One of the miracles of modern nerdery is that the X-Men film franchise was not actually “rebooted” in the wake of X-Men: The Last Stand being terrible. But change is inevitable, and even Hugh Jackman, who pretty much anchors the entire franchise, knows it.
Speaking to IGN on the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Jackman talked about the films and how he prepared for them. Also, he explained that he’d inevitably be replaced:
Anyone who thinks they’re indispensable in this business is fooling themselves. But I feel unbelievably blessed to have this part. I never thought in a million years I’d get to play him seven times. Every day I walk on the set with the claws and the hair, I thank my lucky stars. I don’t take any of it for granted.
Then he stabbed a bunch of people and made a witty remark in song, because that’s how Hugh Jackman rolls in our imagination. That said, Jackman has a point in that he’s 46, and while he’s undeniably ridiculously fit, to the point where Fox felt the need to Photoshop a throbbing vein onto his abs, he’s probably going to want to stop being Wolverine someday.
Of course, Hollywood being what it is, they’re not going to let Jackman quit until a movie bombs or even the most expensive CGI spackle won’t make him look less than eighty. And then they’ll probably just reboot the movies as a series of CGI animation films and have him voice Wolverine until he dies, before using vocal samples to reconstruct his voice, so he’ll voice Wolverine forever. So really, this “recasting” stuff doesn’t have to happen, it really just depends on audience taste for abstract horror.
Via IGN