Hugh Jackman explains why he went back on Wolverine retirement plans for Deadpool 3

Australian actor is set to reprise ‘X-Men’ role in third ‘Deadpool’ movie

Hugh Jackman has revealed what inspired his decision to return as Wolverine.

The Australian actor revealed in September that he would reprise the role in the third Deadpool film, despite deciding that the 2017 film Logan would be his final time playing the X-Men character.

Jackman announced the news alongside Ryan Reynolds, which led to many, including Logan director James Mangold, questioning how Jackman’s Wolverine could return despite being killed off.

In a new interview, Jackman, who made the decision to retire his version of Wolverine after shooting Logan in 2016, has now shared that it was seeing the first Deadpool film that made him change his mind.

“I went to a screening of Deadpool,” Jackman told Variety, adding: “I was 20 minutes in, and I was like, ‘Ah, damn it.’

“All I kept seeing in my head was 48 Hours with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. So it’s been brewing for a long time. It just took me longer to get here.”

He said that, up until then, Reynolds had been pleading with him “daily” to join forces for a Deadpool film.

“I think, actually, he’d given up,” Jackman said. “I think it was a big shock to him.”

Deadpool 3 will be released in 2024.