Fans of the fictional character Wolverine are raising money to build a statue in Canada. If you’re sitting there waiting for the punchline then think again, this is supposedly real. They’re following the same line as Detroit, who will apparently be installing a statue of Robocop this coming year. Has the world gone mad? Is that even a valid question? I know all about loving the old canucklehead from a while back and have read a great deal of his comics and watched the cartoons and every movie he’s been in, but this seems to be getting a little nuttier than usual.
The statue would be erected within Fort McMurray, which was hit by severe economic decline in 2014 and then in 2016 was ravaged by a wildfire that forced the evacuation of an entire city. Now those events are horrible and there’s nothing else to be said about them other than they set the city back quite a bit. But the inspiration they need is going to come from a fictional hero? A hero that despite being awesome isn’t real, isn’t involved in anything that’s gone on, and had to have been someone’s pipe dream of bringing a bit of pop culture to the city in an effort to give back its sense of purpose.
I’m speechless at the moment, and not in a good way. It’s more in the manner of how could anyone be this naive and how could anyone possibly think that the statue of a comic book hero, which would cost an arm and a leg to commission, transport, and then erect, do a city that’s been hit with a severe combination of metaphorical punches, do any good? There’s got to be some level of reasoning here that I’m not seeing, but after reading about it more than once I’m still looking and I’m still not finding. I can’t really say that a statue of Wolverine wouldn’t be awesome because it would. I can’t even say that it would stand out because this same province has sculptures of a giant Eater egg, a giant beaver, a giant baseball bat, and even a replica of the Starship Enterprise.
The statue would fit right in, but instead of calling it an inspirational piece that could revive the spirit of the city it seems more likely that it should be called what it is, a fan’s dream come true. That’s about the only way to really describe it because the altruism of bringing the statue to the city doesn’t really ring all that true. The funds are being raised at this time for the idea and there’s no telling yet if the kind of money that’s needed will be given, but perhaps that’s not the issue that needs to be figured out first.
They’ve got to get Marvel’s approval first and foremost. Wolverine might be from Canada in the comics but he’s still Marvel property after all, and can’t be displayed without their permission. So as much of a fantasy as this might be, it’ll still end up costing the city a bit to make happen.
But hey, they need a statue more than they need to take care of their city, right?
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