Hugh Jackman purposely threw fans off, stating that his Wolverine days were done. It was recently announced that Jackman is set to appear in Deadpool 3 alongside close friend Ryan Reynolds.
In truth, getting cast as Wolverine was quite the journey for Jackman, and that includes his physical preparation for the role. We'll take a look back at how Jackman was called in as a backup plan for the role, and how Hollywood told him to forget about the audition.
Clearly, despite the reservations, Jackman made the right call as his Wolverine character remains relevant over two decades later.
Hugh Jackman Was Called To Audition For Wolverine As A Backup Plan
Hugh Jackman playing the role of Wolverine seems fitting today, however, during the casting process, it was a long shot. Mel Gibson was first considered for the role and in fact, the entire script was written around him.
X-Men's screenwriter elaborated about the process alongside The Hollywood Reporter, "It was originally supposed to be Mel Gibson. Back when I got hired all of our concept art was Mel Gibson."
Dougray Scott was then locked into the role. However, because of his Mission: Impossible 2 schedule, the studio decided to audition for a backup plan in case. Enter Hugh Jackman, who took on the role with no expectations whatsoever. Once the audition process was done with, Jackman didn't think twice about it.
However, looking back at his audition, fans agree he was meant to take on the role over anyone else.
"And now we cannot imagine another person who could have played this iconic role," one fan stated.
"Every movie Hugh played in outside of an x-men film....always felt like he was still Wolverine," another fan noted.
Once he worked the audition, surprisingly enough, Jackman was still encouraged to forget about the project. Let's take a look at what happened.
A Close Friend In Hollywood Told Hugh Jackman X-Men Was Going To Be A Disaster
Speaking alongside Jimmy Fallon, the two celebrated Jackman's 20-year-anniversary as Wolverine. Interestingly enough, Jackman dropped some interesting behind the scenes details. According to the star, he was actually encouraged to forget about the script. Jackman didn't reveal the name, but he said it was a friend who was a major higher up in the world of Hollywood.
He told Jimmy Fallon, "A mate of mine said to me, who's quite high up, he said the word on the street is not good about the movie. Nobody watches comic book movies, they're dead forever."
Jackman continues, "Book another movie before it comes out. Like say you're a lead in a big movie and try to book another movie."
Hugh Jackman admitted, nobody understood the vision or shift that was about to take place. Ultimately, all Jackman wanted to do was at the very least audition, and it changed his career for the better.
X-Men Crushed It At The Box Office Bringing In $296 Million
In 2000, X-Men turned into a force at the box office, bringing in $296 million. It also received stellar critical acclaim from the likes of Rotten Tomatoes, giving it an 82% approval rating.
Jackman was obviously a major reason for the success and that was evident in 2013 when The Wolverine film crushed it at the box office, making $418 million.
A major reason for the film and his character's success has to do with Jackman putting his own spin on the character. X-Men's screenwriter discussed the origins of Jackman portraying Wolverine.
"Hugh is just a love. He is so sweet. Bryan, he yelled at Hugh one day and was like, “You need to be edgier. You need to be meaner, you need to be tougher. You need to go home and get into a fight with your wife. Have a screaming match with your wife!” And Hugh said, “Bryan, if I went home and got in a fight like that with Deb, I’d come in crying!” We were like, “Oh no, we’re all dead.”
"We wrote him very tough. Very edgy, and then Hugh brought his humanity to it. In the end, there’s a core of steel there he brought to it that made it into a full person. Wolverine could be a caricature. He could be a growling asshole, really. I think it was the balance."
Clearly, the formula proved to be effective as more than two decades later, he's still appearing in the role.