The Geek Beat: Origins and Endings

by Elisabeth Rappe Apr 28th 2009 // 12:02PM

Filed under: Fandom, The Geek Beat, Summer Movies




You'll probably be getting a one-two punch of Wolverine this week and next, and I apologize -- but big popcorn flicks deserve a lot of digital ink, especially if they're kicking off the summer season. Plus, this is the solo adventure of my favorite superhero. Avoiding the topic is impossible.

Over the past year, I have shared a lot of opinions of what I wanted X-Men Origins: Wolverine to be, or where I hoped they would take the character, or issues I had with their portrayal of the Weapon X program. But you know what I really wish? I wish Wolverine could have remained mysterious.

Hugh Jackman has argued that he wasn't comfortable taking the character anywhere like Japan without first showing who Logan was, and where he had come from. But what kept Wolverine as such an enduring character (besides his gratuitous body count) was his shadowy origin. It was a big deal when he revealed his name was Logan. The way such information was handled was brilliant and brusque. When asked why he hadn't ever told anyone his name, he shrugged. "You never asked." He just appeared on the scene, a snarling badass. He was Marvel's Man with No Name. Fans loved it. We lived for the teases, flashbacks, and guessworks.


Of course, over the years that's changed. Wolverine's origin has been revealed, and his memories restored to him. His past continues to be "uncovered" in the comics, often retconned faster than it was written. As with every long delayed origin, the payoff is never what you expected or wanted. Most fans bitterly wish they had never even wondered who Wolverine really was because they were so crushed by the answers. (If you ask me, Wolverine and Darth Vader both stand as good geek reasons for not knowing all the deep, dark secrets about a character.)

Now, the X-Men universe veered sharply away from official continuity with the very first film. While I'm a stickler for mythology, I've never been overly bothered by the mutant universe Fox set up, and the fresh slate they offered was full of potential, especially for Wolverine. He was mysterious again! You knew just enough of his ugly past to leave you wanting more.

Wouldn't it have been cool to just leave it there? Why not start Wolverine's solo adventures from some unspecified point in his past? Last week, one of the commenters mentioned how awesome it would be to have a Wolverine film that evoked Sergio Leone. I agree wholeheartedly. Think how daring it would have been to keep the audience in the dark a little longer in order to give us Marvel's mutant A Fistful of Dollars. Not only could you have kept churning out sequels that slowly unraveled who Logan was, but you would have redefined how flexible the genre could be. It would have been as refreshing to the movie universe as Wolverine was in the comic pages.

Even today, the Wolverine books that are the most popular aren't the ones that flog his memories, but the solo one-shots. They're free of timeline and crossover, returning Wolverine to his battered, lonely roots. Inevitably, he stops for a beer and finds himself in the middle of a local disturbance that forces him to pop his claws. It's a storyline you've seen in a million Westerns and action movies, but rendered new by the hero possessing an adamantium skeleton. Silly stuff, but it's the pulpy adventure that rainy Saturdays are made for, and in my opinion, it's far more durable than the latest crossover or spin-off.

But audiences demand origin stories. Mysterious heroes who ride in and out of town, a trail of carnage behind them, have long been out of fashion. Our protagonists need detailed background checks, or we won't understand their motivations. When did that happen? Why can't we enjoy the nameless stranger? Did our minds just snap after centuries of "once upon a time" and in media res? Is that why we can't get enough of rebooted and spin-off franchises that begin by spoiling it all?

Don't get me wrong -- certain heroes need origin stories. Batman is nothing without that night at the opera. That's why a character without one is so unusual, and why you should run with him (or her!) as long as you possibly can. It's the guessing game that's fun, not the answer. With Wolverine, you even had the one-two dramatic punch of the character being as ignorant of his past as his audience was. It's a great device. What a shame it had to be spoiled so soon ... and leave the Old Canucklehead with so few places left to go.




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