The fact that we’ll see Hugh Jackman again as the Wolverine has certainly made the upcoming Deadpool 3 one of the most anticipated MCU movies ever. Considering that this announcement was made officially (unlike Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield was leaked and therefore expected, but never officially acknowledged until the movie’s release), Deadpool 3 will surely have a large marketing campaign ahead of its release and therefore we can definitely expect a huge box-office result.
But, Hugh Jackman has been playing Wolverine since the first X-Men movie, which was released in 2000. That’s more than 20 years, which makes Jackman definitely the longest-running Marvel actor of all time. However, we have to ask ourselves how old was Jackman when he first played Wolverine, and how old will he be when Deadpool 3 hits theaters in September 2024.
Hugh Jackman was born on October 12, 1968. When the first X-Men movie was first released on July 14, 2000, Jackman was 31 years, 9 months, and 2 days old. Jackman initially said that his final movie as Wolverine is Logan, which was released on March 3, 2017, when Jackman was 48 years, 4 months, and 22 days old. However, now we know that Logan isn’t his last movie in this role. When Deadpool 3 hits theaters on September 6, 2024, Jackman will be 55 years, 10 months, and 25 days old.
How old was Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the movies?
Jackman’s character, James “Jimmy” Howlett, also known as Logan or The Wolverine is known as one of the oldest X-Men. His mutation provided him with enhanced physical parameters and a powerful healing factor. Even though he grew old and vulnerable due to the poisoning of his adamantium skeleton, he still lived a lot longer than any regular human. When was Wolverine born, and old was he when he died?
As shown in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, James Howlett was born in 1832. The first X-Men movie takes place in 2000, when Wolverine was 168 years old. Wolverine died in the Logan movie, which takes place in 2029 in the revised timeline (which was created in X-Men: Days of the Future Past). Wolverine was 197 years old when he died.
After Ryan Reynolds announced Jackman’s return in Deadpool 3, many fans were hyped about it, but some had burning questions, and the most common question was: How is Wolverine alive after Logan? Less than 24 hours after the announcement, Reynolds and Jackman reminded the fans that Logan takes place in 2029. Also, Deadpool 3 will be a totally separate thing, and it will not touch Wolverine’s death in Logan in any way. So no worries, we aren’t getting zombie Wolverine and Wolverine’s death won’t interfere with the events of Deadpool 3, rest assured.
Will Hugh Jackman continue to play Wolverine after Deadpool 3?
Hugh Jackman played the role of Wolverine in nine movies so far, including his cameo in X-Men: First Class, but excluding the archive footage that was used in the mid-credit scene of Deadpool 2. Deadpool 3 will mark his tenth appearance as the Wolverine. It’s not known if Deadpool 3 will now really be his final-final appearance in the role or if he’ll reprise the role in some MCU crossover event, considering we’re getting two Avengers movies in 2025.
After Jackman moved on from the role of Wolverine after Logan (or so we thought), there were many actors who were mentioned as potential candidates for his successor, particularly after Disney purchased Fox in 2019 and it became clear that X-Men will eventually join the MCU. But, just like Reynolds got to keep his role as Deadpool from Fox’s franchise, because we can’t think of anyone else playing that role, we also can’t think of anyone else in the role of Wolverine but Jackman. At least not at this very moment.
Deadpool 3 will probably have something to do with the Multiverse and all that stuff that’s currently a part of the MCU, but we aren’t excluding the possibility that some other actor will succeed Jackman as the new Wolverine of the main MCU timeline in the future, most likely once the whole X-Men team joins the franchise full-time.
Hugh Jackman is one of the best-known Australian actors nowadays, and he can thank the role of Wolverine for the career and reputation he has today. When he played the role for the first time in 2000, he wasn’t such a known actor, but the role was his breakthrough which eventually earned him other roles like Van Helsing in the homonymous 2004 movie. He also starred in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige and Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners. In 2012, he starred in Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables, for which he was nominated for the Best Actor in the Leading Role. Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards ceremony in 2009.
Directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, Deadpool 3 is set to be released on September 6, 2024.
