Marvel Reportedly Developing a Solo Wolverine Movie, and Here's How Hugh Jackman Could Stick Around After Secret Wars

A question from a viewer named Jared kicked off this whole discussion. He asked whether an article claiming that insider MyTimeToShineHello had confirmed Marvel Studios is developing a solo Wolverine movie is legit, and whether it would star Hugh Jackman or recast Henry Cavill in the role the way we saw him show up in Deadpool and Wolverine. That insider claim, shared on X, simply reads that Marvel Studios is developing a Wolverine solo movie, and it has already sparked a renewed wave of speculation about Jackman's future as the MCU's Wolverine.

I've said for a long time that I want Hugh Jackman to stick around as Wolverine after Secret Wars, and to anyone who argued Deadpool and Wolverine was his final bow as the character, I think that idea is just wrong. Jackman is going to be in Secret Wars and very likely in Avengers Doomsday. You don't bring him back in the multiverse saga after the ending of Logan and then leave him out of Secret Wars. Deadpool and Wolverine also ended with Wolverine, Deadpool and X-23 living a life together, and Deadpool is certainly continuing into the MCU after Secret Wars. Where I take things further is my belief that he should keep playing the character even after Doomsday and Secret Wars, and I think it's genuinely possible that happens.

What comicbookmovie.com's report says about the X-Men reboot and a Dafne Keen torch pass

The article Jared sent over, from comicbookmovie.com, lays out that 20th Century Fox's X-Men will make their official MCU debut in Avengers Doomsday, but it likely won't be until after Secret Wars that we meet the MCU's all new, all different X-Men lineup, possibly including Jean Grey if the Sadie Sink rumors are true. With filmmaker Jake Schreier's X-Men reboot reportedly eyeing a 2028 release, the article suggests the first wave of actors could be cast before the end of 2026, and it frames Marvel's mutant plans as extending to spin-offs across film and television.

The article also notes it has been reported multiple times that Wolverine is set to return after Doomsday and Secret Wars, and argues there's nothing to say Jackman couldn't keep playing Logan for the next decade or more, especially if Dafne Keen joins him as a younger female Wolverine for a passing of the torch. It also points out that Henry Cavill's cameo in 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine has led to speculation that we may have already met the MCU's next James Howlett, though the article stresses it won't be easy for any actor to pick up where Jackman left off.

Dafne Keen on fans wanting her to become the next Wolverine

The same article covers a recent interview with Dafne Keen, who played X-23, where she was asked how she feels about fans wanting her to suit up as the next Wolverine. She stopped short of confirming she's angling to inherit the mantle, but expressed gratitude for the support, saying, "Yeah, I mean, it means so much to me. I always think it's so special that something that we made 10 years ago still has an impact, and I know that I love that character so dearly, and it means so much to me that so many people love her as much as I do, and it's so special to know that what you've made means something."

She continued, "And I think that what we made really did mean something, and it's great to keep receiving that. I also think it's very important to connect with people, and every time I hear that a performance of mine has someone feel a type of way, I feel very connected. And I think it's beautiful so many people are excited by it, and I'm very happy anytime anyone wants to speak about it." It's no secret I want her back as X-23 for the long haul, and I think you put her on the new rebooted MCU X-Men team without question.

My case for keeping Jackman's Wolverine out of the X-Men reboot but alive in a Deadpool corner of the MCU

I don't want Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in that new X-Men film. I want that movie to be a Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Cyclops movie, maybe with Professor X discovering them all for the first time. I have no interest in Wolverine even being in it, unless it's Dafne Keen's X-23 version of the character after the universe is reset and different realities converge into one following Secret Wars. I see no reason not to include her X-23 as part of that newly formed universe alongside Jean and Scott and the others.

I'm also a proponent of keeping James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender around as Professor X and Magneto. They've played the characters brilliantly and still have decades left in their careers, which could lend some continuity to the old Marvel world while moving into a new era. As for Jackman, I think you keep him around as Laura's father, popping in for cameos in the X-Men movies and having conversations with Charles, since Jackman and McAvoy had great on-screen chemistry as Wolverine and Professor X in Days of Future Past. But I think Wolverine's primary role in the MCU should be running missions in the R-rated corner of the universe, doing movies with Deadpool and X-Force, while the X-Men films stay X-Men films without him.

How Marvel could eventually recast Wolverine without overexplaining anything

As for eventually needing a new Wolverine, I think Marvel could do it with a simple throwaway line ten years from now, where the X-Men discover a lab experimenting on mutants and find a guy who doesn't remember who he is, who turns out to be James Howlett. A line referencing the events of Secret Wars, which everyone will have seen since I expect it to be one of the biggest movies ever made, would explain why there's suddenly another Wolverine and let them phase out Jackman's version whenever he's ready to step away. You don't have to hold the audience's hand.

Will that new Wolverine be Henry Cavill? I think probably not. If Marvel waits another decade to recast, they'll likely want someone younger, since Cavill is already 43 and would be in his 50s by then. If you're replacing Jackman partly because he's aging out of the role, you'd want someone who could play it for a decade or two. At that point, if Dafne Keen is still around, you could lean into an old comic book trope, a version of "I'm your daughter," but not literally, thanks to the multiverse, similar to the sliding scale of time comics and animated sitcoms use. Keen's X-23 and a new Wolverine could have a relationship more like brother and sister than father and daughter, with her even mentoring him. If Marvel does stop with Jackman after Secret Wars, though, I would love to see Henry Cavill brought in. He was a great Superman, and he already played a version of Wolverine in Deadpool and Wolverine that was, as I put it, super on the nose.

T.J. Miller teases what Ryan Reynolds has planned for Deadpool 4

A separate article caught my eye about T.J. Miller, who played Weasel in the first two Deadpool movies, discussing a possible return to the franchise and what he knows about Ryan Reynolds' plans for Deadpool 4. Miller and Reynolds had a falling out, with Miller alleging Reynolds was rude to him on set, though the two have since patched things up. Miller faced past controversies that led to backlash.

Asked if the door has closed on his Deadpool return, Miller said, "Marvel gets so weird about this stuff. They're just like, don't talk about it, don't talk about it." He added that Reynolds' idea for the next Deadpool film is "really good," saying, "He told me the idea. I kind of got hair on the back of my neck standing up because I was just like, I didn't think you could do something that's even more different than Deadpool and Wolverine. And I think he has, you know, it's in the chamber." Miller also called Reynolds a real friend who has "had our back," and said it would be fun to joke around with him again.

Aside from Miller, I've hated how Deadpool and Wolverine benched so many characters from the first two films, since that movie doesn't really feel like a true Deadpool 3 to me. For Deadpool 4, I'd like to see it feel more like a traditional sequel, bringing back Dopinder, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Weasel too if Miller deserves to return. I'm not for permanently punishing someone for something from 25 years ago, though I'll admit I don't know all the details of what happened, so it's hard for me to say for certain either way.

What I want most out of all this is more Deadpool, more Wolverine, more Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and Dafne Keen's X-23 either running around with Deadpool and Wolverine or, preferably, on the new X-Men team. Do you think Marvel keeps Jackman around past Secret Wars, or is it time to hand the claws to someone new?