Earlier in the week, I mentioned a desire to see Loki series director Kate Herron tackle Marvel’s X-Men reboot. Keeping with the mutant topic, I’ve been watching the Aussie hitman series Mr. Inbetween from FX (now it’s in it’s third season) lately and I can’t help to get huge Wolverine vibes from this show. I’m come to the conclusion that the show’s creator/writer Scott Ryan (also stars as Ray) and director Nash Edgerton (brother of actor Joel Edgerton) could be the perfect duo to bring a solo Wolverine series to life for Marvel Studios.
The show is dark, emotional, funny and action-packed something that I believe would be extremely attractive to Marvel. Nash Edgerton, like the John Wick fellas Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, is a director with a background as a stuntman.
If you’re unfamiliar with the show here’s a rundown and trailer from Mr. Inbetween.
Mr. Inbetween stars Scott Ryan as Ray Shoesmith, a hitman for hire who makes a life out of balancing his criminal activities with his obligations to friends and family. He tries to be a father to Brittany (Chika Yasumura), his daughter with his ex-wife, a loving boyfriend to Ally (Brook Satchwell), and a good caretaker to his sick brother Bruce (Nicholas Cassim). Ray also covers for his friend Gary (Justin Rosniak) when needed, and follows his boss Freddy’s (Damon Herriman) orders without question.
Marvel hasn’t officially announced any upcoming plans for any Wolverine projects despite online rumors of a Wolverine show potentially being in the works. Officially, they are indeed moving forward Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3 with writers working on the script and lacking any real updates are expected to reboot the X-Men movies sometime in the future.
Giving Wolverine his own series could be a way to properly tackle his military service during World War II that has been teased a couple of times, a real version of the Weapon X Program, Logan’s connections to Department H/Alpha Flight, his time in Japan/Madripoor, and potentially what he was up to during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. It could also help give other characters on the X-Men roster to take more leading roles in the MCU reboot.
We don’t have any idea who’ll ultimately take the Wolverine role from Hugh Jackman, but I’m leaning towards former Batman contender Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Peaky Blinders, 28 Days Later, Dunkirk, A Quiet Place Part II). The Irish actor has rubbed shoulders with plenty of MCU stars co-starring with Brie Larson in Free Fire, Chris Evans in the sci-fi thriller Sunshine alongside appearing with Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and Spider-Man’s Tom Holland in Ron Howard’s In The Heart of The Sea.
He’s a little bit older, however, not too much older than Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac (42) or Doctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch (44). While Cillian is slightly younger than Marvel’s new Blade actor Mahershala Ali (47).
Murphy is one of the few cast members from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine that hasn’t landed an MCU role as Chris Evans became Captain America, Benedict Wong plays Doctor Strange pal Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada briefly appeared as sword wielding Yaukza boss killed by Clint Barton in Avengers: Endgame, and Michelle Yeoh will be seen in Shang-Chi this September.
If they wanted to hire a younger actor, Aussie lad Dacre Montgomery (Power Rangers, Stranger Things, Baz Lurman’s Elvis Biopic) wouldn’t be a horrible choice and he happens to have family connection to Canada. His Power Rangers co-star Naomi Scott took the Princess Jasmine role in Disney’s live-action Aladdin movie with Stranger Things leads playing Marvel characters as David Harbour is The Red Guardian in Black Widow and Charlie Heaton played Cannonball in The New Mutants.
I can’t help but be reminded that Legion and Fargo showrunner Noah Hawely was developing a Doctor Doom film for 20th Century Fox before the merger, who knows if that will ever see the light of day. However, Hawley has since pivoted to an Earthbound series set within the Alien universe for FX On Hulu that has Ridley Scott (Raised By Wolves, Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner, Alien: Covenant) attached to produce. I wouldn’t be shocked if we eventually saw Marvel Studios also look at the creatives at FX and Hulu to develop shows for them like Scott Ryan and Nash Edgerton.
Hiring a couple of Aussies could help the idea of shooting a would-be Wolverine series at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Fox Studios also happens to be where Mr. Inbetween is shot.
It’s the same studio facility used for The Matrix, Star Wars: Attack of The Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith, Superman Returns, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, Mad Max: Fury Road, Alien: Covenant, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Thor: Love & Thunder, and George Miller’s upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa.
Anyways, we’ll keep our fingers crossed Marvel will consider them for a hypothetical Wolverine series.
THE RONIN 