Marvel Studios has dropped its most exciting news this year when Ryan Reynolds was tasked with revealing Hugh Jackman’s return to play Wolverine in Deadpool 3. To celebrate the actor’s resurgence, we reveal how long Jackman has played Wolverine, what age he was when he first portrayed Logan, and how long his run as the mutant was.
Jackman is a renowned Australian actor whose career began in the early 90s and spanned a number of diverse roles, including The Greatest Showman, Real Steel, and The Fountain.
Marvel fans have been waiting to hear updates on Deadpool 3’s progression, with Shawn Levy on board to direct. Ryan Reynolds will also be returning to play the Merc with a Mouth and the plot is expected to blend 20th Century Fox’s content with the MCU.
Deadpool: Samurai | Official Manga Trailer | VIZ
How Long Has Hugh Jackman Played Wolverine?
Jackman played Wolverine for 17 years from 2000 to 2017 and the actor appeared to hang up the Adamantium claws after Logan.
Not only did 2017’s Logan feel like a natural end to Jackman’s run as Wolverine, but the actor himself stated the same reason for departing the character.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, via Looper, Jackman said his portrayal in Logan was the “right time to leave”:
“I knew it was the right time to leave the party — not just for me, but for the character. It’s kind of like, you’re on your way home and your friend rings you and goes, ‘Oh, dude, a new DJ just came on and the music is awesome, are you going to come back?’ And you say, ‘Sounds good but… no.'”
When Did Jackman First Play Wolverine?
Jackman’s first role as Wolverine was in the debut, self-titled X-Men movie in 2000 released by 20th Century Fox.
The actor played Wolverine a total of nine times in live-action movies and Deadpool 3 will be his tenth outing – which is a solid number to end for good on.
X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) featured Wolverine as a main ensemble character.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), The Wolverine (2013), and Logan (2017) starred Wolverine as the main character of these entries.
Lastly, Wolverine appeared as a cameo in X-Men: First Class (2011) and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) as Weapon X.
Jackman also served as the voice actor for two video games as Wolverine: X-Men: The Official Game (2006) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).

How Old was Jackman When He First Played Wolverine?
Jackman was 31 years old when he first played Wolverine. The actor was born in October 1968 and the first X-Men movie was released in 2000, however, filming for X-Men began in mid-1999.
The Australian released three X-Men movies in full-length roles as Wolverine during his 30s, and three during his 40s.
Jackman’s final performance as Wolverine was in 2017’s Logan when the actor was 49 years old.
Jackman is currently 54 years old in 2022 and Deadpool 3 is due to begin filming very soon.

By Jo Craig – [email protected]
Deadpool 3 is scheduled to release on September 6, 2024.