Wolverine is an iconic member of the X-Men and one that Hugh Jackman has been associated with for years now. With Hugh Jackman returning to the role for Deadpool 3, he finally answered a question that many fans have had. Specifically, Hugh Jackman has addressed whether or not he ever took steroids to portray the character.
As noted via Variety, Hugh Jackman participated in an interview on HBO’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” when he was asked about potential steroid use. As such, he gave an interesting response. First off, Chris Wallace asked the following:
“Over the years people have wondered, did he juice? Did he take steroids?”
Hugh Jackman quickly answered the steroids question with the following:
“No, I love my job. And I love Wolverine,” Jackman said. “I got to be careful what I say here, but I had been told anecdotally what the side effects are of that. And I was like, ‘I don’t love it that much.’ So no, I just did it the old school way.”
He also gave something of a humorous response while revealing that he’s mostly gained muscle by simply eating lots of chicken.
“And I tell you, I’ve eaten more chickens — I’m so sorry to all the vegans and vegetarians and to the chickens of the world. Literally the karma is not good for me. If the deity has anything related to chickens, I’m in trouble.”
They also noted a story Jackman shared about when he first got the role of Wolverine. Apparently, he wasn’t familiar with real-life wolverines, and thought the character was actually named after wolves.
“I had never read the comic book,” Jackman said. “I got the part. I didn’t really know anything about…I didn’t, in Australia we don’t have wolverines. I didn’t know that was a real animal. I’d never heard of a wolverine. I thought it was a made-up animal. You know, like, he’s got man hands of steel, made up. And so I was passing as I was doing rehearsal at the Imax, they had this documentary about wolves. And I was like, perfect, because obviously I’m a wolf, part wolf.”
He then explained what happened after he went to the production with these wolf inspirations in mind.
“So I went [to set] with all these wolf moves and I was doing these moves, and the director said, ‘What are you doing?’” Jackman continued. “And I said, ‘Well, I was just thinking wolves are always looking like this because they’re actually smelling, they’ve got their nose to the ground. That’s why they’re looking like this all the time.’ And he goes, ‘What do you mean a wolf?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, Wolverine — I’m part wolf so…’ and he goes, ‘No, you’re a wolverine.’”
Ultimately, it looks like Hugh Jackman made all of the correct decisions with his portrayal of Wolverine. He’s become tied to the character and many fans have difficulty imagining anyone else in the role. As such, it’s no surprise that he’ll soon be returning as Wolverine for Deadpool 3.
Shawn Levy is set to direct Deadpool 3 from a screenplay written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux previously worked on the film’s screenplay.
Deadpool 3 is currently scheduled to hit theaters on November 8, 2024. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates on the highly-anticipated blockbuster as we have them.