Marvel boss Kevin Feige has praised Hugh Jackman for bringing a "darker element" to his superhero in 'Deadpool and Wolverine'.

The 55-year-old star has reprised his role of Wolverine for the first time since 2017's 'Logan' and even after playing the mutant on and off since 2000's 'X-Men', the studio chief is impressed the actor is still able to find new sides to his alter ego.

Speaking to ScreenRant, he said: "On a deeper level, I think he has said that he taps into a darker element of the character, which is not necessarily apparent in the fun footage that you've seen in trailers.

"But when you see the movie, there's a darkness that always comes with the Wolverine character from the comics that is touched on in certain of the previous movies, but is delved into in this one in a way that really takes you to, I think, a special place and showcases yet again. What a spectacular actor."

The film – which also stars Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth - marks the beginning of the 'X-Men' saga in the MCU, after the studio first introduced mutants through the Disney+ show 'X-Men '97'.

Looking to the future of the MCU, Feige teased the studio was going to delve "into the deep bench of mutant characters", while exploring the "mythology of the comics".

He explained: "I think we've seen a lot of great characters in the 'X-Men' movies that have existed up to now, but there are literally hundreds that we haven't seen yet.

"For me, ['X-Men '97'] was, and the animation team of Marvel Studios did such a spectacular job with that and seeing the audience respond to the soap opera elements and to the love triangles and to all that that really makes the X-Men the X-Men.

"It had all of us very excited about the translation back into live-action."