interesting to us, but not recognisable enough to be a general audience marketing stunt
I think "What if Donald Duck Became Wolverine" is a pretty solid general marketing stunt in itself.
Cape book marketing loves nothing more than to put hats on hats. Donald as Wolverine as a general marketing stunt, then picking the authors to be interesting to fans, is good. Donald as Wolverine as a general marketing stunt, then picking the authors to be an additional general marketing stunt, is better. As far as they're concerned, of course.
Maybe the Frank Miller variant of Scrooge is from another universe (in the story) where he actually look like this. Or maybe it's hyperspeed distorition - that has happend before