For as long as there has been a Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans have wanted to see the X-Men become part of it. Doing so now would radically change the state of the MCU, but that's not the only thing that would be impacted. Hugh Jackman admits that if the X-Men were joining the likes of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk he might not be hanging up his adamantium claws right now.
If that was on the table when I made my decision, it certainly would have made me pause. That's for sure. Because I always love the idea of him within that dynamic, with the Hulk obviously, with Iron Man but there's a lot of smarter people with MBAs who can't figure that out [laughter]. You never know. .... At the moment, honestly, if I really did have them there, I probably wouldn't have said this is the last. It just feels like this is the right time [to leave the character].
Because Marvel was interested in making money off their characters long before they ever had the idea to make the movies themselves, several of their most popular characters have film rights owned by other studios. While Sony holds the rights to Spider-Man, the studio has entered into a deal with Marvel that allows the character to join the MCU. Fans have wanted to see the same thing happen with the Fantastic Four as well as the mutants that currently live under the Fox umbrella and it appears that Hugh Jackman would like to see that too.
Based on Hugh Jackman's comments to Screen Rant, it would seem that the actor made the decision to walk away from playing Wolverine because he had reached a point where he felt there was nothing else new he could do with the character. However, if he had seen an opportunity to do something new, like say, interact with new heroes and villains within the MCU, he likely would not have said that Logan would be his last turn as Wolverine.
It shows just how big, and important, the MCU has become that Hugh Jackman could have reconsidered a major career move like this if that option was open to him. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that any agreement like the one Sony made has much chance of taking place regarding the X-Men. That side of the Fox/Marvel business is doing just fine thanks to recent films like Deadpool. While there might be a slight chance that something could happen with the floundering Fantastic Four, as Fox is unlikely to be making any money off that license for the foreseeable future, there's little reason for Fox to want to share Wolverine.
Now we have two reasons to be upset that the X-Men aren't in the MCU. Not only do we lose all the potential stories, but now we can blame it for Hugh Jackman's departure. Say goodbye when Logan hits screens March 3.
