On a recent episode of his late-night show, Conan O’Brien screened a brief segment featuring some of the Wolverine auditions that have taken place behind the scenes as 20th Century Fox prepares for Jackman’s departure. Among the familiar faces attempting to win the role were Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman, fellow talk-show host Larry King, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actor Patton Oswalt (who manages to capture Jackman’s affinity for showtunes, if nothing else), and with possibly the best audition of them all (no surprise there), 93-year-old Golden Girls actress Betty White.
Okay, so they weren’t real auditions, but honestly, who wouldn’t want to see Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson-ized version of Wolverine?
Also appearing in the segment are Silicon Valley actor Thomas Middleditch, Saturday Night Live actor/writer Hannibal Buress (who thinks he’d make a better Gambit), Masters of Sex actor Michael Sheen (who may be confusing the character a bit), and The Last Man on Earth actress Kristen Schaal (who makes a pretty good case for a role in the Ghostbusters reboot).
O’Brien’s late-night talk show Conan airs weeknights at 10pm ET on TBS.
As for Jackman, he’ll appear as Wolverine in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse, hitting theaters May 27, 2016. After that, he’ll star in the still-untitled Wolverine solo movie that will be his swan song as the character. That film is scheduled to premiere March 3, 2017.
