Last week it was revealed that 20th Century Fox had started negotiations with director James Mangold with a view to reteaming him with Hugh Jackman for a sequel to this year’s X-Men solo effort The Wolverine, and now Jackman has spoken about the possibility of him reprising the role of Logan post X-Men: Days of Future Past for what would be his eighth outing as the character.
“I was on the phone with Jim Mangold last night,” Jackman tells Entertainment Weekly. “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 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.”
Jackman then went on to discuss his contract with Fox, stating that it would need renegotiating following the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past this coming May: “I started with a two-picture deal on the first two [X-Men films], and from that point on, it’s been movie by movie — not just me, but Fox and Jim and everyone. 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. 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.”
Jackman will next be seen as Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which will see him sharing the screen with X-Men veterans James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Lucas Till (Havok), Halle Berry (Storm), Anna Paquin (Rogue), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), Shawn Ashmore (Iceman) and Daniel Cudmore (Colossus) alongside franchise newcomers newcomers Evan Peters (American Horror Story) as Quicksilver, Booboo Stewart (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) as Warpath, Omar Sy (The Intouchables) as Bishop, Fan Binbing (Iron Man 3) as Blink, Adam Canto (The Following) as Sunspot, Josh Helman (Mad Max: Fury Road) as William Stryker, and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as Bolivar Trask.
