WATCH ABOVE: An online petition to build a Wolverine statue in Edmonton is getting support from people around the world. Trish Kozicka explains.
EDMONTON – An effort is underway to bring Wolverine, one of Marvel Comic’s most iconic creations, to Edmonton.
In the original story, Wolverine hails from a forested area in Alberta when he discovers his powers. Since Edmonton is the province’s capital, some feel it would be a fitting place for a statue of the clawed, self-healing superhero.
Edmontonian Jesse Seitz is behind a new petition to help make it happen. He writes, “Wolverine is a Canadian and Albertan symbol of strength, perseverance in the face of tragedy, and overall heroics.”
When he first posted the petition about four days ago, Seitz thought maybe he’d manage to get 100 signatures. So far, he’s received more than 1,000 from around the world.
“It’s just unbelievable. It’s surreal,” he said.
But he’s not the first one to try to make this a reality. Edmonton’s Brian LaBelle launched a similar petition last year, pushing for a 1,000-foot statue of Wolverine. He admits it started as a joke but as it picked up steam, LaBelle realized there was real support for the idea of a statue. He says he recently met with city officials to discuss how to move the project forward.
“It’s taken about a year to find out what all the potential road blocks and hurdles are that are going to stand in our way, and the work that we need to do to see that it goes up somewhere,” he said. “Our best bet may actually be seeking someone to put it up on private property. Then a lot of the restrictions are lessened when that happens.”
LaBelle admits that he doesn’t think there will be a lot of public money available for the project, so it may come down to a crowdfunding campaign. But first he’s reaching out to local artists, hoping one will design a prototype of the statue.
Those who have signed the petition have plenty of reasons why they think the statue should go up.
“The morals and traits portrayed by Wolverine identify who we are as Albertans… Honorable, strong and sometimes a little wild. I would be proud to be identified with this type of symbol,” wrote Edmonton’s Rob Wing.
Algirdas Miliunas from Jonava, Lithuania said it would be enough for him to visit Edmonton in the future.
Others say that if the city paid for the often-criticized ($600,000) Talus balls, it can find the money for this.
“People will know and talk about Edmonton as ‘that city with the Wolverine statue,'” Seitz added.
Edmonton wouldn’t be the first city to pay homage to a comic book hero. Metropolis, Illinois, has a 15-foot Superman statue, and Detroit has a 10-foot RoboCop statue after raising nearly $70,000 for it through a crowdfunding campaign.
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