Other than to make more money, and Hugh Jackman's giant ego. He was already the lead in the first three X-Men movies, and he had two solo movies of his own. Wolverine is not the lead in the original story from the comics, or the animated series adaptation of them (though he does play a role).
shareOther than to make more money
Although I liked this I would've rather gone the 90s cartoon story with a time machine and Bishop going through just to be different. To be fair though, they couldn't do it like the original story since it was also supposed to be a sequel to First Class which takes place in the long ago past. Kitty wasn't even born at the time the movie's past took place.
shareIndeed.
shareUnfortunately Money really does talk. You need people in the seats.
shareIt's weird how these insignifigant side characters become so popular, masses worship them in a movie like they're the main stars.
Think about 'Iron Man' in the comics; he was never that interesting a character, there were more quirky personalities, more visually pleasing and expressive suits and abilities, many characters had more spirit and more interesting stories (I especially love how Spider-Man beats up Titania in the comics, while constantly taunting her jokingly while calling her a bully - you could NEVER see this in a movie! Spider-Man is physically weaker than Titania, and this scene shows why physical strength isn't enough, and it's so brilliant in so many ways).
Iron Man was OK, but a bit bland of a character, just a regular guy with some goofy suit that has 'repulsors' and other gadgets and can take some heat and blasts but overheats anyway if Volcana blasts that suit with full force.
Then hollywolly makes a movie about this side character and BAM! now he's the main thing everyone talks about and loves. Tony is also not such a douche in the comics, and Iron Man is sometimes even black (how's that for comics being more woke than the movies..?)
Captain Marvel is a celebrated 'you go, girl' black woman in the comics (although he was also a a white man originally, so go figure), but she's done so well, I always enjoy reading her stories. Her 'light form' is fascinating and affords many interesting possibilities, and when Dr. Doom 'freezes' her into a 'light statue', being in that form permanently, it sends chills to your spine.
Then they make a movie about her, and BAM! now she's some superstar, stronger than Superman and Galactus combined!
Now, Wolverine was a grumpy, SHORT guy with lots of problems with his temper, always wanting to kill everyone until someone calms him down. He had 'animal instincts' that he was able to use to detect imposters and to defeat enemies that could read their minds, because he was able to 'live in the moment'..
..and change his attack 'plan' in a moment-to-moment basis, so the mind-reader couldn't ever have time to prepare for his ever-changing tactics.
This semi-interesting, Freddy Krueger-inspired 'Adamantium claw-hands' was never too big in the comics, just a 'darker' character to balance out whatever goofiness would otherwise be too much, with his cigar smoking, drinking and 'killer instinct' attitude about everything, is put into a movie and BAM! now everyone worships him as some kind of 'most interesting thing ever'!
I mean, he's a grumpy little half-animal guy that wants to kill things and has lots of temper and 'super healing' combined with 'adamantium skeleton' and some installed knives. This shouldn't be all THAT interesting, but who am I to argue with the masses (watch Gen Z answering basic questions-videos if you think masses are smart)..?
I never thought he was all that interesting. Spider-Man is a more complex character with actual superpowers, spider-sense and reflexes (and speed), Superman is an actual alien from another planet, although he's a bit too powerful.. at least some of his powers are very interesting. These two characters are not interesting because of their powers, though, they're interesting because they present moral dilemmas and are psychologically tormented internally.
I mean, should an alien try to rule a planet because he can, or just lay low? Is it wrong to impersonate a 'human being' by pretending to be Clark Kent, and thus deceiving everyone, or is it a harmless, victimless crime? Is it Peter's fault if Ant May gets a visit from Doc Ock, and if he hadn't been Spider-Man that day, could Ant May's kidnapping have been prevented and so on and so forth.
Iron Man is just a guy in a high-tech armored suit, with pretty bland personality (in the comics anyway), it almost doesn't matter who or what he is compared to what his suit can do. He's functionality personafied.
Wolverine is just 'anger and grumpiness' with 'hard to kill' ability, and that's pretty much it. He has no moral qualms, he'd kill almost anyone if he had the chance and let his anger and temper run its course without trying to calm himself down, and ofter questions the decision to NOT kill someone or something in the comics. Pretty boring, semi-macho character with Freddy-knives. Yawn.
Heck, Susan Storm and Rogue are way more interesting characters, but we barely see them anywhere. Even Kitty Pryde with Lockheed form a cool combination - she's timid, scared, unsure, and can phase through things, and the dragon is an alien mystery that understands things and has formed a bond with her, helping her with her self esteem and giving someone to talk to and have companionship with. The situations she ends up can be very interesting, indeed.
Rogue is kinda interesting even in the diluted TV show, she has moral dilemmas and is confronted with tough decisions about mutants, powers, etc.
If she happens to touch someone, it's a disaster for her in the comics, as she integrates the someone's personality into her own spirit too much, and experiences a tearing, extremely unpleasant and mind-bending identity crisis, but she's also super strong and can fly. I never liked the 'southern accent' stuff, but other than that' Rogue has plenty of unexplored potential. But sure, make the 'regular dude with metal suit' and 'grumpy anger with knives' the main characters to care about.
When you go down this list, there are so many amazing characters we could explore deeply, so it's a typical stupidity of this world to worship the most mundane, most violent, most 'metallic' characters that don't really have any actual powers or - dare I say it? - even personalities or morality compared to so many other characters.
I could go on .. and on .. but I'll stop here, because I probably made my point at this point, not to put a fine point on it, I want to point out, even if all this is a bit pointless.
Iron Man was always popular due to his playboy lifestyle and his super suit. Tony Stark was a scientific genius who created a super suit that allowed him to use technology to compete with beings with extraordinary powers. Iron Man is similar to Batman since he is a mere mortal who uses technology to fight crime. Iron Man was featured in the original 60's tv show so he was one of the marquee heroes. Spider-Man had his own show in the sixties/seventies with the cool theme song and many people became fans of Spider-Man after watching the show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marvel_Super_Heroes#:~:text=The%20Marvel%20Super%20Heroes%20is,on%20U.S.%20television%20in%201966.
Wolverine was also really popular partly because he was a rebel/badass and his costume was really cool. Wolverine was my favorite character in the 1992 X-Men arcade game and he was featured heavily in the original X-Men animated tv show. Hugh Jackman is also a leading man who did a great job portraying Wolverine.
Wolverine was featured heavily in the cartoon yes, but he didn't dominate nearly as much as the live-action movies. There were plenty of episodes where Wolverine just had a supporting role including most of the multi-episode arcs.
shareI still think Wolverine is one of the more popular characters in the X-Men. Hugh Jackman is also a handsome leading man so that partly explains why Wolverine would get more lines and screen time. Most of the X-Men are nerds or boy scouts. Wolverine is a rebel and that appeals to many fans.
shareHugh has star power, simple as that. Nothing unique to this franchise. You want a lead who puts butts in the seat.
shareWe're not really talking about "more money" here. But a shit ton more money!
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