When he finally decides to leave the 'X-Men' franchise, Jackman wants his mutant character to get rebooted rather than recast.
- May 14, 2014
AceShowbiz - Despite his previous statement that he would not stick around for much longer as Wolverine in "X-Men" franchise, it seems that Hugh Jackman is not ready to hang up his adamantium claws just yet. "I think I might have overplayed my hand a little bit by saying I'm almost sure that the next one will be my last," he admitted to The Associated Press during a visit to China for "X-Men: Days of Future Past" promo tour.
"Right now I don't [want to let it go], and as long as it keeps going this direction I probably won't (smiles)," he told Collider in a separate press junket. "But I've made that promise to you, it's not something I will stick around at and stay at if I feel it's dropping off or if I don't feel that urge to go and do it, because I know there's 10 million actors out there who would kill themselves to play the part. They should, it's a great part."
"I'm enjoying this more than ever, and you and I have talked about this a lot, I think the scripts from what Jim [Mangold] pulled off with 'The Wolverine' to what Simon Kinberg and Bryan [Singer] have pulled off with [Days of Future Past], the scripts are getting better and better. For me there has to be something new and some new direction, I suppose, for the character to go; not only for me, but for the audiences. And I feel that that's been happening."
And when he finally leaves, he would like to follow Jerry Seinfeld's footsteps. "I was always really inspired by Jerry Seinfeld, how he left that show at its height on his own terms," he explained. "I think that's a really smart way to do it. It'd be great to leave people wanting more, rather than the other way around. It'd also be great to make the decision rather than getting that phone call, 'Now listen Hugh, I know you thought you were going to [keep going], and thank you so much for all you've done, but...' I think it would be much better to be making that decision together."
When the day comes for him to depart, he would love to see Wolverine getting rebooted rather than just recasting a new actor to inherit the role. "I just presume, in a way, that if it happens they will reboot. I don't know why I thought that. I think you could replace him because he's older, but it would be interesting - because I was 30 when I got the role, it'd be interesting to follow that character from 20, or even 18, because we haven't seen it. So that's just what I assumed it would be."
Jackman is expected to reprise his role as the clawed mutant in "X-Men: Apocalypse" which is slated for May 27, 2016. He will next return for "The Wolverine 3". Both movies are likely to get filmed back to back, but nothing has officially been set in stone.
