Logan director James Mangold is thrilled Hugh Jackman is returning as Wolverine for Deadpool 3

After playing Wolverine for nearly twenty years, Hugh Jackman hung up the claws with Logan. The James Mangold movie was a thrilling and touching conclusion for the character… until Ryan Reynolds successfully convinced Hugh Jackman to play Wolverine once again for the upcoming Deadpool 3.

While speaking with Entertainment Tonight, James Mangold revealed that he’s anything but upset that Hugh Jackman will play Wolverine in Deadpool 3. “I’m thrilled for him to get a chance to play with it again,” Mangold said. “Whether one way or another, I knew Logan wouldn’t be the last time we see a Wolverine movie. We had our moment to kind of let that movie play and I’m really moved by how much that picture lives in people’s memories.” Mangold added, “You can’t put a moratorium on characters.“

Logan really was a wonderful end for Hugh Jackman’s tenure as Wolverine, but Ryan Reynolds recently said that Deadpool 3 will present a different take on the character and a new challenge for Jackman. “I think [Jackman] was excited and what we pitched him was enough of a divergence from the character that he knows and the character that he’s left behind,” Reynolds said, “that it gives him something completely new to play and something that he’s really excited to do.” Clearly, all that pestering paid off. “I mean, I never stopped,” Reynolds said. “I was just pestering him like a gnat over the last many years. I actually just think… I believe in timing … and I think he was ready.” The threequel is being directed by Shawn Levy from a script by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, based on a previous draft by Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin.

Deadpool 3 will hit theaters on November 8, 2024. James Mangold will be returning to theaters fairly soon as well, as he helmed the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise finds Harrison Ford returning as the legendary archaeologist, alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Toby Jones, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renee Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Oliver Richters, and Ethann Isidore. The film will open in theaters on June 30th.