A TikTok user argues that the dehumanization of Wolverine’s past could be framed through cinema as a metaphor for Indigenous identity erasure.
A new TikTok video makes a unique case for why fan-favorite Marvel hero, the grizzled, claw-wielding mutant berserker Logan/Wolverine, deserves to be given an Indigenous identity.
In the video, a duet posted by ‘modern_warrior__’, Neil Shyminsky explains that “Wolverine’s ethnicity has never been treated as central in any way to his character and I’ve always thought that that is a huge missed opportunity because he should be canonically Indigenous.”
Drawing parallels between Wolverine’s past and the Canadian government’s crimes against Indigenous tribes, Shyminsky points out how “one of Wolverine’s defining characteristics is that he does not know who he is. He has lost his memory, there is no record of his family or his history, and that’s because the government of Canada took it away from him and turned him into something that would suit their needs.”
Shyminsky also notes that, given Logan’s upbringing in 19th century Northern Alberta, there’s a logical chance that his father Thomas Logan would have been Indigenous due to the character’s profession. He then uses these historical observations to suggest that Marvel Studios cast an Indigenous actor to play Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, should Disney incorporate the X-Men into its main timeline.
Even though Wolverine is Canadian, Australian-born Hugh Jackman famously portrayed the character across nearly all of 20th Century Fox’s live-action X-Men movies, beginning with 2000’s X-Men and ending with 2017’s critically acclaimed Logan. Outside of Jackman, the character has been played by multiple voice actors in animation, most notably Cal Dodd in X-Men: The Animated Series, Scott McNeil in X-Men: Evolution and Steve Blum in Wolverine and the X-Men and other shows. Though The Walt Disney Company’s 2019 merger with 20th Century Fox means that it can now legally use Wolverine in films, so far the only confirmed X-Men-related movie set to appear in the MCU is Deadpool 3, which is currently being scripted.
While it’s unknown who will play Wolverine after Jackman, the MCU has cast its first Native American superhero for the upcoming Hawkeye series. First-time actor Alaqua Cox, who comes from the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin, will play Maya Lopez/Echo, a Deaf Native American with photographic reflexes that allow her to imitate those she fights.
Source: TikTok
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