Hugh Jackman Reflects On Painful Wolverine Workouts In Throwback Photo

Hugh Jackman looks back at his time preparing for X-Men’s Wolverine in a brand new throwback image. Universally dubbed as one of the best superhero castings ever, the Australian actor played the scruffy mutant for 17 years since the first X-Men film until he retired the character in 2017’s Logan. Although it’s been a while since Jackman hung up his Adamantium claws, there are still many fans who are holding out hope that he will reprise the role, especially with the mutants’ new potential to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Given the actor’s brilliant casting, Wolverine has become synonymous with Jackman. Despite this, however, Marvel Studios will likely bring in another actor to play the role in the franchise when it’s time to introduce Wolverine to the MCU. Over the years, Jackman has been consistently asked if there’s ever a chance that he will revisit the role, but the actor has been adamant that he is done with it. This is understandable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Wolverine’s send-off in Logan was so well-done that seeing him back as the mutant could cheapen an otherwise great swan song. Directed by James Mangold, the dystopian movie was even nominated for an Oscar, and is widely considered one of the best superhero movies of all time. Secondly, Jackman has also cited that his age had made it more difficult to get into the shape needed to properly portray the character.

As proof of the intensity of his behind-the-scenes Wolverine prep, Jackman recently shared a throwback photo from the X-Men movie. The image shows the actor in an intense workout as part of his Wolverine character prep, which required him to be extremely fit and strong. Jackman didn’t say when this image was taken, but he jokes in the caption that “this guy look[s] like he’s in serious pain.” Check out the image below:

Ever since the character rights of the X-Men reverted back to Marvel Studios, Jackman has been hounded by questions about the possibility of him revisiting his role as Wolverine. Despite this, the actor has been consistent in his denial of these rumors, and has instead focussed on the potential future of the role in the hands of a new actor. Looking at this image, it’s clear that it wasn’t easy to get physically ready to play Wolverine, so whoever next takes on the iconic mutant character will certainly have their work cut out for them. Ultimately, however, Jackman doesn’t seem to mind getting regularly asked about the matter, as it’s mostly an indication of how beloved his performance was.

The MCU’s budding multiverse, however, could offer a way for Jackman to return as Wolverine, even if only for a brief period of time. It’s worth noting that despite his denial about coming back as the beloved mutant, Jackman has previously admitted that he would gladly take advantage of the chance to return as the character in the MCU. The multiverse offers an easy way to do it. Marvel Studios can still introduce their version of Wolverine in a new X-Men movie, while Jackman’s iteration can briefly cameo as someone from another universe to get the best of both worlds.