One of the most surprising –– and for plenty of people, biggest –– news stories of the year was the surprising announcement from Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman that the latter’s Logan character (better known as Wolverine) would be returning to screens for the third ‘Deadpool’ movie.
The revelation, couched in a typically funny video from Reynolds, who tried to convince us all that he’d run out of ideas for another outing by Wade Wilson, the Merc with a Mouth, set the internet alight.
Both Reynolds and Jackman have been asked about the idea since then, and with Jackman out and about promoting his latest starring role in Florian Zeller’s drama ‘The Son’, he’s been talking a little bit about what we can expect.
Though the two actors share a happy friendship (even if they’ve played it up as a huge rivalry in the past), it sounds like the relationship between the characters will be less than convivial.
“He’s annoyed by him,” he told the Empire Podcast. “Wolverine is frustrated by Deadpool and wants to be a million miles away from him or wants to punch him in the head. Unfortunately, he can’t be a million miles away from him in this movie, so I’m probably going to punch him in the head a lot.”
And while Jackman had long considered 2017’s excellent ‘Logan’ as the last time he’ll play the character on screen, he doesn’t consider the new appearance as breaking continuity, since it’ll take place in the timeline before the events of James Mangold’s movie.
But why come back at all? Obviously, Reynolds can be a persuasive person. And Jackman can point to when he decided to say yes. “It was August 14th, I remember driving, and it came to me like that, I just thought, this is going to be so much fun,” he adds on the podcast. “I’ll probably have more fun on that movie than anything I’ve ever done.”
And that includes a final potshot at his pal. “I want it to be better than ever, to be in better shape than ever, more able to do things than ever,” Jackman said. “I just get the added incentive of taking Ryan Reynolds out each day.”
‘Deadpool 3’ has been in the works for a while now, Reynolds working alongside the likes of ‘Bobs Burgers’ veterans Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin on initial script drafts before regular ‘Deadpool’ writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were brought back into crank out further revisions.
Little else is known about the movie at this point. While Marvel’s Kevin Feige and the Disney studio executives have been quick to stress that Deadpool will be allowed to be Deadpool without his sharper edges filed away, it remains to be seen what a Wade Wilson in the MCU looks and sounds like.
‘Deadpool 3’ is currently scheduled to punch its way into theaters on September 6th, 2024.
