After 17 years of playing Wolverine, Hugh Jackman decided to say goodbye to the most famous role of his career for good, making Logan his final outing as the Adamantium X-Man. It must have been a tough decision to exit such an acclaimed, iconic part, but the actor believed that it was the right time to go, and it turns out the impetus for the career move came from a very unlikely source.
While talking to Variety, Jackman reiterated a story you might have heard back when he was promoting Logan. The Australian star once met up with comedian Jerry Seinfeld and took the opportunity to ask him why he decided to end his smash-hit sitcom Seinfeld after nine seasons. It was the comedian’s reply that inspired Jackman to make Logan his final X-Men movie, as Jerry told him:
“He said, ‘I’ve always believed, you should never spend everything creatively because it’s almost herculean to start up again. You should always have something in the tank.’ Leave the party before it gets too late kind of theory.”
Despite Jackman being very clear that he’s put the X-Men franchise behind him, fans are still hoping that he’ll change his mind and return to the part now that new opportunities have opened up for the character. After all, following on from Disney’s buyout of 20th Century Fox, Wolverine is likely going to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the next few years. And even though Jackman’s said in the past that he’d have loved to rub shoulders with Iron Man and Hulk, he’s since re-iterated that he’s left the role for good.
Considering that, then, it’s likely that Marvel Studios will have to reboot the character and find a new Wolverine to stand alongside the Avengers in the MCU. Whoever the new actor that’s chosen is, though, they’ll surely have a tough time living up to the long shadow of Hugh Jackman.
