Is Hugh Jackman gonna play Wolverine again?

This would be big news even if Hugh Jackman hadn't been so adamant-(ium?) about being finished with the role of Wolverine: In a new video clip, Ryan Reynolds has revealed the actor will once again don the claws to play the ferocious, fast-healing superhero again in Deadpool 3.

Right now, it's just a walk-on role. Literally. After Reynolds vamped for a while, claiming he was short on ideas for the sequel, Jackman is spotted briefly strolling by in the background, eating a snack. “Hey Hugh, you wanna play Wolverine one more time?” Reynolds calls.

“Yuh,” Jackman grunts as he walks upstairs. “Sure, Ryan.” Cue Whitney Houston's triumphant “I Will Always Love You.”

Here's where we make it weird and point out that Jackman is going back on his word that he was retiring from the role after 2017's critically acclaimed Logan.

He has previously been very clear on the matter, even after the Mutants became an option for inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Disney purchased 20th Century Fox's film catalog, which included the rights to those Marvel Comics creations.

As recently as last year, on a press tour for his noir-ish sci-fi thriller Reminiscence, Jackman insisted Wolverine was no longer in his future—and in this interview with Jake's Takes he specifically directed the message at Reynolds, who he said had been pestering him to make a cameo. 

“The fact that I'm hearing about this from you, and there's nothing in my inbox from [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige, which means it's probably, no matter what idea I came up with, not on the table," Jackman said. "Let's just be clear.”

After two decades as Wolverine, including 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which first featured Reynolds as Deadpool, Jackman said in the same interview that the notion that Logan was the character's curtain call fueled his fatalistic performance. “I thought: this is it. And that really helped me. It really helped knowing I was going into my last season, and that I made the most of it,” Jackman said. "And it's still a character I hold close to my heart. But I know it's done. Tell that to whoever you want. But please tell it to Ryan [Reynolds]. Because he doesn't believe and thinks I'm joking."

Another factor in Jackman's return was likely Night at the Museum and This Is Where I Leave You filmmaker Shawn Levy, who is directing Deadpool 3. Levy has worked frequently with Reynolds in recent years, on films such as Free Guy and The Adam Project, and he also directed Jackman in the 2001 robot-boxing film Real Steel.

Levy, for his part, took to Twitter to thank his experience on the ultra-secretive production of Stranger Things for “training me to keep my big mouth shut. This news has been burning a hole in my lips for weeks now."

Soon it will be time to sharpen those claws and start the countdown. Deadpool 3 is due in theaters in two years, on Sept. 6, 2024.

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Hugh Jackman is a hug(h)e liar. After swearing for literal years that he would never play Wolverine again after 2017’s Logan, the actor announced this week that he would be putting on the adamantium claws once more for Deadpool 3. Fans rejoiced; Ryan Reynolds, who plays Deadpool, practically sang him a ballad. It’s cool, but seriously, Jackman, this has got to be the last fake-out.

Some backstory: Jackman has been playing Wolverine since 2000’s X-Men. When it comes to matchups between characters and the actors who play them, his performance is almost universally beloved, even when some of the films aren’t. Following Logan—a movie in which the titular character died, mind you—it was presumed Jackman’s run with Wolvy was over. Yet for years, people, including Reynolds himself, would ask whether he would return. Jackman always said “no.” On Wednesday, he finally said “yes.” Well, it was “yeah, sure, Ryan.” But you get the drift.

Following the announcement, Reynolds posted another video explaining that Logan is alive in Deadpool 3 because Logan takes place in the future, in 2029. He and Jackman also promised lots of cool action sequences—their descriptions of which were drowned out by the sounds of Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” (Zing!) It was fun; it was fan catnip!

Fakeouts are cool and all, but, and I mean this with all the love in my heart, just let Jackman hang up the claws. Continually calling him out of retirement is exhausting—for fans, probably for Jackman, for everyone. If we must continue to make projects with Wolverine, at least reboot him. Now that Disney has bought Fox, which owned the X-Men, this seems almost destined to happen anyway. Look what Marvel Studios is doing with the Fantastic Four. (Though reboots aren’t always, you know, great.)

Also, Jackman’s perfect replacement already exists: Daniel Radcliffe. Rumors that he might take over the role circulate every few years, and he’s shot them down as recently as March, but that doesn’t make him any less perfect. He’s got the chops—both acting and mutton (probably)—and, if the trailers for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story are any indication, he’s got the requisite chest hair too. Obviously, Jackman is the one who needs to cameo in Deadpool 3. But after that, Marvel I’m begging you, let Radcliffe start to Radsnikt.

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