Hugh Jackman says he joined Deadpool & Wolverine with Ryan Reynolds without telling agent

Actor says playing a new iteration of Wolverine character is what intrigued him

Hugh Jackman has revealed that he signed on to reprise his role as Wolverine in the forthcoming Deadpool & Wolverine without speaking to his agent.

The X-Men actor said he thought his time as Wolverine was done after 2017’s Logan killed him off. However, when Ryan Reynolds, who plays Deadpool, pitched the idea of bringing these two iconic characters together, Jackman said he realised he had always wanted to see them pair up.

“I was on my way, I was just driving, and literally, just like a bolt of lightning, came this knowing deep in my gut that I wanted to do this film with Ryan,” Jackman told Fandango.

“For Deadpool and Wolverine to come back together. I swear to you, When I said I was done, I really thought I was done.

“But in the back of my head, ever since I saw Deadpool 1, I was like, ‘Those two characters together.’ I knew it, I knew the fans wanted it ever since I put on the claws, people talked about these two.

“So, that had always been there, but I just knew.”

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in a still from Deadpool and Wolverine (AP)

Jackman said he called Reynolds before consulting his agent because of how strongly he felt about the film.

“And I literally couldn’t wait to arrive. As soon as I arrived, I rang Ryan. And I just said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Like, I hadn’t rung my agent, no one. I had to ring my agent and I said, ‘Oh, by the way, I have just committed to a movie,’” the actor continued.

“Sometimes in life things come really clearly to you, and when that happens I’ve learned you just jump, you go for it.”

Not everyone felt as strongly about the idea as Jackman, especially Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who confirmed to Empire magazine earlier this month that he had in fact warned Jackman against putting the claws back on.

“I said, ‘Let me give you a piece of advice, Hugh. Don’t come back’,” he said.

“‘You had the greatest ending in history with Logan. That’s not something we should undo.’”

What ultimately convinced Feige was that Jackman would not be playing the version of Wolverine that audiences had seen in X-Men films.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in Logan (Fox)

In the same interview with Empire, Jackman revealed that getting to play a different iteration of the character was what intrigued him as well.

“There are different sides of Wolverine we haven’t seen before in the movies. It was exciting for me,” he said.

Jackman also brought up the idea of alternate timelines in the Marvel universe to explain how this Wolverine would be different and how Logan from the previous films would stay the way he was.

“It’s all because of this device they have in the Marvel world of moving around timelines,” he told SiriusXM.

“Now we can go back because, you know, it’s science. So, I don’t have to screw with the ‘Logan’ timeline, which was important to me. And I think probably to the fans too.”

Deadpool & Wolverine releases in cinemas on 26 July.