- Hugh Jackman originated the role of Wolverine in the live action X-Men movies with the first film in 2000.
- Over 20+ years, he has played the iconic role nine times, even turning down the chance to play James Bond to stay with the franchise.
- In 2022, he announced he would be reprising the role for the 10th time to star alongside pal Ryan Reynolds in the Deadpool 3 film.
Hugh Jackman, 54, has had a storied career playing Logan/Wolverine on the big screen. The Australian actor was 32 years old when he made his debut as the iconic Marvel comic book character in the first X-Men film that came out in 2000. He dedicated himself to the role for eight more movies and even turned down replacing Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. That role went to Daniel Craig. “I was about to shoot X-Men 2 and Wolverine had become this thing in my life and I didn’t want to be doing two such iconic characters at once,” Hugh said in 2011.
After 17 years, Hugh said goodbye to Wolverine in 2017’s Logan — or so we thought! It was recently announced that Hugh will play Wolverine again in Deadpool 3 alongside Ryan Reynolds, and fans are so excited. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and relive all the times Hugh’s played Wolverine on the big screen, before we get into all the details about his highly-anticipated return!
How Long Has Hugh Jackman Played Wolverine?
Hugh has played Logan/Wolverine in nine movies across 17 years, not including his upcoming return in Deadpool 3. He had starring roles in seven of those films and made cameo appearances in the other two. Here’s all the movies that have featured Hugh as Wolverine!
X-Men
Hugh’s debut as Wolverine was in X-Men in 2000. The movie introduced Wolverine joining the X-Men to protect Rogue from the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto. X-Men starred Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Halle Berry as Storm, James Marsden as Cyclops, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Anna Paquin as Rogue, and Shawn Ashmore as Iceman. The film grossed over $296.3 million at the worldwide box office.
X2
Hugh returned for the X-Men sequel, X2: X-Men United, which came out in 2003. In the movie, the X-Men and Magneto team up against Colonel William Stryker, who wants to kill all mutants and has a history with Wolverine. The film introduced Brian Cox as Stryker and Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler. X2 grossed $407 million worldwide.
X-Men: The Last Stand
Hugh played Wolverine for the third time in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, the final installment in the original X-Men trilogy. The film explores Jean Grey’s resurrection into the Phoenix, as the government creates a “cure” for mutants. Newcomers include Kelsey Grammer as Beast and Elliot Page as Kitty Pryde. X-Men: The Last Stand grossed $459 million worldwide but received negative reviews.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Hugh finally got his own movie as the mutant character in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which kicked off the Wolverine trilogy. The film explores Logan’s childhood and his relationships with William Stryker and his half-brother Victor Creed. Troye Sivan plays young Logan, Danny Hurston plays Stryker, Liev Schreiber plays Victor, and Ryan Reynolds makes his debut as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. X-Men Origins: Wolverine grossed $373 million worldwide.
X-Men: First Class
Hugh made a cameo appearance in X-Men: First Class, which came out in 2011, and takes place before Charles Xavier officially forms the X-Men. Wolverine declines an invitation to join the team as he’s sitting at a bar drinking beer. That’s his only appearance in the film. X-Men: First Class grossed $353.6 million worldwide.
The Wolverine
Hugh returned for The Wolverine in 2013, which takes places after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. Wolverine travels to Japan and battles the Silver Samurai. At the end of the film, Wolverine is approached by Professor X and Magneto who ask for his help against the Sentinels. The Wolverine starred Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen, Tao Okamoto as Mariko, and Rila Fukushima as Yukio. The film grossed $414 million at the worldwide box office.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
In 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, Wolverine travels back in time from a dystopian future to 1973, where he tries to stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Task which caused the launch of the Sentinels. The film starred James McAvoy as Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, and Evan Peters as Quicksilver. Other original X-Men cast members including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Halle Berry also return. X-Men Days of Future Past grossed over $746 million worldwide.
X-Men: Apocalypse
Hugh had an uncredited cameo appearance in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. Wolverine is seen escaping the compound where he was experiment on, and it’s revealed that a young Jean Grey actually helped him escape. The film features ancient mutant Apocalypse who fights the X-Men as he tries to destroy modern civilization. It grossed $543.9 million worldwide.
Logan
Hugh’s supposed swan song as Wolverine was in Logan which came out in 2017. It followed an aged Wolverine on his final adventure. SPOILER ALERT: Wolverine dies at the end of the movie, signaling the official end of Hugh’s run as the superhero on the big screen. Logan also starred Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23, Boyd Holbrook as Pierce, and Stephen Merchant as Caliban. The movie grossed $619.2 million worldwide and received critical acclaim, becoming the best-reviewed film in the X-Men franchise.
Hugh Jackman’s Return in ‘Deadpool 3’
Fans were shocked when news broke on September 27 that Hugh Jackman was returning as Wolverine for Deadpool 3. The announcement came from Ryan Reynolds, who played Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, before he got his own two films that came out in 2016 and 2018.
“Hey everyone, we’re extremely sad to have missed D23, but we’ve been working very hard on the next Deadpool film for a good long while now,” Ryan said at the beginning of the social media video where he announced Hugh’s return. “I’ve had to really search my soul on this one. His first appearance in the MCU obviously needs to feel special. We need to stay true to the character, find new depth, motivation, meaning.” Then, Ryan revealed that the Deadpool team decided to bring back Wolverine. “Hey, Hugh, you want to play Wolverine one more time?” he asked as Hugh nonchalantly walked by behind him. “Yeah, sure, Ryan,” Hugh replied.
Yeah, sure. pic.twitter.com/LaSBjDeLjI
— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) September 27, 2022
In a second video, Hugh and Ryan sat on the couch together and confirmed that Wolverine’s death in Logan isn’t being undone by Deadpool 3. “Logan takes place in 2029. Totally separate thing. Logan died in Logan. Not touching that,” Ryan explained. It’s possible Hugh is plying a different iteration of Logan/Wolverine thanks to the multiverse in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Deadpool 3 was initially set for a theatrical release on September 6, 2024. Marvel has since pushed back the release date to November 8, 2024. The film was delayed along with other Marvel movies including Blade, Fantastic Four, and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine In The MCU
The X-Men film franchise, including the first two Deadpool movies, were owned by 20th Century Fox, which got bought by Disney in 2019. That means all the characters from the X-Men franchise — including Hugh’s Wolverine — can now legally be involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Deadpool 3 will be the first Deadpool movie set in the MCU, thus it marks Logan/Wolverine’s debut in the MCU. But Deadpool and Wolverine won’t be the first X-Men characters to crossover into the MCU!
First, Evan Peters appeared in WandaVision allegedly as Wanda’s brother Quicksilver, though it was later revealed he was actually just a Westview resident named Ralph Bohner. Patrick Stewart returned as a different version of Professor X in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. In the miniseries Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan is revealed to be a mutant to the sound of the theme song for X-Men: The Animated Series (which is being revived by Marvel). And in the miniseries She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, there’s two references to Wolverine. The first is when Jennifer Walters is on the computer where there’s a link that says “Man fights with metal claws in bar brawl.” A few episodes later, Jennifer’s pal Nikki Ramos shows off makeup brushes in between her fingers, a clear reference to Wolverine’s claws.