It’s been three years since Logan released in theaters, and Ryan Reynolds celebrated it the only way he knows how: by taking another dig at Hugh Jackman. Logan saw Jackman play Wolverine for the last time after over a decade of inhabiting the role. The film, being a much more faithful adaptation of the character, is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic book movies ever made.
Jackman first played the beloved character in 2000’s X-Men. He then went on to play Wolverine eight times; however, all of those portrayals operated under a PG-13 rating. It wasn’t until 2017, in Logan, that Jackman was able to drop more than a few F-bombs and embrace the violence customary of Weapon X. It’s not a stretch to say that Logan’s R-rating is thanks to the "Merc with a mouth." Before Ryan Reynolds’ take on Deadpool in 2016, there weren’t many mainstream R-rated comic book movies. Deadpool even makes a quip about this in Deadpool 2: “[expletive] Wolverine. First, he rides my coattails with the R rating. Then the hairy [expletive] ups the ante by dying.”
Reynolds and Jackman have been inextricably tied since their appearance together in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The bromance they have foraged since has resulted in many tongue-in-cheek digs on social media or in the Deadpool movies. For example, Reynolds has always wanted a Deadpool/Wolverine crossover to happen (one better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and his character’s bitterness can be seen as art imitating life. Wolverine’s ceremonial death in Logan appears to have shut the door on any future appearances of Jackman as the character. As Jackman took to social media to celebrate Logan’s anniversary, so did his satirical adversary. In an Instagram post, Reynolds shared his anniversary gift to Jackman:
Reynolds’ video is taken straight out of Deadpool 2, in a scene that visually references the circumstances of Wolverine’s demise. This troll is just another bullet point in the long list of trolling Reynolds has done to Jackman in the past. In the first Deadpool, the titular character wore a mask of Jackman. Reynolds also once hijacked an Eddie the Eagle interview and even visited Jackman in a hotel room as Deadpool. It is Reynolds’ signature irreverence that has helped the character of Deadpool survive.
While Jackman’s version of Wolverine and many of the other characters from Fox’s X-Men franchise won’t appear in any future films, Reynolds' Deadpool lives on. A third Deadpool film starring Reynolds is in the works at Marvel Studios, but Disney’s acquisition of Fox wiped the slate clean for all other mutants. Of course, if Jackman was up for donning the claws again, Marvel and Kevin Feige would jump at the opportunity. However, given the finality of Logan, that will most likely never happen.
Source: Ryan Reynolds