‘Logan’ Will ‘Bring An End’ To Hugh Jackman’s Performance As Wolverine, Explains Director
James Mangold has revealed that Logan will be “an adult film about Wolverine” that will bring an end to Hugh Jackman’s performance as the character.
Mangold, who has been tasked with directing Logan, made this admission to Flicks & The City, via Comic Book, while at the same time lavishing praise on Hugh Jackman’s performance as the mutant. Mangold also insisted that the blockbuster is very much against type when compared to the plethora of other superhero movies that are in the cinematic ether, and that this will take a more violent and gory look at the character. James Mangold explained,
“Logan is an attempt to kind of bring an end to Hugh’s kind of amazing performance as Wolverine, and the ambition of doing that is to try to make an adult film about Wolverine — to make a movie for grown-ups. We’re not trying to make a four box something for everyone. We’re trying to make a movie that stands out and is a little different because it’s a grown-up movie. A grown-up movie that also features intense action.”
Hugh Jackman appears to have responded well to the freedom given to Logan by its R-rating. Not only was that evident in the first trailer for Logan, which was released earlier this year to wild acclaim and immediately increased anticipation for the blockbuster, but James Mangold insisted that the Australian thespian is always on the lookout for how to explore the character in a new and more interesting fashion.
Mangold remarked,
“He’s always looking how to go deeper, now to go further, how to reveal new aspects of the character.”
Hugh Jackman has already had to make a few personal sacrifices so that Logan could hit the big screen. James Mangold previously confirmed at a special screening to the press of Logan‘s opening 40 minutes that Jackman took a pay cut in order for 20th Century Fox to greenlight the film and give it an R-rating. The previous two Wolverine films had each been PG-13 ratings.
As the Inquisitr reported yesterday, James Mangold has made it his intention with Logan to make a truly original superhero film. Mangold explained how simply having huge action set-pieces is no longer enough, and there has to be a healthy amount of drama included, too, in order for them to chime with an audience and succeed.
He’s confident that he’s found the right balance with Logan, as he explained,
“Spectacle is not enough. The thing that we’re trying to differently is trying to invest in character. The fact is that a lot of these movies are a collection of set pieces of action with very short connective things basically explaining how we go from action piece A to action piece B. We wanted to make a movie that’s really a drama. If you cut out the action, what you’d have is a powerful drama about interesting character. Whether that makes us different or not, I’ll leave others to judge but I think it was our goal to make a movie that earned its audience from feeling real. Really feeling human or feeling intimate.”
Logan is set years after the events of X-Men: Days Of Future Past, where the mutants have been dying. Logan (Hugh Jackman)’s healing powers are starting to fail, while Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is badly ailing, too. The duo are tasked with protecting a young girl named Laura that has similar powers to Logan, while the trio are soon hunted by mysterious and sinister forces. We don’t have much longer to wait for Logan to be released, as it will finally be with us on March 3.
[Featured Image by 20th Century Fox]
