Hugh Jackman first played Wolverine in X-Men, released in 2000. 17 years later, we all believed he'd bid a final farewell to the character in Logan; instead, the actor shocked the world by making his MCU debut in Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024.
It's an incredible run, but not one that's earned Jackman a place in the record books. While he was set to beat the record for the longest career as a live-action Marvel character, Wesley Snipes' own return in Deadpool & Wolverine saw him earn that place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
His stint as the Daywalker began in 1998, meaning he has Jackman beat. Well, for now. The next two Avengers movies are likely to shake things up yet again.
During a recent interview, Jackman was asked about being beaten by Snipes and joked, "If I had known, I would have banned him [from Deadpool & Wolverine]." Now it's just a competition of who’s going to live longer. Actually, I’ll put my money on Wesley."
Despite widely reported clashes between Snipes and Ryan Reynolds on the set of 2004's Blade: Trinity, the two buried the hatchet, and Blade's return saw Snipes receive an outpouring of love from a new generation of Marvel fans.
For what it's worth, upon seeing these comments, Daniel Richtman has claimed that the actor will be back as Blade in Avengers: Secret Wars (not Avengers: Doomsday), so chances are we haven't seen the last of Snipes' vampire-hunting badass. Unfortunately, Mahershala Ali's Blade movie for Marvel Studios appears no closer to becoming a reality.
Snipes previously said this of his surprise Marvel return:
"I did not think it was possible. I didn’t think we would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it, Disney was into it — also because they had Mahershala [Ali] cast for the next upcoming version of it...I thought it didn’t make sense to me, but [when] you get a call from Ryan Reynolds out of the blue after 20 years, you go, ‘OK, I got to take this call. Let’s see what this is about.’ He told me the idea...They said ‘yes’ and ‘it’s a go.’ ‘If you’re in, we’re in.’ Here we are."
In 2024, we concluded our Deadpool & Wolverine review—which you can read by clicking here—by writing, "A contender for the best superhero movie ever, Deadpool & Wolverine is two hours of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman proving they were born to play these roles and, crucially, be part of the MCU. It’s a f***ing masterpiece."
Shawn Levy directed Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Matthew Macfadyen, Chris Evans, Dafne Keen, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Garner, and Wesley Snipes. Henry Cavill makes a cameo appearance.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Disney+.