James Mangold Comments on Hugh Jackman Returning as Wolverine After Logan
Last year, it was announced that Hugh Jackman would be playing Wolverine once again in Deadpool 3. The actor will be joining his longtime frenemy, Ryan Reynolds, and the duo has promised that the threequel won't mess with the powerful ending of Logan. Since the news dropped, Logan director James Mangold has commented on Wolverine's return, and he recently admitted to Variety that a part of him does wish Logan had remained Jackman's final performance as the beloved superhero.
"I can't say that there's a part of me that doesn't wish that we'd let it be," Mangold shared. "But there was always going to be another Wolverine. There could be a baby Wolverine and a cartoon Wolverine. As much liquid as they can squeeze out of that rag, they're going to try to. I don't measure my success on a movie like Logan with whether we ended the conversation. I ended my conversation."
While Mangold may have mixed feelings about Jackman's return, the director did recently tell ComicBook.com about his hopes for the upcoming Deadpool threequel.
"A really fun 48 Hours style buddy picture with those two," Mangold explained in our interview for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which you can check out above. "To me, that was always... We discussed this way back in the day, Ryan, Hugh and I, and it was always this idea that you could do some kind of Walter Hill, gritty, or Midnight Run. These two, somehow on a road trip together would be magical."
When Is Deadpool 3 Being Released?
Deadpool 3 is scheduled to be released on May 3rd, 2024. Jackman is already back to training for the role and has even had some wardrobe mishaps due to his expanding muscles. Recently, Jackman said that the decision to return as Wolverine in Deadpool 3 was his own. On TikTok, u/uncrazed caught up with the X-Men star to ask him how Reynolds convinced him to return to the role. Jackman quipped, "I make my own decisions, brother."
Deadpool 3 will be directed by Shawn Levy, with a script written by Bob's Burgers' Wendy Molyneaux and Lizzie Molyneaux-Loeglin, with Deadpool and Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick reportedly also returning to contribute to the script. Deadpool 3 will also star Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Stefan Kapičić as Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, and Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen in currently-unknown roles.
Stay tuned for more updates about Deadpool 3. You can see James Mangold's next film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, in theaters on June 30th.
