Hugh Jackman says he was really done playing Wolverine after 2017’s Logan, even after numerous requests from Ryan Reynolds to return. But the actor revealed there was a reason he decided to return for Deadpool 3.
“I wasn’t tormented by it. If people would ask me [to reprise the role] — including Ryan every five seconds — I thought, I’m done,” Jackman said in an interview with The Guardian. But while Jackman wasn’t soul searching after hanging his claws when asked to return for Deadpool 3, Jackman simply said he just wanted to do it and I felt it in my gut.
He also revealed, “I can punch that shit out of Ryan Reynolds any day.”
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Deadpool 3 will be the first Deadpool film to be shot under the MCU banner, but will retain the R rating. In fact, a Deadpool-Wolverine team was one of the first pitches Reynolds had when he met Marvel’s Kevin Feige after taking over Fox.
“The topic that came up in the meeting was if we could find a way to do a Deadpool-Wolverine pairing. It wasn’t possible then,” but it’s happening now.
Reynolds and Jackman are adamant that this film will not mess with the Logan timeline and that when Logan is set in the far future, the character is still dead. However, Jackman confirmed a major fan theory about how the film is still happening.
“It’s all because of this device that they have in the Marvel world to move through timelines,” says Jackman. “Now we can go back because it’s science. So I don’t have to mess with the Logan timeline, which was important to me.”
Jackman gave interviews for his upcoming drama The Son. When asked to look back on his X-Men days, Jackman was asked if the allegations against director Bryan Singer had affected the legacy of those films. “You know, that’s a really, really complicated question,” says Jackman. “There is a lot at stake. X-Men was, in my opinion, the turning point in terms of comic book adaptations, and I think there’s a lot to be proud of. And there are certainly questions that need to be asked and, in my opinion, should be asked. But I don’t think I know how to answer that elegantly.”
Deadpool 3 is scheduled for release on November 8, 2024.
Matt TM Kim is the news editor of IGN. you can reach him @lawoftd.