Date: 30th March 2015

Hugh Jackman: I'll Play Wolverine 'One Last Time'.


Hugh Jackman has hinted that he will be bowing out of the Marvel comic book franchise after the third Wolverine film.

The 46-year-old Australian star posted a photo of his right hand with the famous adamantium claws and the caption: "WOLVERINE ...ONE LAST TIME. HJ" on Instagram.

Jackman has been playing the role of the mutant since 2000 when he appeared as Wolverine in the first X-Men film.

Since then a slew of sequels and a prequel have been released, including two spin-off Wolverine films X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009 and The Wolverine in 2013.

For the last few ‘X-Men’ movies, the one major question which has kept coming up time and again is, just how many more times will Hugh Jackman reprise Wolverine? The Australian actor has played the role that made him a movie star an unprecedented six times to date (seven if we count his very brief ‘X-Men: First Class’ cameo), and recently joked he should “never stop” playing the role.

However, with a single Instagram post Jackman would appear to have confirmed the end is near, and he faces the final curtain…
Hugh Jackman: I'll Play Wolverine 'One Last Time'

Okay - so, it isn’t entirely unexpected that Jackman would choose to bow out as everyone’s favourite angry, claw-wielding mutant one of these days. Fifteen years have passed since the original ‘X-Men,’ and Jackman has kept himself in remarkable shape in that time - boasting a considerably more muscular physique in the more recent films than in the first three - but even so, considering that Wolverine isn’t meant to age, it’s long been evident that the now 46-year old actor wouldn’t be able to play the eternally 30-something character forever.
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There was initially some uncertainty over which film Jackman was referring to as his “one last time” as Wolverine. The next X-movie, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse,’ is currently in production, although it has not been confirmed that Wolverine would appear in this film.

In the meantime, Jackman is already committed to a third ‘Wolverine’ solo movie, which returning director James Mangold recently stated was not scheduled to shoot until ‘early next year.’

So does this mean that we definitely won’t be seeing Jackman in ‘Apocalypse?’ Does this also rule out a cameo in ‘Deadpool?’ These questions remain, but one thing would seem indisputable: we’ve got roughly two years before Hugh Jackman takes his final bow as Wolverine.

‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ is due to hit screens on 19 May 2016, whilst the as-yet untitled ‘The Wolverine’ sequel is scheduled for March 2017.

Source: Press Release