Hugh Jackman is working on himself for his return as Wolverine in the upcoming Deadpool 3. While he will be sharing on-screen with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, the former once shared his active interest in fighting alongside Robert Downey Jr. He gained prominence with his iconic comic role in the X-Men film series. Having first appeared in the X-Men (2000), he continued to portray the character in numerous sequels and spin-off movies.
Being one of the beloved superhero portrayals in film history, he once talked about sharing on-screen with the Iron Man actor.
Hugh Jackman Wanted to Share Screen With Robert Downey Jr.
Back in 2015, Hugh Jackman shared his optimistic thoughts on a possible collaboration with Robert Downey Jr. as a deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment was cooking up.
Talking to E! News, he shared,
“I was sort of surprised, a little bit, although I could see the possibilities of that partnership working.”
The Prestige actor added,
“It’s interesting. I mean, I’m an actor first, I’m a movie fan first, I’ve come to love comic books—I didn’t as a kid.”
He talked about being ready to work with a movie starring the Avengers: Endgame actor.
“But, you know, I love it when people go, ‘Woah, what if Iron Man faced off with Wolverine, that’d be cool,’ and I go, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do that movie with Robert Downey Jr. I’m in.’”
However, this was not the first time he talked about featuring alongside major comic book characters. In 2013, he expressed his interest in fighting alongside the Avengers and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man as Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman Enquired About The Avengers Assemble Before It Was Possible
Jackman asked about the possibility of having major superheroes assemble to work alongside one another when the concept was not even executed.
He once shared in an interview with Collider,
“I literally asked the same question the other day to Tom from Marvel who works with all the other studios, he works with Sony and Fox, that’s his job to liaise. I said, ‘Man, can this happen?’ and he goes ‘Look, it’s not gonna be easy because you’re working with different studios and they’re their properties.’”
Despite coming from the same branches, the major comic book characters were segregated among a few studios. At the time, getting all major comic book characters would have been a hectic task, but the 55-year-old actor was optimistic that the characters could be brought together for a mega event.
He continued,
“But I believe—maybe I’m optimistic, I understand at Marvel they’ve got The Avengers, they’ve got a lot of big things going on, but at some point I just find it almost impossible that there’s not a way to bring Iron Man, all the Avengers characters, Wolverine, the X-Men characters, Spider-Man, and somehow get them in together.”
It eventually became a reality as Marvel executed the concept in the later years by forming the Avengers which fought against Thanos to save the world. Now that the studios have regained the X-Men film rights along with Fantastic Four and Deadpool after Disney acquired Fox in 2019, the characters can be integrated into the MCU. With rights no longer an issue to bring comic book characters together, Jackman’s dream fight with Downey Jr. can be a possibility only if the latter returns to the franchise.
