Hugh Jackman Has Bad News For ‘Deadpool’ Fans

The superhero genre has become a staple in today’s movie industry, with various high-profile actors taking up the role of iconic superheroes such as Batman, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. However, only Hugh Jackman has managed to become truly inseparable with his superhero counterpart, Wolverine.

The Australian actor first portrayed the anti-hero in Bryan Singer’s X-Men, which was released back in 2000. Jackman has since appeared as Wolverine, otherwise known as Logan, for a total of nine times, including two brief cameos in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse. Unlike other superheroes, who have been portrayed by numerous actors over the years, Wolverine has only been played by the now 48-year-old, as of today.

When Logan hit the big screen back in March, Jackman officially announced that he would be stepping down from the role. After 17 years, the Australian had finally decided to depart from the massively successful X-Men franchise.

And while Logan served as an emotional and satisfying conclusion to the Wolverine storyline, fans were devastated to see Jackman leave, as many were still keen on seeing the actor team up with Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2, which is set to be released in 2018.

Reynolds has continuously called out Jackman on Twitter in hopes of convincing the Australian superstar to take up the role of Wolverine one last time, and to the amusement of fans, the pair has started somewhat of an ongoing feud on social media.

Thanks for an amazing visit Beijing! @WolverineMovie @20thcenturyfox pic.twitter.com/FsbuNpXMQ1

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) March 5, 2017

Pretty sure those are protesters. https://t.co/URNGDCg0cO

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 5, 2017

In an interview with Extra, Jackman jokingly claimed that Reynolds has been stalking him in an effort to convince the 48-year-old to make an appearance in Deadpool 2.

“Ryan Reynolds is literally outside my front door every morning. ‘Hey man, Deadpool 2,’ and I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m out.’ ‘Ok.’ The next morning, ‘Hey man,…'”

Regardless, many fans still held onto the faint glimmer of hope that Jackman could eventually be persuaded by Reynolds to play Wolverine once more. In an interview with the Huffington Post, however, Jackman again confirmed that he was done playing Wolverine. When asked whether there was a possibility of seeing Wolverine and Deadpool together on the big screen, Jackman insisted that he no longer had a say in that matter.

“It’s sorta out of my hands because I’m an actor who’s played Wolverine. I’m out. But if I was running the studio and someone else was playing Wolverine…”

Jackman and Reynolds have, of course, previously starred alongside each other as Wolverine and Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That movie, however, received mixed reviews from critics, and comic book fans slammed the film’s depiction of Deadpool.

Luckily, Reynolds got a second chance as the Merc with a Mouth in 2016. This version of Deadpool was much more faithful to the comics, and the movie, subsequently, turned out to be a huge hit with critics and moviegoers alike.

In Deadpool, Wade Wilson, Deadpool’s civilian alter ego, even made several references to Hugh Jackman. At the end of the movie, Wilson wore a paper mask of Jackman in order to conceal his deformed face from his girlfriend. This showed just how desperate Reynolds was to get his Australian colleague on board for the sequel.

Even though Jackman is adamant about not appearing as Wolverine anymore, it is not impossible for the character and Deadpool to cross paths on the big screen in the future. Considering how Wolverine is pretty much the poster boy of the X-Men franchise, 20th Century Fox will surely opt to replace Jackman with a new actor in the near future. And as Jackman pointed out in his conversation with the Huffington Post, this could mean that the two hugely popular superheroes could yet again team up in a movie.

While it is surely disappointing that we won’t see Jackman as Wolverine in Deadpool 2, James Mangold, the director of Logan and The Wolverine, insists that the Australian actor made the right call to retire from the role.

“The reality for me is I’ve made two Wolverine movies in a row, so you’re talking to a guy who’s actually ready to direct Hugh Jackman in something else,” Mangold told the Huffington Post.

At 48-years-old, Hugh Jackman still has many years in the entertainment business ahead of him. Moviegoers will just have to wait and see what kind of roles he’ll get into next.

[Featured Image by 20th Century Fox]