When Logan came out in 2017, James Mangold had to age up Hugh Jackman to play an old man Wolverine. Seven years later, Jackman breaks his rule of returning to a character for a special case, but he would only be older. The Aussie had occupied the character since the genesis of the modern run of superhero movies at the turn of the millennium. Deadpool & Wolverine is a welcomed return for Jackman to the X-Men world, and it amazingly still makes sense despite the fandom already saying goodbye to him as the character years ago.

However, playing an intensely feral character for 24 years has made this last go much more difficult for Jackman. Especially with his older age. Deadline reports on an interview People Magazine had with Deadpool & Wolverine stars, Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. Jackman admits, “When I came back to it, it was really fun and I was thrilled. My body was a little sore at the beginning, but I was thrilled that my body was still responding. And I realized how good it is for your brain. But the hardest bit…the food.” As muscular as he gets for this role, Jackman says he’s always had difficulty bulking up. He continued to say,

I have to eat a lot. For me, for my body type, I’m naturally skinny. To get the size on, that’s the hardest bit. That’s the bit that does my head in.”

His co-star, Reynolds, would chime in. Reynolds, who himself has maintained a superhero physique since the days of Blade: Trinity, would profess that he “couldn’t believe” the physicality he saw as Jackman slipped back into the role. Reynolds fawned, “Just the sheer relentlessness that you dedicated yourself towards stunts, choreography. It was the first time I’d ever seen how invaluable a background in song and dance is when you are doing an action movie. You hit your marks in those fight scenes with speed and confidence, the likes of which I have never seen. I don’t care if you were 25, 35, 45 or 55. It was lightning.”

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