Director Mahmut Akay created a short Wolverine fan-film, Close Shave, inspired by Hugh Jackman's gruff and bloody portrayal of Wolfie throughout Fox's X-Men film franchise.
Akay also wrote the short-film and deemed it a "dark comedy reinterpretation of Wolverine from X-Men," showing a world where Wolverine is the sole surviving mutant and is depressed.
Akay described the plot as, "Logan visits a swanky barbershop to start afresh in human society with new trim, but finds himself in trouble when his mutant identity is exposed." The film was produced by Shaun Rhodes and edited by Jonny Lee Mills. Its official run-time is 10 minutes.
The film begins in a London, posh barbershop where a group of well-dressed barbers watches the news. A news-anchor reports there's been a mutant sighting nearby their shop, seemingly Wolverine and his first sighting in 10 years. Based on the footage, it looks like Wolverine was spotted on a shop's security camera; however, he isn't the buff, athletic stature that fans remember. Instead, he's overweight -- a fact that the barbers laugh at, saying he won't fit into his "yellow spandex anymore" -- and his sideburns are overgrown. The barbers heckle Wolverine's memory, assuming that due to his weight gain, his powers must not work anymore and the shop owner vows to "slice his throat" if he ever sees him.
The film changes to Wolverine's perspective and we can hear him listening to a motivational speaker on tape, saying, "I am a positive person." Wolverine steps into the anti-mutant barbershop -- the same one that's ready to slaughter him -- and attempts to peacefully receive a haircut under the alias of 'James.' Antics escalate not too long after his first uttered "Bubba" and it doesn't take long for Wolfie to say, "Fuck it, I tried," and unleash his claws.
Akay directed and wrote three short films including, Day One, Dominion and Lesson From a Stranger. Day One and Dominion debuted at London's Sci-Fi Film Festival in 2019 and 2014, respectively.
Fans of X-Men can find a majority of Fox's film franchise streaming now on Disney+. Films include X-Men, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine and X-Men: Apocalypse. Viewers can also access the '90s X-Men animated series (listed on the platform as Marvel Comics X-Men) as well as Wolverine and the X-Men and X-Men: Evolution.
Source: YouTube