It is perhaps the most iconic Wolverine meme, previously consigned to social media and forum posts across the internet. Now, though, it has been brought into the real-world by none other than Hugh Jackman himself.
Timed to go live during Deadpool & Wolverine’s now record-breaking opening weekend, Jackman posted a photo of Wolverine in the comic-accurate costume seen in the movie, recreating the famous Wolverine meme that originates from the X-Men: The Animated Series. Jackman/Wolverine is lying down holding a picture frame, but rather than Wolverine looking sadly at a picture of his unrequited love Jean Grey and her boyfriend Cyclops, he’s looking at the news that Deadpool & Wolverine is the number one movie in the world.
Wolverine and Deadpool is the #1 movie in the world. Thank you ALL! @VancityReynolds @ShawnLevyDirect @MarvStudios pic.twitter.com/FhdspNeWcR
— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) July 28, 2024
And indeed it is. Marvel owner Disney has announced that Deadpool & Wolverine had the largest R-rated global box office opening ever with a staggering $438.3 million and the eighth-biggest domestic weekend box office debut of all time with ticket sales reaching $205 million.
The fun didn’t stop with Jackman recreating the meme, either. As you'd expect, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds had something to say about it. In a follow-up tweet, Reynolds showed the Merc with the Mouth recreating the meme himself while holding a picture of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine recreating the meme. Meta!
I miss Hugh already. #DeadpoolandWolverine ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/qTmTMGQDBt
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) July 28, 2024
It’s the latest banter-fueled back and forth between Jackman and Reynolds in what has been a relentless tour promoting Deadpool & Wolverine ahead of its release, but it’s clearly paying off for Marvel. Other records from the movie’s opening weekend include the highest July opening weekend of all-time, overtaking 2019's The Lion King, the biggest opening since 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the second largest opening for a third installment behind only 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
As if that wasn't enough, Deadpool & Wolverine also helped Marvel Studios cross $30 billion at the global box office, meaning the MCU is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
In IGN’s Deadpool & Wolverine review, we called it "an outrageous, consistently funny superhero comedy that succeeds largely thanks to the contagious enthusiasm of leads Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and a surprisingly classy perspective on superhero movie history."
For more, check out our explainer of Deadpool & Wolverine's ending, all the Easter Eggs, cameos, and Marvel references we've spotted so far, and the major news that Robert Downey Jr. will be playing Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Image credit: Marvel Studios.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
