Hugh Jackman Teases His Next Ryan Reynolds Team-Up After ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

Writer-director Michael Sarnoski’s (Pig, A Quiet Place: Day One) newest film, The Death of Robin Hood, is a darkly reimagined exploration of the fabled hero that reexamines the myths of one man’s transgressions. Starring Hugh Jackman, the movie takes a subversive approach to the well-trodden lore, picking up the story in Robin Hood’s later years as he’s grappling with his life of crime.

In the movie, Robin Hood finds himself wrestling with his violent past after an injury in battle leaves him at death’s door. Fatally wounded, he winds up in the care of Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), who offers Robin a glimpse at salvation and a different perspective on life. The Death of Robin Hood also stars Bill Skarsgård as Robin’s former partner, Little John, as well as Murray Bartlett, Clive Russell, and Noah Jupe.

In a recent interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, which you can watch in the video above or the transcript below, Jackman shares his personal insights on what this retelling of Robin Hood is truly after, how an exhausting day of battle on set led to an intimate moment captured on camera, and why Bartlett’s emotional performance was a scene-stealer. He also teases another team-up with his Deadpool & Wolverine Ryan Renyolds and talks about joining Ridley Scott’s Treasure Island.

An Accidental Moment Added Unexpected Intimacy to ‘The Death of Robin Hood’

“There’s this weird sort of intimacy in this brutal hand-to-hand combat…”

Image via A24

COLLIDER: I really want to start with congratulations. I loved your work in this. I think Michael is such a talented filmmaker. I need him to make a lot more movies.

HUGH JACKMAN: I agree. Luckily, he’s 23 years old. [Laughs]

I read there was a take where you’re in Northern Ireland, you’re in the mud, you’re doing a fight scene, and you were so tired that you laid down on another actor, and Michael put that scene in the movie.

JACKMAN: Elijah [Ungvary], this other Aussie actor who was playing the main guy I was fighting, we were in the mud and it was cold. We were going long takes, on and on, and fighting, and fire, and I get to the bit where I kind of climb on top of him to sort of finish up the job, and I just couldn’t move, and he couldn’t either. We’re just lying there. I was just lying with my head on his chest, and I was breathing, and Michael goes, “I love that.”

There’s this weird sort of intimacy in this brutal hand-to-hand combat with these two just going at it, where they just can’t move. I think there’s something really cool about that. But then I rally, and I take him out, so don’t worry. Everything ends exactly as it should.

100%. There’s a lot of myth about Robin Hood, and there’s a lot of myth about movie stars. What’s the funniest misconception people have about you?

JACKMAN: A lot of people think I’m short, and they meet me, and they’re like, “What? What’s going on here?” I don’t know if that’s funny. That’s sort of funny to me. But people have definitely had misconceptions about me. They see one side of me, for sure, without seeing the other. Well, you know me pretty well, Steve. We’ve known each other for 20 years. What are the things people say about me to you that you go, “Yeah, not so much?”

You know what I get all the time? I always have people asking me, “Who is the nicest person you’ve interviewed? Who is the most difficult? Who’s your favorite interview?” That kind of stuff. And I’m always very positive about you — being very difficult. I’m joking. I’m completely joking.

JACKMAN: [Laughs] I was hoping you were going to say that. That was perfect. Well played.

Hugh Jackman’s Robin Hood Is “Past” Forgiveness and Redemption

Jackman also highlights one of the film’s most outstanding moments.

I also read when I was prepping for this interview that you went to Michael after rehearsal between you and Murray [Bartlett] — Murray plays the leper — and said you needed to film Murray’s side first because it was the most beautiful performance you had ever seen. I think he’s phenomenal because all he’s doing is acting with his eyes, and it’s just amazing. What was it that he did that caused you to have such a reaction?

JACKMAN: It was just astonishing to me because I was two feet away from him and we were just rehearsing, and I was like, “That is one of the best performances I’ve seen, and that needs to be on film immediately. I don’t care what you’re thinking, or light — get in there now.” Because his face was covered, he’s playing a leper, so he’s got a prosthetic all over his face. He’s probably been in that makeup for hours. The way he’s speaking and wheezing, I don’t know how he did that with his voice, but you felt something. I don’t even know how he did it, but there was this emotion in his voice and in his eyes, and these tears just came out in a way that I was just mesmerized by it. I was so moved by it.

I very rarely say to a director, “Shoot this one,” but I knew I was the only one who saw up close, because it was just a rehearsal; he was listening to it. We went straight in with the camera. And also, I knew those prosthetics don’t last. They start to pull, and all of a sudden you’ve got five people trying to fix things. And with tears, it’s going to pull away. But Murray is just an astonishing actor. He’s incredibly present. He’s very spiritual as a man and a beautiful soul, and that gets captured on film, and I’m so glad.

