Logan

Plot

In 2029, no mutants have been born in 25 years, and an aging Logan suffers as his healing ability is failing, slowly poisoned by his adamantium skeletal grafts. Working as a limousine driver in El Paso, Texas, he and the mutant tracker Caliban take care of the elderly Charles Xavier, in an abandoned smelting plant in northern Mexico. Xavier has dementia that causes him to have destructive telepathic seizures, one of which killed several of the X-Men years prior.

Logan reluctantly agrees to escort Gabriela López, a former nurse for biotechnology corporation Alkali-Transigen, and a young girl named Laura to Eden, a supposed refuge near the American-Canadian border, but finds Gabriela dead. Upon returning to the plant, Logan is confronted by Donald Pierce, Transigen's cyborg chief of security, who had killed Gabriela and was looking for Laura, who had stowed away in the back of Logan's limo and has powers similar to his. She, Logan, and Xavier escape from Pierce and his Reavers, but Caliban is captured. Pierce tortures Caliban into tracking Laura. Xavier and Logan watch a video on Gabriela's phone, revealing that Transigen created Laura and other children from mutant DNA to become weapons. The children proved challenging to control and were to be executed, but Gabriela and other nurses helped some escape. Xavier reveals to Logan that Laura was created from Logan's DNA and calls her Logan's daughter.

In Oklahoma City, Logan discovers that Eden appears in Laura's X-Men comic and tells her it is fictional. The Reavers arrive, but Xavier has a seizure that incapacitates everyone except Logan and Laura, who kill the mercenaries and injects Xavier with levetiracetam. As they flee, Dr. Zander Rice, the head of Transigen, arrives to help Pierce. Logan, Laura, and Xavier help farmer Will Munson and his family after a traffic incident, accepting an offer of dinner at their home, where Logan drives off enforcers from a corporate farm. Rice unleashes X-24, a violent, mindless feral clone of Logan in his prime created as Transigen's ultimate weapon. X-24 kills Xavier and Will's family before capturing Laura. Caliban sets off grenades, killing himself and several Reavers but only injuring Pierce. Logan is outmatched by X-24, but Will pins X-24 with his truck before dying from his injuries. Logan and Laura escape with Xavier's body. After burying Xavier, Logan passes out. Laura takes him to a doctor and persuades him to prove that the site in North Dakota is not Eden. They find Rictor and other Transigen children preparing to cross into Canada. Laura finds an adamantium bullet that Logan has kept since he escaped from the Weapon X facility, which he once considered using to commit suicide. Logan decides not to accompany them, to Laura's dismay.

Cast

Hugh Jackman as James Howlett / Logan: A former member of the X-Men and a physically enhanced mutant with accelerated healing. Charles Xavier's former pupil and Laura's biological father, dealing with his age and ailment. He is one of Charles Xavier's caregivers, alongside Caliban. Mangold spoke of Logan's age influencing his regenerative capabilities, which he stated may no longer produce soft skin, "so we imagined he heals quickly, still, but it leaves a scar. The simple idea was that his body would start to get a little more ravaged with a kind of tattooing of past battles, lacerations that remain of previous conflicts." On the second page of the screenplay, Mangold spoke of Logan as "... he's older now and it's clear his abilities aren't what they once were. He's fading on the inside and his diminished healing factor keeps him in a constant state of chronic pain—hence booze as a painkiller." In 2015, Jackman requested fan input for the direction Wolverine's story should go in the next film while seeming to confirm that the project would serve as his farewell to Logan. To prepare for his role, Jackman ate a minimum of six meals per day when working with trainer Mike Ryan. Ryan stated that an average workout session for Jackman lasts up to three hours, beginning at 4:00 a.m. Jackman stated, "It's going to be very different. Very different in tone and hopefully different to anything we've done." Regarding the more personal tone, Jackman noted, "That's always been really his dilemma, coming to terms with who he is". Jackman has also explained that comedian Jerry Seinfeld was indirectly responsible for his decision to stop playing Logan after 17 years, with Jackman stating, "I was having a chat with [Seinfeld] about a year ago ... he was talking about why he finished Seinfeld ... He said he'd always had this feeling and belief that you never know when either your energy or the audience's energy is going to dip over into people [saying] 'Oh, please go.'" Jackman accepted a pay reduction to ensure that the film would be produced to receive an R-rating. Additionally, Jackman portrays Logan's clone, X-24.

Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier: A mutant who is the world's most powerful telepath, the founder and former leader of the now-defunct X-Men and formerly known as Professor X. Charles's telepathic abilities have become unstable due to age (over 90 years) and an unknown brain disease, and at times, he does not recognize Logan. During the events of Logan, Xavier is cared for by Logan and Caliban. Regarding Xavier and the themes of aging and loneliness, Mangold said, "We've seen these characters in action, saving the universe. But what happens when you're in retirement and that career is over? ... The really interesting thing to me, or a place to dig that hadn't been dug, was the idea of mutants when they're no longer useful to the world, or even sure if they can do what they used to do. Their powers are diminished like all of ours are by age ... Our Charles is a very sweet character in this film. I think he's always been an incredibly sweet character. With the addition of his own physical fragility in this movie, he becomes an incredibly powerful paternal figure in the movie. Logan is more of a reluctant one, I think you can easily guess." Stewart remarked that "... this is probably the end of this franchise for me. But the thing about science fiction and fantasy is that you can never, ever say it's the end, it's over."

Production

Development

In November 2013, 20th Century Fox initiated discussions over another solo film starring Wolverine, with James Mangold in negotiations to write the treatment for the film and Lauren Shuler Donner returning to produce under The Donners' Company. At the time, Hugh Jackman neither confirmed nor denied his reprisal of Logan in a new film. Jackman clarified that his lapsing contract with Fox, which reportedly would need to be renegotiated after X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), did not mean he was leaving the franchise, as he had been working movie-by-movie since X2 (2003). He also stated, "I do want to do it with Jim and with [producer] Lauren Shuler-Donner because we had such a great experience. I'm really proud of The Wolverine (2013)". Later in the month, Mangold announced that the pre-production aspect of the film had not yet begun, nor the writing process, though he furthered this by stating, "... I would say I'm not there yet. But I have taken finger to key. Let's say that. There's been typing. And ideas. And talking amongst all the principles".

Shortly after the release of The Wolverine, Mangold spoke of a potential sequel with the aim of not converting it into a "Will the world survive?" film, while also stressing his need "... not to make the same picture again". In December 2013, Jackman spoke of nearing the end of his tenure as the character, while stating that the film was in the very early stages of development. Jackman also revealed that Mangold and he had begun speaking of potential ideas, adding, "... Jim Mangold and I were literally on the phone last night talking about ideas but there is no script and no writer yet so it's a way off". Mangold would later reveal that Jackman was very involved in developing the story, saying, "Hugh and I have been friends for almost twenty years now, and he was there every step of the way. For Hugh and I, the first goal was to construct something more intimate. Hugh often brought up The Wrestler (2008) and Unforgiven (1992) as examples. I used those references as well as others. I pitched to both Hugh and the studio that I had an idea for an extremely bloody, existential Little Miss Sunshine (2006)".

By March 2014, a decision was made to begin shooting after Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), with the tentative plan to shoot the films back-to-back, with producer Hutch Parker stating, "... the goal will be X-Men: Apocalypse for 2016, which means at the latest [filming begins] in summer 2015, and then the same thing with Wolverine, either before or after, but based on the script". Also in March, 20th Century Fox set a release date of March 3, 2017, Mangold boarded the project as director, Jackman signed on to reprise his role, and David James Kelly was hired to pen the screenplay. In April 2014, Jackman spoke about his ambitious feelings for the character of Logan while mentioning that they can go further than what they achieved in The Wolverine. Jackman also expressed his feelings of finality with portraying the character of Logan, while in terms of storyline, he explained that nothing had been decided as of yet. Jackman concluded by highlighting that the success of the script development would determine whether Jackman would return at all: "I haven't signed on. I'm genuinely at that point where unless it's better than the last one I'm not going to do it. I think it has to be better. I can still see where we can improve on the last one. I love the intimacy of that story, I liked the small stuff, I liked that it was a little unexpected".

