Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine not coming to the MCU despite Kevin Feige photo

Hugh Jackman accidentally broke the internet a bit after he took a photo with Marvel head-honcho Kevin Feige. Fans saw the photo as proof that Jackman was secretly making a return as Wolverine in the MCU but Jackman wants to let everyone know this is simply not the case.

Jackman spoke with ComicBook.com to talk about his new sci-fi mystery thriller Reminiscence and during the chat, the conversation shifted to the photo of him and Feige that began sparking fan theories of a possible Wolverine return. Jackman admitted that he didn’t expect the fan art and photo to go viral and that his intention behind posting it was merely sweet but not an admission that he was bringing Wolverine to the MCU:

“I literally was re-posting fan art and I do it quite a bit because I just love it. And I love the fans. And then I was off doing something and I came back and I’m like, ‘Oh, I think I broke the Internet. No, no, no, no. Guys, sorry. Didn’t mean that. I really didn’t mean that. I’m really sorry.’ And I thought, ‘No one’s going to believe me.’ But that was the case. And you guys are just too fast for me. Clearly way too fast and smarter than me. I just love the fans. And so, when cool things come my way, I’m going to pass it on.”

That’s it, folks! Jackman loved the fan art image of himself as Wolverine with the photo of himself and Kevin Feige and simply wanted to share it. The internet can take something and run with it right away and that’s what happened here. I can see why some people thought this hinted at some meeting regarding a Wolverine MCU return but the 52-year-old actor does seem to be sticking to his guns that he’s done playing the character. You can check out the image in question that went viral below:

Jackman became a household name when he took on the role of Logan/Wolverine beginning in 2000 in the X-Men franchise. He would carry on the role in the initial two sequels, X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand before getting his own solo film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The latter two films received a mixed response from fans but that didn’t stop Jackman from continuing in the role. Fox did a soft reboot of the franchise with X-Men: First Class, which focused on the origins of Professor Charles Xavier Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto, amongst other characters. Jackman made a cameo as Wolverine in the 2011 film he would properly return in another solo film with The Wolverine, which received a much better response from fans compared to his first solo outing. The actor returned again for X-Men: Days of Future Past and then he made it clear he was retiring the role with the Oscar-nominated Logan, which is widely considered his best appearance as the character.

Because he has played the role so many times, he’s completely linked to Wolverine and it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the character. I think a lot of fans (and perhaps other MCU stars) hold out hope that Jackman will change his mind and bare his claws once again but Jackman seems adamant that he went out on a high note and that it was time to give someone else an opportunity to take on Wolverine.

Do YOU think Hugh Jackman should return as Wolverine?