As far as superheroes on film go, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is one of the most iconic portrayals of a comic book character ever. From the first X-Men movie in 2000 to 2017’s Logan, Jackman was synonymous with the character until he hung up the claws. But the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine sees him convinced to pick them back up for another outing, alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth. But one person who wasn’t so sold on the idea of Jackman’s return was the head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige.
While the idea of Jackman starring in the third Deadpool movie—and the first to be part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe—Feige confesses that he had doubts. “I said, ‘Let me give you a piece of advice, Hugh. Don’t come back’,” Feige recalls in an interview with Empire. But why? Feige explained to Jackman that he’d “had the greatest ending in history with Logan. That’s not something we should undo.” After almost two decades of portraying the character, the 2017 film was a stunning swan song for Jackman’s role. It seemed like a fitting thematic conclusion that satisfied Jackman and fans, and remains one of the most well-regarded superhero movies ever made.
Pulling off the perfect goodbye is hard to do in a superhero movie. Much like comics themselves, death can feel cheap or unbelievable when you know they just bring characters back with the faintest excuse. Feige’s hesitance to see Jackman return actually makes a lot of sense when you consider it could both cheapen the future death scenes of MCU characters, and will make it more difficult than ever to say goodbye to Jackman’s Wolverine all over again.
Jackman himself put a lot of thought into the decision as well. In the same Empire piece, he recounts going on a long drive to clear his head and think about the project. “I drove for another hour. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. And I got out of the car, called Ryan, and said, ‘Ryan, if you’ll have me, I’m in.’”
That decision to return has led to immense excitement over Deadpool & Wolverine, which will give us the long-awaited reunion of Jackman and Reynolds’ superhero characters. And this time around they seem to be in peak form, not the diluted mess that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
To try to leave the perfect ending Wolverine received in Logan intact, Deadpool & Wolverine is taking some liberties. While Jackman is back, via the magic of the multiverse this isn’t the same Logan we know from the previous X-Men movies. Not only will this preserve Logan’s goodbye, but it—hopefully—also gives Jackman a chance to breathe new life into a character that’s been a part of him for so long. Let’s hope Feige wasn’t right.
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