Hugh Jackman first played Wolverine in 2000’s ‘X-Men.’ He retired from the role after ‘Logan’ in 2017 but returned for the upcoming ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’
While speaking about the film on the ‘Official Marvel Podcast,’ Jackman shared his thoughts on the X-Man:
“I don’t think I understood what it meant to the wider world. I wasn’t a big comic book fan, in particular, growing up. I had never heard of ‘X-Men.’ In some ways, I’m really glad I didn’t know. Because I really approached Logan as I would any other character. Yes, he had claws coming out of him, and yes, he could heal himself. Yeah, he had crazy hair. But, for me, it’s just another character to embody with all the human-ness of him.”
He went on:
“It was about marginalized communities, minorities, and all of this stuff. Look how unique they were, and where they stood and the animal side of him. So, I was playing with all of that. I was in a room working on it. All those poses and all the things I did were everything taken off the comic books.”
The Actor Returned After A Break
Wolverine died helping younger mutants in ‘Logan.’ Jackman explained his farewell to the character by saying it became too physically demanding.
Still, the actor expressed regret about leaving the role in the following years. He decided to come back in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ after a series of phone calls with Ryan Reynolds and told People in May:
“I’ve had a break, and I’ve been doing a lot of dance. I’ve been doing stage shows. And so, when I came back to it, it was really fun.”
The film brought Aaron Stanford’s Pyro and Tyler Mane’s Sabretooth back, as well. It also introduced new mutants including Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova.
New Marvel Film Won’t Change The Main X-Men Universe
Kevin Feige advised Jackman against reprising the Marvel role at first so that they wouldn’t undo the ‘Logan’ ending. But the cast and crew later confirmed that Wolverine’s main timeline would remain unchanged.
Jackman explained to SiriusXM in 2022:
“It’s all because of this device they have in Marvel’s world of moving around timelines. 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.”
Reynolds noted in a video on social media:
“‘Logan’ takes place in 2029. Totally separate thing. Logan died in ‘Logan.’ Not touching that.”
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ will hit the theaters on July 26.
