If the upcoming release of Logan really does herald Wolverine’s final screen outing – and all signs currently point to that being the case – Hugh Jackman’s clawed mutant is about to go down swinging.
Set in the not-so-distant future – 2029, to be exact – Logan takes place in a world in which the mutant population has been hunted to the brink of extinction, effectively forcing Jackman’s weary anti-hero into hiding. While housed up close to the Mexican border, Wolvie is able to keep a close eye on the ailing Professor Xavier, and the film’s bleak trailers have revealed just how close Patrick Stewart’s all-powerful mutant is to meeting his maker. Will Logan also signal Stewart’s final turn in the X-Men universe? It certainly appears so.
Speaking of which, despite some recent confusion, Logan doesn’t take place in a different universe so much as it exists far away from other films in the X-Men franchise, thereby allowing James Mangold and the creative team to deliver a fitting send-off clear of any existing entanglements or continuity. Wolverine’s final outing has also been compared to an atypical road movie in recent days, with Logan, Laura (Dafne Keen) and Xavier being the principal characters.
Said James Mangold:
“The idea of a road picture with Logan, Laura and Xavier in an average car was a driving image for me. Taking heroes and putting them in normalcy — and nothing makes them more normal than to cram them into a car and make them have to deal with each other — that seemed the ultimate contradiction of what tentpole movies tend to do.”
The R rating is locked in and the final trailer is out in the wild – all that’s left now is for Logan to claw its way into theaters and bring an end to Hugh Jackman’s on-screen career as Wolvie. March 3rd is the date for your diaries.
