With Hugh Jackman announcing he's done as Wolverine, I've seen discussions about a possible new Wolverine. Unsurprisingly, I've seen people claiming Wolverine's height doesn't matter for the character (so of course he should be tall again), but to that I disagree completely. His size is depicted in his very name, like how "Hulk" is big.
"He said, “Come up with a Canadian character called Wolverine.” So, I went and researched wolverines and discovered they were short, really hairy, feisty animals with razor-sharp claws who are utterly fearless and would take on animals 10 times their size. I went, well, that’s the easiest character I’ve ever created. I developed him out of that particular definition."
Even though Thor's tall height isn't his main power or characteristic, I guarantee you the majority would not be okay with a 5'3 Thor. Most men would not take the character seriously, and the women would flat out stop being fans. Height only stops mattering when people want a short character to be tall, because taller equals better, so why complain about an improvement?
For the record, I don't believe the actor's height is important, it's the onscreen height that matters. They didn't need the Hobbits to literally be played by 4'0 little people, but onscreen, they were little people. A 6'3 actor who plays Wolverine well is fine, but it'd be nice if they digitally made him shorter, like in Captain America where they made short men look weak.
If Marvel ever works out their movie rights, they'd really have no excuse once Wolverine ends up in the same movie as Captain America. After all, they made the effort to make Cap smaller, even though he was already tall in the comics. For some reason, busting out the CGI to make short men look lame is no problem, but the other way around is too much work.
Obviously this isn't some life or death issue, but fact of the matter is that positive role models are important. When it comes to portrayals of short men in fiction, Wolverine is in my opinion the very best one. To bring Wolverine and his classic short stature to the big screen would only benefit short men.
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