Hugh Jackman Changed His Mind About Retiring His Wolverine After Watching Ryan Reynold’s ‘Deadpool’
Not too long ago, Hugh Jackman confirmed that he’d be officially joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. Jackman entering the Deadpool franchise is fitting considering the first Deadpool movie was what made him second-guess leaving Wolverine behind.
Sebastian Stan hinted that Hugh Jackman would reprise his Wolverine role years before the ‘Deadpool 3’ announcement
Behind the scenes, talks of Jackman officially joining the MCU as Wolverine had already begun years prior to Jackman’s Deadpool 3 announcement. Fellow superhero actor Sebastian Stan opened up about a chance encounter he had with Jackman. Being a huge Jackman fan himself, the actor couldn’t help inquire about the actor’s status as Wolverine back then.
“Recently I happened to be sitting next to Hugh Jackman,” Stan once said at the Ace Comic Con Panel (via Comic Book). “I didn’t know what other awkward thing I could talk about but to be like, ‘Am I going to see you soon?’ I don’t know. But he said a couple of things to me and I’ll just leave it at that. Otherwise, I feel like I’m going to get into trouble with somebody.”
Stan would go on to clarify that he couldn’t say with confidence whether or not Jackman’s Wolverine would join the MCU. But at the same time, the conversation kept the possibility alive.
Hugh Jackman had second thoughts about retiring his Wolverine after seeing ‘Deadpool’
Before and even after the 2017 film Logan, Jackman was pretty adamant that he was finished with the Wolverine character. Although he’d grown attached to Wolverine over the years, Jackman believed that Logan was a perfect sendoff for the role. And Jackman didn’t want to risk doing anything to tamper with that goodbye.
“I feel good because I was really proud of [Logan],” Jackman said in a 2018 interview on The Howard Stern Show.
Jackman would go on to say that he had a gut feeling that he’d done all he could with the character. Still, the actor left the door slightly open for a Wolverine return. Later on, seeing the progression of certain superhero movies made Jackman question his decision to leave Wolverine behind. He mentioned Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool as the movie that started reinvigorating his passion for Wolverine.
“Well, I was 20 minutes into watching Deadpool and I had just announced, literally, a few weeks before that Logan was going to be my last, which I fully intended. And then I was like, ‘Uh-oh,'” Jackman recently told Deadline.
Eventually, Jackman would succumb to the superhero itch one last time to reprise his role for Reynolds’ Deadpool 3. It was a decision and process that didn’t take long.
“It was so quick. And trust me, there’s not a morning I don’t wake up where Ryan Reynolds is outside my house with posters saying, ‘Please.’ He’s constantly asking me about it. And I was like, ‘Dude, I’m done. I’m done, I’m done, I’m done, I’m done, I’m done.’ So then when he rang me [back], he was like, ‘Are you serious?’ So yeah,” Jackman remembered.
Will Hugh Jackman appear in more MCU movies after ‘Deadpool 3’?
Some may expect Deadpool 3 to be the last time audiences will see see Jackman as the popular mutant anti-hero. However, there remains a possibility that Jackman won’t officially be hanging up his claws after Reynolds’ superhero trilogy.
The MCU will have many projects in store after the film, and perhaps Jackman may factor into the universe’s later phases as well. Speaking on The Empire Film podcast, Jackman addressed the possibility of continuing his Wolverine work even after Deadpool 3.
“I imagine every movie as a one-and-done. That’s how I see it. I’ll be honest, I had a two-picture deal at the beginning, but I still assumed it was a one-and-done,” he said. “You know, back then, there were no comic movies. I just take it one at a time. I’m lucky in that way, I don’t have to think beyond that, but I think it’s the best way to go.”
