The Wolverine: An Underrated Marvel Sequel That Paved the Way For Future Superhero Films

With the rise of popularity in superhero films, we have seen the best and the worst when it comes to sequels over the past two or so decades. Some of the greatest superhero movies ever, like The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, and Avengers: Infinity War, are all sequels.

The same is true for some of the most disappointing superhero films ever, as Dark Phoenix, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Wonder Woman 1984 were all sequels that missed the mark. To prevent major disappointments like those, the genre should look toward a severely underrated Marvel sequel for the answer.

The Wolverine Is Marvel's Most Underrated Sequel

That underrated sequel is 2013's The Wolverine. While nobody would put the film among the greatest sequels in the history of the genre, it deserves way more love and appreciation than it gets. The Wolverine takes Hugh Jackman's Logan on a personal adventure in Japan and is based on a strong comic series.

After the previous solo Wolverine film felt disjointed and overstuffed at times, this sequel allowed Jackman to really dive into the character. It's all about him as he confronts his past and tries to move on after the death of Jean Grey. Jackman's performance was heavily praised, as were the action sequences.

Reviews for The Wolverine were strong, with the film holding a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a huge step up from the first installment. However, it seems like nobody talks about how good this movie is, adding to its underrated nature. The fact that it's so different from what came before is why it's so great.

The Wolverine Is Totally Different From X-Men: Origins In The Best Way

2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine was the first solo outing for Wolverine after he became so popular in the X-Men trilogy. However, that movie was widely panned, had poor CGI, and kind of ruined several characters, with the most notable being Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool.

For The Wolverine to work, it needed to do something different and it basically changed everything up. Gone was an overreliance on poor CGI and attempts to build out a greater universe by introducing major new characters. This also wasn't a prequel like the origins concept of the prior film.

Instead, we got to pick up with Logan after we last left him in the X-Men movies. As an audience, we cared about how he dealt with the fallout of those films and getting that here was important. Having the film take place in Japan also felt tonally unique and allowed them to play into samurai aspects for action.

On top of that, The Wolverine was also different because it took away Logan's main source of power. His healing abilities were removed, meaning he could die at any moment and that added stakes to every action scene. Opting to have the movie be such a change from the failure of the first was the right move.

Other Superhero Sequels That Are Way Different From The First Films

Of course, The Wolverine wasn't the first superhero movie to do something different with its sequel. After two decent films about the God of Thunder, Thor: Ragnarok changed the formula to give us a vibrant, colorful, and comedic take on the character that is easily the best in the franchise.

Although Batman Begins was great on its own, The Dark Knight feels like a tonally different movie. It went for more of a crime drama feel that didn't feel like it was straight out of the comic books, which is clearly what people wanted because The Dark Knight was a massive success.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier brought things into the modern day and is considered by many to be the best MCU movie ever. After Suicide Squad was a flop, The Suicide Squad took things in a different direction that ended up making the film a huge success. Sometimes, going a different route is the right decision.

Why Future Superhero Sequels Should Do What The Wolverine Did

There have been issues with many superhero sequels in recent memory and a recurring theme is doing too much of the same. Thor: Love and Thunder tried to double down on what worked in Thor: Ragnarok to lesser results. The same could be said about Kick-Ass 2.

Meanwhile, some lackluster sequels just don't do enough to stand out and end up being shells of what came before, like X-Men: Apocalypse and Wonder Woman 1984. This franchise proved that change is good again with Logan, which ended up being an Oscar-nominated film that ranks among the best superhero movies ever released.

If we're to get follow-ups to films that received middling reviews like Captain America: Brave New World and The Old Guard 2, they should try what The Wolverine did and be completely different. With so many superhero movies each year, standing out by being unique is good.