A ‘Mission: Impossible II’ Star Claims That Tom Cruise Prevented Him From Playing Wolverine

Hugh Jackman rocketed from relative obscurity to superstar fame due to his breakout portrayal of Wolverine in the first X-Men film. For almost twenty years and nine films, Jackman not only portrayed the surly Canadian mutant, but a slew of other roles that would’ve never been possible without the success of the X-Men films. However, as some movie buffs know, Dougray Scott was originally cast as Logan, but he was forced to back out at the last minute after production on Mission: Impossible II ran long.

It definitely must sting thinking about what might have been, and for the first time ever, Scott has revealed that it was more than just production delays that cost him the role of a lifetime. According to Scott, he could’ve made the timing work, but a certain Hollywood star wasn’t on board. From The Telegraph via CBR:

Scott told The Telegraph that he blames Mission: Impossible‘s Tom Cruise for not letting him take on the role. “Tom Cruise didn’t let me do it,” he said. “We were doing Mission: Impossible and he was like, ‘You’ve got to stay and finish the film’ and I said I will, but I’ll go and do that as well. For whatever reason he said I couldn’t.”

Scott added, “He was a very powerful guy. Other people were doing everything to make it work.” Though, despite Jackman eventually taking on the role, Scott had nothing but praise for the actor. He said, “I love what Hugh did with (the Wolverine character). He’s a lovely guy.”

Clearly, Scott has no hard feelings towards Jackman. As for Cruise, he might not be able to say the same. But perhaps Scott can offer advice to whoever takes over the role of Wolverine as Marvel prepares to reboot the character for the MCU. Right now, Jason Momoa has mentioned that he’d like to play the role, and Keanu Reeves has always wanted to portray the character as well. Oh, and (wow, this is awkward) Tom Cruise was mentioned by Kevin Smith as an ideal candidate.

We’re guessing Scott won’t be reaching out on that last one.