For nearly two decades, Hugh Jackman has been the face and sideburns of the X-Men franchise as the character Wolverine. A franchise that hit incredible highs and some unwatchable lows (I’m looking at you “X-3”), all of which had Wolverine in them in some capacity. So no one can blame the guy for wanting to hang up the claws and move on from this character. And, I’m sure in an age when actors are seemingly locked into comic book franchises indefinitely, 20th Century Fox is probably scrambling to figure out what to do with the character once Jackman leaves.
On Wednesday, The Wrap got some information on what the third and final Wolverine film will be about. And it seems to confirm some suspicions that it will follow an older, probably crankier Wolverine, and the title takes on his other moniker “Logan.” Which sounds a lot better than naming it by his real name, “James Howlett.” That would have been a terrible movie title.
Set in 2024, we will see an older Logan and “he’s sick, his powers are fading, and he heals much more slowly — and sometimes not at all.” The film will also include Professor X (Sir Patrick Stewart), who is also older and “his powers are unstable and at times he doesn’t even remember Logan.” The premise is also that mutants are in decline and there is (obviously) some nefarious government plan called Transigen which turns mutant kids into unstoppable “killing machines.”
Based on what has been released, this certainly sounds like the darkest X-Men film to date. Granted, of the Marvel characters, Logan/Wolverine certainly is not the bright beam of playfulness and banter.
“Logan” will be released March 3, 2017.
The JOE-DOWN 