Long before Logan was released, Hugh Jackman repeatedly insisted that it would be his last time growing out the mutton chops and strapping on the claws to play Wolverine. Of course, that hasn’t stopped rumors from making the rounds on a regular basis ever since that he was poised for a return anyway, with Disney’s purchase of Fox the catalyst.
Jackman did admit on several occasions that he’d have loved the opportunity to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Wolverine and square off against the various members of the Avengers, but his comments were always in the past tends. Even at that, we’ve still been hearing tales on a regular basis that he’s being lined up for all sorts of cameo appearances and supporting roles in a myriad of projects, many of which only exist on a hypothetical basis.
Following the passing of Richard Donner, the actor shared two images online that sent the internet into a tizzy, with one of them a stark image of the iconic claws and the other showing him arm-in-arm with Kevin Feige, who he met when Donner executive produced Bryan Singer’s X-Men, which was Feige’s first major gig in the industry.
However, in a new interview to promote his upcoming sci-fi Reminiscence, Jackman was once again asked about a Wolverine comeback, and he shut it down about as politely as you’d expect.
“It’s in my past, man. Don’t tell anyone, alright? Let me just say one more thing. Because as I said that, there’s not a day goes by where I’m not unbelievably grateful for having been part of that MCU Universe. Particularly to be there at the beginning of it, and to watch it. To see Kevin Feige going from being an assistant to a producer and a mate of mine, to where he is today. And that was a role of a lifetime. So, I don’t ever want people to feel that when I say I’m done, it’s a glib thing. It was one of the great chapters of my life.”
The 52 year-old is going to be answering questions about Wolverine for the remainder of his career, but at some point we’re all going to have to move past the fact we won’t be seeing him play the character again, as much as we’d all love to see it happen.