Hugh Jackman’s legendary new role might just make Taron Egerton more likely to become the next Wolverine

Hugh Jackman, do you never rest? The ever-busy movie and theater star hasn’t even released his grand return to the Marvel blockbuster business in Deadpool & Wolverine yet and he’s already landed his next major role, playing a truly legendary character. What’s more, it’s a role that, if we squint a bit, may just help us deduce who could take over from him in the part of Logan.

In an unexpected career move, Jackman has signed up to star in The Death of Robin Hood, a bleaker-than-usual reimagining of the heroic archer from English folklore. Directed by Michael Sarnoski (A Quiet Place: Day One) and co-starring Killing Eve icon Jodie Comer, Jackman’s Robin will be a darker take on the character, as he’ll be “grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder.” 

So even after he sheathes his adamantium claws once more, Jackman will be hopping over to another larger-than-life hero. But who could fill in for him as Wolverine, as the MCU invariably introduces a rebooted version native to Earth-19999? One of the most popular fan suggestions, one that’s taken on such life that many believe it to be fact, is Taron Egerton. Here’s how Jackman just made that possibility even more probable.

Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton now share one role, so could they share another?

Egerton has been inadvertently circling the role of Wolverine ever since he co-starred opposite Jackman in 2016’s Eddie the Eagle and the world realized that the Kingsman star actually looks more like the comic book Wolverine than Hugh does, what with his relatively short stature. The poor man has been having to deny the rumors in every single interview he’s ever done since. Or at least until Daniel Radcliffe started getting the same treatment.

Now, though, Jackman is threatening to kick the conspiracy off again with his new Robin Hood role. If you’re thinking that Hollywood only just did a Robin Hood movie, that’s because they did — it came out in 2018 and starred Taron Egerton in the lead. After working together in Eddie the Eagle and both playing Robin Hood, it seems Jackman and Egerton’s careers are cosmically intertwined, which only makes the prospect of the latter becoming Logan that much more likely. Somewhere out there in the multiverse, the Watcher is watching the timelines coalesce.

What if… Taron Egerton one day becomes Wolverine? That’s definitely a question worth pondering.