Hugh Jackman might be one of the longest running comic book actors in a single role spending nearly twenty years consistently playing X-Men’s most popular character, Wolverine, from 1999 to 2017.

There seemed to be some confusion when Marvel Studios decided to keep Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool (Deadpool 3 in active development and “might” begin shooting in 2022) and not doing the same for the Singerverse, the impression was that Kevin Feige would be rebooting those characters alongside Fantastic Four.

Jackman, even before the release of Logan (featuring the death of his character) announced he would be hanging up his claws and starting championing actors like Tom Hardy (would later take Venom role at Sony Pictures). However, with The Multiverse becoming a key thing in Phase Four, fans and unverified rumors have been pointing towards Hugh returning.

While doing the first rounds of interviews to promote his upcoming sci-fi thriller Reminiscence, he’s now had to reaffirm he’s ready to give new actors the character to play with.

First off, during a chat on Jake’s Takes (via Comic Book), the Aussie actor said he still hasn’t changed his mind.

“I’m hearing about this from you [Hamilton], and there’s nothing in my inbox from Kevin Feige means it’s probably, no matter what idea I came up with, not on the table. Let’s just be clear that, but now, I realized, before we shot Logan, I was like, we got the idea. We knew what it was going to be-ish, right? And I thought this is it. And that really helped me, it really helped knowing I was going into my last season, that it was my last season that I made the most of it. And it’s still a character I hold close to my heart. But I know it’s done. Tell that to whoever you want to. Please tell it to Ryan [Reynolds]. Because he’s like, doesn’t believe anything’s I’m joking, please.”

That’s not the only interview where it was brought-up, as Jackman essentially said the same thing to Screen Rant.

“It’s in my past, man. Don’t tell anyone, alright? Let me just say one more thing. Because as I said that, there’s not a day goes by where I’m not unbelievably grateful for having been part of that MCU Universe. Particularly to be there at the beginning of it, and to watch it. To see Kevin Feige going from being an assistant to a producer and a mate of mine, to where he is today. And that was a role of a lifetime. So, I don’t ever want people to feel that when I say I’m done, it’s a glib thing. It was one of the great chapters of my life.”

I’m guessing Hugh Jackman is going to have a long press tour spending way too much time telling interviewers that he’s still done with the Wolverine role after making the announcement ages ago.

The problem is that fans and outlets rarely take actors at their word, so, you’ll see plenty of folks who might be disappointment with the comments to just assume they’re lying and echo that on social media. Sadly, we’re likely going see fans believe he’ll return (without solid confirmations) until Marvel Studios finally announces the new actor.

SOURCE: JAKE’S TAKES & SCREEN RANT