How did Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine materalise?

Hugh Jackman has revealed that his return as Wolverine has actually been brewing in his mind for a long time after seeing Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool.

The actor first appeared as Logan / Wolverine in 2000's X-Men and would go on to make numerous more appearances as the character in the original X-Men trilogy as well as the prequel trilogy which included X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.

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Jackman's last appearance as Wolverine came in Logan in 2017, and the character's arc and death in that movie meant that it was generally accepted that he had retired from the role.

Indeed, Jackman himself expressed apprehension about returning as Logan again.

However, he will appear as the character in Deadpool 3, as confirmed by Reynolds.

Within the first two Deadpool movies, Wade Wilson has made constant references to Wolverine, even the character's death, utilising his ability to break the fourth wall.

Jackman says that he was convinced Wolverine and Deadpool would work as a buddy comedy after seeing the first movie in 2016.

“I went to a screening of Deadpool," he recalled to Variety.

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.”

Jackman ultimately surrendered to Reynolds' constant pleas for a Wolverine return, but even Reynolds was surprised.

“I think, actually, he’d given up,” he says. “I think it was a big shock to him. There was a massive pause, and then he said, ‘I can’t believe the timing of this.’”

The timing was significant as Reynolds was shortly going to pitch ideas for Deadpool 3 to Marvel executive Kevin Fiege.

Jackman's return as Wolverine was confirmed via a hilarious social media post including Reynolds.

Jackman's Wolverine return confirmed