Is Hugh Jackman going to be in the 'Deadpool' movie?
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Will moviegoers see a familiar face on the movie screen when they go see the upcoming superhero movie 鈥淒eadpool鈥�?
In a recent interview, actor Ryan Reynolds, who is starring in 鈥淒eadpool鈥� as the Marvel character, said that 鈥淴-Men鈥� actor Hugh Jackman might pop up in the movie. Jackman has portrayed Wolverine in multiple 鈥淴-Men鈥� movies (and the two already shared the screen as these characters in the 2009 movie 鈥淴-Men Origins: Wolverine,鈥� which was not a critical success).
鈥淚t seems like he鈥檚 open to it,鈥� Reynolds said of Jackman possibly being involved in the film in an interview with the website . 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 going to be more of a scheduling issue than anything else.鈥�
Movie executives would most likely love to see Jackman appear in the movie. Marvel Studios, for one, has built a highly lucrative business through a careful method of introducing characters, as has the 鈥淴-Men鈥� franchise of which Jackman is a part. Marvel began its current 鈥淎vengers鈥� team with the 2008 movie 鈥淚ron Man,鈥� which starred Robert Downey Jr. as the superhero. They then introduced the public to the other 鈥淎vengers鈥� team members through individual movies, including 鈥淐aptain America: The First Avenger鈥� and 鈥淭hor.鈥� By the time 2012鈥檚 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� rolled around, moviegoers who wouldn鈥檛 have known these characters beforehand were thoroughly versed in who the villain Loki was and why Cap had come back from the 1940s.
Similarly, the casual movie fan probably doesn鈥檛 know right now who Deadpool is. (For the uninitiated, Deadpool, alias Wade Wilson, is a skilled fighter and is able to heal himself.) Those who aren鈥檛 familiar with the superhero may be more willing to go see the movie if they know Wolverine, who has appeared in multiple successful 鈥淴-Men鈥� movies, will be there.
The 鈥淴-Men鈥� franchise has also mostly proved the success of the strategy of bringing in old favorites while introducing new ones. The first 鈥淴-Men鈥� movie, which was released in 2000, introduced such core characters as Wolverine, Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), and the villain Magneto (Ian McKellan). Later installments like 鈥淴2鈥� and 鈥淴-Men: The Last Stand鈥� brought in new characters like Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page in later installments), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), and Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), though some of these character introductions have been more successful than others.
