Hugh Jackman’s career continues to flourish, nearly 30 years after he got his big breakout role playing Wolverine in Fox’s X-Men (2000) movie adaptation. Jackman even helped the Marvel Cinematic Universe bounce back with Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024, after a long drought of hit MCU movies. However, Deadpool & Wolverine left a big window propped open for both titular characters to be part of the MCU Multiverse Saga finale, which will happen in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. But so far, there’s been zero confirmation that Hugh Jackman and Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds are in either film.
That all said: Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have been trolling fans for a year in different ways that suggest they could appear in the next Avengers movies. Even Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has teased both Reynolds and Jackman returning in some future MCU projects. So while he’s out doing press, Jackman is having to address his MCU return all over again.
Variety did a featured article on Hugh Jackman, regarding his acting career and the wellness rituals that have (in part) helped maintain his Wolverine physique for so many years. At one point, interviewer Ann Tingley went for it, saying that even though Jackman has denied being in Avengers: Doomsday, we haven’t heard a firm denial about Wolverine being in Avengers: Secret Wars. Is there a reason for that?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jackman joked. He added that “I do have an internal chip that is not metaphorical. There’s a literal chip, and if I say the wrong thing, I get shut down. I don’t know who controls that chip, but someone is controlling it.”
Hugh Jackman is a master of doing press, especially where Marvel roles are concerned. He can weild his charisma and charm like the magician he played in The Prestige, and frankly, it works. That said, there have been so many leaks about Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, and Wolverine and Deadpool have factored into both films.
We won’t even risk spoilers by discussing rumors, but it is confirmed that the TVA is a part of Doomsday, an organization that worked with Wolverine and Deadpool in their team-up film. Then there’s the fact that a major part of Doomsday‘s story invovles the two characters’ universe (Earth-10005) is going to war against the heroes of the MCU (Earth-616). We know that original X-Men movie stars Patrick Stewart (Prof. X), Ian Mckellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) are all in the cast, so it really woud be kind of strange for Wolverine to be left out.
But, taking the inquiry at face value: Deadpool & Wolverine established means for Wade Wilson and Logan to escape the end of the mutiverse, or at least catch a life raft with the TVA or other Marvel movie variants (like the Fox Fantastic Four). So even if they aren’t in Doomsday, there’s already established precendent for them to show up later in Secret Wars.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18th. Avengers: Secret Wars wil start filming next year.
