Wolverine Doesn't Wear His Signature Yellow Suit In 'Logan' And Here's Why

Ever since the X-Men first appeared on the big screen back in 2000, longtime fans of Marvel's mutants have wanted to see some kind of incarnation of the unique, colorful suits that each member of the team has word in the comics. X-Men: Apocalypse is the closest we've come to seeing the X-Men in their signature duds, but that scene didn't allow Wolverine to suit up in his signature yellow suit. Sadly, despite the tease from the end of The Wolverine (at least in the unleashed edition), we won't see Hugh Jackman putting on that suit in Logan either.

Director James Mangold explained a few years ago why he didn't think Wolverine could ever really wear the yellow suit, and with Hugh Jackman making this his last outing as the mutant, it appears we'll never see it happen.

Find out why we won't get to see the Wolverine yellow suit in Logan after the jump.

First, here's what James Mangold had to say when he talked to The Wall Street Journal after The Wolverine came out back in 2013:

"Finding the rationale for a uniform when the character disdains self promotion, why he would put on some outfit that promotes himself as some kind of hero? It's like Dirty Harry didn't walk around with special outfit. There's a difficult line to walk. He's not a showoff, he's the last one to put on a team jersey. The flesh and blood character is very loyal to that iconoclastic rebel who doesn't seem to be the first to don spandex. It isn't something I've talked about much. Some fans may be frustrated, but we're trying to be true to his character. Who knows whether that will change, I cannot verify and will not deny."

That makes perfect sense, and it's true to the character's attitude. Mangold reiterates this point to ScreenRant and expands a little more on why he chose not to give Wolverine his signature look, even after teasing the suit in the home video cut of The Wolverine:

"I always feel a certain contingent of fans who are yearning for it. But the biggest block I've had – I'm willing to take the heat for it – is that, I can never get past, being a writer for these movies as well, that Logan is the least narcissistic of all the superheroes, any kind I can think of – Marvel, DC or anywhere else. What I mean by that is, who puts a special branded outfit on when they do good deeds? And why? The only reason you do it is so you can have some sort of trademarked claim and get credit for what you did. Nothing seems less Wolverine-like than the desire to put on a trademarked outfit , particularly canary yellow, and kind of prance about doing good deeds and have people go, 'Oh my God! It's The Wolverine!'"

That's a fair point. Wolverine hasn't ever been a character who wants to be a hero. There's no reason for him to wear a suit for people to recognize him if he doesn't want recognition. There's also not really a functional purpose for the mask Wolverine usually wears in the comics since his identity isn't exactly a secret. Furthermore, James Mangold things that despite some fans desire to see Wolverine in the yellow suit, plenty of others wouldn't like it:

"I somehow feel that if somehow we ever put Hugh [Jackman] into one of those outfits, people would not be happy. Essentially, it's something that lives on the page and I'm not sure could live anywhere else."

Personally, I think James Mangold made the right choice. The yellow suit isn't functional, and it serves no purpose beyond giving the hero a signature look to differentiate him from his fellow mutants in Marvel Comics. The leather jumpsuits the X-Men keep wearing aren't necessarily a good substitute either, but we can't do anything about that now. We'll just have to settle for that fun nod to the yellow suit at the end of The Wolverine: Unleashed Edition. Maybe Wolverine will wear the yellow suit whenever he's inevitably recast years from now.