Off and on for the past almost 15 years Hugh Jackman as been getting ripped, growing the chops, and strapping on the claws to become Wolverine.  Not a lot of actors get the opportunity to play a character for that long. It has to be an honor. Every role must come to an end. Hugh Jackman seems to be taking a realistic approach to it. 

Let’s be honest. How many more years could you expect Hugh to maintain this physique without taking away from the role? He’s already in his upper 40’s and looks amazing.  He was quoted talking to SFX that:

“I’m 99.9% sure it would be the last”

It could be that he’s baiting Fox studios to sign him up for a huge contract extension but that seems more like Robert Downey Jr style. Hugh just doesn’t come across as someone who is interested in those type of games.  It seems pretty obvious that he’s had a good run of it and is ready to pass the mantle on to some deserving young man.

The good thing about this timing is it does open up the option for Hugh to go out with a bang. Say what you want about the quality of the movies that have been made with the Wolverine but they have done well to have Hugh Jackman’s portrayal. Especially when you consider that in the comics he was supposed to be 5’3″ seeing eye to eye with the female characters and Hugh is 6’2″.

I agree that Old Man Logan could be the great fit for a send off for Jackman. While X-Men Origins: Wolverine was looking at where he came from, The Wolverine had him looking at his own mortality ,  Old Man Logan could go even deeper looking at a Logan who has accepted himself and wants nothing more than to be left alone with his wife and kids.  TV and Hollywood are all about post-apocalyptic life and Old Man Logan gives you that setting. The difficulty would lie in that licenese-wise it includes Avengers and Spidey characters.

The bottom line is that I would much rather have him let go when he knows the getting is good than to hold on for more money and give a half-hearted production of the character. Let’s applaud the man, Hugh Jackman, for what he has done with Logan and being at this point willing to walk away from something that he has put many years of hard work into portraying.