Hugh Jackman admits regret regarding his Wolverine retirement and explains the moment he rued leaving the role as he's set to return as the popular human mutant in Deadpool 3.

Jackman spoke to Deadline about his Wolverine departure, suggesting he almost immediately regretted announcing that the 2017 film, Logan, would be his final one as the popular anti-hero. "I was 20 minutes into watching Deadpool, and I had just announced, literally, a few weeks before that Logan was going to be my last, which I fully intended. And then I was like, "Uh-oh,"" he said.

RELATED: Deadpool 3 Reveals Release Date - And Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Return

The Australian actor, who is promoting the Florian Zeller film, The Son, also revealed his conversations with Deadpool franchise star Ryan Reynolds and admitted that something was always bubbling beneath the proverbial surface despite constantly rebuffing potential Wolverine returns. "I was just driving out to the beach. It was mid-August, I had a week off from the show [The Music Man on Broadway], my first week off in eight, nine months, 10 months. And it came to me like, "I really want to do that." And that was it," he said.

Jackman continued, "As soon as I arrived at the beach, I rang Ryan [Reynolds] just to see what the hell was going on. And then here we are. It was so quick. And trust me, there's not a morning I don't wake up where Ryan Reynolds is outside my house with posters saying, "Please." He's constantly asking me about it. And I was like, "Dude, I'm done. I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done." So then when he rang me [back], he was like, "Are you serious?" So yeah."

RELATED: Miss Minutes Fan Account Leaves a 'Note' For Deadpool, Gets Ryan Reynolds Attention

Jackman joked that he wasn't a great poker player but insisted he was sticking to his retirement until he officially announced his return as Wolverine in a YouTube video alongside Reynolds this past September. "All this time, I was saying I was done, I really meant it. But anyway, somewhere deep down, this idea was obviously lurking and brewing," he said. Jackman's return was a key part of Reynolds' Deadpool 3 pitch to Disney and Marvel Studios executives when talking about the film.

The return to the Logan/Wolverine role for Jackman coincides with the Deadpool franchise joining the MCU. Prior to Logan, Jackman was a fixture in the X-Men film franchise, appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse. The Les Misérables star was also the lead in the 2013 movie, The Wolverine.

RELATED: Hugh Jackman Promises an Angrier, Grumpier Wolverine in Deadpool 3

As he preps for his Wolverine comeback, Jackman stars as Peter Miller in The Son, which is based on Zeller's 2018 play of the same name. The film chronicles a teenager, Nicholas (Zen McGrath) who leaves his mother's home and moves in with his father and his new partner. However, as Peter juggles parenting, his baby with Beth and a dream job in Washington, he loses sight of how to take care of Nicholas while trying to correct the mistakes his father made caring for him. The Son received a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 25 and will be fully unveiled across North American theaters on Jan. 20, 2023.

Deadpool 3 has been announced for a Nov. 8, 2024, released by Marvel and Disney, pushing it back from its original premiere date of Sept. 6, 2024.

Source: Deadline