Despite his age, if Butler is ready to suit up for an action-heavy X-Men movie, then more power to him.

One of the biggest obstacles Disney/Marvel faces in bringing the X-Men to the MCU is finding a worthy actor to portray Wolverine. Hugh Jackman spent many years as the titular clawed mutant, setting the bar quite for whoever follows him. That leaves a substantial vacancy in the mutant team’s lineup, one that will be difficult to fill.

Fans have all kinds of suggestions for which actors would be best suited to become Wolverine in the MCU, and some of them make sense. Although, this latest player to throw his name into the ring has come far out of leftfield.

In a recent Facebook post, Gerard Butler shared an image of himself posing in the morning sun’s glow. He’s donning a rugged beard while in an action pose. The caption on the photo says, “With this stance and this beard, I am just six claws away from turning into Wolverine,” referring to Marvel’s mutant hero. He doesn’t add anything, though the fan-cast would be believable.

Despite his age, if Butler is ready to suit up for an action-heavy X-Men movie, then more power to him. Actors like Keanu Reeves have noted that playing Wolverine will require substantial physical activity, and it’s not particularly suitable for older men. Butler is also 50-years-old, so he’s probably not as spry as he used to be.

It’s worth mentioning that Butler is still doing action movies like Angel Has Fallen, many of which are very fast-paced, as we’d expect an X-Men movie to be. So if the actor has no problem grinding it out, he can still feasibly play Wolverine.

The one immediate hurdle he’ll have to contend with is Disney. They could be searching for a young troupe of actors instead of trying to reboot the 2000’s version of the classic mutant team, which would take Bulter out of contention altogether. Or, their adaptation could wind up being a ragtag group of lesser-known X-Men.

Either way, Disney might have reservations about a 50-year-old Logan. They presumably want an actor who can continue playing the character for three or more films that’ll shoot over the span of six or seven years. Nothing says Butler cant, but he would be nearing sixty if he gets the part. Something Disney might not be able to abide by.

Could Disney Be Taking Cues From All-New, All-Different Marvel?

On the other hand, Butler taking on the role of Wolverine now would set him up to become Old Man Logan further down the line. That won’t happen anytime soon since Disney has yet to greenlight an X-Men movie. In turn, the earliest that one could be out is 2022, and the media giant won’t be eager to accelerate Logan’s growth until they get a couple of movies out. Of course, there’s a silver lining to all of this.

There is one other possibility that fans haven’t considered, which involves Old Man Logan. It’s possible Disney will forgo the traditional X-Men’s introduction for storylines from the All-New, All-Different Marvel series of comics. They take place in an established universe, one that coincidentally shares some similarities with the MCU.

For one, the Captain America of the modern Marvel universe is Sam Wilson. The MCU version hasn’t accepted the role yet, but since taking ownership of Steve Rogers’ shield in Avengers: Endgame, this seems to be Sam’s first step to becoming the next star-spangled Avenger.

He still has some work to do in Falcon And The Winter Soldier before he can fully don the cowl. But after, Sam will be practically identical to his comic counterpart from the All-New Captain America series.

The MCU’s Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is also heading towards a character-arc that resembles her comic counterpart from the All-New series. Portman’s character will become some iteration of the God of Thunder in Thor 4: Love And Thunder, adding yet another legacy character to Disney’s current lineup of superheroes.

Seeing as how the next Captain America and Thor share quite a few similarities with their All-New, All-Different Marvel equals, it’s reasonable to assume Disney will adapt more characters from that comic series. And if that’s the case, we could see Gerard Butler’s Old Man Logan sooner than we think.