Movies

Hugh Jackman Still Done Playing Wolverine, Officially Shoots Down MCU Rumors

Hugh Jackman Returning as Wolverine
By Ethan Anderton

Last month, Hugh Jackman got Marvel fans in a tizzy when he posted some artwork of Wolverine by digital artist Boss Logic to his Instagram stories, followed by a photo of him with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. Fans took this to mean that Jackman was hinting at the mutant's arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, while making the press rounds for the upcoming movie Reminiscence, the actor confirmed that no such plan is in the works.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Hugh Jackman explained that his back-to-back Instagram stories were merely a coincidence:

"I literally was re-posting fan art, and I do it quite a bit because I just love it. And I love the fans. Then I was off doing something, and I came back, and I'm like, 'Oh, I think I broke the Internet. No, no, no, no. Guys, sorry. Didn't mean that. I really didn't mean that. I'm really sorry.' And I thought, 'No one's going to believe me.' But that was the case. And you guys are just too fast for me. Clearly way too fast and smarter than me. I just love the fans. And so, when cool things come my way, I'm going to pass it on."

In fact, this excitement went so far that it sounds like even Ryan Reynolds was convinced Hugh Jackman had some kind of Wolverine return in the works:

Though Jackman is surely tired of having to explain that he still has no plans to return as Wolverine, he did offer a more thoughtful response when addressing the topic in an interview with ScreenRant. Jackman said:

"It's in my past, man. Don't tell anyone, alright? Let me just say one more thing. Because as I said that, there's not a day goes by where I'm not unbelievably grateful for having been part of that MCU Universe. Particularly to be there at the beginning of it, and to watch it. To see Kevin Feige going from being an assistant to a producer and a mate of mine, to where he is today. And that was a role of a lifetime. So, I don't ever want people to feel that when I say I'm done, it's a glib thing. It was one of the great chapters of my life."

For those who don't know, Kevin Feige worked as an associate producer on the first X-Men movie after serving as an assistant to Superman director Richard Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, on the film Volcano. They were so impressed with his work ethic that they moved him up the ranks for X-Men and the rest is history.

No More Guns in the Valley

Logan

Hugh Jackman was the best part of the original X-Men franchise. He was the core of that cast, and Wolverine's story was the driving force of the entire film series. Even after the franchise rebooted with X-Men: First Class, they still reached back into the original X-Men franchise and made Hugh Jackman one of the leads in the time travel crossover story X-Men: Days of Future Past. You can't deny Wolverine's significant place in X-Men history on the big screen.

Unfortunately, we probably got much more Wolverine than we ever needed with the mostly disappointing Wolverine trilogy that 20th Century Fox also released. Thankfully, that trilogy ended with Logan, which is not only the best movie in the Wolverine franchise by far, but probably the best move in the entire X-Men franchise and one of the best comic book movies ever made.

To bring Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be an exciting prospect. But after playing the character for nearly 20 years, it's understandable why Jackman is comfortable leaving the claws behind. No matter how good the story could be, Logan allowed Hugh Jackman to give Wolverine a proper send-off, one that still brings tears to the eyes of this longtime X-Men fan.

So let's put the past in the past. Go back and watch all of the old X-Men movies, and let's start bugging Hugh Jackman about a sequel to Real Steel instead.

Recommended