NARCOS made a fairly significant splash when it premiered last summer, and it’s not a surprise to see the principal actors in contention for high-profile gigs. Like, for instance, starring as the chief villain in what is likely the last time Hugh Jackman will star as Wolverine.
Boyd Holbrook has signed on to play “a relentless, calculating and intense head of Security for a global enterprise” in James Mangold’s follow-up to THE WOLVERINE. Guess mutants aren’t the worst of Logan’s problems this time around.
Holbrook was a bit bland in the NARCOS episodes I watched, but he was saddled with the straight man role opposite Wagner Moura’s powerful Pablo Escobar and Pedro Pascal’s more conflicted DEA agent. He’s a good-looking dude, and with a grit in his voice that should suggest at least some level of threat against our immortal, adamantium-lined hero.
I can’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed by this casting if Holbrook is indeed the chief villain, if only because I know that we won’t ever see another big-screen adventure fronted by Jackman’s Wolvie ever again. Say what you will about the depictions of Sabretooth and Silver Samurai, but at least they were formidable foes for Logan who both may have even had the power to finally take him out. I don’t care what security agency this human works for; this is a Beta-level mutant we’re talking about here, one who has fought in every major U.S. war over the past century, and I’m supposed to think yet another shadow company of anti-mutant humans stands a chance against him? Plus it’s not like Holbrook has much star power (even though he’s been in some high-profile stuff, never registering), and wouldn’t you want a heavy hitter in line with Jackman, Stewart, McKellan, Fassbender, Lawrence, Schreiber, or Berry as the final baddie to duke it out with the most iconic member of both the comic and cinematic X-MEN?
Patrick Stewart is set to return as Charles Xavier, which will likely make this a sendoff for both characters (maybe even Famke’s Jean Grey?), and just seeing them together onscreen one last time ups the excitement factor for this one significantly. Hopefully, Holbrook is the kind of villain who can make it seem more like a worthy WOLVERINE adventure and not a victory lap.
WOLVERINE 3 will say a final g’day to the character on March 3rd, 2017.
