My mixed feelings on Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine

There’s so much superhero fatigue nowadays, it’s hard for a new film to really break the internet. But Ryan Reynolds managed it and then some. In a teaser trailer for Deadpool 3, Reynolds teased us by suggesting that, despite his best efforts to produce an exciting or novel idea, he was drawing a blank. But then, he said with a smile, there was one thought. We saw Hugh Jackman walk behind him, and Reynolds asked if he wanted to come back and play Wolverine one last time. Jackman’s casual response – “Yeah, sure Ryan” – betrayed just how monumental this news was. One of the icons of the superhero genre would be back – and, in all honesty, I’m excited but worried.

   Jackman was first cast as Wolverine way back in 2000’s X-Men, a film that hit cinemas when the superhero genre was on its way out after the failure of increasingly campy Batman films. It treated the comic books seriously, and despite some criticism that Jackman was not really that similar to the Wolverine of the page, the bond between actor and character was soon unbreakable. He played the character nine times, Wolverine’s arc wrapping up in the incredible Logan as the aging hero fought to protect a young mutant and died in the process. It’s a beautiful film, and I wept at several points in the cinema.

   Given the character’s death, and Jackman’s continued affirmation that he was done with Logan, it was likely that was the end. But then, now it’s been announced, the return of Wolverine feels like the only logical approach to Deadpool 3. Reynolds has frequently stated that he wanted Jackman to return, and the two previous Deadpool films have featured references to the character – using old footage from 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (in which Reynolds played a much-derided version of Deadpool), there was even a Wolverine cameo, which hinted at the crossover. And after the return of Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness despite the character’s death in Logan (albeit as a different version), the groundwork was laid.

I don’t want Logan to be a crutch that will keep a dying cinematic universe limping on

   And I’ll be honest – when I first saw the trailer, I was very excited. I loved the X-Men films, and that feeling of excited nostalgia was akin only to the sheer joy I felt watching Spider-Man: No Way Home and seeing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprise their roles. Make no mistake, the idea of Jackman returning to the role is a fantastic development, and if it’s handled right, it will be a must-see film. I trust the Deadpool franchise more than the main MCU, and I’m sure that Jackman will exert the same control over how the character is portrayed as Maguire and Garfield did. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been increasingly short of selling points since Endgame, and this is a big one.

   But the more I think about it, the more the worries creep in. Sure, there are worries that one more appearance might undercut the beauty of Logan, although I trust that’s likely not going to be the case if Jackman is onboard – he knows the character better than anyone. As Marvel goes increasingly multiversal, one solution is simply to make this Logan a version of a Wolverine from a reality we don’t know – but at that point, where’s the investment? It’s the same marketing plug as Professor X in Doctor Strange, a cameo trading on fan goodwill for other, better films.

   And my overriding concern is for the future of the MCU. Let’s be frank – it’s in a bad place. The characters audiences loved are gone, and the new ones are a pale imitation. People don’t like the films, and the TV shows are invariably naff, so what is the studio to do? It keeps looking backwards, bringing back long-dead characters (such as Loki, Vision, even Black Widow) and trading on the love developed in other franchises (Spider-Man, and now X-Men) to prop up a series of lacklustre offerings. I want Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine because I’m a huge fan, and I’m sure I’ll love the film – but I don’t want Logan to be a crutch that will keep a dying cinematic universe limping on even longer.