Does Wolverine Need Romance?

Does Romance Ruin The Wolverine's Character?

Wolverine has a rough exterior, both in appearance and demeanor. His body is coated with thick black hair on his arms and chest while he sports massive sideburns to rival a

historic aristocrat. His conduct, too, matches this appearance. He demonstrates an effortless nonchalance and grunts when spoken to. He seems pissed off most of the time. The gritty voice is enough evidence for everyone. He seeks solitude much like the wolverine that roams the boreal forests. A perfect example of this attitude is in X-Men: First Class, where he sends Professor Xavier and Magneto running with a simple F*** You.

But this side of the comic book antihero was insufficient for movie directors as the character would then be considered one dimensional. They had to show some emotional depth to Logan besides the iron skin he hides behind. One point that allowed this poignancy to be displayed was his immortality. Being centuries old, it doesn’t take long to figure out that he must have seen several loved ones perish over the years. Too many loved ones, in my opinion.

In each film installment, Wolverine gets romantically involved with some woman or the other. In the first movie in 2000, he almost has his life sucked out by Rogue. In the next 2 additions, he pines over Jean Grey, who happens to be in love with Scott Summers (Cyclops). That didn’t end well as in The Last Stand he himself had to kill Jean, reincarnated as the Phoenix. Next time, in the prequel X-Men Origins, he is deeply committed to Kayla Silverfox. That didn’t end well either, because she ended up dead as well if you remember.

And now, in the latest entry simply titled the Wolverine (set after X-Men: Last Stand), he has nightmares about Jean who he killed. I can understand the burden of living with that. Actually, I can’t comprehend taking the life of a loved one so I can only imagine what he must be experiencing.  Needless to say, he even contemplates giving up his immortality. You’d think that he learnt his lesson about being involved with women, but then he decided to screw a Japanese girl, an heiress to an insurmountable fortune. Once again, he puts his life at risk for a woman.

More often than not, Wolverine’s motives are centered on a woman, most often to ensure their protection. This is especially true with Silverfox and Mariko Yashida. That has been the sole element used to show emotional complexity to an otherwise straightforward character. There are other ways to show that he cares. This was present in the movies where he does fight for the good of the free world, but the romance has been a staple since Hugh Jackman’s first outing. Some making out scenes may help draw the older audiences and thus earnings, but I feel that Wolverine and romance should undergo a separation for a while.  

This feeling I had was overpowering in this year’s movie. His pining over Jean was somewhat unpalatable. I was familiarized with the X-Men universe through the animated series. In that show, Cyclops and Jean were in a relationship as in the movies. Nothing could get in their way. I think Wolverine had a go in the cartoon as well, so it probably is part of comic book lore (the love triangle). I grew used to that image so when the movies killed off Cyclops allowing Wolverine to fool around with Jean, it was somewhat outrageous. “That’s Scott’s girl, dude!” was my initial and lasting reaction. All I see is Wolverine lamenting over the death of another man’s girl. It’s similar to Snape’s situation with Harry Potter’s mum. Some may call that sweet and sad, I call that creepy and nauseating.

My point is simple. Don’t throw women at Wolverine for a while, so that we can see him be an actual badass. There are alternatives to creating inner conflict that should be exploited besides the tried and tested protocol. Why not give another mutant a chance at some love? Bring back Cyclops so that he can be with Jean Grey all over. Days of Future Past has time travel so it is possible. Just give Logan a break for now. I’m tired of seeing a big guy crying.