With “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” James Mangold returns to the blockbuster format he excelled at in the likes of “The Wolverine” and “Logan,” his two most commercially successful films to date. But while Mangold endorses the return of Indy to the big screen, in no small part because he made the franchise’s latest entry, he laments Hugh Jackman‘s return as Wolverine for the upcoming “Deadpool 3.” At the same time, however, he understands Jackman reprising the role was inevitable. After all, that’s the nature of the blockbuster business.
“I can’t say that there’s a part of me that doesn’t wish that we’d let it be,” Mangold told Variety in a new cover story. “But there was always going to be another Wolverine. There could be a baby Wolverine and a cartoon Wolverine. As much liquid as they can squeeze out of that rag, they’re going to try to.” If by “liquid,” you mean money, Mr. Mangold, that’s absolutely right; and don’t think that’s not the same mentality that greenlit “The Dial Of Destiny” either.
But while Mangold would prefer Jackman’s Wolverine not showing up in “Deadpool 3,” he’s also at peace with his work involving the character. “I don’t measure my success on a movie like ‘Logan’ with whether we ended the conversation,” Mangold continued. “I ended my conversation.” And what a conversation it was. “Logan” helped Mangold nab his first ever Oscar nomination, for Best Adapted Screenplay. And as mentioned earlier, “The Wolverine” and “Logan” are the director’s highest-grossing films, at $414.8 million and $619.2 million, respectively.
Of course, financial success isn’t everything, and some wish that Mangold would return to the likes of his earlier work before his Wolverine films, like “Girl, Interrupted” or “Walk The Line.” Mangold in fact returns to the musician biopic sub-genre for his next feature, “A Complete Unknown,” which features Timothée Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan. But after that, the director returns to the world of big-budget filmmaking for his “Star Wars” movie about the origins of the Jedi Order. Mangold also pens the “Swamp Thing” movie for the new DCU, but it’s unclear whether he’ll direct that one, too.
As for “Deadpool 3,” Shawn Levy‘s sequel marks the entrance of Wolverine and the Merc With The Mouth into the MCU proper. Plot details on the film remain unknown, but it will see Jackman’s Logan team up with Ryan Reynold‘s Deadpool for some odd-couple superhero hijinks. “Deadpool 3” hits theaters everywhere on May 3, 2024, as the fourth film in Marvel’s Phase 5.
