Fox’s Logan, loosely based upon Mike Millar’s Wolverine: Old Man Logan, will be the third and final installment of the Wolverine trilogy. The second trailer, released earlier today, gives us a glimpse of what could be the most human experience in a comic book film yet.
The Father He Never Had
The trailers have given us a few hints that Charles Xavier (Sir Patrick Stewart) isn’t as spry as he used to be. In the first trailer, he was seen in a hospital bed. With Logan (Hugh Jackman), sporting gray, the Professor can’t have much time. He has outlived nearly all of the students that filled his school for gifted youngsters. Before us now is a tired man, who has seen all that he cares to see of this world. The trailer primarily shows Charles training Logan to be patient with the younger Laura, as he no longer can.
The Daughter He Never Wanted
The trailer opens with Logan trying to maintain his temper as he explains to the movie’s female lead, Laura (Dafne Keen), that brutally attacking a clerk at a gas station is wrong. The young mutant is based upon Laura Kinney, a genetic twin of Logan, cloned from fragments of his DNA. She has his powers. She has his claws. She even comes complete with her own version of his past as Weapon X. She is X-23, and she is his daughter through and through.
The First and the Last
This is ultimately a story about family. Logan has spent most of his incredibly long life seeking isolation, and he now finds himself caught between two generations. He’s responsible for the man who invested in and cared for him when he no one else would, and a child so much like himself, who desperately needs attention and guidance that he may not have to give.
Not Your Standard SuperHero BlockBuster
Logan will likely be the last X-Men film to feature Hugh Jackman. The primary themes are aging, being left behind, and passing the torch. According to Director James Mangold, “We’re not playing a movie for 12-year-olds and 40-year-olds at the same time. We are, in a sense, constructing a story that’s adult, and what that will yield is going to be interesting.” As stated in a previous post, if you’re looking for a fun action flick: this ain’t it.
This film has the potential to be an honest examination of the human condition, and the sacrifices we will make for those close to us. Life is hard. It’s cruel. It’s unfair. But it’s still important to do the best we can with the hand we’ve been dealt. At least for the sake of those we love – if not our own.