Filming

On March 5, 2015, James Mangold anticipated that filming would begin "early next year". Prior to filming, the film was given the false title of Juarez to lower the visibility of production, but the local media eventually uncovered the ruse. On March 1, 2016, The Times-Picayune had confirmed that Mangold's film was preparing to shoot in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a starting schedule of May. Producers Kinberg, Shuler Donner and Parker chose to film in Louisiana because of its popularity in filmmaking locations, as well as its filming incentive, which includes a 40% tax credit for movie productions, though it requires a minimum expenditure of US$300,000. Principal photography was confirmed to have begun in New Orleans, with an original shooting schedule occurring from April 25 to August 13, 2016, albeit shooting was altered to start on May 2, 2016.

On May 23, 2016, filming took place at the NASA Michoud Plant in New Orleans East, with Jackman being spotted, not far from Slidell, shooting a fight scene outdoors on the property. On May 26, 2016, the intersection of LA 16 at US 51 was closed for a time due to filming, with local store fronts donning faux signage to transform Amite City, and east of Amite near Bell Road. It was revealed that scenes were filmed prior in Husser on May 25, 2016, with a scheduled daytime shoot to occur at the Greenlawn Cemetery in Hammond on May 27, 2016. Filming took place from June 9, 2016, until June 10, 2016, in New Orleans and Metairie, respectively.

On June 1, 2016, it was confirmed that 20th Century Fox had applied to film exterior scenes for Juarez on Louisiana Highway 15 between Ferriday and Clayton from June 12, 2016, up until June 16, 2016, at the Ferriday Plaza Shopping Center, while a portion of U.S. Route 425 between Ferriday and Clayton would be closed for a five-day period in connection with Fox's production. On June 1, 2016, The Concordia Sentinel revealed that Sicily Island High School and a house in Sicily Island would be used in the production, while a crash scene would be shot on U.S. Route 425 just outside of Ferriday. Producers Kinberg, Shuler Donner and Parker chose to film in Ferriday, Louisiana, because of Concordia Parish's beautiful countryside and green cornfields. On June 16, 2016, Juarez was originally scheduled to move on toward Sicily Island, however, additional periods of shooting were added. Natchez, Mississippi, had been chosen by producers of Juarez as the next filming location, for an upcoming scene which required the casting truck drivers, that would be filmed between June 14 up until June 28, 2016.

Post-production

Film editor Michael McCusker was finishing work on Mangold's Logan, during the period of October 7, 2016, wherein he spoke of going through the dailies and breaking them down, and figuring out the structure of one scene which he described as a "complicated, multi-component scene". McCusker spoke of the task being rather time-consuming, on the front end, albeit stating, "I am looking at the back end experience with [Mangold] as the more important experience. I don't want to be searching for stuff for him, I want to be working towards getting the cut right". McCusker concluded by stating that another editor on Logan has use for post-production. Chas Jarrett was the overall visual effects supervisor and visual effects company Image Engine worked on most of the visual effects on Logan.

Music

In July 2016, Cliff Martinez was announced as the composer of Logan's musical score. In December 2016, Mangold announced that Marco Beltrami, who had previously collaborated with Mangold on 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and The Wolverine (2013), would take over from Martinez and score Logan instead.

Beltrami's musical score received critical acclaim, praising the composition and the minimalistic approach. Jonathan Broxton, in his critical review, wrote "there will be a significant disconnect between it and those who grew up listening to Michael Kamen, John Ottman, and John Powell's X-Men scores, because Beltrami's Logan is just so different from anything we have heard in a super-hero movie before. On the one hand, this is commendable; bucking expectations and taking an entirely new approach to a well-defined musical genre is not an easy thing to do, but that's exactly what Beltrami has done here. On the other hand, listeners will still need to be comfortable with music that shifts between being dissonant, ambient, and jazzy, and which has more in common with the work of Ennio Morricone, Jerry Fielding, Elliot Goldenthal, and Bernard Herrmann, than anyone who has scored a super-hero movie before. If you're cool with that, then Logan will find a way to at least entertain you and allow you to experience its unusual tonal palette. If not, then you may find yourself recoiling in horror like Caliban from the sun, or experiencing a psychic attack of your own."

