Hugh Jackman talks Wolverine in the MCU: "Somebody else will pick it up and run with it"

He may be dead set on hanging up his adamantium claws permanently after his farewell to Wolverine in Logan, but things could have been different for Hugh Jackman if the X-Men were folded into the MCU umbrella sooner.

“If seven years ago that had happened I’d be like, ‘Oh yeah!’” Jackman said when asked by The Daily Beast about the Disney/Fox merger that will someday see the X-Men appear in the MCU. “But I knew it was the right time for me to leave the party – not just for me, but for the character.”

That's not to say the character will be retired for good. In fact, Jackman welcomes the inevitable change in personnel.

"Somebody else will pick it up and run with it," Jackson continued. "It’s too good of a character not to. It’s kind of like, you’re on your way home and your friend rings you and goes, 'Oh, dude, a new DJ just came on and the music is awesome, are you going to come back?' And you say, 'Sounds good but… no.' They’re fine with someone else."

So, in another multiverse, Jackman could have been snarling and sneering alongside the MCU's assorted cast of heroes. Now, it appears that the Australian actor has finally put to bed any suggestions that he will be back in the superhero game for good – which means that Mark Ruffalo's dream pitch of a Wolverine vs. Hulk movie will need someone else to step in and play Wolvie.