Hugh Jackman ‘Really Thought’ Wolverine Was Done, Then He Joined ‘Deadpool 3’ Without Telling His Agent: ‘By the Way, I’ve Just Committed to a Movie’
Hugh Jackman committed to playing Wolverine again in a third “Deadpool” movie before even letting his agent know. Speaking to Fandango alongside “Deadpool and Wolverine” co-star Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy, Jackman said his decision to play Wolverine again after the character was killed off in 2017’s “Logan” was more or less a spontaneous one.
“I was on my way, I was just driving, and literally, just like a bolt of lightning, came this knowing deep in my gut that I wanted to do this film with Ryan [Reynolds],” Jackman said. “For Deapdool and Wolverine to come back together. I swear to you, When I said I was done, I really thought I was done. But in the back of my head, ever since I saw ‘Deadpool’ 1, I was like, ‘Those two characters together.’ I knew it, I knew the fans wanted it ever since I put on the claws, people talked about these two. So, that had always been there, but I just knew.”
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“And I literally couldn’t wait to arrive,” he continued. “Soon as I arrived, I rang Ryan. And I just said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Like, I hadn’t rung my agent, no one. I had to ring my agent and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I have just committed to a movie.'”
But not everyone was initially sold on the idea of Jackman coming back as Wolverine. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed to Empire earlier this month that he originally warned Jackman against playing Wolverine again.
“I said, ‘Let me give you a piece of advice, Hugh. Don’t come back,’” Feige said. “‘You had the greatest ending in history with ‘Logan.’ That’s not something we should undo.’”
What ultimately got Feige on board with the idea of Jackman coming back was that he would not be playing the version of Logan/Wolverine that audiences grew to love in the various X-Men movies. That was also of interest to Jackman himself. His original iteration of Wolverine died in “Logan,” and he did not want to screw with that film either.
“It’s all because of this device they have in the Marvel world of moving around timelines,” Jackman previously told SiriusXM about returning. “Now we can go back because, you know, it’s science. So, I don’t have to screw with the ‘Logan’ timeline, which was important to me. And I think probably to the fans too.”
Jackman added to Empire that “Deadpool and Wolverine” will show “different sides of Wolverine we haven’t seen before in the movies.”
“Deadpool and Wolverine” hits theaters on July 26 from Disney.
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