The Logan movie has hit cinemas, and you can read our full Logan review on the site now, but other than it being a near-perfect send off for Hugh Jackman’s clawed superhero, it left us with more than a few burning questions. Fair warning, this feature will be filled with Logan-shaped spoilers so you definitely don’t want to read it until you’ve seen the movie.
1. Why is Logan suddenly ageing now?
The whole premise of Logan is that it’s (loosely) based on the Old Man Logan comic book, which sees him finally starting to age. If you’ve seen the movie, then you know that not only is Logan ageing but he’s also very sick and basically dying. After decades of regeneration this is more than a little hard for him to handle, but one thing I really want to know, which is never really answered in the movie, is why has he suddenly started ageing?
Could it just be that Logan is far from immortal and he’s just been ageing really slowly this whole time? The movie hinted that it was his adamantium implants which were finally starting to poison him, but is the adamantium causing him to age, or is his ageing process (and lessening healing powers) allowing the adamantium to finally kill him? The Old Man Logan comic supports the idea that Logan is simply getting on a bit but it’s never specifically said.
2. Why is the world shit?
The trailers for Logan made out that it was set in some sort of Mad Max-style dystopian future, but it’s actually just Mexico. The world isn’t quite as barren and post-apocalyptic as you might have thought from the teasers, but there’s still a good few indicators that it’s gone to shit. So what happened? Is this just what America looks like after 4 years of Trump? The movie never really explains, but if we look at the Old Man Logan comic book for hints, this may be what the US looks like after the supervillains win.
In Old Man Logan, the US is conquered and divided up among Abomination (who is later conquered by the Hulk), Magneto (who is later conquered by a new Kingpin), Doctor Doom, and the Red Skull, who names himself President. Basically, all the heros have been wiped out or are in hiding and each villain rules over their territory with an iron fist. This may be why, in Logan, the world is still recognisable, but not exactly a happy place.
3. What really happened in Westchester?
Throughout the movie, Professor X, aka Charles Xavier, references something bad that happened in Westchester. In fact, you get the distinct impression that whatever happened is the reason why his brain (now suffering from Alzheimer’s) has been classified as a WMD, forcing Logan to keep him drugged up and in hiding in Mexico. So what the hell happened? We’re never really told, but it doesn’t take a genius to work it out.
At multiple points in the film, Charles has seizures that temporarily paralyze everyone around him. His mutant powers and symptoms make for a dangerous combination and each time the events are near-catastrophic. At one point Logan chastises him for not taking his medication which is supposed to help, reminding him that they don’t want a repeat of Westchester. There’s another moment when Xavier becomes fully lucid and remembers what he’s done. He’s pretty cut up about it so it was obviously something pretty bad. Fans will have already realised that Westchester is where Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters is based so it’s logical to assume that something happened at the school. Did Professor X have a seizure and destroy the entire school, pupils and all?
4. What happened to the X-Men?
In Logan, we know that the X-Men (and most mutants) are all gone and that while they’re famous with their own comic book series, “only about a third of it happened and not the way they say,” according to Logan. While the movie does eventually reveal why there are no new mutants being born, we never find out what happened to the rest of the X-Men.
The obvious implication is that they died trying to fight the supervillains, but the Old Man Logan comic provides a much darker fate. In the comic, Wolverine wakes up one night to discover the school is being attacked by supervillains. Unable to find the other X-Men, he kills the attackers to keep the children safe. As he kills the last villain he realises that the entire assault was actually an illusion created by Mysterio and he’s actually killed all his fellow X-Men. Heart-broken and ashamed he leaves the school never to return.
5. Who will play the next Wolverine?
Hugh Jackman has said multiple times that Logan will be his last outing as Wolverine and while it’s tempting to ignore him, the ending to Logan indicates that this will be the case. It would be naive to think that Hollywood would let the character go, though, and I feel like it won’t be long until we see another Wolverine movie or X-Men cameo on the horizon. Assuming Jackman won’t return, who’s going to play the next Wolverine?
Personally, I can’t imagine anyone but Jackman unleashing Wolverine’s claws but a few suggestions have been made including Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Scott Eastwood, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The two which have piqued my interest are Kit Harington and Scott Caan. The first certainly has the Game of Thrones fame to front a new young Wolverine movie, and the second, while fairly unknown (you recognised him from Hawaii Five-O and Ocean's Eleven), has got the Wolverine-esque looks. Obviously, we’ve had no word from any official sources yet regarding recasting as the character isn’t confirmed to appear in any upcoming movies as of yet. Something tells me it won’t be long though.
