#Logan Succeeded By Letting Wolverine Go Out On His Own Terms

Director James Mangold was tasked with righting the ship of the solo “Wolverine” films following the release of “X-Men Origins” and he did just that with 2013’s “The Wolverine” which was, to say the very least of it, a marked improvement over its predecessor. But it could hardly be accused of being transcendent or groundbreaking. “The Wolverine” was good, if not great, but there was more to be mined with Mangold and Jackman working together — that much was clear.

The idea came to craft something a bit more intimate for Wolverine that would ultimately serve as a swan song for Jackman, who was going to use this as his big goodbye. “The Wrestler” and “Unforgiven” were said to be stated as reference points by Jackman during the film’s development, but a version of that kind of story for this character in a world filled with super-powered people. One of the biggest differences here is that Jackman was very involved in the development alongside Mangold and the other writers, Scott Frank and Michael Green.

It needs to be stressed that by 2017, the overall “X-Men” franchise at Fox had become quite messy. Whereas the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a well-oiled machine with everything working as it should, and every little thing in its right place, this franchise was all over the place: Two different generations of characters, spin-offs, seemingly no direction, wildly mixed results, and a destroyed timeline. Making sense of it was a whole-ass thing. One of the biggest decisions that helped make “Logan” what it became was that Mangold opted to set the story far enough in the future where he could, more or less, make a standalone feature unconcerned with continuity. Speaking to Discussing Film in 2020, the filmmaker had this to say:

“You’re talking to someone who has no sense of duty to connect it to everything else. I didn’t see myself as making the last episode of the TV show. I saw myself as someone trying to make the best movie I could about this beloved character. Of course, to a degree, we referenced where he’s come from or what’s happened. We did it when it worked for us, but we also skipped or frog-leaped over other stuff that didn’t work for us. The priority was the most heartfelt and personal movie – not the best movie that wired into everything else.”

That decision proved to be the movie’s magic touch, as it was indeed allowed to tell a wildly effective, personal story about a man out of time who has lived several lifetimes and suffered more than any one person can imagine. The other secret sauces came in the form of Patrick Stewart, who reprised his role as Charles Xavier, bringing the long on-screen journey between these two characters to a head, as well as the addition of Dafne Keen as Laura, aka X-23 — who was, by way of genetic experimentation, Wolverine’s daughter.

Part road trip movie, part futuristic western, at times feeling like a horror film, and able to go no-holds-barred with an R-rating, this was a comic book movie the likes of which we hadn’t really seen before, made all the more effective because the audience had literally grown up with this very specific and beloved version of this character (not to mention Professor X). It all made for an emotional and impactful drama that just so happened to center around a mutant with metal claws. The artistic and personal approach ended up paying off in a big, bad way.