If there is anything that all the fans agree on is that the two actors who were born to play their superhero roles were Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr. Jackman played the role of Logan or Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s X-Men franchise, with his run finally ending in James Mangold’s Logan. Robert Downey Jr., kickstarted the MCU, playing Tony Stark in Iron Man, and made his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame.
While both franchises belong to the Marven universe, the two stalwarts have never met on the big screen due to contractual issues. But that has not stopped Jackman from dreaming about the crossover as he once expressed his desire to see it happen.
Hugh Jackman And Robert Downey Jr.’s Career-Defining Roles
In 2008, actor Robert Downey Jr. became synonymous with Tony Stark and kickstarted the epic Marvel Cinematic Universe. He starred in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, which earned over $580 million at the global box office and was a massive hit. For Downey Jr., Iron Man, and Tony Stark was a much-needed return to glory as before the films, he was almost blacklisted by Hollywood. Even for Iron Man, director Jon Favreau had to fight for casting Downey Jr. as Marvel was strongly against it. Other actors such as Tom Cruise and Sam Rockwell were considered before Downey Jr. was cast. And the rest is history.
He reprised the role in the MCU multiple times, appearing in non-Iron Man and Avengers films too, such as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Captain America-Civil War. His tenure as Iron Man ended with the epic conclusion to MCU’s ‘Infinity Saga’, Avengers: Endgame where he faced off with Thanos. However, his presence as Tony Stark still lingers in the MCU.
Before he became the ever-brooding Logan, Hugh Jackman was a stage actor. After graduating with a degree in performing arts, Jackman was in many staged musical productions such as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Oklahoma!’. He was recommended to director Bryan Singer by fellow-Australian actor Russell Crowe. Jackman was cast as Wolverine three weeks into filming.
Jackman’s casting was heavily criticized initially as he was considered to be too tall compared to his comic-book character. However, he proved everyone wrong with his nonchalant performance as Logan. He reprised the roles in most films of the X-Men franchise and even received a trilogy of solo films which ended with James Mangold’s Logan.
Also read: “I don’t have to screw with…”: Ryan Reynolds’ Special Promise to Hugh Jackman for Deadpool 3
A Crossover The Fans Deserved
In 2014, the X-Men franchise received a soft reboot with the film X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film came at a time when the franchise was going through a confusing timeline in the films with the release of prequels and sequels. The film starred Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and featured two iterations of the ‘X-Men’.
While promoting the film, Jackman expressed his desire for the ‘X-Men’ to be included in the MCU and that he would like to see a clash between them and the Avengers. He said,
“I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes, but I think it’s fantastic. I actually just asked the other day, I said, ‘I don’t know what the legal situation is, but why don’t these companies come together? Why isn’t it possible?’”
At the time, 20th Century Fox owned the rights for X-Men and all related characters, while Disney owned the characters appearing in the MCU. He also mentioned that he would love to share the big screen with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and have a clash with the character. He said,
“Because personally, I would love to mix it up with Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man and kick his a**. It’d be great… Consistency is incredible. Who wouldn’t want to be involved with that?”
In 2019, Disney acquired Fox Studio, and the X-Men are all set to integrate into the MCU. The first of their appearance will be seen in Deadpool 3, which will see Hugh Jackman return as Wolverine along with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool.
Source: Entertainment
