Hugh Jackman Confirmed For ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’
In just a few days, we’ll be seeingHugh Jackmantackle one of the stage’s most iconic heroes in Tom Hooper’sLes Misérables. But the role that’s really been his signature for the past decade is X-Men’s Wolverine, and it’s one he’ll be reprising again for the next two summers.
Shooting is already complete onThe Wolverine, which hits in July, but the news today is that he’s also confirmed for an appearance in 2014’sX-Men: Days of Future Past. More details after the jump.
Jackman joins formerX-Menco-starsPatrick StewartandIan McKellan, as well asFirst ClassstarsJames McAvoy,Michael Fassbender,Jennifer Lawrence, andNicholas Hoult.
While Stewart and McKellan’s characters, Professor X and Magneto, were portrayed by the younger McAvoy and Fassbender in last year’s prequel, the ageless Wolverine has been played in both timelines by Jackman. Naturally, it makes perfect sense to bring him back forDays of Future Past, which sees the characters jumping back and forth in time. Here’s a summary of storyline as it unfolds in the comics:
The storyline alternates between present day, in which the X-Men fight Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and a future timeline caused by the X-Men’s failure to prevent the Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Robert Kelly. In this future universe, Sentinels rule the United States, and mutants live in internment camps. The present-day X-Men are forewarned of the possible future by a future version of their teammate Kitty Pryde, whose mind traveled back in time and possessed her younger self to warn the X-Men.
Wolverine plays a key role in the comic book version of the arc, but it’s unclear if that’ll also be the case in theSimon Kinberg’s screenplay as well. A recentTHR storyhintedthat the old guard’s involvement would amount to little more than cameos, writing that “Jackman and the others will appear mostly in scenes depicting an alternate dystopic future, so pay and time commitments are not substantial.” At the very least, we can probably look forward to a bigger cameo than the one Jackman had inFirst Class.
X-Men: Days of Future Paststarts filming this spring for aJuly 18, 2014opening.
