolverine, via Change.org. It helps Atkinson’s case that Letterkenny is a comedy rich with fight sequences, many of which see Keeso as the leader of group scrap -or donnybrook – akin to those found on the pages of X-Men comics.
While admitting it’s a bit of a stretch, Comicbook asserts that Keeso would “work” as Wolverine, due largely to his strong Canadian fanbase. “Marvel Studios sometimes has habit of casting actors that are lesser known to the general public for some of their roles,” Comicbook adds, however they admit that “there’s also the chance that they’ll use the Wolverine role as a means to attract audiences with an A-list star.”
For now, the future of Wolverine in the MCU remains a unkown, with studio head Kevin Feige only revealing that “the discussions have been long and ongoing internally” (MovieWeb). However, over five-thousand Letterkenny fans and counting have endorsed Keeso, in an attempt to sway those mysterious internal discussions at Marvel Studios.