Hugh Jackman will once again be bringing Wolverine to the big-screen in the character’s third (still untitled) standalone film. News has arrived that rising actor Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl) has been cast as the lead villain in the film. Holbrook appears to be playing a ruthless head of Security for a global enterprise with eyes only on vanquishing the clawed superhero. Deadline reports that the deal is confirmed with the film slated to start production in May.
The film is significant as Jackman has publicity stated the movie will mark his final appearance as Wolverine/Logan. Jackman found stardom in the role after his showcase turn in Bryan Singer’s 2000 blockbuster X-Men. The actor has since appeared in its two direct sequels (X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand), made an uncredited cameo in the prequel reboot X-Men: First Class and had a larger part in the most recent X-Men: Days of Future Past. His popularity with the character spun-off into two prior standalone projects: the much-derided X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and more appreciated The Wolverine (2013). That last film was directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line) who returns to the director’s chair for the latest installment. Patrick Stewart a.k.a. Charles Xavier is also joining the ensemble.
Audiences may not be overly familiar with the rising Holbrook, but the young actor has been showcased in an eclectic mixture of projects as of late. He appeared in David Fincher’s Gone Girl as well as the Sundance Film Festival hit The Skeleton Twins opposite Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. More recently, he portrayed a DEA agent in the Netflix drama Narcos and co-starred in Natalie Portman’s recent western Jane Got a Gun. Holbrook will next be seen in the indie The Free World opposite Elisabeth Moss and be featured in the ensemble cast of Terrence Malick‘s upcoming Weightless.
The third Wolverine film is set to open in theaters on March 3, 2017.