Though we may wish for crossovers between our favourite comic book characters on the screen, particularly as they rule the box office at the moment, the vagaries of studio contracts and rights deals mean that few are likely to happen. Still, we can speculate, and Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, has just mentioned that he came close to getting the X-Men favourite into Spider-Man’s world back when Sam Raimi was in charge of it.
“In the first Spider-Man – Kevin Feige reminded me of this – we really tried to get me to come on and do something, whether it was a gag or just to walk through the shot or something,” Jackman tells The Huffington Post. “The problem was, we couldn't find the suit. The suit was stuck in some thing. And so when they were in New York when I was there, we couldn't get it together. So, you know, I actually asked some high level people about it. Because the optimist in me goes, ‘Why not? Why can't we do it? You know, a split cast or whatever?' But in the comic books, what's great about it is they're just mashing together all the time – and it's awesome. And people are like, 'Yeah, well, let's get this one with that!' And, you know, I still think, one day, there may be an ability to do it.”
But according to comments he made to Vulture, if that’s going to happen, it really should be sooner rather than later. "It's nearing the end," he says of playing Wolverine. "I do feel that. If there are any more movies, there would have to be a really good reason for it."
We’d think a crossover should be more than enough justification, if only for the internet meltdown that would occur, but one can understand why Jackman might want to take an occasional break from the intense gym schedule that playing Logan demands from him.
Still, Wolverine fans can take heart that the grumpy, claw-sporting mutant will be back on our screens in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, which is out here on May 22 next year. And Jackman hasn't hung up the claws just yet, so there could still be more Wolverine adventures in his future...