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‘Wolverine 3’ Cast Update: ‘New Mutants’ X-23 In Hugh Jackman’s Last ‘X-Men’ Movie?

By Nicholas Kitonyi
Published on: 08:04 PST, Apr 22, 2016

Marvel’s Wolverine 3 is set to introduce a new character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mutant X-23, who first appeared in Marvel comics in 2004, is set to join Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart in the third installment of the Wolverine film series, which will also be Jackman’s last X-Men film.

ComicBook reported that Central Casting is looking for stand-ins and photo doubles for the un-named Wolverine 3 movie. The stand-ins required are expected to be “shorter Caucasian, Hispanic and Asian looking females over the age of 21,” specifically at a height of 4?-4’11” and size 0-4 with dark brown hair.

This description fits that of Mutant X-23 as depicted in the Marvel Comics. The Mutant X-23, who also goes by the name Laura Kinney, is a product of a group attempting to replicate the program, which gave Wolverine his Adamantium skeleton. However, this group decided to take a shortcut, and instead of trying to replace the bone structure of an already mutated body with Adamantium, they opted to clone Wolverine.

The group tried and failed 22 times before finally succeeding on their 23rd trial, which brought about the code name Mutant X-23. Mutant X-23 also has two metallic claws instead of three with an extra claw on each of her feet.

Now, given the uncanny similarity with Wolverine, it makes sense to introduce Mutant X-23 in Hugh Jackman’s final X-Men movie. In the animated version, Mutant X-23 effectively replaces Wolverine after his death. It’s not yet been announced who will play the role of X-23 in the upcoming X-Men spin-off New Mutants. However, it’s possible that the actress who portrays the role in the Wolverine 3 movie might yet be the same person who goes on to play the character in Marvel’s future X-Men movies.

Wolverine 3 will be Hugh Jackman’s ninth appearance as Wolverine in the X-Men movie series. It will probably mark the beginning of the end for the overall X-Men movie series, which could also set the perfect stage for Marvel to introduce new blood in its X-Men Cinematic Universe.

New Mutants is believed to be one of the ways Marvel could introduce new characters in the X-Men series. Currently, X-Force, which will feature Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, is possibly the very last installment in the X-Men movie series in the current setting. New Mutants, on the other hand, comes in to fill the void that was opened when Marvel released X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now, there are two timelines, and last month, while promoting Star Wars Rebels, producer Simon Kinberg, teased X-Men fans about the new X-Men movie New Mutants and what to expect.

“Josh Boone and his writing partner are working on the script. They’re doing a really nice job of it, and it’s a really cool one, because in many ways, like Deadpool was so different from the mainline X-Men movies, New Mutants… It’s maybe not as different as Deadpool, but it has its own unique, original voice to it.”

“That’s the fun for me, working in the X-Men universe, creating these sort of standalone movies that have a different vibe to them. And New Mutants has more of a YA [Young Adult] vibe to it.”

Mutant X-23 may not be the only character crossing over from the mainline X-Men movies. Screen Rant reported last month that Brianna Hildebrand, who played Negasonic Teenage Warhead in the recently released Deadpool movie, could form part of the cast in New Mutants.

Their theory is backed by Kinberg’s update on what to expect in the X-Men spin-off movie, New Mutants, when he said, “Traditionally, the New Mutants have some characters that cross over from the mainline X-Men movies. As we are going, I would say it’s likely that you will see some familiar faces.”

New Mutants is set to take place in the future, and after the news emerged that Wolverine 3 will also take place in the future, this could create the perfect setting to introduce X-23 to the MCU.

It explains why there is a high likelihood that the casting profiling being floated by Casting Central could have a lot to do with X-23’s role in Wolverine 3. Meanwhile, Netflix original series Narcos star Boyd Holbrook will be the main villain in Wolverine 3. The movie will be directed by James Mangold.

[Image via Marvel]

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