Hugh Jackman officially retired (or so we thought) as Wolverine after James Mangold's Logan, but the actor was convinced to don the claws and mutton chops again for a team-up with Ryan Reynolds' Merc With a Mouth in Marvel Studios' R-rated blockbuster, Deadpool and Wolverine.
It was generally assumed that the 2024 movie would be Jackman's actual swansong as the fan-favorite mutant hero, but rumors persist that he will be back for Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars, and we have also heard that he might be a part of Reynolds' untitled X-project (possibly a new take on X-Force).
Jackman's name was not announced as part of the big "chair reveal," but we'd be very surprised if he didn't appear in Secret Wars, at least. When asked about his potential Logan reprisal during an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, the actor hinted at, but stopped short of confirming his return.
“Maybe. I’m never saying 'never' ever again! I have done ten films now, so I think they have enough for an AI version of me.”
Though Jackman was clearly joking with the AI remark, the concept probably isn't all that far-fetched. Over the past week, we have seen numerous AI-generated images flood the internet, and a lot of them are pretty convincing, including this "leaked" BTS shot of Jackman alongside Tobey Maguire, Pedro Pascal and co-director Joe Russo.
There's a lot of speculation that Jackman's Wolverine will ultimately join the new X-Men roster as the MCU's Mutant Saga progresses. Though new actors will almost certainly take over most of the roles, introducing a new, younger version of a character like Logan - especially when they've become synonymous with one particular actor over the past 25 years - is going to be a tricky prospect for Marvel/Disney, so we wouldn't be surprised if Jackman (and possibly some of the other OG 20th Century Fox cast that are set to return for Doomsday) stick around in mentor-like roles.
Would you be happy to see Jackman continue to play Wolverine for the next few years?
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
You can check out the full (for now) Doomsday cast list below.
• Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Lewis Pullman as Sentry
• Florence Pugh as Yelena
• Danny Ramirez as Falcon
• Ian McKellen as Magneto
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky
• Winston Duke as M’Baku
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast
• James Marsden as Cyclops
• Channing Tatum as Gambit
• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
• Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
• Letitia Wright as Black Panther
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
• Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
• Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
• David Harbour as Red Guardian
• Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
• Anthony Mackie as Captain America