Hugh Jackman's 24 Years as Wolverine
A last-minute casting that lasted a quarter century. Hugh Jackman got Wolverine in 2000 after another actor dropped out. He played the character for 24 years, a record for a live-action superhero.
Jackman at the Logan premiere in Japan: Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0
The replacement
Wolverine in the first X-Men film was supposed to be played by Dougray Scott. When his work on Mission: Impossible 2 ran long, the role opened up only weeks before shooting, and a little-known Australian stage and television actor got the call. Hugh Jackman had never read the comics.
He was also far too tall. The character in the comics is short and stocky, so camera angles and clever staging were used to make Jackman look smaller next to his co-stars. Fans grumbled before the film opened in 2000, and stopped grumbling after.
Getting the character right
Jackman has said that his wife told him Wolverine should be like a caged animal, and that he studied wolves before understanding that the character is named for the wolverine, a smaller and far more ferocious creature. He built the physique with years of training that became more intense with every film.
He played the role in X-Men, X2, The Last Stand, Origins, The Wolverine, Days of Future Past and Logan, plus cameos in First Class and Apocalypse, before the 2024 return in Deadpool and Wolverine.
A farewell that did not stick
Logan in 2017 was planned as the final chapter, a quieter and more serious film about an aging hero. It earned an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay, a first for a live-action superhero film. Jackman said goodbye to the claws.
In 2019 Guinness World Records recognized him for the longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero, a record shared with Patrick Stewart. Then Ryan Reynolds called, and Jackman came back for Deadpool and Wolverine in 2024, finally wearing the yellow suit from the comics.
Beyond the claws
Between X-Men films Jackman hosted the Academy Awards, won a Tony Award for a Broadway musical and starred in The Greatest Showman and Les Miserables. Few action stars have had a career that wide.
The lesson from his 24 years is persistence. He got the role by accident, kept it by working harder than anyone expected, and left it on his own terms, twice.
- Jackman at the Logan premiere in Japan: Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0
- At San Diego Comic-Con, 2013: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Co-star Ryan Reynolds at the 2024 panel: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0
Text written by Next Level Superheroes.
