After almost 20 years and nine X-Men movies, Hugh Jackman finally hung up his claws as Wolverine in Logan.
The mutant, who had been alive for almost 200 years, finally succumbed to his adamantium-coated skeleton (installed during the 1979 setting of X-Men Origins: Wolverine) poisoning him.
Logan did have healing powers, but as time wore on these faded, probably due to the metal’s toxicity, and resulted in his death and burial in 2029.
Jackman clarified that he was done with the role and wanted another actor to take it on, like a new James Bond or Batman.
Yet the Aussie star eventually gave in to Ryan Reynolds begging him to team up in Deadpool 3. But how is the Marvel character alive?
When Reynolds and Jackman first announced Deadpool and Wolverine, the latter promised fans not to worry as they wouldn’t undo the death in Logan.
And from today’s new trailer, it looks pretty clear that the X-Men star is playing a Wolverine variant from another universe. So he’s not the same one as fans saw in all the other X-Men movies. That Logan is dead.
It’s still slightly ambiguous, but the footage teases that this new Logan somehow failed his reality.
We know this from how Wolverine is treated in the bar when he’s asked to leave. But the big giveaway is when Deadpool urges Logan to come and save another universe with him, but tells the Merc with a Mouth that it’s not his problem.
Wade replies: “Is that what you said when your world went to s***?” A scene follows with this Wolverine on his knees, clearly upset about something, while Matthew Macfadyen’s TVA agent shares that this Logan failed his universe.
As mentioned, having Jackman play a variant means he can return without undoing the death in Logan, which was set in another universe.
Such a narrative move makes way for the likes of Robert Downey’s Jr Iron Man to cameo as a variant in 2027’s Avengers Secret Wars, which we’re pretty sure is inevitable.
Deadpoool and Wolverine hits UK cinemas on July 25, 2024 and Logan is streaming on Disney+.