It seemed pretty unlikely that Hugh Jackman was going to return as Wolverine in the world of X-Men after the end of 2017’s Logan.
So much so, in fact, that Jackman himself even thought he was done.
The Australian actor deflected multiple calls to return to the role by fellow comic book movie leading man Ryan Reynolds, but all that changed when the offer of Deadpool 3 came along.
Jackman saw huge success in the X-Men role throughout his career, featuring in an impressive 9 out of the thirteen movies across the franchise as the mutant character.
The X-Men series as a whole was a huge success, and is considered to be one of the original comic book movies of this era. Jackman himself even calls it a “turning point” for the genre, which is reflected in the fact that the X-Men series as a whole has globally grossed a whopping $6 billion.
However, the fifty-four-year-old found no fear in leaving his iconic role behind.
“I wasn’t tortured by it. When people would ask me [to reprise the role] – including Ryan, every five seconds – I was like: I’m done,” Jackman told The Guardian.
Despite this feeling, he couldn’t help himself from reprising the part for Deadpool 3.
“I just wanted to do it and I felt it in my gut,” he admitted.
Additionally, he added: “I get to punch the s*** out of Ryan Reynolds every day.”
It will mark Jackman’s first time playing Wolverine under the banner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as when Logan came out 5 years ago, the X-Men brand was still owned by Fox.
Reynolds has admitted to Variety that Jackman’s character was one of the first concerns he brought up to Marvel president Kevin Feige following Disney’s acquisition of the brand.
“I got Kevin to talk what, if anything, the future holds for Deadpool in that transaction,” Reynolds said.
“The subject was coming up in the meeting about if we could find a way to do a Deadpool-Wolverine pairing. It wasn’t possible then. For this to be happening now is pretty damn exciting.”
However, for Jackman, there has been no better time for him to reprise the role.
“A little part of me now thinks I’d be better at it,” he said.
“Is that arrogance of age or something? Wolverine’s a tortured character — more tortured than me. But I always get the feeling of him being comfortable in his own skin. And I feel more comfortable in my own skin now, even though it’s messier.”
