Hugh Jackman Talks 'Logan' Retirement, Leaves Door Slightly Open for More Wolverine Sometime Down the Road
This March’s Logan will find Marvel’s most popular mutant, adamantium-clawed Wolverine, navigating a post-apocalyptic future in which Professor X (Patrick Stewart) is a failing old man, mutant-kind has been largely eradicated, and the key to the future is a young girl (Dafne Keen) with abilities eerily similar to his own. As has been endlessly reported in the months leading up to the film’s debut, it’ll be Hugh Jackman’s swan song as the character he originated on the big screen 17 years ago — although in a new interview with The New York Times, he’s leaving the door ever-so-slightly open for a possible return engagement someday.
Related: We Saw 40 Minutes of ‘Logan,’ and It’s Going to Change Superhero Movies
In a lengthy piece about Jackman’s decision to step away from the role that brought him international fame, the actor reaffirms his commitment to hanging up his claws…at least, for now. As the Times writes:
“But asked if he envisions ‘Logan’ as his final outing as Wolverine, he answered, “When I had the script, I was like, ‘Yes,’” he said. “And when I was shooting the movie, yes. As I sit here today, yes.”
“God knows how I’ll feel in three years,” he continued. “But right now, absolutely.”
That sounds a lot like a qualified statement to us, with Jackman making sure fans know that, if the urge to revisit Wolverine strikes in a few years, or a particularly enticing new project rears its head (Deadpool, anyone?), he’s willing to never say never. And that, in turn, should be heartening news for fans of Fox’s X-Men franchise, given that it’s been at its best when Jackman’s spiky-haired hero is involved.
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For now, however, moviegoers will have to take Jackman at his word that the promising-looking Logan will be his last appearance as Wolverine, but one way or another, he’s not disappearing from multiplex screens.
“Let’s be clear — I’m not retiring,” Jackman tells the Times. The article notes Jackman has been in New York filming The Greatest Showman, a musical in which he plays P.T. Barnum, scheduled for a Dec. 25, 2017, release.
Veering back to Wolverine, he notes that, for as many times as he has played the character, in the “X-Men” series and solo “Wolverine” movies, “there’s been a gnawing turmoil that I hadn’t really nailed it, fully — either story or performance or whatever.”
Related: ‘Logan’ Shares Hints in Photos, Storyboards
It’s not just the X-movies, he said: “Every film I’ve ever done, I’ve had that gnawing doubt. But I have it way less in this one,” referring to Logan.
Whether he’s truly nailed his performance as Wolverine will be for fans to judge soon enough, as Logan slashes into theaters on March 3. To read the full Hugh Jackman profile, head over to The New York Times.
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