Right, before we get into this, let’s just say we adored Logan (here’s our review) so we’re really divided over this…
Why? Well, we want more of course! But also, we know that this DID feel like a real end for these characters, so we’re not sure what we want.
Actually, that’s not true, we want Wolverine, Logan, to have a proper legacy moving forward and it looks like it will have. So here’s the latest Logan news round-up about the future of the franchise.
Firstly, as we expected already (although we REALLY hope he comes back for a cameo in Deadpool 2) Hugh Jackman has confirmed that he is finished with the role as it finally felt like he could let the character go in the way he deserved with Logan: “It just felt like it was the right time to do it. And let’s be honest, 17 years. I never thought in a million years it would last, so I’m so grateful to the fans for the opportunity of playing it. … I kind of have in my head what we’re going to do in this last one. It just feels like this is the perfect way to go out.”
Of course, Jackman first appeared in 2000 in the first X-Men movie and there’s no arguing he has made the character – more than any actor or character in history – his own in a wonderful way.
Interestingly, he also said that the one thing that would bring him back was an appearance in the MCU, specifically if he could interact with the Avengers: “If that was on the table when I made my decision [to stop playing the character], it certainly would have made me pause. That’s for sure. Because I always love the idea of him within that dynamic, with the Hulk obviously, with Iron Man but there’s a lot of smarter people with MBAs who can’t figure that out [laughter]. You never know.”
Wolverine Vs Hulk? Yeah, funny enough that’s on our wish list too…
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Next up, also 17 years in, Charles Xavier AKA Professor X, Patrick Stewart has also said he’s stepping down as he feels, like Jackman, he has reached an end with the character when, during a recent SiriusXFM Town Hall with Jackman and director of Logan James Mangold, Stewart said:
“A week ago, Friday night in Berlin, the three of us sat, watching the movie … And I was so moved by it, much more moved than I had been the first time of seeing it. Maybe it was the company of these two guys, but the movie ended and — this is an admission — but at one point [Hugh] reached out, and he took my hand in those last few minutes, and I saw him go [mimes wiping a tear from his eye] like this, and then I realized I had just done the same thing … I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying au revoir to Charles Xavier than this movie. So, I told [Hugh] that same evening, ‘I’m done too. It’s all over.’”
Oh, man, that’s hit us right in the feels…
However, while it’s sad that Stewart is stepping down, we certainly haven’t seen the end of Xavier as James McAvoy who plays the younger version of the character has hinted he’ll be playing him again as early as this summer… although in what is anyone’s guess!
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Next up, James Mangold has said that, while Jackman’s Logan is done, the Wolverine is not. He’s specifically talking about young actress Dafne Keen who completely blew us away with her outstanding performance in the movie as Wolverine clone X-23.
The director has expressed interest in reuniting with the young actress to make an X-23 movie: “I think Dafne is incredible in the film and I would love to see another film about that character and that’s certainly something I’d be involved in. For me that was one of the big additions I brought to the table, this decision to try to make the film about family and to try to insert Laura and the pressures that would put and the idea about Charles ailing.”
Cryptically, he also added: “I definitely know that Hugh and I will work together again,” even if it isn’t on another Wolverine movie.”
Hmmmmmmm… but don’t forget the two has worked together on Kate and Leopold which is definitely NOT a Wolverine movie. However, and we’ll avoid spoilers here, in the movie Logan there are several references made to a major event that has not been seen in the movies and it’s an event that must take place in the same timeline as X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan, so it’s unlikely we’ll ever see it with the younger actors in the roles i.e. James McAvoy… could the actors be admitting this is the last story of Wolverine but there are earlier stories to be told? We’ll see…
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And, speaking of X-Men: Apocalypse, producer Simon Kinberg has confirmed that the post credits scene in that movie which linked to Logan with the blood sample taken from him which led to the new Weapon X program which saw the creation of X-23 and hinted at Nathaniel Essex AKA Mr. Sinister will still be properly addressed in the X-Men movies.
When asked if we’ll ever see Sinister on the big screen, Kinberg said: “The short answer is yes.
“We’d love to see Sinister. I think he is one of the great untapped villains in the X-Men universe, and we do have plans to introduce him into the world.”
So there you have it… Jackman and Stewart may have stepped down, but the Wolverine and X-Men future is still very, very bright indeed.
Sources: WeGotThisCovered, Collider, IGN, CBR and Comicbook
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