It’s no secret that actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are close friends outside their professional circles. It’s also no secret that they play two of the most beloved superheroes of all time, Deadpool and Wolverine, respectively. They have both become synonymous with the characters they play, and ever since they co-starred in the ill-fated X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, audiences have wanted to see them on-screen together again. This year’s Deadpool & Wolverine finally gives audiences the chance to see their favorite heroes team up under a new studio banner.

The 20th Century Fox acquisition by Walt Disney Studios back in 2018 served as a humongous win for the House of Mouse. The company owns a vast amount of IP, characters, and stories that expand its horizon.

It has allowed them to add hundreds of shows and movies to their streaming platform while being able to expand their storytelling over at Marvel Studios. It’s the reason The Fantastic Four are getting their own MCU movie, one that will hopefully do Marvel’s first family justice. Six years later, we finally have a cinematic adaptation of these two incredible heroes fighting together (and with each other) that also serves as a heartfelt goodbye to an era that is no longer.

Deadpool & Wolverine A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.Release Date July 26, 2024

Even though the movie marks the return of their comic characters together on the big screen again, it is not the first time the real-life best friends appeared in a movie together since Origins. Since the pair are friends in the real world, it has given them a few opportunities to share the screen together. They know many of the same people, hang out in the same circles, and are well-versed in the superhero genre.

They have a deep respect for the characters they play, which comes across on screen. Despite their friendly feud, it seems they genuinely enjoy working with each other and just being in each other’s presence. It is evident in their outings as their comic book counterparts, but it has also allowed them to work together in many different capacities. Such as this seemingly forgotten brief stint together.

Reynolds and Jackman Famously First Appeared Together in X-Men Origins: Wolverine

It is widely known that Reynolds is a die-hard fan of the Deadpool character and his comics. He spent years trying to get the character into a movie, so other fans could enjoy The Merc With a Mouth’s fourth-wall-breaking humor. He finally got that chance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, although not as he envisioned.

The movie was not received well by critics and audiences alike and is still divisive among Marvel and X-Men fans. The portrayal of Wade Wilson/Deadpool is far from comic-book accurate, and vastly different from what Reynolds would bring to the character seven years later in Deadpool. However, it was the beginning of 20th Century Fox’s understanding that a Deadpool movie would be a great thing, and the start of Reynolds and Jackman starring in movies together.

The Real-Life Best Friends Again Reunited On-Screen in 2021

Both Reynolds and Jackman indeed reprised their beloved superhero roles on-screen together in 2024 as their official introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the pair appeared together in a different film three years before then. Although it was a brief, faceless appearance, Jackman appeared in Free Guy in 2021 alongside Reynolds as the titular character.

Jackman played a masked avatar, credited as ‘Masked Player in Alley,’ for a brief moment in the movie. It was Jackman who voiced the character, although his physical body was played by Patrick Vincent Curran.

The movie takes place in a world where people can insert themselves in video games as any avatar they choose, making it easy to disguise even celebrities. Jackman’s Masked Player has a quick exchange with Jodie Comer’s Molotovgirl about information she needs to save Free City from digital destruction. After trying to spike the price of the information, Molovtov girl shoots him in the alley.

Related One of the Most Requested Marvel Villains Almost Appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine Deadpool & Wolverine went through several changes, and one of those seems to have been the loss of a long-awaited villain’s MCU debut.

The movie was also directed by Deadpool & Wolverine director, Shawn Levy. Both Reynolds and Jackman are good friends with Levy in real life, so it’s oddly fitting that Jackman would make a small cameo in the movie.

They Played Their Characters Together Again 15 Years After X-Men: Origins for Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine was years in the making and a long-awaited dream for many Marvel Comics and MCU fans. After the 20th Century Fox acquisition that saw Walt Disney Studios obtain the rights to their films and characters, that dream became possible.

With the rights to the X-Men and all associated characters, it meant that Disney and Marvel Studios had endless possibilities to bring different heroes and teams together. Since Deadpool and Wolverine are such massively popular characters who have comic book history, it seems it was a no-brainer to have Reynolds and Jackman put on their suits together.

They do exactly that in the movie, as Jackman finally dons his comic-accurate Wolverine suit and mask, much to the excitement of life-long fans. It is seriously a dream come true for anyone who adores these characters. Wade and Logan banter, bicker, and brawl like there’s no tomorrow. They each go through surprisingly emotional character arcs by the end of the film, and Reynolds and Jackman’s real-life friendship shines through. They gave the Fox Marvel universe a proper send-off together.

A Decades-Long Friendship

The friendship between the actors has been over 15 years in the making. It started with their infamous friendly feud that inevitably found its home on social media. When they met on the set of X-Men Origins, Jackman playfully started ribbing Reynolds because of his recent (at the time) marriage to Scarlett Johansson, whom Jackman was close with. It eventually spiraled into a goofy, not-so-serious feud that served more as a long-withstanding joke between the duo.

Related Ryan Reynolds Reveals Why Original Deadpool & Wolverine Title Was Changed at the Last Minute “I’ve never told this story anywhere,” Reynolds begins…

Outside of Marvel and their other acting projects, both men have various business ventures that they have each graciously supported. They briefly put an end to their “feud” in 2019 when they announced on their social channels that they were going to make commercials for the other’s businesses.

Jackman said he would make an ad for Reynolds’ Aviation Gin, while Reynolds stated he would make one for Laughing Man Coffee. However, they reignited their friendly feud just a few months later. Which makes Jackman’s hidden cameo in Free Guy even funnier.

Reynolds famously tried to publicly persuade Jackman to agree to a Wolverine/Deadpool team-up, even when he retracted his claws when Logan was released. The two went back-and-forth on social media until a video posted in 2022 by Reynolds confirmed that he had successfully convinced Jackman to bring out the claws once again. Two years later, they gifted us with an absolute blast of a team-up between these incredible characters.

Read Our Review of Deadpool & Wolverine