15 Superstars Who've Played Superheroes (PHOTOS)

Hugh Jackman grew out his sideburns — and further toned his already muscle-bound bod — to play Wolverine, a hulking mutant with razor-sharp claws, animal-like senses, and enhanced healing capabilities in X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). He also had an ever-so-brief cameo in X-Men: First Class (2011). While you’d never want to be on the wrong end of Wolverine’s adamantium claws, Hugh can’t help but smolder as his deadly, brooding brute of a character.

The Aussie actor opened up to Parade about the essential appeal of Wolverine: “My favorite play in drama school was The Bacchae. It’s about a king who literally gets eaten alive by all the women in the play in a kind of orgy — it’s related to the word ‘bacchanal’ — and I loved that idea of animalistic chaos and following our own desires. I think Wolverine represents that in its most allegorical sense. He’s a man who battles between the animal and the human, between the chaos in him and the self-control he must have. We all deal with this to some extent.”

Hugh will bring this push-pull — and his sexy scruff — back to the big screen in The Wolverine.