'Wolverine 3' Role for Stephen Merchant
By Dave McNary, Variety
British actor-producer Stephen Merchant has joined Fox’s Wolverine 3, opposite Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart.
The film will start shooting in May, with James Mangold directing David James Kelly’s script. Jackman has asserted that the third Wolverine film will be his final appearance as the character.
Related: Hugh Jackman Wants Tom Hardy to Be the Next Wolverine
Boyd Holbrook came on board two weeks ago as the main villain in Wolverine 3.
Fox has scheduled Wolverine 3 for March 3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, directed by Gavin Hood, was the fourth film in the X-Men series and grossed $375 million worldwide in 2009. Four years later, Mangold directed The Wolverine, which grossed $415 million worldwide.
The Wolverine was the sixth film in the X-Men universe, followed by X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool, and X-Men: Apocalypse, which opens May 27. Wolverine 3 will be the 10th film in the franchise.
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Merchant co-created the original British sitcom The Office with Ricky Gervais. He also worked on The Ricky Gervais Show and Life’s Too Short.
Merchant created and starred in HBO’s comedy series Hello Ladies, which ran for one season in 2013. He’s represented by WME, United Agents, and Nelson Davis Wetzstein Llp.
The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
Watch Hugh Jackman officially reveal his next ‘Wolverine’ sequel will be his last: