The X-Men franchise is a sprawling landscape of characters, but Deadpool and Wolverine are the two solo acts who dominate the series. Fans have been dying to see a crossover between Wade Wilson and Logan ever since the two first crossed paths (albeit unsuccessfully) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and even Ryan Reynolds is keen on making it happen as well. Alas, it looks like Hugh Jackman's retirement is the thing standing in the way. In a recent interview at the premiere of Deadpool 2, Reynolds concluded:
You know, that's a long-standing dream of mine. Y'know sadly it's Hugh Jackman that's the skin-covered speed-bump on the road to that sort of happiness. We'll see. He hung it up. So, we'll see.
Ryan Reynolds has made no secret of the fact that he wants to see a proper crossover between Wade Wilson and Wolverine. The smartass actor behind the Merc with the Mouth has routinely pleaded with Hugh Jackman for a crossover between their two R-rated X-Men properties, but that process hit a major roadblock last year when Jackman retired from the franchise with Logan. Per his comments to Variety on the matter, Reynolds still remains open to the possibility of getting the Australian actor in on a crossover, but the ball is very much in Jackman's court at this stage of the game.
These pleas have not gone unnoticed by Hugh Jackman in recent days. In fact, the retired Wolverine actor recently addressed Ryan Reynolds' desire to see this crossover during a recent TV appearance, and he humorously shut down his friend and former co-star about the possibility of seeing it happen. So at this point, the odds of it actually coming together seem relatively slim.
Of course, even without the presence of Hugh Jackman or Wolverine in the Deadpool franchise, it looks like the Merc with the Mouth is doing just fine on his own. Deadpool 2 received great reactions from fans on social media after its initial screenings, and the reviews of the film have been largely positive ahead of its release. Getting Hugh Jackman to sign on for a cameo or a full-blown crossover would obviously be a huge win for the Deadpool franchise and fans alike, but it's also clear that the series could easily continue to simply make its current Hugh Jackman/Wolverine jokes and thrive on its own merit without an appearance by Jackman as the adamantium-clawed badass. Either way, the fans would win.
Deadpool 2 finally premieres in theaters later this week on May 18. Check out David Leitch's highly-anticipated X-Men franchise spinoff when it debuts, and then head over to our movie premiere guide to see what other films are set to debut this year!
