Ryan Reynolds shares first image of Hugh Jackman in Wolverine suit for Deadpool 3

Fans are flooding to social media in excitement after Ryan Reynolds shared the first image of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in Deadpool 3.

Reynolds first revealed Jackman would be joining the franchise for its third instalment - picking up his suit and claws to play the iconic X-Men role of Wolverine for the 10th time - in a video post to Instagram last year.

It was previously believed Jackman wouldn't ever return to the role after appearing in 2017's Logan - Wolverine dying in the movie.

Reynolds shared a first look of Jackman as Wolverine on set of Deadpool 3 with a post to his Instagram story.

The image shows Reynolds dressed in his classic red Deadpool suit, mask and all.

Besides him is Jackman, wearing his bright yellow Wolverine outfit but without his mask or claws.

Reynolds caption reads: "Don't blink."

Instagram/ @vancityreynolds

People are flocking to social media in excitement over the iconic duo and on-screen enemies uniting for the third Deadpool movie.

One Twitter user said: "This is soo hard."

"The mad lads! They finally did it! They finally got Hugh Jackman in the OG Wolverine suit......now if only they could get the mask," another commented.

A third added: "The suit looks perfect! Can wait for the mask reveal."

And a fourth wrote: "WE WONNNN."

20th Century Fox

Ahead of his reprisal of the role of Wolverine, Jackman told Variety in October last year it took a while for him to agree to take part in Deadpool 3.

The 54-year-old joked Reynolds had been asking him 'on the daily' for three years to come onboard - Reynolds even meeting with Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige, when Disney acquired Fox.

Jackman said: "I think, actually, he’d given up. I think it was a big shock to him. There was a massive pause, and then he said, 'I can’t believe the timing of this.'"

Reynolds noted he's 'thrilled' to have Jackman join the third movie in the Deadpool franchise.

"It’s like old home week. To get to be on set with one of my closest friends each and every day is a dream come true. But to do it with these two iconic characters side by side, that’s beyond our wildest dreams."

20th Century Fox

And the first images of the pair in the roles of Deadpool and Wolverine are certainly iconic and have left fans desperate for more - Reynolds releasing the photograph on his story before any sort of trailer.

As one fan of the franchise put it: "THEY COULDN'T WAIT UNTIL THE TRAILER [multiple crying emojis]."

Despite several changes to its release date, the latest update is Deadpool 3 is set to premiere 4 May, 2024.