In 1989, an X-Men movie was in the works at Carolco Pictures. Marvel writer and editor Chris Claremont wrote a screenplay, and he and his boss Stan Lee almost signed James Cameron to produce and Kathryn Bigelow to direct. Claremont's first choice for Wolverine: British actor Bob Hoskins. While Hoskins is best known for not-too-intimidating roles like Mario in Super Mario Bros. and the romantic interest in Mermaids, in the early '80s he played a lot of toughs and heavies in movies like The Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa. And like Wolverine, he was short, muscular, and scrappy. Hoskins never got to slice anybody up in the end, because Carolco went bankrupt not long after Claremont's pitch.
