Deadpool 3: Logan Director Reacts to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Return

During a press tour for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the film's director -- James Mangold -- was asked of his take on Deadpool 3. Why? Because Mangold directed The Wolverine and Logan, which wrapped up Hugh Jackman's 20-year, 9-movie tour as Wolverine. Jackman announced his return to the Wolverine role in September, confirming that he will join Ryan Reynolds for Deadpool 3, currently set for a spring 2024 release, and he has been back in the gym in recent days, reminding everyone that he is doing yet another "one more time," after his last "one more time" saw the character die onscreen.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Mangold said that he was "thrilled" to see Jackman back in the role. He acknowledged that no matter how good, or how well-received, the movie, you don't own these characters.

"I'm thrilled for him to get a chance to play with it again," Mangold told ET's Ash Crossan during the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London, England. He added, "Whether one way or another, I knew Logan wouldn't be the last time we see a Wolverine movie. We had our moment to kind of let that movie play and I'm really moved by how much that picture lives in people's memories. You can't put a moratorium on characters."

Reynolds and Jackman were previously together in X-Men Origins: Wolverine but the film is largely criticized and often joked about by Reynolds, to the point that Deadpool 2's post-credits scene saw Wade Wilson go back in time to prevent it from ever happening. The stories of these Marvel films have not made it easy for Jackman and Reynolds to play Wolverine and Deadpool together, though. 

Jackman's run as the X-Men character seemingly came to a definitive end in Logan, but with films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the mythology introduced in Marvel's Loki series, anything is possible with the multiverse and variant versions of Wolverine could be looming out there somewhere. There's also the reality that Logan took place in a time that is still the future, so the OG Logan could appear, younger and significantly less dead.

Deadpool 3 will be directed by Free Guy and The Adam Project's 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.