Disney-Fox Merger Could Signal Hugh Jackman's Return to Wolverine
Could Logan crawl out of the grave and return to action?
Hugh Jackman supposedly hung up his Wolverine claws for good after Logan, but he’s long been a supporter of the kind of business mergers that might allow X-Men characters to crossover into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If this much-talked-about deal between Disney and 21st Century Fox does indeed come to pass, could it signal Hugh Jackman’s return to the role, even though Wolverine died in Logan? Jackman has previously said he might.
Disney is reportedly negotiating the purchase of $60 billion in Fox assets at the moment, including the rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men, which would essentially mean that every Marvel property would be under one roof. Disney’s roof. Nothing is official, yet, but industry analysts are hoping for a decision as early as next week.
In an interview back in February 2017 while promoting Logan, Jackman said that he would have reconsidered retiring the character if some kind of crossover with the MCU’s Avengers were possible:
If that was on the table when I made my decision [to retire], it certainly would have made me pause. … Because I always love the idea of him within that dynamic, with the Hulk obviously, with Iron Man — but there’s a lot of smarter people with MBAs who can’t figure that out. You never know.
At the time, the complicated business side of things prevented Wolverine from ever meeting Tony Stark in the MCU.
But, now, if this merger goes through, we could get gems like this in live action:
We could get an epic matchup like this from Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Jackman if this merger happens.
Jackman, 49, played the character of Wolverine for 17 years in nine different movies before retiring in the best way possible at the end of Logan. Whether or not he would actually reprise the role yet again remains to be seen, especially because this hotly rumored business deal is still far from confirmed.
Even if Disney did successfully acquire the rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men, they might just force a recast for the character like they did with Spider-Man. (Granted, the terms of that deal were very different and arguably even more complicated.)
But rest assured, should this business deal come to pass, the first question any reporter will ask Jackman — even if he’s out promoting The Greatest Showman — will be about whether or not he’d consider wearing those claws yet again in the MCU.
If you liked this article, check out this video about how X-23 got her adamantium claws in Logan.
