Hugh Jackman has confirmed that he will be reprising his role as Wolverine in the upcoming 2016 film "X-Men: Apocalypse," IGN reported.
Jackman shared the good news during a podcast for Happy Sad Confused, and said he was actually not at liberty to share too much news and a lot of things about the film and his participation are still unknown.
"What I do know is there are some very exciting things about integrating the whole X-Men world, including the Wolverine movie," he said instead. "There's some really cool things going on."
Jackman wasn't clear on what they were "integrating," which could mean the introduction of other mutants such as Gambit, Deadpool and more, or even a new X-Men team, according to IGN.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is scheduled to hit theaters on May 27, 2016. It will be helmed by Director Bryan Singer and will reportedly focus more on the cast from the 2011 prequel film "X-Men: First Class," according to Slash Film.
Actors that will be returning include James McAvoy, who plays Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X; Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. Magneto; Oscar Isaac, who will play the villainous Apocalypse; Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Raven Darkholme a.k.a. Mystique; and Nicholas Hoult who plays Henry McCoy a.k.a. Beast.
Writer Simon Kinberg has stated that they are certainly looking into inviting more actors to reprise their roles from the original trilogy of films: "X-Men" from 2000, "X2: X-Men United" from 2003 and "X-Men: The Last Stand" from 2006, according to Slash Film. Among them, Jackman had long since been in the running to return.
During the podcast, Jackman did not state how big of a role he will be playing in "Apocalypse" this time. With 20th Century Fox reportedly looking to launch a newer cast, Wolverine might not be central to the story this time as compared to "Days of Future Past" and Jackman might just end up pulling a cameo similar to what happened in "First Class," according to Slash Film.
For now though, fans can wait for more news on Jackman and "X-Men: Apocalypse" once filming starts in Montreal come April 2015 with a trailer release soon to follow, according to Superhero Hype.
During the podcast, Jackman also mentioned the third film for the "Wolverine" franchise and confirmed that he was already working on it together with director James Mangold in time for the anticipated March 3, 2017 release, according to IGN.
"Mangold and I are working on it really hard and I'm very, very excited about that, actually," he said.
