Hugh Jackman recently appeared on “The Graham Norton Show” (via Entertainment Weekly) and declared that he would never say never to play Wolverine again. Jackman announced that he is done playing the iconic X-Men superhero after 2017’s Logan, which ended with the character’s death. But Jackman wasn’t being honest. He returned as Wolverine seven years later in the 2024 Marvel blockbuster Deadpool and Wolverine.
“Every time I go on[a talk show]I have to think, ‘No, I’m not going to do that again,’ but then I go on to make another one, and it’s a huge hit. So, do I have to do it again?” Jackman said. “Maybe. I’ll never say ‘never’ again…but the first time I said ‘never’ I meant it until the day I changed my mind. But I really meant it for years.”
During last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine press tour, Jackman admitted that he had mixed feelings about continuing to retire from Wolverine after watching the first Deadpool movie.
“I was like, ‘Those two characters are together,’ and I knew that. I knew the fans wanted it ever since I put on the claws, people were talking about these two. I mean, it was always there, but I just knew,” he told Fandango. “I called Ryan[Reynolds]and said, ‘Let’s do it.'” Well, I didn’t call my agent, nobody. I had to call my agent and say, “Oh, by the way, I just got cast in the movie.” ”
However, not everyone was initially sold on the idea of Jackman returning as Wolverine. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed to Empire that he initially warned Jackman against playing Wolverine again.
“I said, ‘Hugh, I’ll give you a piece of advice: Don’t come back,'” Feige said. “Logan had the best ending ever. That’s not something we should take back.”
As Marvel movie fans eventually learned in Deadpool and Wolverine, Jackman never returned as the iteration of Wolverine he played for decades and was canceled in Logan. Marvel’s multiverse has allowed actors to play new variations of Wolverine. It remains to be seen whether Jackman will appear as a mutant in next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday” or its sequel “Avengers: Secret Wars.” Many of Jackman’s original X-Men co-stars appear in Doomsday, from Ian McKellen to Patrick Stewart to James Marsden.
