In ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ Ryan Reynolds jokes that Disney will make Hugh Jackman play Wolverine until he’s 90
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How many more times might Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman play Deadpool and Wolverine? It depends on whether Reynolds can convince his costar.
“I speak for me, which is, at some point, I’d love to do it again,” Reynolds, 48, said of reprising his character, speaking to The Wrap in an interview published Tuesday, Nov. 26. Deadpool & Wolverine, the third movie led by Reynolds as the foul-mouthed anti-hero and his first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ended with the possibility of more installments.
“Ryan does leave me a voicemail every third day or so that just says, ‘Until you’re 90,’” said Jackman, 56, referencing a meta joke from their movie in which Deadpool tells Wolverine that Disney will make him play the character for that long.
Jackman first played Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men and proceeded to appear as the superpowered mutant in nine more films including this summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine. His joining Reynolds in the latter was a surprise announcement considering 2017’s Logan, featuring Wolverine’s death, was announced as his final time in the role.
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“The moment I saw Deadpool, one week after announcing Logan would be my last, I was like, hmmm,” Jackman told the outlet. “I could see it, I could feel it and also I knew that that was an entire avenue/suburb/city that I’ve never lived in, in this character. I felt it was the right time.”
He added that reprising his role as Wolverine “followed a question in my head of, if you could do anything, what would it be? And that’s what came to me.”
“Hugh turned in one of the great performances that I’ve ever seen take shape in front of me on a set,” said Deadpool & Wolverine director and co-writer Shawn Levy. “He found new dimensions and parts of Logan. It was a joy for Ryan and I to write for that but really terrifying. We knew we had something that people might not expect.”
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“Ryan always had a mantra” on set, added Jackman. “If the expectation is here, we have to deliver above… If you think we’ve got to work 100%, it’s not enough, because the expectation is so high. We were always working hard and whatever bar was there, this, for me, was above.”
As for future collaborations outside of Marvel Comics adaptations, Reynolds told Variety earlier this month that he’s “spending the year writing” an unrelated project for him, Jackman and Levy, 56.
Deadpool & Wolverine has earned $1.34 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. It’s the second-highest earner of 2024 after Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2.
