Hugh Jackman is making a surprise return as Wolverine in Deadpool 3

Hugh Jackman Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Hugh Jackman isn’t hanging up his claws just yet.

Jackman will return as Wolverine in the upcoming third Deadpool film starring Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds shared the news Tuesday in a video on social media, in which he jokingly admits he has no ideas for the sequel. “But we did have one idea,” he says, only for Jackman to walk by in the background.

“Hey, Hugh, you want to play Wolverine one more time?” Reynolds asks, to which Jackman responds, “Yeah, sure, Ryan.”

The casting came as a major surprise, as it was believed Jackman had officially retired as Wolverine, the character he played for almost 20 years going back to the original 2000 X-Men film. 2017’s Logan served as his swan song, and it even ended with the death of Wolverine. “It’s still a character I hold close to my heart,” Jackman told Jake’s Takes in 2021. “But I know it’s done.”

Since then, the X-Men characters were acquired by Disney following its purchase of Fox, leading to speculation that Marvel might cast a new actor to play Wolverine. But the Deadpool films, previously released by Fox, will continue and now be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So with Deadpool 3, Jackman’s Wolverine is entering this larger, shared Marvel universe for the first time.

This is the latest example of the MCU incorporating the original X-Men stars after Patrick Stewart returned as Professor Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, though he played an alternate universe version of the character.

Jackman’s future with the MCU beyond Deadpool 3, which hits theaters in September 2024, is unclear. But one thing’s for sure: The film’s box office projections just shot way up.

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