Marvel's First X-Men Cartoon Made Wolverine Australian For A Pretty Wild Reason

Wolverine is an "X-Men" character who has changed significantly from medium to medium. In the comics, he's a short, ugly gremlin, whereas in the live-action movies, he's played by the tall and handsome Hugh Jackman. And while Wolverine is generally Canadian, this is not always the case with him.

In the 1989 TV show "Pryde of the X-Men," which tragically only lasted one episode, Wolverine was given a thick Australian accent. It's an odd choice considering how far away Australia is from Canada, although I suppose it's not completely out of left field. Both countries are part of the British Commonwealth, and they're both known for their harsh climates, which make most of their land sparsely inhabited. Canada and Australia are basically cousin countries; if Wolverine's nationality couldn't be the former, let it be the latter. 

But for the studio execs at the time, their reasoning behind Australian Wolverine was even simpler: Australians were having a moment in American pop culture, and Marvel wanted to cash in on this. As series director and producer Larry Houston explained in a 2020 interview:

"We had to make compromises, unfortunately. The people who were banking ['Pryde of the X-Men']— 'Crocodile Dundee' was popular at the time. And so one of the executives asked us, 'Hey, what about making Wolverine Australian?' And we were going, 'Oh, God. No.' But we figured, 'OK.' Lesson learned."

Yes, that's right: "Crocodile Dundee," the 1986 romantic comedy film about an American woman who falls in love with a very Australian man, convinced the Marvel execs to toss Wolverine's Canadian origins out the window. 

Australian Wolverine was part of a larger trend of Americans embracing Australian culture, or at least their general idea of Australian culture. Not only was "Crocodile Dundee" a major hit that spawned two sequels, but it helped spur the popular American restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse, which began in 1988 by heavily embracing things like kangaroos and boomerangs in its marketing. 

Although Steve Irwin's "The Crocodile Hunter" didn't reach American TV screens until 1997, you can tell Australia was still on America's mind in the mid-'90s, thanks to "The Simpsons," which dedicated an entire episode in 1995 to the country. Was this show's portrayal of Australia particularly flattering? Maybe not, but it did show how much Americans were fascinated by this mysterious country all the way across the globe, a country so far away that most Americans knew they'd never get to see it in person. 

Australia's cultural hold on America may have died down after the '90s (although Australian actors are still killing it over here), which means that Marvel executives no longer have much of an incentive to rewrite Wolverine's Canadian roots. Still, their choice to cast Australian actor Hugh Jackman in the movies feels like a fun nod to the '89 cartoon's controversial decision. Hugh Jackman may speak in a Canadian/American accent in these movies, but little hints of his Australian background occasionally slip through.