Hugh Jackman To Return As Wolverine in Deadpool 3; Ryan Reynolds Says It's “Hard Keeping My Mouth Sewn Shut About This One”

Ryan Reynolds has finally figured out a way to make Deadpool’s long-awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe debut a sensational one: Wolverine.

On Tuesday (Sept 27), Reynolds announced on his social media that Deadpool 3 will be out on Sept 6, 2024 (in the US; it’ll probably be out a day earlier in Singapore) and he’s bringing Hugh Jackman along for the ride.

“Hard keeping my mouth sewn shut about this one,” he captioned.

“Hey everyone, we’re extremely sad to have missed [Disney fan event] D23, but we’ve been working very hard on the next Deadpool film for a good long while now,” Reynolds says in the video.

“I’ve had to really search my soul on this one. His first appearance in the MCU obviously needs to feel special. We need to stay true to the character, find new depth, motivation, meaning.

"Every Deadpool needs to stand out and stand apart. It’s been an incredible challenge that has forced me to reach down deep inside. And I…I have nothing. Yeah, just completely empty up here. And terrifying. But we did have one idea.”

“Hey, Hugh, you want to play Wolverine one more time?” Reynolds asks as Jackman (it sure looks like him or maybe it’s his double, hard to tell) walks by in the background.

“Yeah, sure, Ryan,” Jackman nonchalantly. The clip ends with Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ — subtitled as “I will always love Hugh” — and a “Coming Hughn” end-tag teaser. The Deadpool logo appears, then is quickly sliced up by Wolverine’s adamantium claws.

Seriously, is this a joke?

Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy, who made Free Guy and The Adam Project with Reynolds, took to Twitter to confirm the news. “I want to take minute to thank #StrangerThings for training me to keep my big mouth shut. This news has been burning a hole in my lips for weeks now,” he wrote.

After 2000’s X-Men, Jackman has played Wolverine eight more times in subsequent sequels and spin-offs, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where Deadpool first appeared alongside the mutton-chopped mutant. (That's the one where Deadpool has his mouth sewn.) 

Wolverine also showed up in Deadpool and Deadpool 2.) Wolverine was — spoiler ahead! — killed off in 2017’s Logan.

It’ll be interesting to see how Wolverine will be brought back to life and how he fits into the rest of the MCU. Then again, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige once told Variety, “Anything’s possible in the multiverse.”

The first Deadpool movies, released in 2016 and 2018, respectively, are both R-rated, as is Logan. (There is also Once Upon a Deadpool, which is essentially a watered-down PG13 version of Deadpool 2.) 

They were made by 20th Century Fox before Disney acquired the studio. Deadpool 3 will mark the fourth-wall-breaking, katana-wielding spandexed superhero and Wolverine’s first foray into the MCU. It will also be the family-friendly MCU’s first R-rated instalment.

Meanwhile, Logan helmer James Mangold responded to Wolverine’s resurrection with a simple (and cryptic) gif….

Watch Reynolds’ announcement here: