Aussie actor Hugh Jackman turns 49 years old today, but according to the man himself, it doesn't matter how many more birthdays he celebrates - he will continue to play Wolverine right up until the day he dies.
Jackman has already portrayed the adamantium-clawed mutant no less than seven times on screen, but he's not ready to hang his sideburns up just yet.
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Credit: 20th Century Fox
In a number of interviews about the role, Jackman has stated that he intends to keep playing Wolverine indefinitely.
Speaking to Cigar Aficionado in 2015, the star explained: "I said to my wife, 'The moral is that I should never stop playing Wolverine. I've got to find a way to keep playing him until I die.'
"I know that someday they'll recast the role with another actor... I'd be happy if the role was eventually recast. It would mean that it had become iconic."
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Of course, the role is already iconic, and Jackman is the only actor to have appeared in every X-Men movie to date.
Credit: 20th Century Fox
However, the star said that the dark and violent Logan would represent his last time playing the part, following the film's release earlier this year.
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In an interview with Fox News, he said: "I don't think I could have made this movie if I hadn't made the choice that it was my last time.
"When you play a character for 17 years, and I knew in my heart this was the right time, then instantly I was very excited about what we could do but also very protective.
"This is very personal, and the stakes were super high for me.
"When you try to make the definitive movie about a character, for me, I think what's always defined him or what makes him really cool and bad... what people love about him - is actually his humanity more than his superhero abilities."
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That might've all sounded pretty final, but more recently the actor has stated that if film rights weren't an issue and his character could be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which incorporate the Avengers movies and TV series such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but not the X-Men films), he would have no hesitation in continuing to play the part.
Credit: 20th Century Fox
"If that was on the table when I made my decision, it certainly would have made me pause," he told Screenrant.
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"That's for sure. Because I always love the idea of him within that dynamic - with the Hulk obviously, with Iron Man but there's a lot of smarter people with MBAs who can't figure that out. You never know."
He added: "At the moment, honestly, if I really did have [the other Marvel characters] there, I probably wouldn't have said this is the last. It just feels like this is the right time [to leave the character]."
Well, while we live in hope that he will return to the role at some point, no matter what happens, Jackman is, and will forever be, the one and only Wolverine - no question about that.
Featured Image Credit: 20th Century FoxTopics: Wolverine, Hugh Jackman, X-Men