In between filming huge projects like Red Notice and Deadpool 3, Ryan Reynolds is enjoying his favorite hobby: Dragging 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
He’s made an art form out of skewering the film in the years since it debuted. The film was a massive disappointment to fans of the Merc with a Mouth, utterly butchering the character fans had come to know in comics. Reynolds agreed to do the film despite knowing, even as it was being filmed, that the character would be a bust. Due to this, he has delighted in crucifying the film whenever the opportunity arises.
A fresh occasion for roasting arose following an innocuous tweet from Steven Spohn, Chief Operations Officer at the AbleGamers Charity Foundation. He asked the denizens of Twitter “What ended your closest friendship,” and Reynolds quickly seized the opportunity to partake in his favorite past time.
He flawlessly slammed the film in incredibly succinct form. He simply responded to the tweet with a scathing “X-Men: Origins,” and quickly became the most popular reply. His brief reply tweet almost immediately surpassed the popularity of the original, which currently has 2,300 likes.
Reynolds’ response, on the other hand, has a whopping 14,200.
Fans of Reynolds’ work immediately jumped on the hate train, sharing their own takes on the universally reviled version of Wade Wilson. Many shared images from the film — which manage to be insulting without any extra context — or noted their opinions on what Reynolds’ real answer should have been. (Which is worse, X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Green Lantern?)
While many fans were busy debating Reynolds’ worst film project, others zeroed in on the real joke in his tweet. The question, after all, wasn’t, “What was your worst job experience?” It was “What ended your closest friendship?” — which likely means that Reynolds is referencing his favorite person to hate on, Hugh Jackman. Jackman played Wolverine in X-Men Origins and it was the first time the duo appeared on screen together.
It was also the birth of their famous faux feud, one that has stretched for more than a decade now. The two delight in taking one another down a peg, whether it be through ads for their respective businesses, commercials for upcoming projects, or via in-person pranks.
People seized the opportunity to roast Reynolds for his Jackman jab, with one noting, “He never liked you anyway.”
Jackman has yet to respond to Reynolds’ tweet, but knowing the two of them, a scathing reply is already incoming. The two seem to find endless joy in roasting one another whenever the opportunity arises, and Reynolds just issued a challenge that Jackman is highly unlikely to ignore.
