How Ryan Reynolds got Hugh Jackman to come back as Wolverine

Speaking with Variety, Hugh Jackman shared how Ryan Reynolds got him to return to his iconic role of Wolverine. It was a lot of work, with Reynolds calling Jackman to bother him about it “on the daily.”

“I think, actually, he’d given up, I think it was a big shock to him,” Jackman said about when he finally said yesn. “There was a massive pause, and then he said, ‘I can’t believe the timing of this.'”

Last month it was announced by Reynolds that Jackman would be donning the adamantium claws one more time to co-star in the upcoming Deadpool 3. “Oh my God, I’m thrilled,” Reynolds said about Jackman coming back. “It’s like old home week. To get to be on set with one of my closest friends each and every day is a dream come true. But to do it with these two iconic characters side by side, that’s beyond our wildest dreams.”

Ryan Reynolds very excited to share the screen with Hugh Jackman again

According to the actors, Jackman’s return has been a long time coming. Reynolds first suggested it to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige back in 2019, after Disney acquired 20th century Fox. “I got Kevin to talk what, if anything, the future holds for Deadpool in that transaction,” Reynolds remembered. “The subject was coming up in the meeting about if we could find a way to do a Deadpool-Wolverine pairing. It wasn’t possible then. For this to be happening now is pretty damn exciting.”

This won’t be the first time Reynolds and Jackman have played these characters in the same movie. Back in 2009, Reynold’s made his debut as Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a movie that got panned at the time. Jackman hasn’t played Wolverine since the 2017 movie Logan, which was supposed to be the final appearance for his version of the character. Logan received both critical and audience acclaim and was nominated for best adapted screenplay at the Oscars.

“A little part of me now thinks I’d be better at it,” Jackman said. “Is that arrogance of age or something? Wolverine’s a tortured character – more tortured than me. But I always get the feeling of him being comfortable in his own skin. And I feel more comfortable in my own skin now, even though it’s messier.”

Deadpool 3 is slated to hit theaters on November 8, 2024. Other than Jackman and Reynolds, we know that Shawn Levy, who worked with both actors in the past on movies like Real Steel and The Adam Project, is attached to direct. Specific plot details are currently unknown. We also don’t know if it will directly to the MCU.

Marvel has confirmed that Deadpool 3 will retain the R rating the previous films had, which is a first for the family-friendly filmmaking juggernaut. Logan and the first two Deadpool movies, which were all rated R, were wildly successful, so it seems silly to change that now.

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