Karl Urban's performance as Billy Butcher in The Boys has revealed him as the perfect candidate to play Wolverine when the X-Men are introduced into the MCU. Beyond having the appropriate physique for the role, Urban has proven himself capable of the nuance needed to do the character justice, playing the grizzled fighter and the gruff lover with equal ease.
Wolverine is easily the most popular of the many heroes to be part of the X-Men franchise, though he was originally created as an antagonist for The Incredible Hulk. A man of mystery for many years who could not remember much of his own past, Logan (as he called himself) was slowly revealed to have a long life spanning over a century. In that time, Wolverine had worked as a miner, a soldier and a mercenary, trained as a samurai in Japan, and abandoned civilization to live a feral existence in the Canadian forests, before being abducted by the Weapon X program. What they did to Wolverine transformed him into an even deadlier warrior, but Logan overcame their brainwashing and began to fight once more for noble causes, describing himself as "the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice."
The original Billy Butcher character of The Boys comics was created as a deconstruction of anti-heroic characters like Wolverine, possessing a similarly mysterious past which went undefined beyond a few references to a wife who died because of a superhero. Butcher was also equally brutal in his methods and a deep believer that the best offense was a good offense. Amazon Prime's The Boys stayed true to this general concept, presenting Butcher (as played by Karl Urban) as the same kind of rugged badass as Wolverine, who had problems with authority and was barely tolerated by his own teammates, as he often caused them as much trouble as their enemies and was prone to wandering off and doing his own thing without telling them.
At a basic level, this would seem to make Urban an ideal prospect for playing Wolverine. Many compared Urban's take on Billy Butcher to Logan and some fan artists have drawn Urban into the role. However, Urban's suitability goes far beyond his ability to growl out one-liners and look like the sort of man who wrestles black bears in the mountains of British Columbia. What truly makes Urban the perfect actor to play Wolverine is his ability to convey the noble, conflicted soul that is the heart of Logan, as well as the beast within he struggles to hold in check.
The Boys Season 2 finale showcased this, when Butcher suddenly found himself acting as the protector of Ryan; the super-powered product of his wife's rape at the hands of Homelander. Despite his own hatred of Supes and anything that reminded him of what had happened to his wife, Butcher stood between Homelander and Ryan, ready to fight even though he knew he had no chance of winning; all because the woman he loved asked him to save her son and he promised that he would. Later, Butcher had an awkward talk with Ryan before he was taken into protective custody, clearly wanting to say something to comfort the boy but being utterly unequipped to do so thanks to his own trauma. He ultimately gave Ryan the medallion his wife had given him (which was his only memento of her) and one piece of advice; "Don't be a c*nt."
Despite being best known outside the X-Men comics and movies for his berserker rage and bad attitude, Wolverine is well-known in the comics for being a fierce, if awkward, protector of the innocent. While few would describe Logan as fatherly given his track record with his own children, he has mentored a large number of younger heroes over the years, including Kitty Pride, Jubilee, Armor and, in the movies, Rogue. The Boys season 2 finale presented Butcher in a similar light, and while the characters are not precisely the same, they are similar enough that Karl Urban could be a fantastic Logan in the MCU.