In the past couple of years, Hugh Jackman has hinted that he is nearly done playing Wolverine for 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise. The plan has been that, once he finishes Wolverine 3, he will pass the torch to someone new. But now, it sounds like he's had a change of heart. The actor was recently inspired by Michael Keaton's Oscar-nominated performance in Birdman. Speaking with Cigar Aficionado, he claims that he never wants to relinquish the iconic role.

"I said to my wife, 'The moral is that I should never stop playing Wolverine. I've got to find a way to keep playing him until I die.' I know that someday they'll recast the role with another actor...I'd be happy if the role was eventually recast. It would mean that it had become iconic."

Hugh Jackman has a plan in place to keep himself inspired as he continues on in the role of Wolverine. He wants to push himself even more, every time he returns to the character. He explains:

"I always want to be in better shape than I was for the last one. I don't believe in stagnation. People say they try to maintain the status quo. But I believe the natural cycle means you're either advancing and getting closer to something or you're receding...Every time I play Wolverine I want to go further, physically and emotionally."

It has not yet been revealed if Hugh Jackman will appear as Wolverine in the next franchise sequel X-Men: Apocalypse, which is set to debut summer 2016. He will most likely play the role next in Wolverine 3, which may see him teaming up once again with Patrick Stewart as the older Charles Xavier (aka Professor X). It will be his 8th time playing the charactrer, which he originated in the 2000 original comic book classic X-Men. Does this news make you happy? Or were you excited to see someone new step in as fast-healing mutant Logan?