Logan was a powerful and emotional climax to Wolverine’s story, and with Hugh Jackman officially stepping down as the mutant after playing him for over 17 years, we always knew that the film would offer a pretty definitive conclusion to the character’s long-running arc on the big screen.
Despite the fact that Jackman has said on numerous occasions that he’s done with playing Wolverine, many fans would love to see him reprise the role down the line. Chances are though that won’t happen, especially as Logan ended with the hero’s death after a bloody and brutal fight with X-24 resulted in his healing factor being overwhelmed.
The film wasn’t always set to end this way, however, and in a new interview with Yahoo!, the Australian actor revealed that he initially had a different conclusion in mind, one which would have seen Wolverine survive.
“It was always floated that Logan would possibly die. I said, ‘Let’s be open, because it may be more powerful for him not to die… James was always certain of that ending, and he was right. Unlike a human character, what’s most poignant for someone who is thought to be indestructible is him dying while saying, ‘This is what it feels like.'”
There’s certainly a lot which could have been done with an ending where Logan lived, but it would have resulted in endless speculation about his return and left the door open in a way which may not have given the fan-favourite character a satisfying conclusion to his story. As such, we’re happy that they didn’t end up going this route, as the way that Logan ultimately wrapped up was exactly the way it needed to. In our opinion, at least.