Hugh Jackman says he would have joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wolverine if Disney bought Fox earlier. For nearly two decades, Jackman was the face of Fox's X-Men movie franchise, appearing in a total of nine films. He formally retired from the Wolverine role following 2017's Logan, which received widespread critical praise and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

2017 was coincidentally also the year Disney began the process of acquiring 20th Century Fox's entertainment assets, with the deal becoming official in 2019. As a result, the Mouse House has the film rights to Marvel characters previously owned by Fox, such as the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

The prospect of the X-Men and Fantastic Four finally being integrated into the MCU is an exciting one for fans, though most definitely wish the Fox/Disney deal happened much sooner so Jackman could have interacted with Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, and the rest of Earth's Mightiest Heroes during the Infinity Saga. It shouldn't come as any surprise Jackman himself would have gladly jumped at the opportunity if it presented itself to him.

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Hugh Jackman knows another actor will inevitably pick up the mantle of Wolverine in the MCU, saying "It's too good of a character" not to use.

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Jackman's previously said he'd have kept playing Wolverine if the X-Men were in the MCU around the time of Logan, but it sounds like he's at peace with the way things played out. And Logan was arguably the perfect sendoff for Jackman's iteration of the mutant, closing his tenure with an emotional and riveting story that ranks among the best in the genre. In many respects, that film marked the end of an era, setting the stage for someone else to come in and play Wolverine. Whenever the character makes his debut in the MCU, it'll be the start of a new chapter, so it makes sense for Wolverine to be played by a different actor.