Hugh Jackman On That Wolverine Sequel That’s Probably Happening Whether We Want It To Or Not

I’m on the “don’t want it” side. The Wolverine was OK. Not great, but entertaining, and sometimes that’s enough to justify a sequel. But not when there are characters who haven’t been overexposed by inclusion in six movies (seven, counting Days of Future Past). Is the general movie-going populace clamoring for a movie about Kitty Pryde, Jubilee, Gambit, etc? No. But no one was waiting with bated breath for Logan’s Japanese Adventures, either. It’s time to let it go, Fox.

Hugh Jackman is, needless to say, more enthusiastic about the potential movie than I am.

To recap, The Wolverine director James Mangold is reportedly in negotiations to write a treatment for a new film, but neither he nor Jackman have officially signed on. The X-actor negotiates his X-contracts on a film-by-film basis, and he was careful to point out to Entertainment Weekly that he won’t be signing on the dotted line for a Wolverine sequel unless the story looks good:

“I don’t want to dive into another one until we have a compelling reason to do another one. I love the character, he’s kind of like a best friend to me, and I don’t ever want to take [him] or the fans for granted… I think we’ve got a great opportunity to make something really cool, but it has to be great. That’s what we’re all working toward.”

If that makes it sound like maybe this third Wolverine movie won’t happen, read these quotes as well:

“I was on the phone with Jim Mangold last night. There are some really cool ideas that I’m dying to tell you, but that would be giving away a secret that is not even [fully] formed yet… I do want to do it with Jim and with [producer] Lauren Shuler-Donner because we had such a great experience. I’m really proud of The Wolverine.”

And:

“I kind of am enjoying him more than ever… Being older helps playing Wolverine. He’s 200 or 300 years old — no one really knows — and he’s sort of world-weary. The actual working out gets harder and harder, I’ll admit.”

So “I won’t do it if there’s not a compelling reason, but there is one, I just can’t tell you what it is.” Sigh. Looks like we’re getting this movie, folks.

And I can’t even be that cranky about it after Hugh Jackman calling Wolvie his best friend and saying how much he loves playing him. It’s just so adorable. Hugh’s a ray of sunshine. If scientists could somehow harness the power of positivity put out by him and Tom Hiddleston I’m pretty sure they could power the world for generations to come.

(via: Entertainment Weekly)

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