For Daniel Radcliffe, his acting career has been a difficult one to mould. Having been cast as Harry Potter in the famed franchise, most of us grew up watching his bespectacled face age on the screen, finding his features synonymous with the wizard from Hogwarts. But in the years since filming on Harry Potter ended, Radcliffe has proven himself as a Hollywood star, taking on role that have demonstrated not only his acting chops in dramatic fashion, but also his comedic timing and quick wit.
Speaking with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show while promoting his new movie The Lost City, Radcliffe was once again asked about playing Wolverine for Marvel Studios, a concept which first originated back in 2019. Despite rumours that have been circulating for years, drawing a connection between the role and the famed Harry Potter star, Radcliffe assured the audience that he won’t be flexing claws on the big screen any time soon.
“This is something that has come up every so often for the last few years and every time it comes up I’m like, ‘That’s not true, there’s nothing behind that’ and everyone’s like, ‘Ah, he said it might be true!’”
Radcliffe continued: “No, I didn’t! I said the opposite of that. And then every so often I’ll get bored answering the question in a sensible way so I’ll make a joke. Every time I make a joke I’m like, ‘Why did you do that?’ So the other day I was like, ‘Prove me wrong Marvel…’ and then that has ignited a whole thing. But yeah, I think it’s because Wolverine in the comics is fairly short – I think it’s people going, ‘Who’s a short actor? Him! He could maybe play him!’”
While Radcliffe certainly exhibited a sense of exasperation at the rumour mill that continues to churn out these rumours that the actor might take on the part of Wolverine in the future – something he’s now clarified as not being true at all – he still expressed a certain warmth towards the comments which he called “incredibly flattering.” When you consider that this is a role that became synonymous with Hugh Jackman, catapulting him into a stratosphere of fame reserved for a mere few Hollywood A-listers, it makes sense that Radcliffe should only have gratitude towards such comparisons.
After all, it’s not often that the public gives such casting of an iconic character their blessing. As we’ve seen recently, Robert Pattinson came up against a wall of criticism when first cast as the Batman, only to prove his doubters wrong when the film finally got its nation-wide release. But as for Wolverine, the character’s future looks uncertain. While the X-Men universe has bled into the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the like of Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, the first cinematic crossover looks set to take place in this year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Whether Wolverine will be part of it remains to be seen.
