Hugh Jackman recalls his Wolverine casting and his first interaction with Kevin Feige, proving why the MCU’s perfect X-Men cast is almost guaranteed. Twenty-four years after his first appearance as Wolverine and seven years after Wolverine’s apparent retirement in Logan, Hugh Jackman is wielding the claws again in Deadpool & Wolverine. Deadpool & Wolverine‘s multiversal plot, in turn, might lead to one or more Wolverine appearances in the MCU’s upcoming Multiverse Saga movies. If Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine joins the Avengers and other heroes in Avengers 5 and Avengers: Secret Wars, then Jackman could complete three whole decades playing Wolverine on the big screen.

Wolverine is now synonymous with Hugh Jackman, but Jackman wasn’t the first choice for the role back in 2000. Dougray Scott had been cast as Wolverine for Bryan Singer’s X-Men, but delays in Mission: Impossible II‘s production prevented Scott from participating in X-Men. Wolverine had to be recast quickly, as filming had already begun. Fortunately, Hugh Jackman got the role and embodied the hero so perfectly that he has remained Wolverine’s only live-action actor since then. However, the process wasn’t so easy for Jackman.

Kevin Feige Believed In Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Casting Despite Having The Odds Stacked Against Him

Kevin Feige Understood Hugh Jackman’s Potential Even Before He Got Cast As Wolverine

Speaking to EW, Hugh Jackman reminisced about his experience auditioning for Wolverine. According to Jackman, he thought he had failed the audition, so he got ready to move on and return to Australia. However, Kevin Feige — who was just beginning his career as a feature film producer with X-Men — went out of his way to spend time with Jackman before the actor went back home. Apparently, Kevin Feige didn’t know the results of Hugh Jackman’s X-Men audition at the time, but he seems to have identified Jackman’s potential. Read Hugh Jackman’s full comments below:

“I said, ‘Kevin, we all know I’m not getting the part. You don’t have to do dinner,'” Jackman recalls. “But no, he sat in there and had a steak dinner with me and then drove me to the airport. I’ll never forget it. That was the nicest thing. I thought, I’ll never see him again.”

Needless to say, Hugh Jackman’s audition got him the role, and he began donning the black leather suit shortly afterward. As Hugh Jackman starred in every following X-Men installment, Kevin Feige went on to work on pre-MCU Marvel movies such as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Daredevil, Hulk, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand, which prepared him to take on his most ambitious idea: a Marvel Cinematic Universe inhabited by all the characters that Marvel still owned the cinematic rights to.

Kevin Feige Will Make Sure The MCU’s X-Men Are As Perfectly Cast As They Can Be

Nobody Understands Who The MCU’s X-Men Cast Needs More Than Kevin Feige

Kevin Feige saw in Hugh Jackman what a live-action Wolverine needed before the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Fox’s X-Men movie franchise existed — that is, during Feige’s first-ever credit in a Marvel production. Hugh Jackman’s casting anecdote only serves to prove that Kevin Feige has a deep understanding of Marvel characters and a refined instinct for inspired casting choices. Now that Feige’s cinematic universe idea has become a multi-billion dollar empire spanning dozens of projects across more than sixteen years, his careful search for the perfect X-Men actors will likely bear similarly satisfying results.

Hugh Jackman isn’t the only actor who got his Marvel role despite initial doubts. Marvel wasn’t keen on casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark for 2008’s Iron Man, but Jon Favreau insisted on having him audition, and the rest is history. Speaking to CinemaBlend, Kevin Feige said “Jon Favreau really had that vision for that movie and for Robert in that role. That decision, and the success of that decision, I think empowered us with further risks and further choices.” From the very beginning of both the X-Men movie franchise and the MCU, good casting choices have been essential.

Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Casting Anecdote Proves The MCU Needs Kevin Feige For At Least One More Saga

The MCU’s X-Men Will Likely Be Kevin Feige’s True Crown Jewel

Kevin Feige has witnessed the success of the downs and lows of Fox’s X-Men movie franchise and the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as Avengers: Endgame‘s celebration of the Infinity Saga and, eventually, the Multiverse Saga’s celebration of every Marvel movie and show ever made. Although Kevin Feige could easily feel satisfied about his impressive career and retire once Avengers: Secret Wars culminates the Multiverse Saga, Feige likely won’t leave the MCU without introducing the MCU’s X-Men himself. After all, the MCU’s own X-Men properties will bring Kevin Feige’s Marvel career full circle.

Just as Kevin Feige seemingly understood that Hugh Jackman was the right fit for X-Men‘s Wolverine back in 2000, he likely understands which actor each mutant character needs in the MCU, more so now that the Marvel Studios CEO has dozens of projects and over two decades of experience under his belt. The MCU’s first proper X-Men project may arrive around 2030 — thirty years after Feige began working with Marvel. So, if Kevin Feige were to retire once the MCU’s next saga ends, there’s little the legendary Marvel producer would leave unaccomplished.