Influences

The film takes visual, tonal and thematic inspiration from classic western and noir cinema, with director James Mangold having stated that Logan's influences included "visual reference points" of cinema, citing Shane (1953), The Cowboys (1972), Paper Moon (1973), The Gauntlet (1977), Unforgiven (1992), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and The Wrestler (2008). Mangold was also inspired by The Dark Knight trilogy, saying "It seemed to me that the only films of this ilk that did interest me, that I did admire, or to use Chris Nolan's movies as an example, the ones that have really moved me beyond just the spectacle. There was a very clear decision to apply a film genre to the material, if that makes any sense."" The film also takes tropes and themes of the cyberpunk, with focus put on automation affecting the world of a near future.

Mangold spoke of visual framing, while noting that he does not necessarily think about the "comic-book" related sort, instead highlighting the variety of stylistic influences that went into Logan. These influences include film noir framings and classic Hollywood filmmaking styles, as well as the Germanic expressionist filmmaking style of the early twentieth century, which Mangold stated has a commonality with comic-book art. Mangold highlighted "Strong foregrounds, playing things in depth: you have to make an image say more within that one image."

Using the image of Logan at a funeral as an example of his stylistic logic, Mangold concluded by mentioning the aspects within modern filmmaking, primarily everything in close-up format. For Logan, his aim was to set frames that are descriptive, and evocative of comic-book panels and classical filmmaking.

Release

Theatrical

Logan premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2017, in Berlin, Germany, where it was selected to be screened out of competition alongside The Bar, Final Portrait, The Midwife, T2 Trainspotting, and Viceroy's House, before screening in the United States, where it was given a wide release on March 3, 2017. In October 2015, Fox confirmed that Logan would be released in the IMAX format. In the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, the film was preceded by a short film, Deadpool: No Good Deed. In it, Deadpool notices a man getting robbed, and springs into action—but first has to change into his costume in a phone booth. As he is finishing up, the man is shot; the short film ends with Deadpool commenting on the strangeness of the phone booth's presence, and eating the man's ice cream. The teaser met with positive reviews. Ryan Reynolds posted an extended version of the teaser via his YouTube channel the day after the film's release.

One Last Time promotion and future

Prior to the confirmation that the then-untitled Logan would be his final appearance in the X-Men film franchise, Jackman initially denied such rumors. Jackman stated that he was inspired by Michael Keaton's performance in Birdman, and wished to portray the character of Wolverine until his death. In July 2015, Jackman posted an image of Logan giving the middle finger with a claw to his Twitter. The image, coupled with the hashtag "#OneLastTime", signified that the film would be his last appearance as Logan and officially announced his decision to stop playing the character he had been portraying for the past 17 years. Eventually it earned Jackman the Guinness World Record of the 'longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero'.

During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in May 2015, Jackman clarified the confusion over the conflicting sentiments by stating bluntly that the film would be his final portrayal of the character. In an interview with Willem Dafoe on Variety Studio: Actors on Actors Jackman revealed that Jerry Seinfeld helped convince him to quit the role during a dinner after Jackman asked him why he had decided to end the show Seinfeld. Seinfeld replied "I've always believed, you should never spend everything creatively because it's almost herculean to start up again. You should always have something in the tank," with Jackman summarising his point with "Leave the party before it gets too late kind of theory."

In December 2016, Ryan Reynolds revealed that he had been trying to convince Jackman to return for a crossover Deadpool film, urging fans to "convince Hugh" and campaign online. In January 2017, Reynolds and Jackman spoke about the proposed project; Jackman stated, "I'm hesitating, because I could totally see how that's the perfect fit. But the timing may be wrong." Jackman later stated that he would not reprise the role for a team-up film, specifying that he "knew two-and-a-half years ago that [Logan] was the last one".

