“The Wolverine” and “Logan” director James Mangold initially reacted to the news that Hugh Jackman will reprise his eponymous mutant opposite Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool 3” with a gif depicting the fatal scene in “Logan” in which Jackman’s character is killed off for good. The R-rated “Logan” was billed as Jackman’s Wolverine swan song, but that’s no longer the case, nor does his “Logan” death scene carry the same emotional weight. While many on social media assumed Mangold was irked by the decision to bring Wolverine back after he killed him off, the filmmaker clarified that’s not the case.
“Oh my gosh! Everybody chill,” Mangold wrote on Twitter. “Just kidding! I’m all good! ‘Logan’ will always be there. Multiverse or prequel, time warp or worm hole, canon or non-canon or even without a rationale, I cannot wait to see what madness my dear friends Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman cook up!”
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Reynolds himself announced Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine return in a video posted to social media on Sept. 28. After joking about struggling to come up with cool story ideas for “Deadpool 3,” which will mark Deadpool’s official entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Reynolds said, “Hey, Hugh, you want to play Wolverine one more time?”
Jackman appeared walking in the background of the video and casually replied, “Yeah, sure, Ryan.”
Details about Jackman’s return as Wolverine remain under wraps. Shawn Levy, who made “Free Guy” and “The Adam Project” with Reynolds, is directing “Deadpool 3.” Reynolds first appeared as Wade Wilson in 2009’s widely panned “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which was the first “X-Men” spinoff to focus on Jackman’s character. The character was then rebooted by Reynolds for “Deadpool” and “Deadpool 2,” both of which earned over $780 million at the worldwide box office to become the top-grossing “X-Men” movies of all time.
Mangold’s first “X-Men” outing with Jackman, “The Wolverine,” earned positive notices for blending the comic book movie with samurai film iconography. The movie earned $414 million worldwide. Follow-up project “Logan” was even more acclaimed, grossing $619 million worldwide, even with an R-rating, and landing an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.
“Deadpool 3” is set to open in theaters Sept. 6, 2024 from Disney.
Video: Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern on ‘The Son’ film
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