The WGA strike is over, but the SAG-AFTRA strike continues. This means that movie production still can’t get back underway. But one expects that when the strike finally does end those movies that were actively filming are going to want to get back to work as quickly as possible. And while Hugh Jackman can’t shoot scenes for Deadpool 3 right now, he can continue to hit the gym to make sure he’s still in Wolverine shape when the time comes.
Jackman made headlines over the weekend for attending a Kansas City Chiefs game with Taylor Swift and his Deadpool 3 co-star Ryan Reynolds, but this morning he’s in the gym. Which, based on his Instagram post, is at least something he’s clearly enjoying. The clip catches him after he’s finished lifting when he seems to have been holding his breath and finally relaxes. Check it out.
We don’t get to see Jackman actually lifting the weight, but we’ve seen him in plenty of his workouts and it’s clear that he can do it. It’s even possible he’d be working out like this even if he didn’t have a major superhero movie to film. A lot of actors who get into the habit of hitting the gym due to a role seem to keep up the habit even when the job doesn’t require it.
We haven’t seen much movement on the actors’ strike in the aftermath of the WGA deal, but once things started moving with the writers the strike was resolved in short order. We could certainly see something similar happen with actors, especially since many of the issues that the writers have now come to terms with are the same issues that actors have. So it might actually be a bit easier coming to a deal, now that producers have made agreements on the issues once.
Deadpool 3 is expected to not just be a return to Wolverine for Hugh Jackman, but a performance that will see him portray multiple versions of the character. Rumors of several Deadpool 3 cameos, including many of the actors who played roles in the Fox X-Men films have been running rampant, it seems likely that Deadpool 3 may act not only as the introduction of the Merc with a Mouth into the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also something of a swan song to the previous Fox run universe that it never really got.
The Deadpool 3 release date is currently set for May 2024, but the longer the strike delays production the harder it will be to hit that date. A lot of completed movies have already delayed their release due to the strike, and we may see another mass migration of releases similar to what happened during the pandemic if things continue going on much longer.
The good news is that if Hugh Jackman just needs to keep going to the gym and keep working out just in case, at least he’s enjoying it.