What Does Hugh Jackman Mean By Last Time As Wolverine?

For the last few years, the notion of just when Hugh Jackman would finally walk away from the role [...]

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For the last few years, the notion of just when Hugh Jackman would finally walk away from the role of Wolverine in the X-Men films has been a subject of some debate.

He's gone from saying that he could be done at any time, to he'd like to do it for the rest of his life, to wanting to team up with Spider-Man and the Avengers...and those are just the quotes pulled right from Jackman, nevermind the endless series of theories and speculation from fans and the press.

Meanwhile, X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn wanted to recast the role, and while it didn't happen then, it wouldn't be inconceivable, considering how important Wolverine is to the franchise...and the fact that Jackman seems to have finally made a decision, which is that he'll follow Jennifer Lawrence out the door of the X-Men franchise.

Well, that's how it seems, anyway. Given how many times he's waffled and how recent the "I'd do this forever" came, it seems odd for him to be so readily saying good-bye already. So less than an hour after his cryptic Instagram post that seemingly announced the end of the road for his time with the character, fans have already started to wonder whether he's really DONE-done.

After fifteen years and now approaching 50 years old, it's seemed for a while as though Jackman would likely have to wrap his run sooner or later. After all, he isn't like Iron Man or even Batman, who spend all or most of their time buried in body armor and able to hide an aging form. Jackman has to be shirtless-friendly at all times, and that's tough work.

He's previously said that the third Wolverine solo film could be his last, and that it might follow the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics. Some fans, though (including the very first commenter on our own story) immediately speculated that Jackman's finale could be an adaptation of Charles Soule's The Death of Wolverine miniseries that closed out earlier this year.

That story, which ended with Wolverine apparently dead, trapped inside tons of molten adamantium while his healing factor was inactive, would not only give them an exit point for Jackman, but also presumably give them an ambiguous enough ending that either another actor could join up and "escape" the trap or Jackman could do so himself at a later point and tell the Old Man Logan story or another.

The idea that he would be doing a story called The Death of Wolverine and that he would come out and say it was his last right at the top almost begs for some kind of misdirection, so look for a post-credits sequence if that's the case.

That said, it remains the most likely scenario that he's honest -- and that he's either done or, like Robert Downey, Jr. after Iron Man 3, he's "done" and only a truly massive amount of money will convince him otherwise.

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