Jackman expressed interest in continuing to play Wolverine had the character been brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying that the prospect "certainly would have made [him] pause" and citing a desire to see the character interact with the Hulk and Iron Man. Amid rumors of Disney's prospective acquisition of 20th Century Fox's film division, it was revealed such a deal would indeed allow the X-Men related characters to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During press for The Greatest Showman in December 2017, Jackman denied that he would reprise the role if the acquisition occurred. He stated that while he noted the irony and felt some initial disappointment upon learning the news, he planned on standing by his decision and wanted to see another actor portray the character in future films.

Marketing

In April 2016, Fox decided not to showcase its upcoming movie releases, including Logan, at Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, as the studio felt it could not prevent the piracy of custom trailers and exclusive footage routinely screened for fans in attendance.

On October 20, 2016, 20th Century Fox released a 90-second teaser trailer to promote Logan, following a six-second sneak peek the prior day. Later that day, 20th Century Fox released an international red band version of the trailer, featuring slightly more graphic violence than the original. Empire chose the trailer as the best trailer of the year. The Hollywood Reporter's Aaron Couch praised the trailer, and stated, "If Logan delivers on the promise of this trailer, it will be a true rarity in modern superhero movie making." James Dyer of Empire heralded the trailer and its director, James Mangold, by stating: "We've had a veritable feast of great trailers ... from John Wick to Rogue One, Assassin's Creed and A Cure for Wellness. But none ..., no matter how impressive, have been quite so artfully constructed as this glorious first look at [Mangold]'s Logan." Forrest Wickman of Slate called the trailer "surprisingly mournful".

Home media

Logan was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K on May 23, 2017, and was released on Digital HD on May 16, 2017. The film became available to stream on Disney+ on July 22, 2022, alongside Deadpool and Deadpool 2.

Logan Noir

Prior to the release of Logan Noir, 20th Century Fox promoted Logan with a black-and-white social photography campaign released through social media, including the WponX Instagram account. The campaign included photography by Dean Bradshaw and formed part of the studio's broader Logan Campaign, which won Gold at the 2017 Clio Entertainment Awards in the Theatrical: Integrated Campaign category. Clio credits for the campaign listed 20th Century Fox vice president Jeffrey Kelly among the credited studio executives. Entertainment coverage at the time noted that the black-and-white imagery became a distinctive part of the film's marketing and generated fan speculation that the film itself might be released in black and white.

On April 29, 2017, James Mangold announced that a black-and-white version of the film entitled Logan Noir would have a limited theatrical run in U.S. theaters, an event set to begin on May 16, 2017. Mangold stated that Logan was shot as a color film with the awareness that it would play well as a black and white film. The film was re-graded and timed shot by shot for the Noir edition. This version of the film is included on the Digital HD release and also included in the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Reception

Box office

Logan grossed $226.3 million in the United States and Canada and $392.7 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $619.2 million, against a production budget of $97 million. Worldwide, the film had a global debut of $247.4 million from 82 markets, as well as the second-biggest R-rated IMAX debut, with $20.6 million from 1,068 screens. The film grossed $440.9 million in its first 13 days of release, surpassing the entire theatrical gross of The Wolverine ($414.8 million).

Predictions for its opening in the US and Canada were revised upwards from $55 million to $80 million or even higher. Fox, however, predicted an opening in the mid-$60 million range. Some critics said the film's R rating—the second such for a X-Men film—might hinder the film's mass appeal. Two days before the film's release, ticket selling site Fandango reported that the film was outpacing all previous X-Men movies (except Deadpool) at the same point in their sales cycle.

Logan was released in 4,071 theaters, the widest release for an R-rated film, breaking American Sniper's previous record of 3,888 theaters. Five hundred and eighty theatres were premium large-format screens, including 381 IMAX theaters, setting the IMAX record for an R-rated film.

