Hugh Jackman became a superhero before it was all the rage, donning the adamantium claws of Wolverine in the X-Men movies. The franchise produced 13 films and helped to usher in the comic-book movie era. Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine remained a constant, all the way up to his legendary exit in 2017’s Logan.
Now that he’s set to reprise the role alongside Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool in Deadpool 3, Jackman is looking back on the early X-Men movies. The legacy of the franchise was tainted by the allegations brought about against Bryan Singer, who directed several of them. Singer was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple men, including some who were minors at the time.
Speaking with The Guardian, Jackman ruminated on whether Singer’s involvement has changed the way he feels about these films:
"You know, that’s a really, really complicated question. There’s a lot of things at stake there. X-Men was the turning point, I believe, in terms of comic-book movies and I think there’s a lot to be proud of. And there’s certainly questions to be asked and I think they should be asked. But I guess I don’t know how to elegantly answer that. I think it’s complex and ultimately I look back with pride at what we’ve achieved and what momentum that started."
Hugh Jackman looking forward to punching “the sh*t out of Ryan Reynolds every day” in Deadpool 3
Jackman refused to make comments about Singer in particular, but admitted that there are “some stories” of events that happened on set back then that would not happen now.
"There’s way less tolerance for disrespectful, marginalising, bullying, any oppressive behaviour. There’s zero tolerance for it now and people will speak out, and I think that’s great."
Speaking on his return in Deadpool 3, Jackman said he agreed to come back because it felt like the right decision in his gut and also because he’d “get to punch the sh*t out of Ryan Reynolds every day.”
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