Hugh Jackman Stefania D’Alessandro/WireImage
Hugh Jackman was so excited to star in Deadpool & Wolverine that he forgot to tell his agent.
The Australian actor is set to reprise his legendary X-Men character opposite Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool in the new Marvel superhero movie, despite appearing to bid farewell to Wolverine in 2017’s Logan.
Jackman said his decision was as much a surprise to him — and his agent — as it was to fans when the movie was announced in 2022.
“I was driving and literally, just like a bolt of lightning, came this knowing deep in my gut that I wanted to do this film with Ryan,” the star said in an interview with Fandango published on Monday, May 20.
Once Jackman, 55, arrived at his destination, he immediately called Reynolds, 47.
“I rang Ryan and I just said, ‘Let’s do it,’” the actor said. “I hadn’t rung my agent — no one. I had to ring my agent and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I’ve just committed to a movie.’”
Jackman said he was clamoring to reunite Wolverine and Deadpool, who first shared the screen in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, after seeing 2016’s Deadpool, which acted as a reboot for Reynolds’ character.
“In the back of my head, ever since I saw Deadpool 1, I was like, ‘Those two characters together…’ I knew it,” he said. “I knew the fans wanted it ever since I’d put on the claws.”
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Jackman previously retired as Wolverine after starring in Logan, which concluded his character’s story after several X-Men and solo movies.
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/MARVEL
“I swear to you, when I said I was done, I really thought I was done,” he added to Fandango.
Deadpool & Wolverine marks the first time the characters will appear in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed in March that he tried to dissuade Jackman from putting on Wolverine’s claws again.
“I said, ‘Let me give you a piece of advice, Hugh. Don’t come back,’” Feige told Empire magazine. “‘You had the greatest ending in history with Logan. That’s not something we should undo.’”
Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters on July 26.