Logan earned $9.5 million from Thursday night previews, which began at 7 p.m. This marked the second-biggest previews in the X-Men franchise, behind Deadpool's $12.7 million. On its opening day, the film scored the biggest R-rated March opening with $33.1 million, breaking 300's previous record, as well as the third-biggest R-rated opening day, after Deadpool ($47.3 million) and The Matrix Reloaded ($37.5 million). Earning a total of $88.4 million during its opening weekend, the film scored the biggest Wolverine movie opening, the biggest R-rated March opening, the fourth-biggest March opening weekend behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166 million), The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) and Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million), the fifth-largest X-Men opening, and the fourth-biggest R-rated opening weekend overall (ninth in terms of inflation adjusted) behind Deadpool ($132.4 million), The Matrix Reloaded ($91.7 million) and American Sniper ($89.2 million). This made it the highest opening weekend for a 2017 film at the time of its release, surpassing The Lego Batman Movie ($53 million). It was also the biggest R-rated opening weekend that did not take place on a holiday. Additionally, Logan achieved the fifth-highest opening weekend for any 20th Century Fox film, trailing only behind Deadpool ($132.4 million), Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($108.4 million), X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.7 million) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8 million). About 8.2% of the total ticket sales were in Canada, with premium large formats comprising $12.3 million (15%) from 558 screens, and IMAX comprising $10 million (12%) of the film's total opening weekend.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 428 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "Hugh Jackman makes the most of his final outing as Wolverine with a gritty, nuanced performance in a violent but surprisingly thoughtful superhero action film that defies genre conventions." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak-surveyed audiences gave the film five out of five. Critics praised the film for its emotional depth, Mangold's direction, action sequences, screenplay, uncompromising tone, thematic profundity, and the performances of Jackman, Keen and Stewart.

Scott Collura of IGN gave Logan a score of 9.7/10, and called it, "an emotional, heavy picture, but it's also an uplifting one that reminds us that it's okay to fight for something more, something better", and "perhaps the best X-Men movie yet". A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave an 'A−' and said that "[the film] manages to deliver the visceral goods, all the hardcore Wolverine action its fans could desire, while still functioning as a surprisingly thoughtful, even poignant drama—a terrific movie, no 'comic-book' qualifier required". Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave it a 'B−', and called it "both the most violent film in the series and the most sentimental one. When it's not showering you in blood, it's trying to make you spill tears." Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter reacted positively, saying: "Seamlessly melding Marvel mythology with Western mythology, [director] James Mangold has crafted an affectingly stripped-down standalone feature, one that draws its strength from Hugh Jackman's nuanced turn as a reluctant, all but dissipated hero."

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it four out of five, stating "It is more like a survivalist thriller than a superhero film, and signals its wintry quality with the title itself" and compared Wolverine's hitting of his truck during the film to Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers. James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave it three and a half out of four, and said "In terms of tone and content, Logan is Deadpool's polar opposite but both productions refuse to play by traditional superhero movie rules ... With his glimpse into what superhero movies can be, James Mangold has given us something sadly lacking in recent genre entries: hope." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com stated, "Logan has stakes that feel real, and fight choreography that's fluid and gorgeous instead of just computer-generated effects. Most importantly, Logan has characters with which you identify and about whom you care. It's not just 'great for a superhero movie', it's a great movie for any genre."

Franchise

Cancelled spin-off

In October 2017, it was reported that director James Mangold had begun writing a sequel to Logan, tentatively titled Laura, focusing on Laura and the continuation of her story, with Logan being represented with archive footage of Jackman. After Disney's acquisition of Fox was finalized in 2019, all X-Men films in development were stalled, leaving the future of Laura uncertain. In November 2019, Mangold said he did not think the project would be happening, and that he believed the studio would be trying to figure out where to go in the future with the characters, particularly with Wolverine.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Jackman and Keen reprised their roles in the Marvel Studios film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which continues some storylines from Logan. In the film, Wade Wilson visits Logan's grave in North Dakota before using his adamantium skeleton to fight off a team of agents from the Time Variance Authority. Later, an older and more mature Laura motivates an alternate version of Logan by referencing her experiences with her father.