Image via A24

Everyone in the movie is fantastic, but I really did love his performance. The film is about salvation and reckoning after a life of violence. Did you see Robin as someone trying to be forgiven or someone trying to forgive himself?

JACKMAN: Neither. I saw him as someone past that, who just wants out. There is no redemption. Then things get complex. Then, when he meets Jodie [Comer]’s character, things start to open up. Then I think, ultimately, by the end, it’s that wanting some kind of absolution, some kind of forgiveness, an ability to live with himself. I think he starts to believe perhaps some form of redemption is possible, or rather, he just wants to do something for someone else. For his whole life, it had been just for him, and that’s what I thought was really, really beautiful. I think that’s his focus. He feels so much for two other people that he wants to do something for them.

Hugh Jackman Says Ridley Scott’s ‘Treasure Island’ Blew Him Away

He also teases his next Deadpool & Wolverine team-up.

Image via Jennifer Bloc/Future Image/Cover Images

I read the other day that you’re going to team up with Ridley Scott finally, which is incredible. What was it about that project that said, “For the love of God, I’m doing it?” Part two: you’re doing a docuseries with Ryan about your Australian SailGP. Whose idea was it to do the docuseries, and what has it been like filming with him?

JACKMAN: With Ryan, it’s always a blast. I just never laugh so hard than when I’m with Ryan. But it was his idea, and as you know, Ryan’s got a gazillion ideas, and they’re all brilliant. So, I’m along for the ride, and I love it. I love Tom Slingsby. That whole team, we’re just having a blast. It’s been really surprising and fantastic.

And yeah, I got the script, written by Jack Thorne, who did Adolescence. I’d never read Treasure Island. I’d never seen Treasure Island. I’d heard of Long John Silver, but I really didn’t know anything. I just read the script, and I was like, “This is just genius.” I believe it’s a slight reimagining — not as much as this Robin Hood — and I just rang Ridley, and I said, “I’m in.”

I’ve heard about the way Ridley likes to work on set, and I’m sure you’re aware he has five to eight cameras going at all times. Are you super excited for that?

JACKMAN: Totally. Particularly when doing action. Absolutely. No, he’s a master. I remember Russell [Crowe] telling me, and Russell’s done five films with him. Russell’s talked to me a lot about Ridley. We met on a film that I couldn’t do because I was on stage 20 years ago, so this is thrilling for me. So, fingers crossed. I don’t think we’re actually greenlit yet. We’re just out there in the market, so fingers crossed it happens.

‘The Death of Robin Hood’ Cast Explore the Movie’s Light and Darkness

Collider also talks with Bill Skarsgård, Jodie Comer, and Murray Bartlett.

Collider also got to chat with Bill Skarsgård, Jodie Comer, and Murray Bartlett for The Death of Robin Hood, where the trio shares their own thoughts on Sarnoski’s retelling. During the interview, which you can read in full below or watch in the video above, Skarsgård, known for roles like Pennywise in It and Nosferatu, and Bartlett, who dons prosthetics for his role as a leper, explain the allure of complete transformation and the freedom it allows actors. Comer also breaks down Robin Hood’s true purpose in the movie, and they all share their favorite Christopher Nolan movies in anticipation of The Odyssey this summer.

COLLIDER: I really want to start with congratulations on the movie. I thought Michael did such a great job, as all of you did as well. I’m just so happy he made this. But we’re doing a supercut next month about Christopher Nolan, because of The Odyssey, and I’m curious for all of you guys: do you have a favorite Christopher Nolan movie?

MURRAY BARTLETT: Wow. I mean, all of them. Can I say that? I’m just a huge Christopher Nolan fan. It’s hard to pick a favorite.

BILL SKARSGÅRD: Anything that man does. I don’t know. I think The Dark Knight was definitely one of the more impactful things for a 17-year-old me. That was special when it came out. But yeah, any one would do, right?

JODIE COMER: Yeah, I think so.

SKARSGÅRD: I also love Memento.

BARTLETT: Me too!

COMER: I haven’t actually seen that.

SKARSGÅRD: Oh, it’s great.

I interviewed [Steven] Spielberg yesterday, and he said Memento.

BARTLETT: Yeah, it really blew my mind. It’s hard to pick, but I think that Memento was, for some reason, the film of his that I saw that initially made the most impact. For some reason, that was what really made me realize how much of a genius he is. It felt so singular and unexpected and disturbing and amazing.

Jodie Comer Says Robin Hood Must Make Peace With His Dark Side

“In all of us, there is this light and darkness.”

Image via A24

Moving into why I get to talk to you guys. This film is about salvation and reckoning after a life of violence. Do you see Robin as someone trying to be forgiven or someone trying to forgive himself?

