Hugh Jackman Shares Throwback Video to Celebrate X-Men’s 20th Anniversary

The original X-Men movie celebrates its 20th anniversary today, and Hugh Jackman shared a throwback video to commemorate the occasion. Jackman is now synonymous with the role of Wolverine — something that Marvel may find tricky to navigate as it looks to bring the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe — but at the time, he was an unknown actor who people were skeptical about due to his size and low profile.

Jackman of course made the role his own and has the Guinness World Record for “longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero,” appearing in the role consistently over an 18 year period that ended with Logan. He shared the behind-the-scenes footage of him joking around on set, recalling how he only had three weeks to get in shape after he replaced Dougray Scott in the role at the last minute due to Scott’s commitment to reshoots for Mission: Impossible II.

X-Men blew the doors open on the superhero film, which had been on life support following the failure of Batman & Robin. The franchise ran through several highs and lows, ending with last year’s Dark Phoenix. A final spinoff, New Mutants is set to debut hopefully later this year.

So here’s the thing. When the studio called and asked if I could get in shape to play #Wolverine in 3 weeks. I might have over promised! But wouldn’t you have too? Happy 20th Anniversary X-Men Universe. #Xmen #20 pic.twitter.com/bwQJnmyZBI

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) July 14, 2020