Variety covers Hugh Jackman as he reflects on Wolverine and his future role in DEADPOOL 3.

Variety held an extensive chat with actor Hugh Jackman, where he reflected on his life and career thus far. Announced weeks ago, Jackman is set to return to the legendary role that made him a household name: Wolverine! He will join Ryan Reynolds in DEADPOOL 3 (2024) under their new home at Marvel Studios.

Jackman planned his retirement of the role with LOGAN (2017), but after seeing DEADPOOL (2016), he saw the potential. “I went to a screening of ‘Deadpool.’ I was 20 minutes in, and I was like, ‘Ah, damn it!’ All I kept seeing in my head was ‘48 Hours’ with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. So it’s been brewing for a long time. It just took me longer to get here.”

Reynolds had been pleading with him “on the daily” for a team-up movie. “I think, actually, he’d given up. I think it was a big shock to him. There was a massive pause, and then he said, ‘I can’t believe the timing of this.” Reynolds was in preps to discuss DP3 with Marvel boss Kevin Feige.

Reynolds said he’s “thrilled” to work with his friend again. “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.”

“A little part of me now thinks I’d be better at it,” said Jackman. “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.”

A late casting addition to X-MEN (2000) as a replacement for actor Dougray Scott, Jackman only had a short amount of time to prepare. He revealed that production pushed back his shirtless scenes so he could gain more muscle. “I’m just a bit flabby. It took me a while to work that out.”

Source: Variety