Ryan Reynolds Reveals It Was Hugh Jackman’s Idea to Return as Wolverine

Actor Ryan Reynolds recently revealed that it was Hugh Jackman’s idea to return as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. Beginning in 2000 with X-Men, Jackman portrayed the adamantium-clawed mutant in every 20th Century Studios X-Men film, with the exception of 2019’s Dark Phoenix. As one of the more popular X-Men characters, he was given three Wolverine-centric spinoff movies. Although the films did not begin well with the much-maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine fared better with critics and audiences, leading to Logan, the most positively-received X-Men film in the entire franchise.

Logan was intended to be Jackman’s final performance in the role, but in September, Reynolds announced that Jackman will officially return as Wolverine in Deadpool’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Deadpool 3. The news has caused the hype surrounding the upcoming film to skyrocket as speculation has run rampant regarding how Jackman will return to the role. Although the two actors and real-life friends released a recent video humorously revealing Deadpool 3‘s plot and the highly-anticipated superhero team up, details regarding the X-Men star’s return and various canon issues remains under wraps.

In a recent interview with Collider, Reynolds revealed that it was Jackman’s idea to return to Wolverine in Deadpool 3. The Deadpool star explained that he had originally pitched a Deadpool-Wolverine MCU film following the Disney-Fox merger, but was rejected by Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige. However, Reynolds admitted that it was Jackman who called him and initiated his return. Read what the actor said below:

“I think you’re giving me too much credit. I don’t believe that I’m responsible for Hugh coming back. I always wanted Hugh to come back. My first meeting with Kevin Feige when Disney bought Fox years ago, maybe three years ago, or three and a half, four years ago, I’m not sure, was about doing a movie with the two of us, a Deadpool Wolverine movie. And that was not possible at the time. And then Hugh just happened to call at that perfect moment and express that he’d be interested in coming back and doing this one more time. And the contents of that conversation, I’ll let Hugh, because I know it’s only inevitable that you and Hugh are going to speak at some point soon, I’m sure. I’ll let Hugh answer that on his own. But he expressed interest in coming back, and then it was my job to take that to Kevin Feige one more time and sell it.”

Everything We Know About Deadpool 3 & Wolverine’s Return

Unfortunately, not much is known about Jackman’s return as Wolverine. The Australian actor teased that Deadpool 3 will feature an angrier and grumpier Wolverine than any other previous performances. Logan’s no-nonsense temperament will be in direct contrast to Deadpool’s carefree attitude and rapid fire jokes, setting the two up for verbal fireworks stemming from their opposing personalities.

Aside from what will surely be a witty back-and-forth between the two, Jackman also implies that the two will come to physical blows at some point in Deadpool 3, possibly hinting at a brutal fight where Wolverine takes advantage of Deadpool’s advanced healing factor by slicing him up. As with most buddy-cop narratives, two characters with contrasting personalities spend half of the story butting heads before they eventually team up against the story’s real villain. Who the upcoming film’s antagonist is remains to be seen. Regardless, audiences must be patient to finally see the two popular Marvel heroes team up as Deadpool 3 is set to premiere November 8, 2024.