Faced with a potential typecasting situation, Crowe passed on the role — which subsequently went to fellow Aussie Dougray Scott, before finally landing on Hugh Jackman when Scott’s commitments to Mission: Impossible II went over schedule.
During a recent appearance on Nova’s Fizty and Wippa radio show (via News.com), Russell Crowe admitted that he was at one point considered for the role of Wolverine in the first X-Men movie.
Although it was a seemingly perfect casting choice, he turned down the role because he felt that the wolf symbol of Maximus from Gladiator bore too much similarity to the Marvel character.