Fan speculation about what version of Wolverine we are getting in Deadpool 3 is running rampant after some fake set photos of Hugh Jackman purported to be filming scenes went viral on Twitter.
On the surface, the post by Twitter user @adrianm0on seem to be genuine. In fact, they even fooled me at one point.
But upon closer inspection in the comments section, another user by the name of @newstoatonish appeared to call the post out for being BS.
When I saw this remark, I took it upon myself to reverse image search each purported leak. Using the site TinEye, I discovered the first image of Jackman in a tanktop is actually a behind-the-scenes photo for 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, as can be seen on the Russian website Gamer.ru. The second photo, in which Jackman is wearing a navy blue button-down shirt, appears to actually be from the set of 2013’s The Wolverine, according to the website MatrixPictures.com.au.
Even though the photos are disappointingly not based in reality, that did not stop them from gaining millions of views in their re-contextualized form on Twitter. And we will admit, it is still a fun opportunity to speculate about what version of the rapid-healing yet tortured soul Logan will appear in the merc with the mouth’s threequel.
After all, Jackman is confirmed to be returning as the character in the Ryan Reynolds-starring superhero film. So it isn’t completely uncalled for to expect some set photos to leak now and again (we may have to wait patiently for the real thing).
Jackman first appeared as the adamantium-infused hero in 2000’s X-Men for 20th Century Fox. Ever since, The Greatest Showman star has been the headliner for the entire franchise. However, Fox’s X-Men universe is one of the most convoluted franchises in comic book movie history, with some speculating Jackman’s swan song — 2017’s Logan — may take place in some kind of alternative universe.
Though James Mangold’s Logan takes place in a distant future from our own, it seems too pessimistic an ending for the rest of the X-Men team, who were mostly killed off years ago in the world of the film. Nevertheless, Logan could have served as a fittingly somber concluding chapter to Fox’s entire X-Men universe at that point but the franchise limped on with two more underwhelming offerings — 2019’s Dark Phoenix and 2020’s New Mutants.
Suffice it to say, there are arguably a lot of versions of Wolverine to choose from at this point, especially when you consider the timeline-altering and franchise-best Days of Future Past.
One interesting theory is that Jackman will actually be playing himself, the Hollywood movie star, rather than a superhero. This would be a logical choice for a Deadpool movie since the franchise is known for its meta-humor and even mentioned Jackman by name in the first movie.
It would also be logical to assume that Jackman may be directly following up The Wolverine and finally give us the comics accurate, yellow-suited version fo the character which was teased at the end of that film.
Regardless of how Jackman’s appearance in Deadpool 3 ultimately shakes out, it will be a delight to see him reuniting with Reynolds as their respective characters since the last time they shared the screen together in such a capacity was in the critically-hated X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Deadpool 3 is expected to hit theaters on May 3, 2024.