AceShowbiz -

To 20th Century Fox, Hugh Jackman is just as precious as Robert Downey Jr. to Marvel Studios. According to a report from National Enquirer (via Comic Book Movie), the studio has offered Jackman a massive $100M deal to reprise his role as Wolverine in four future movies.

Even so, a so-called close pal doubts Jackman will take it and reveals why. "Hugh has a big decision to make. It's not every day an actor gets offered this kind of paycheck, but Hugh vowed never to lock himself into any multipicture deals after 'X-Men'," the insider claims. "He hasn't given any kind of answer yet, so at least he's considering it."

Jackman, the third highest paid actor on this year's Forbes list, has previously hinted at a potential retirement as the clawed-hero. "I wasn't even sure after the first [stand-alone] film if I would do another," he said to Entertainment Weekly last May. He admitted that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" fell short of his expectations.

"I had something to prove, and we could have done better," the Aussie actor told the site in a June interview. "Somehow the first Wolverine movie ended up looking like the fourth 'X-Men' - just with different characters. I left unsure if we'd achieved our goal, which was to make sure people understood my character."

"The Wolverine", of course, will not be Jackman's last chapter. He is set to reprise his iconic role in "X-Men: Days of Future Past". If Fox wants him that much, the studio needs to prepare "a pretty compelling reason," as Jackman himself suggested.