Hugh Jackman Wasn’t Sure Stan Lee Knew Who He Was

Hugh Jackman is arguably one of the most recognizable actors on the planet, especially in the world of comic book films. Despite his fame from starring in multiple X-Men movies, Jackman claimed that when he first met Stan Lee, he wasn’t sure the comics creator knew who he was.

“I remember, it was 2008, I’d done three X-Men movies, we’d announced [X-Men Origins: Wolverine], I think. I did not know he was gonna be there at all,” Jackman recalled to MTV News about meeting Lee at San Diego Comic-Con. “When I first met him, I was not 100 percent sure he knew he I was.”

Almost immediately after 2000’s X-Men was released, Jackman became an icon in comic book fandom thanks to his impressive outing as the beloved Wolverine. Despite Jackman’s accomplishments, none of that compares to the clout Lee carries with him at a comic book convention.

“If you’re Wolverine and you go to Comic-Con, it’s a good day for you,” Jackman joked. “I was getting some love and I remember that carpet really well and when you looked at all the cameras [turning away from you] and I look down and I was like, ‘Is it Halle Berry over there?’ And I was like, ‘That is Stan Lee. That is cool.’”

Throughout the course of Jackman’s impressive Marvel tenure, he had many more encounters with Lee. In the wake of the creator’s passing, Jackman shared memories of Lee and how the mogul was constantly a beacon of hope who was more surprised than anyone to see how comic book movies had become the dominating force of pop culture.

“I was really taken back by how relaxed and happy and I got the sense of a man who had become a god within a subculture and this subculture had become mainstream and at age 75, getting respect and adulation,” Jackman noted. “And he was like, ‘I can’t believe this. This is amazing. We’re the kids in our basement drawing pictures and we know a few people and then 30,000 of us get together, there’s 30,000 of us dressing up and there’s Star Wars.’ Now there’s a million and a half and all of a sudden, everyone’s courting them. Movie studios, everybody was courting them, and you just got the sense that he’s a kid in the candy store who still loves it. He’s like a kid. He was just really warm. Like, he would turn up to do all those cameos, thinking, ‘This is the greatest, I’m in an X-Men movie, they’re bringing this stuff that’s been in my head and on the page, they’re bringing it to life.’”

Earlier this week, Jackman teased that Wolverine is sure to return to comic book movies, though he also confirmed it would be another actor bringing the mutant to life.

Stay tuned for details on the future of Wolverine in comic book films.