Earlier this week Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart were awarded with Guinness World Record certificates for holding the longest careers as live-action Marvel superheroes, as Wolverine and Professor X respectively. From X-Men (2000) to Logan (2017), the two actors held their roles for 16 years and 228 days, with Logan providing a powerful farewell to both of those characters as we’ve come to know them onscreen. In a video clip from This Morning, Jackman celebrates his record, delighted and emotional over an honor he’s dreamed about since childhood. It’s a touching moment that reminds us of how much these characters impact us and the actors who play them. While the nature of modern superhero movies permits that these roles are passed down, like Shakespearean characters or James Bond, that doesn’t prevent actors from being immortalized by these heroes and villains. As we prepare for Avengers: Endgame, and potentially get ready to say goodbye to another group of heroes and villains we’ve had the chance to watch grow over the years, it’s worth considering what these actors mean to us in these roles and the legacies they leave behind.
Why a superhero actor can never truly move on
2 comments
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So it probably doesn’t help much that whenever I see a SuperHero actor in a show I always assume they are undercover for some reason? Like when Cap lost his powers and got stuck on the big train after the nuclear winter. That was a good one.
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What’s modern is they’re able to do better films because of the popularity of these roles. Of course the movies will influence the books. That’s natural. What will be interesting is to f Marvel, in particular, recasts any of the original Avengers. I don’t want a whole slew of movies and no Cap, Thor, or Iron Man, etc.