If there’s one thing that sums up modern fandom in microcosm, it’s the announcement of Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. Seeing the actor team up with BFF Ryan Reynolds in the superhero genre has been a dream for a huge number of fans ever since X-Men Origins completely ruined it for everyone, while having the longtime Logan board the Marvel Cinematic Universe was near the top of the wish-list for virtually every mutant supporter.
And yet, one of the first things to happen in the aftermath of the earth-shattering reveal was an outpouring of backlash. Almost instantly, a vocal subset began blasting Deadpool 3 for sullying the ending of Jackman’s “final” outing in Logan, which grew so loud for a hot minute that not only did director James Mangold reassure everyone he was okay with it, but a second video was swiftly released to clear up any canonical confusion.
It was a wild couple of days, that’s for sure, so it’s no surprise to hear actor, producer, and business mogul Reynolds admit to Forbes that he was shaking when the initial tease went live, before voicing his concerns about not wanting to mess with the zeitgeist.
“I couldn’t be more excited. I mean, especially to do it this way. Ultimately, I get to work with some of my closest friends in the world and that doesn’t happen every day working in this business. I’m thrilled and I’ve been sitting on those couple of teasers for a few weeks now.
It’s one of those moments where you’re hitting send or a tweet or a post – your hand is shaking when you’re messing with the zeitgeist in a way like that. It’s been amazing. I feel the same way that the fans do, though. I feel as excited that this character is coming back for another ride, particularly in this context. I think it’s something that people have wanted for a long time, to get this pairing up on the big screen, and that’s what we aim to do.”
We’ve been waiting long enough for Deadpool 3 as it is, but the addition of Jackman has only served to both whet appetites and raise expectations exponentially, even if we’re feeling confident that the dynamic duo and director Shawn Levy are more than capable of pulling it off.
