Hugh Jackman Shaves His Wolverine Sideburns as ‘Deadpool 3’ Wraps: See His Transformation

Deadpool 3 has officially wrapped filming, and that means actor Hugh Jackman can shave off his sideburns. The 55-year-old actor posted a video on Instagram where he sat smiling in a stylist’s chair got a haircut, complete with a clean shave. After the long shoot and the long wait, it sounds like Jackman is eager for fans to see his return to the world of comic book movies.

“What a ride!” Jackman wrote in his caption. “I’ve loved every minute of making this movie. Well… not the [4 a.m.] training or the steamed fish and veg 4[times] a day for 6 months but the other 93.2 percent. A collective thank you to the entire cast and crew. You are all aces! If you’re reading this and think I mean you, I do. To two of my best mates [Ryan Reynolds] and [Shawn Levy] I literally couldn’t have done this without you. LITERALLY! July 26th can’t come soon enough. Time to shave.”

Jackman has played Wolverine in the X-Men movies since 2000 when the first live-action adaptation premiered, and he continued to star in that continuity even as the MCU rose to prominence separately. In 2017, he intended to retire from the comic book movie franchise after starring in Logan – a sequel set several years in the future and centering primarily around his character. However, in 2019 Disney finalized its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, giving Marvel Studios access to all the intellectual property previously held by Fox – including Wolverine and the X-Men.

After much speculation, Jackman announced his plan to reprise his role as Wolverine for Deadpool 3 in September of 2022. He said that this story will not interfere with the events of Logan and would leave the existing continuity intact. This movie gives Jackman a chance to wear Wolverine’s iconic yellow outfit for the first time, among other nods to the comic books that never fit into the live-action X-Men franchise before.

Filming for Deadpool 3 was severely impacted by the Hollywood labor strikes over the summer, which is why shooting went on for so long and why Jackman had to maintain his mutton chops. Finally, this week Reynolds announced that it was all finished. That doesn’t leave much time before the film’s release date. Deadpool 3 hits theaters on July 26, 2024.