It seems the time has finally come. If you were among the droves of fans to catch the most recent installment to the Wolverine series, ‘Logan’, then you were witness to the final appearance of Hugh Jackman as the beloved mutant anti-hero. Over the last 17 years, Jackman has starred as Wolverine in a total of nine movies, including all the ‘X-Men’ films, as well as his own movie trilogy. His final movie has already grossed a whopping $85 million in its opening weekend alone, with projections only getting better. ‘Logan’ served as a more than fitting sendoff to one of the most famous superhero roles of all time.
Now that the entire saga is complete, it seems only right to look back on the journey we all grew up with and always rediscovered our love for, be them good movies…or the occasional bad. Wolverine meant a lot to fans the world over, not just for his heart and character, but mostly for the violent fight sequences and quotable one-liners that made him the most bad-ass superhero of all time. These are the top ten most memorable bad-ass moments of the Wolverine franchise.
‘LOGAN’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
10) The Classic Duds (The Wolverine)
While not much in the way of “bad-ass”, it was still a moment that made fans excited about Wolverine as a character for the first time in a while…and it wasn’t technically in the final movie. One of the more famous deleted scenes from ‘The Wolverine’ featured Logan receiving a briefcase. Within the briefcase was a fully realized version of the classic comic book yellow and blues, complete with mask and gloves! Unfortunately, it’s the closest fans will ever get to seeing Hugh Jackman even in the same room as the iconic suit, but it was a fun idea nonetheless.
9) Arrow Interrogation (The Wolverine)
This is one of the few times Wolverine managed to be genuinely terrifying without needing to slaughter a small army. Bear hunters in the area had been using poison arrows, which resulted in a bear going insane and killing five people. He proceeds to interrogate the hunter responsible by plunging the same arrow into his hand and delivering one of the most hauntingly intimidating speeches of his career.
8) The Birth of Weapon X (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
The one moment that became the defining image of ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ is the shot of a post-op Logan furiously emerging from the adamantium infusion tank. Despite the terrible reception of the movie itself, this shot and the sequence that follows is one of the most recognizable from any of the other films. It felt like a true birth sequence for the character and it was one of the very few redeeming qualities of the movie.
7) Bomb Shield (The Wolverine)
In one of the most heroic acts of his career, Wolverine manages to save a scared Japanese soldier from an atomic bomb. Pulling him into an underground bunker, Logan proceeds to shield the soldier’s body with the blast door, while he withstood all the energy radiating down on him. The event resulted in all his skin being burned clean off of him, only to have it all painfully grow back. This has to be one of the most insane things he’s done for the sake of saving a life and it doesn’t look like it’ll be easy to top it.
6) Mansion Siege (X-Men 2)
‘X-Men 2’ was definitely a step up from its predecessor. The story, however, fell for the same tragic mistake of making it much less about the actual X-Men and favoring yet another Wolverine-centric plot. Nevertheless, it was still a much better film with a lot of memorable moments. Probably most noteworthy was Wolverine dispatching a squadron of trained black ops soldiers sent by William Stryker. This sequence led to Wolverine being thrust into his first leadership role with the team, having to look after a group of young, scared students while on the run from his old foe.
5) Fastball Special (X-Men 3: The Last Stand)
In the comics, the X-Men are such a well-oiled machine, they bring into the field a whole playbook of maneuvers and tactics. One of those maneuvers is a two-man attack involving Colossus lifting Wolverine over his head and throwing him like a baseball! It’s referred to as the “fastball special” and we finally got to see them take it for a spin in the opening Danger Room session of ‘X-Men 3: The Last Stand’. The fight resulted in Wolverine severing the Sentinel’s massive head and walking away unscathed with a smooth “Class dismissed.”
4) Logan vs X-24 (Logan)
When a surprising turn of events results in a perfected Wolverine clone, X-24, being unleashed, our aging hero must battle the younger, stronger, and emotionless killing machine they once tried to make out of him. The battle that ensues is fueled by anger and pain after the loss of his only remaining friend. The point of the fight was to illustrate to Logan how better off he really did turn out, seeing as he could have just as easily become the mindless drone they made out of X-24.
3) The Great Escape (X-Men: Apocalypse)
While Wolverine did manage to make an appearance in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ as he did in ‘First Class’, it wasn’t quite as…subtle. The new team of peppy little mutants stumbles across what turned out to be the original Weapon X facility (at least in this continuity). Once Jean discovers his cage, she unleashes the newly made Wolverine who proceeds to rip and tear his way through waves of armed guards in the bloodiest and gratuitously violent sequence to date! This is the first time fans have seen him in such rare form; a bitter-sweet realization considering it was our clue that this might be the last time we see something this satisfying from the character.
2) Cage Fight (X-Men)
Nothing is more memorable than an epic reveal of a character. Wolverine’s intro was no exception. How better to show us the kind of Wolverine we were getting than with an all-out, bare-knuckle cage fight! The first ‘X-Men’ was as pioneer picture in its time for a number of reasons, despite the negative critical reception upon its release. The one thing that managed to stand the test of a seemingly endless series, however, was Wolverine and Hugh Jackman’s interpretation. Even in a post ‘Logan’ world, this realization of the beloved character is one that will remain cherished for ages to come.
1) Logan and Laura vs The World (Logan)
Logan was given a taste of what having a family was like. Not just a family, but a normal, happy life; the one thing always beyond his grasp. Fortunately for him, his daughter is a fighter, and it seems like they never truly bonded in this movie more than when they fought side by side against the Transigen strike team. This entire sequence was definitely the most heart-warmingly violent way to say goodbye to Wolverine on a high note.
Logan deserves to go down fighting, but more importantly, fighting for something he truly loves and cares for. He doesn’t need to take down a giant robot samurai or a world-ending mutant despot. All you need in order to see Wolverine at his best is someone he loves…and someone threatening them.
