Wolverine: The Long Night

At the suggestion of a friend, I downloaded "Wolverine: The Long Night" from iTunes. Although billed as a "podcast", this was like an old school radio drama.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. After getting through all ten episodes, each averaging about thirty minutes a piece, I can give an honest opinion.

I was surprised at how much I liked it. It is a very well produced radio drama. It has moody music in the right places, it has good sound design in that they mimic when people are across the room and good sound effects.

I thought the setting of Alaska was a perfect backdrop for this particular story. Wolverine in the wilderness or being that stranger in a sleepy town is definitely on brand. He is the guy that is trying to mind his own business, but gets drawn into events because he is a hero.

I also liked the methodical pace of the story telling and the mystery that unfolded. It wasn't too fantastical and none of the other X-Men make an appearance here.

For the most part, I thought the cast was very good. The only person I had a problem with was Richard Armitage as Logan/Wolverine. I understand that you wanted to get a name, but he was not the right fit at all. Years of X-Men cartoons, video games, etc. have me prepared to accept a different voice (Steve Blum) for Wolverine. He should be gruff. Armitage tried, but he does not pull it off. Instead, he just comes off sounding like a dude. If it wasn't for people addressing him as Logan, within the dialogue, I would not have been able to pick out his voice from everyone else.

Hugh Jackman was able to pull it off, but Armitage could not. It's disheartening when the star of the radio play is the one you like the least.

Maybe his time was expensive, so he really doesn't have a whole lot of lines. You barely get much out of him in the first half of this story.

I'm glad I gave this a shot. It was well worth my time and I would recommend it to anyone else that wanted to have something on while they drive. You better believe I'm counting it as a book that was read on Good Reads!