‘Logan’ Director Opens Up About Hugh Jackman’s Return as Wolverine

It’s been over six years since we watched ‘Logan’ in theaters. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine trilogy started in 2009 with one ultimate failure called ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine,’ the 2013 sequel ‘The Wolverine’ was better received, but the trilogy concluded in the best way possible with 2017’s ‘Logan,’ which turned out to be arguably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.

James Mangold, who directed ‘The Wolverine’ and ‘Logan,’ launched his career into the stars with the latter. ‘Logan’ earned him his first Academy Award nomination (for Best Adapted Screenplay), and after that, he directed ‘Ford V Ferrari,’ a sports drama starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Since then, Mangold directed the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, and his next two projects are both set in blockbusters franchises; an untitled ‘Star Wars’ movie about the first Jedi and the DC movie ‘Swamp Thing.’

James Mangold shares his thoughts about Wolverine’s return in ‘Deadpool 3’

Hugh Jackman debuted the Wolverine in the original ‘X-Men’ movie in 2000, and as we remember, he initially announced that he’d retire from the role after ‘Logan,’ and the movie really ended in that way. However, we know that Jackman is a good friend of ‘Deadpool’ star Ryan Reynolds, who convinced him to return one more time in the upcoming ‘Deadpool 3,’ which will bring its title character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

‘Deadpool 3’ is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated MCU projects, mainly thanks to Jackman’s return and the fact that it’s going to be the first R-rated MCU movie. However, while fans are certainly excited for what’s to come, the director of ‘Logan’ James Mangold, admits that he can’t shake the feeling that Jackman’s Wolverine’s path should’ve ended where it ended in ‘Logan,’ as it was initially planned six years ago.

“I can’t say that there’s a part of me that doesn’t wish that we’d let it be. But there was always going to be another Wolverine. There could be a baby Wolverine and a cartoon Wolverine. As much liquid as they can squeeze out of that rag, they’re going to try to. I don’t measure my success on a movie like ‘Logan’ with whether we ended the conversation. I ended my conversation.”

James Mangold for Variety

Mangold revealed that, for him, Wolverine’s story finished where he finished it in ‘Logan,’ and now it’s up to ‘Deadpool 3’ director Shawn Levy to bring the character back to the big screen and not to ruin Mangold’s Wolverine legacy by bringing Jackman back in the right way. We wouldn’t want to be in Levy’s shoes because he’s really got a huge job on his hands. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman announced that ‘Deadpool 3’ won’t touch or interfere with anything that happened in ‘Logan,’ and we can’t wait to see what they’re preparing for us.

‘Deadpool 3’ is currently in production and will be released on May 3, 2024. The movie will also star returning stars Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Stefan Kapičić, and Rob Delaney.

How do you think the events of ‘Deadpool 3’ will fit into Wolverine’s story from Fox’s X-Men franchise? Let us know in the comments.

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