Wolverine’s Most Iconic Appearance Inspired By The Least Likely Actor

Eventually, John Byrne replaced Dave Cockrum as the artist on Uncanny X-Men, which was now being written by Chris Claremont (the prolific writer who inarguably turned the X-Men into one of the most powerful franchises in comic history). When it came to Wolverine’s outfit, Byrne switched him back to the iconic yellow design, replacing the brown costume Cockrum had put the character in. Byrne also ended up giving the character under the mask a new design, one that ended up sticking (more or less).

The Wolverine design Byrne used made the superhero look a lot like the actor Paul D’Amato from the hockey movie Slap Shot. If you go back and watch the movie (it’s surprisingly great), it’s impossible to look at D’Amato’s character without seeing Wolverine. Even beyond surface-level details like the sideburns and big hair, the actor offers some fierce expressions in the film that certainly inspired Wolverine’s bouts of berserker rage.