Jay Maidment/20th Century/Marvel Studios
Hugh Jackman has finally returned to play the iconic Marvel hero Wolverine, AKA Logan, in "Deadpool & Wolverine."
It's been seven years since the actor seemingly hung up his Adamantium claws for the final time in 2017's "Logan."
"Deadpool & Wolverine" reunites Jackman with Ryan Reynolds in a movie that folds the "X-Men" characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Disney bought 20th Century Fox back in 2019.
It sees Deadpool and Wolverine try to save Deadpool's universe by working with the Time Variance Authority, the multiversal group that first appeared in the "Loki" TV series.
But because the new movie requires fans to know all about alternate universes, the "X-Men," and Logan's long history, here's a recap of what the film's two heroes have been up to since the year 2000.
Fox
The original "X-Men" trilogy showed Hollywood that serious comic book movies were still a viable property in the early 2000s, and Jackman's clawed hero quickly became a fan-favorite when the first "X-Men" movie hit theaters in 2000.
The first film introduces Logan as a drifter with amnesia who makes money fighting in bare-knuckle brawls. Professor X (Patrick Stewart) convinces him to join the X-Men, a team of superheroes, and Wolverine fights villain Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Mutants.
In "X2," Wolverine learns the truth about his past and realizes that he got his Adamantium skeleton when he was experimented on as part of the Weapon X program.
"X-Men: The Last Stand" sees Logan deal with the death of fellow X-Men member Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and her subsequent resurrection against the backdrop of the development of a cure for mutant abilities.
20th Century Studios
Audiences first met Reynolds' "merc with the mouth," the wise-cracking Wade Wilson and his signature duel swords and enhanced reflexes, in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
The only things missing were his iconic costume and his disfigurement. He works with Logan as part of Task Force X, taking on missions for shady military officer William Stryker (Danny Huston).
By the end of the film, Stryker has Deadpool's mouth surgically shut during a procedure that genetically altered the antihero to give him various superpowers — which was a huge departure from the comics.
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is infamous among fans for its terrible depiction of Wolverine's history and key characters from the "X-Men" universe. But, thanks to the time-traveling ending of "Deadpool 2," the beloved version of Deadpool executed the poorly written version of himself by unceremoniously shooting him in the head.
It was a tongue-in-cheek way of wiping "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" from the history books. Phew.
20th Century Studios
Despite the fan backlash against "Origins," 20th Century Fox kept bringing back Jackman. He briefly cameoed during a bar scene in the 1960s-era prequel, "X-Men: First Class," which was released in 2011, before starring in 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
Wolverine fights robotic Sentinels with the rest of the X-Men in a dystopian future, before his consciousness is sent back in time to his younger self to prevent the Sentinels' creation in the 1970s. Think "Terminator," but with "X-Men."
When Magneto (Michael Fassbender) drowns Wolverine at the bottom of a river, the military acquires his body for Weapon X.
Jackman later had another cameo role in 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse," in which Wolverine breaks out of the Weapon X facility in Canada in a brief, bloody action sequence.
Marvel/Fox
"The Wolverine" takes place after the original "X-Men" trilogy, as Logan struggles with the weight of losing Jean. He's brought to Japan to help a dying soldier, Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), who he met during World War II.
Yashida tries to steal Logan's healing factor to avoid dying and fights the clawed hero in a giant robotic suit called the Silver Samurai.
After killing Yashida, Logan leaves Japan, but not before he's interrupted by Professor X ( Stewart) and Magneto (McKellen) in a scene that sets up the events of "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
Jackman once again picked up the metal claws for 2017's "Logan," which was intended to be his final appearance as Wolverine before Disney took on "X-Men."
It takes place in a bleak future where mutants are practically extinct, and an older, weary Logan is tasked with escorting his young clone, Laura/X-23 (Dafne Keen) to a safe haven in Canada.
Logan sacrifices himself in the emotional ending to save Laura and a handful of other mutants. So "Deadpool & Wolverine" needs to have a very good reason for bringing Jackman back to the role.
20th Century Fox
Reynolds eventually got to play a faithful version of his foul-mouthed mercenary in 2016's "Deadpool," which unleashes his R-rated sensibilities on the world. In the comics, Deadpool's origin story is fairly ambiguous because he always tells different versions of his past due to his chaotic personality.
A key part of his character is that he develops cancer, but his mutant genes cause the cancer to spread across his entire body.
In the film, Wade's mutation is triggered by a supervillain, Ajax (Ed Skrein), who experiments on him. Wade's cancer drastically grows and completely covers his body, but it also gives him enhanced reflexes and a regenerative healing factor. After donning the red and black costume, Deadpool hunts Ajax down and kills him in revenge for being experimented on.
Along the way, Deadpool makes plenty of jokes about himself, Reynolds, Jackman, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And that continues to escalate in 2018's "Deadpool 2," which features "Avengers" alumni Josh Brolin as the time-traveling hero, Cable.
Cable travels back in time from a dystopian future to kill a young mutant, Russell Collins (Julian Dennison) to stop him from becoming a supervillain. But Deadpool butt heads with Cable because he believes Collins can be a force for good. Chaos ensues.
Eventually, Deadpool's surprisingly wholesome crusade wins out, and Collins doesn't become a mass-murdering psychopath. In the mid-credits scene, Deadpool uses Cable's time machine to save his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) from being killed, before executing the poorly written version of himself in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
In the sequence, he also kills Ryan Reynolds while he reads the "Green Lantern" script, but it's a shame Deadpool can't truly erase that one from history.
Hopefully, "Deadpool & Wolverine" will live up to fans' high expectations when it arrives in theaters on July 26.
