Eddie Murphy Inspired Hugh Jackman To Reprise Role As Wolverine
Hugh Jackman said that seeing a screening of Deadpool 2 got him thinking about Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in 48 Hours; it made him want to team back up with Ryan Reynolds
It was only a month ago when Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman absolutely broke the internet with the announcement that the latter would come back as the character of Wolverine one last time in the hotly anticipated sequel Deadpool 3. Although the Oscar-nominated actor meant it when he said that 2017’s R-rated Logan would be his last outing as the metal claw-wielding superhero, Jackman had second thoughts during a 2016 screening of Deadpool. In a recent interview with Variety, he revealed that the buddy-cop movie 48 Hrs., which stars Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte, inspired him to turn in one last performance as the popular mutant.
“I went to a screening of Deadpool. I was 20 minutes in, and I was like, ‘Ah, damn it!’” Hugh Jackman said. “All I kept seeing in my head was 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. So it’s been brewing for a long time.” The actor, of course, was faced with a dilemma as he’d already gone on the record stating that Logan would be his final outing as Wolverine.
Rumors of Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine in Deadpool 3 have been swirling for quite some time, particularly since Ryan Reynolds has publicly pleaded for the actor to reprise the role on numerous occasions over the years. Of course, the two stars practically brought down the world wide web in September when a hilarious promotional video posted to Jackman’s Instagram account confirmed the hearsay. Since the announcement, a whole new wave of speculation has begun, and it will undoubtedly continue up to the film’s November 8th, 2024, release.
Hugh Jackman first made his appearance as Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, which is arguably the movie that kick-started the big screen, superhero craze. To date, the actor has portrayed the character for 17 years across nine films, and Deadpool 3 will mark his tenth turn as the mutant. Ryan Reynolds made his debut as the ‘Merc with the Mouth’ in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he starred alongside Jackman, before appearing in two R-rated solo movies, 2016’s Deadpool and 2018’s Deadpool 2.
Although X-Men Origins: Wolverine is one of the lowest-performing X-Men entries in terms of box office figures, earning just $373 million globally from a budget of $150 million, it sparked a lifelong friendship between Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. The two have playfully feuded for years, often taking to their social media pages to make hilarious jabs at each other.
Given the undeniable onscreen chemistry between the duo and taking into consideration Marvel’s successful track record of the years, we can’t wait to see Jackman and Reynolds make their MCU debuts in Deadpool 3, which is being helmed by Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) and scheduled to arrive in theaters next fall.
Oddly enough, Eddie Murphy is also reprising a role he purportedly put behind him a long time ago. The 61-year-old actor is set to return as Axel Foley in next year’s sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. Although it’s been nearly three decades since Murphy dawned his iconic varsity jacket as the foul-mouthed cop in Beverly Hills Cop III, it’s only been a few years since the release of Logan, where Hugh Jackman was thought to have hung up his Wolverine claws for good.
