Deadpool 3 Director Reveals Kevin Feige’s Crowd-Pleasing Demand for Wolverine's Return
Since Hugh Jackman first portrayed Wolverine in 2000's X-Men, fans have been desperate to see the actor wear the character's iconic yellow suit, and, according to director Shawn Levy, Marvel executive Kevin Feige is one of those fans. Hugh Jackman makes his eagerly anticipated and unexpected return to the role in the upcoming MCU movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, teaming up with Ryan Reynolds' beloved Merc With a Mouth. As well as returning Jackman to his most popular character, the new film is finally fulfilling fans' and Feige's long-time dream.
Coming via ComicBook.com, Jackman and Reynolds, alongside the film's director Shawn Levy, appeared in Shanghai, China for a fan event to promote the film. During the event, Levy revealed that Kevin Feige was incredibly open to Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine (this time in the MCU0, but he had one major condition. Levy explained:
"He said, 'Yes, but he wears the yellow. Can he finally wear the yellow?'"
The first leaked set photos from the movie's production got fans incredibly excited when they showcased Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman wearing their respective characters' iconic, comic book accurate costumes. Jackman's MCU Wolverine costume features his iconic yellow color palette with blue adornments. However, it is lacking the character's beloved helmet, and the suit's sleeves - which will at some stage make way to showcase the impressive prep Jackman has done in the gym.
While the Marvel fanbase is ecstatic about Hugh Jackman returning to play Wolverine, no one is as excited as Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds has long-teased a partnership with Hugh Jackman on a future movie, both during interviews and in the two previous Deadpool movies. According to the actor, the idea of Deadpool and Wolverine teaming up on screen has been in the works since his first interaction with Kevin Feige. Describing his first meeting with Feige, Reynolds explained:
"The first thing I said to him, 'I just want to make Wolverine and Deadpool together. I just want these two together on screen.' At the time, Kevin said, 'Forget it. It's never going to happen.' And I said, 'Okay, that's fine.'"
After "the greatest ending in history" in Logan, Marvel boss Kevin Feige advised Hugh Jackman not to come back for Deadpool & Wolverine.
The entire fanbase, executives at Marvel Studios, and Hugh Jackman himself thought he was done playing the character after James Mangold's Logan. Focusing on an older version of the character, Logan was (at the time), Jackman's last hoorah as the iconic X-Men character, and saw Wolverine sacrifice himself to save X-23 and the other mutants in the film's emotional final act. The version of Wolverine seen in Deadpool & Wolverine has already been revealed to be a different version of the character. This was revealed in the first trailer where the Time Variance Authority (TVA) from Loki abducts Deadpool so he can help to save the sacred timeline.
No reviews or official reactions have been released online yet, and likely won't be until the week of the film's release. However, 35 minutes of Deadpool & Wolverine were reportedly screened during the event in Shanghai. According to reports, the audience absolutely loved the extensive clip, with some describing the new film as their favorite MCU movie of all time.
Deadpool & Wolverine releases in theaters on July 26, 2024.