Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is one of the most iconic superheroes on the big screen. With 24 years and 12 incarnations, he has been dubbed ‘the actor with the longest career playing a Marvel character’.
Wolverine is the role that brought Jackman to the big screen after a long time working on the stage.

Record for longest Marvel character

Hugh Jackman first played Wolverine in X-Men (2000), a film set in a world where mutants – people with mutant abilities – exist, based on the superhero group of the same name in Marvel Comics.

Wolverine debuted around the same time as the first X-Men members on the big screen.

After that, the actor continued to accompany the X-Men group in X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). From 2009 onwards, Hugh’s Wolverine appeared more frequently when participating in a series of other large and small projects of the brand.

His character also had 3 separate films including Wolverine (2009), The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017). Logan (2017) was once thought to mark the end of Hugh Jackman’s role, before he returned in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) recently.

Hugh Jackman and 12 times playing screen icon Logan. Photo: MCU Report

Thus, with a total of 12 incarnations and 24 years accompanying the role of Wolverine, Hugh Jackman holds the record for being the actor who has played the Marvel character continuously for the longest time up to the present time. In second place is Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark/Iron Man from 2008 to 2019 and participated in about 10 projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hugh Jackman and “one step to stardom”

Hugh Jackman’s full name is Hugh Michael Jackman, he was born on October 12, 1968, he is an Australian actor. When he graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Edith Co‌wan University in Perth) in 1994, the young Hugh mainly performed on stage. Wolverine was the first major film role that Hugh Jackman took on.

According to HuffPost, the actor followed an extremely strict training and diet regimen to meet the character’s perfect physique requirements. He usually started training about 3 months before filming and spent at least 3 hours a day doing weightlifting, cardio, and other high-intensity exercises.

In addition to the physical sacrifices, playing Wolverine also posed huge mental challenges for Jackman. He had to delve deeply into the character’s psychology, especially in emotionally charged films like Logan , where Wolverine is portrayed with extreme pain and fatigue. This required Jackman to immerse himself in the character’s emotions, which at times left him feeling mentally exhausted.

The actor maintains a rigorous training regimen before and during each filming of a new film.

In return for his dedication to the role, Hugh Jackman received international recognition from both professionals and audiences. The actor won a prestigious award from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Wolverine. The success of this role is considered an important milestone in the actor’s career, making his name famous worldwide, helping him to commit and affirm his position in the film industry.

Returning in “Deadpool and Wolverine” and the future in MCU

After 7 years since Logan (2017), Hugh Jackman returned to the role of Wolverine in Deadpool and Wolverine with a warm welcome from fans. In the film, the actor transformed into a new Wolverine variant from another timeline. He wore the familiar black and yellow costume from the original Marvel comics, completely different from the appearance of previous versions.

Deadpool & Wolverine not only marks the return of Deadpool and Wolverine after many years of absence, but this is also the first time these two characters appear in Marvel’s multiverse concept, with the appearance of the TVA (Time Variance Authority) connecting separate dimensions together.

Although in this newly released project, the producer did not make any clear promises about the future of Deadpool or Wolverine in the MCU, fans still have many reasons to believe that this is an important stepping stone to help these two characters merge into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future.

Wolverine’s influence in popular culture

The X-Men in general and Wolverine in particular were released at a time when superhero movies were not as popular as they are now. Wolverine is a symbol of resilience, the ability to overcome adversity and a relentless fighting spirit, a character that combines strength and vulnerability, BL and compassion.

Over the course of more than two decades, Jackman has transformed Wolverine from a little-known comic book character into a cinematic icon, beloved by generations of audiences. The role had a grand, tear-jerking ending after a long journey in Logan (2017).

Jackman’s Wolverine is a superhero beloved by generations of audiences for over 20 years.

Because of these values, Hugh Jackman’s return in Deadpool and Wolverine has received mixed reviews. In addition to the welcome from the majority of fans, some opinions also said that “reviving” Wolverine in the new Deadpool – even though it was a variant image from another universe – has somewhat reduced the significance of the character’s previous sacrifice, as well as the weight of Hugh Jackman’s announcement to leave the role after Logan .