Robert Downey Jr. and his Avengers co-stars may have appeared in multiple movies for Marvel Studios, but currently no one has come close to beating Hugh Jackman’s longevity in a superhero role. The Australian actor played Wolverine in Fox’s X-Men universe from 2000 all the way until 2017’s Logan, which killed off his character. Apparently, for good. Though there are hopes he might return now that Fox has been gobbled up by Disney, Jackman has revealed he’s completely at peace with someone else taking over the part.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Jackman came up with a good metaphor for his personal feelings about the idea of reprising Logan within the MCU, making clear that, though it’s tempting, he’s confident he’s ready to move on.
“I knew it was the right time for me to leave the party—not just for me, but for the character… Somebody else will pick it up and run with it. It’s too good of a character not to. It’s kind of like, you’re on your way home and your friend rings you and goes, ‘Oh, dude, a new DJ just came on and the music is awesome, are you going to come back?’ And you say, Sounds good but…no. They’re fine with someone else.”
These comments from Jackman add up with pretty much everything he’s said on the topic before. As much as we might want him to come back so that he can interact with our favorite MCU heroes, it seems that the star is perfectly happy with what he achieved as the character for nearly 20 years and is content with giving another actor a shot at bringing Logan to life. That doesn’t mean he won’t ever return for a quick cameo – as we’ve heard such a thing may be on the cards – but in terms of playing the role full-time, those days are behind him now and whoever has to replace him is going to have to seriously impress in the part.
Fans have come up with a lot of potential contenders already, with a recent favorite rising to the top of the pile being Superman himself, Henry Cavill. It’s not yet known exactly what Marvel’s got planned for Wolverine, though, so they really could go in any direction with it. But the odds are high that they won’t rest such an iconic character for long.