COMER: I think forgive himself. I think he’s really grappling with his own conscience. I think there are probably parts of him that desire forgiveness of other people, but I ultimately think it always comes back to your relationship to yourself. That’s ultimately what you have to face and make peace with. And I think that’s where he finds his liberation of not getting wrapped up in the identity of his actions, but being able to acknowledge that was who he was and what choices that he made, but that doesn’t mean he is inherently a bad person.

I think in all of us, there is this light and darkness, there is this polarity, and I think generally we like to kind of shun the darkness and reject it, or say that it’s not part of us, but it really, truly is. On what level that is varies. And I think it’s about him making peace with that within himself more than anything else, I feel, anyway.

One of the things that Michael does so well in his work already is that he really loves using silence in his movies, and I love it. Do you guys as actors love when a director has you use the silence, when the silence is doing a lot of the work?

BARTLETT: Yes, absolutely. Also, not just with silence, but I think that Michael has a way of… There’s this scene in his first film, Pig, in a restaurant with Nic Cage and a waiter, and it’s almost like there’s a moment that happens between them that, in real life, perhaps would just be a look or a short exchange, and the moment is stretched out. There’s this incredible monologue that Nic Cage’s character has. It’s almost like he stretches the moment and fully explores it, and I think he does it with silence, as well.

I find it so reflective of what life actually feels like, even if it feels a little not naturalistic. It just makes me feel the way I experience life, and I think he has a way of doing that with silence, as well. It’s that stretching of the moment that he’s not afraid to do. It’s exciting for actors, and it’s exciting for me as an audience to watch that. I just absolutely love it.

I’m a really big fan of his work already. Michael likes getting everybody down and dirty in the mud, if you will. What was the one modern thing you had under your costume that you needed to have to get you through the shoot when you were in Northern Ireland, in the mud, or on location?

COMER: A good pair of thermals is what I’d probably say. UGG boots when my feet weren’t on camera. [Laughs] Medieval garb and then a pair of fluffy UGG boots.

BARTLETT: Anything to keep warmer.

Bill Skarsgård on Playing Monsters and Misfits

The stars discuss disappearing into roles completely.

Image via A24

Bill, you have a knack for playing these great characters where you just completely disappear into the role, where you don’t even realize it’s you. What is it about disappearing into roles with makeup or whatever that you find so appealing?

SKARSGÅRD: I don’t know. I think it’s a part of what I think is fun about acting is to disappear into someone else from a different millennium or century or whatever. I mean, it’s just playing. I think what it comes down to is acting is pretending and playing dress-up, you know? And how many different costumes can one put on? I don’t know, I just find that process really fun. Yeah, I just find it fun. I think that’s the main thing.

If I were reduced to playing, like, a Swede from Stockholm, born in 1990, that would limit my choices for roles, so there’s a bit of an imposter syndrome, as well, where I’m trying to fit into all of these different universes. But yeah, I just like it. I think you’re very transformative as a performer, as well.

BARTLETT: Absolutely.

SKARSGÅRD: Do you like that part?

COMER: I feel like you guys both have done things where you physically look so different. I’d love to do that. I think, as well, you’re always trying to escape yourself on some level, and if you can get to a point where you become somewhat unrecognizable to yourself, it’s kind of, I guess, what you’re always… Like, if you get to experience that, it must be pretty cool. So, I’ve never really had that experience, which I would like. Now that Murray said that prosthetics are really enjoyable, I’m like, “Let’s go!”

BARTLETT: [Laughs] Yeah, the prosthetics that I had, which were quite elaborate, were so weirdly comfortable, and so it was an extraordinary thing to look in the mirror with this thing that felt like my skin. You just don’t look like yourself, and that does something to you. It was really amazing.

SKARSGÅRD: Yeah, it really does.

Image via A24

I would imagine it really frees you as a performer to just risk everything even more so.

SKARSGÅRD: For sure.

COMER: Yeah. You feel like you’ve got a kind of armor on, I would imagine.

BARTLETT: You lose yourself, and then suddenly you’re thrust into something else. It is sort of freeing. It’s like jumping off the cliff of yourself into the air. It’s a very cool feeling.

SKARSGÅRD: It’s actually immersion. I don’t know if you’ve ever done performance capture, but it’s the polar opposite because there’s nothing. It’s your face in a gray suit, so it’s like this opposite effect where you can’t hide behind any makeup. I mean, the makeup becomes digital, I guess, to an extent, but putting the makeup on adds to the immersion so you don’t feel as ridiculous as you sound and look. [Laughs]

BARTLETT: I guess in that process you realize how important costumes are.

​The Death of Robin Hood opens in theaters on June 19.

Release Date

June 19, 2026

Runtime

123 Minutes

Director

Michael Sarnoski

​