No one can remember when the feud between Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds actually started, or why. The first strikes are shrouded by myth and legend. Cave paintings and battlefield archeology tell an incomplete story of the initial battles, but scholarship continues. One day, with luck, humanity will have an answer.
For now, the Jackman/Reynolds fight has spilled over into the equally blood-soaked arena of holiday shopping. Sam's Club shoppers can vote for either Jackman or Reynolds in "The Feud." Both have endorsed a particular charity, both of which will receive an unspecified donation from Sam's Club. Voters can also enter a sweepstakes in which the five winners receive a chance for a virtual meetup with Jackman and Reynolds.
As for Jackman and Reynolds, their stake in this is reportedly just for the bragging rights on Twitter. At time of writing, Reynolds is well ahead of Jackman, but the voting is scheduled to stay open until December 20th.
The public portion of the feud between Jackman and Reynolds—which again, stretches back into the mists of antiquity—began on the set of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2008, which is technically the first appearance of Reynolds as (an unrecognizable version of) Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool. According to Jackman's version of events, he got into the habit of ribbing Reynolds, because he had just married Jackman's friend Scarlett Johansson at the time.
Reynolds later escalated it into its current form, as what Jackman described once to the Daily Beast as "trying to manipulate [Jackman] through social media to do what he wanted." Also, since Reynolds basically is Deadpool at this point, he is required by branding to constantly bust on "Wolverine."
Reynolds's charity in "The Feud," the SickKids Foundation, is the branded fundraising arm of the Hospital for Sick Children, affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Toronto. It's one of the largest pediatric teaching hospitals in the world, and was founded in 1875.
Jackman is representing his own charity, the Laughing Man Foundation, which he founded in 2011. The aim of the Foundation is to support coffee farming communities worldwide, investing in programs to construct infrastructure, provide education, and build local housing. The Foundation also makes and markets its own eponymous brand of fair-trade, organic coffee, the profits from which go back into the Foundation. There are also two Laughing Man Coffee & Tea physical shops in Tribeca on Manhattan Island in New York City.
Reynolds's current project is the recently-delayed video game spoof Free Guy, starring Reynolds as a NPC in an open-world shooter who suddenly becomes self-aware. After that, he's reportedly involved in The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, an inexplicable summer 2021 sequel to 2017's The Hitman's Bodyguard, co-starring Salma Hayek and Samuel L. Jackson.
Jackman had plans to return to live theater on Broadway this year, playing Harold Hill in The Music Man, but thanks to COVID, that production has been rescheduled to February of 2022. Instead, this year, he played Prince Humperdinck in Home Movie: The Princess Bride on Quibi, a DIY smartphone-filmed live reading of the classic film's original script. Jackman's next movie role is the lead in Lisa Joy's Reminiscence, scheduled for April of 2021.
In conclusion: between voluntarily being on Quibi and making a sequel to The Hitman's Bodyguard, it's safe to say there is no good guy in this fight. It's down to an individual's conscience.
Source: Hugh Jackman/Twitter