Hugh Jackman says next Wolverine movie will be his last

Hugh Jackman has confirmed the next solo Wolverine film will mark his final turn as the adamantium-clawed comic book anti-hero.

Jackman posted an image to Instagram featuring three of Wolverine’s claws with the caption: “WOLVERINE ... ONE LAST TIME. HJ.” The photograph is believed to refer to Twentieth Century Fox’s plans for a third solo Wolverine film following 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and 2013’s The Wolverine. The studio recently announced that the movie will hit cinemas in March 2017, when the Australian actor would be 48.

Jackman, who has appeared in seven films as near-indestructible mutant Wolverine since 2000’s X-Men, has hinted at a departure from his best known role in the past. “Great parts always outgrow the actors that play them,” he told reporters at the San Sebastián film festival in September 2013. “If you forget that, it’s at your own peril. I’ve been doing it for 10 years.”

However, the Sydney-born actor subsequently signed up for another turn as the superhero after James Mangold’s The Wolverine took $414m globally. Jackman is also expected, though not confirmed, to appear in next May’s X-Men: Apocalypse. Directed once again by series stalwart Bryan Singer, the latest instalment in the long-running saga will feature Oscar Isaac as the titular immortal villain, who in the comic books emerges as the new ruler of an Earth where mutants have enslaved their human counterparts.

Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast) are also expected to leave the series once Apocalypse hits cinemas. The X-Men saga currently boasts Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as younger versions of warring mutants Magneto and Professor X and has just added Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner as the new Jean Grey, along with Tye Sheridan and Alexandra Shipp as younger takes on Cyclops and Storm.