Hugh Jackman had sent off his Wolverine with Logan back in 2017, so it was a huge ask for him to come back as the character for Deadpool and Wolverine.
Though fans were sure that he would only be staying for a couple more films before Marvel found a Logan for the 616 timeline, it looks like the studio may want him to hang around for even longer.
How Long Does Marvel Want Hugh Jackman Around?
In a recent Q&A with insider Alex Perez (via The Cosmic Circus), a fan had asked whether Marvel was planning to recast Wolverine down the line, to which Perez replied, “I heard they want use Hugh Jackman for as long as possible, but we will see how far that goes.”
With Marvel wanting to keep Jackman on retainer, it’s even said that the MCU’s reboot of the X-Men actually won’t include Wolverine, as a way to keep Jackman in the role for the foreseeable future. Fans thought that Deadpool was joking when they said that they wanted to keep Jackman playing the part till he was 90, but based on these rumors, that could very much be what’s happening.
Should the X-Men Introduce a New Wolverine?
Ever since Disney acquired Fox, there have been multiple discussions about how they should treat the reboot of X-Men, and though it looked like a ground-up remake was going to be the right choice, the past few years seem to have Marvel leaning on nostalgia, bringing back Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer, and Hugh Jackman to reprise their roles from the Fox X-Men films.
When it comes to the reboot of the original X-Men though, there are some fans that suggest that maybe holding back on Wolverine would be the right choice. After all, Wolverine has come out to be one of the most popular characters from the Fox X-franchise, getting his own solo films and having the most appearances out of any other character across the Fox Marvel movies.
Some think that it’s best to just establish the new team first—preferably including Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm—and then introduce a new iteration of Logan in a second movie; giving time for audiences to love the rest of the cast rather than get distracted by a longtime fan-favorite.
Marvel and Nostalgia
For now, it really does seem like Marvel Studios is leaning heavily on the nostalgia train. Besides keeping Jackman, there’s also the case of them bringing back Robert Downey Jr. to play Doctor Doom—they’ve even brought back the Russo Brothers to helm the next Avengers films.
Admittedly, Marvel’s more experimental phase after Endgame wasn’t full of hits, but at least there was a dedication to establishing some new characters. Hopefully, they get out of the nostalgia pit soon, because that’s kind of what killed the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Jackman’s next appearance in the MCU is unclear, but fans are almost sure that he’s going to be in Avengers: Secret Wars which comes out in 2027.