After years and years of hoping and praying and being pestered by Ryan Reynolds, a Wolverine Vs. Deadpool movie is finally happening in “Deadpool 3,” coming in the fall of 2024 (not the official title of the film as of right now). Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have both been talking about the movie a lot, the “48 Hours” bickering buddy comedy dynamics, the fact that it was Jackman who wanted to do it after Reynolds mainly had given up, and how the multiverse is going to help them not undo the canon of James Mangold’s “Logan.”
But in a new interview with the Empire podcast, with Jackman promoting “The Son,” the actor finally got deep into the love/hate or hate/hate dynamics they will explore in the third “Deadpool” film.
“How do I categorize it? Ten being really close, zero being the reality, we’re zero, we’re opposites, hate each other,” Jackman said, “I’m just talking from my perspective, [Logan’s] frustrated by him, wants to be a million miles away from him or wants to punch him in the head. Unfortunately, he can’t be a million miles away from him in this movie, so I’m probably going to punch him in the head a lot.”
The whole “48 Hours” of it all? The real-time timeline won’t really be part of it; they’re just borrowing that quarreling dynamic. “No, it’s just in the banter relationship, just that sorta opposites; he’s the vinegar to [my oil],” he said. “He’s the fast-talking, quick-worded loudmouth, and my character just wants to punch him in the head. To just shut him up.”
Was director James Mangold told about it or consulted? Yep, Jackman reached out to reassure him. “He was actually pretty cool about it,” Jackman said. “I did tell him it took place before our movie, so I wasn’t going to screw up with like my claws coming out of the grave, and he was relieved by that. And he totally got it; he thought it was a really good idea.”
“None of us wanted to screw with that,” Jackman said about messing with “Logan,” its events, or its somber, definitive conclusion. “I was really proud of that movie and what we did, and it felt like perfect. And actually, for five years, honestly, in my heart, I was done. I was like, ‘This is it.’ And then it was August, August 14 [2022], I was driving and [boom,] it came to me like that. I thought, ‘This could be so much fun; I’ll probably have more fun on that movie than anything I’ve ever done.”
And Jackman emphasized how much of a change of heart it was for him. “And on August 13, I was like, ‘I’m never playing that part again,’ I promise you,” he said.
As for when the untitled ‘Deadpool 3’ movie shoots, Jackman gave a clue. He’s got one more month of stage work on “The Music Man” and then six months to prep and get in shape, so that could be July of 2023 (the film currently has a November 2024 release date.) “I always have the same approach every time I go in to a [Logan role],” he explained. “I want it to be better than ever. I want to be in better shape than ever, more able to do things than ever, and I just get the added incentive of taking Ryan Reynolds out every day, so I really want to be capable, so I can enjoy it.”
Could Jackman do more, maybe appear in “Avengers: Secret Wars”? Well, he didn’t say yes, but he didn’t immediately say no.
“I imagine every movie as a one-and-done; that’s how I see it,” he said. “I’ll be honest, I had a two-picture deal at the beginning, but I still assumed it was a one-and-done. Back then, there were no comic book movies, so I just take them one at a time. And I’m lucky in that way where I don’t need to think beyond that, but I think it’s the best way to go.”
“Deadpool 3” arrives in theaters on November 8, 2024. We’ll find out then or later this year how many elements of the previous “Deadpool” universe and its characters will be part of this film. Listen to the full podcast below.