Deadpool & Wolverine Star Hugh Jackman Opens Up on Why He Returned to Marvel

Why did Hugh Jackman return to the role of Wolverine for the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie? In Jackman’s own words: a feeling “deep in my gut” told him he needed to make things right with Marvel fnas. 

Hugh Jackman joined Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy for an interview with Rotten Tomatoes’ Jacqueline Coley, and one of the biggest clips from the interview (which you can watch in the video below) is Hugh Jackman explaining why he suited up as Wolverine again. After insisting to the world, for years, that he was done with the character after Logan (2017), the announcement that Deadpool & Wolverine was happening left fans equally hyped and shocked about that development with Deadpool 3. 

“I was on my way – I was just driving – and literally just like a bolt of lightning came this knowing, deep in my gut, that I wanted to do this film with Ryan… for Deadpool and Wolverine to come together. And Jacqueline, I swear to you, when I said I was done I really thought I was done. But, in the back of my head, ever since I saw Deadpool 1, I was like ‘Those two characters together…’ I knew it: I knew the fans wanted it. Ever since I put on the claws fans have talked about these two, so that had always been there, but I just knew.”

Jackman is right that Marvel fans have wanted to see Wolverine and Deadpool paired onscreen since the first X-Men movies of the early 2000s. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman had fans thinking they were getting that team-up with X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009 when Reynolds was cast as Wade Wilson for the first time. Instead, X-Men Origins became infamous for a bait-and-switch that had Reynolds only appear in a bit role, before the climax of the film substituted martial arts actor Scott Adkins for Reynolds, to play a bastardized version of Deadpool, who became the ultimate bio-weapon of Major Stryker (Danny Huston). Fans were appalled to see their fan-favorite character Deadpool represented that way onscreen, and have been waiting to get a proper Wolverine and Deadpool team-up ever since. 

Obviously, Hugh Jackman has never forgotten the debt owed to Marvel fans – one he felt compelled to pay by way of doing Deadpool & Wolverine. And to hear him tell it, Jackman is giddy to be making restitution: 

“I literally could not wait to arrive; as soon as I arrived I rang Ryan and I said ‘Let’s do it.’ Like, I hadn’t rung my agent, no one! I had to ring my agent [after] and say ‘Oh, by the way, I’ve just committed to a movie.’ [laughs].” 

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About? 

The trailer and early synopsis for Deadpool & Wolverine have teased the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds) being detained by the TVA and sent on a mission. Wade recruits an emotionally-broken Wolverine variant from a dark timeline where the X-Men died, and their mission takes them to the multiversal wasteland the TVA has been using as a dumping ground, and where the beast Alioth (as seen in Loki) roams. Somewhere in that mix is Cassandra Nova (Emma Corin), a villain with deep ties to Charles Xavier, and a malevolent history in X-Men comics. 

There have been teases of former Fox-Marvel movie stars coming back en masse for cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine – and even mega-star Taylor Swift appearing in the film as an iconic X-Men character. Despite there being a menagerie of cameos appearances expected in Deadpool 3, Shawn Levy has promised MCU fans are not required to do any “homework” to enjoy the film: 

“I was a good student in school. I’ll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies,” Levy told AP. “I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn’t want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research.”

Deadpool & Wolverine has a release date of July 26th – the 11th Anniversary of The Wolverine‘s release.