‘Logan’ Sequel Possibilities Featuring X-23? Massive Spoilers Ahead
Is a Logan sequel possible? Given the box office success of the latest Wolverine movie, the answer is yes – but with certain caveats. Also, answering this question completely requires dealing out massive spoilers for Logan, so keep that in mind before you read any further.
But First to Review
As noted by Entertainment Weekly, Hugh Jackman has spent the last 17 years playing Wolverine in both ensemble X-Men films like Days of Future Past and his own solo movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Even though many people objected to his casting in the first X-Men film, claiming he was too tall to play the very short Wolverine, his portrayal of the feral, always ready to fight mutant won over the doubters.
On the other hand, it has to be acknowledged that – before Logan itself – the solo Wolverine movies left a lot to be desired. Neither of the previous two movies did well with critics, and moviegoers weren’t crazy about them either. Fortunately, with the studio allowing the production of an R-rated Logan, a much more hard-hitting and gritty version of the character was finally unveiled.
Pulling in over $80 million domestically on its first weekend would virtually guarantee a sequel for most movies, but there are problems for anyone hoping to have a sequel to Logan that involves Logan himself or Patrick Stewart’s Professor X.
The principle difficulty is that by the end of the movie, both Logan and Professor X are dead. Obviously, this would present what looks like an impossible impediment for any future return of either of these characters in a subsequent Logan sequel – or even another X-Men film.
However, at least theoretically, this doesn’t present a problem in the X-Men universe. Unlike the MCU at Disney – where every film has been carefully crafted to fit perfectly with all the other films – the X-Men films have never cared much about maintaining a consistent continuity. So the death of these two characters, in what the producers of Logan have already said was an “alternate” timeline, might not preclude them from appearing in the future.
On the other hand, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have now both publicly stated that they will not be portraying these characters again. And while James McAvoy currently portrays the character of Charles Xavier in the revamped younger version of the X-Men, no one has been selected to replace Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
It’s possible that many years from now – after a major reboot of the franchise – Fox might decide to recast the character of Wolverine with a new actor playing the part. But it will certainly be a while before people forget the almost two decades in which Jackman so effectively played the role.
Given all of this, a Logan sequel is much more likely to involve the character of Laura Kinney – aka X-23. Played by young British actress Dafne Keen, X-23 has already become a favorite of many fans who’ve seen Logan. Keen does a terrific job of bringing this comic book character to life.
In the comic books, nefarious forces used Logan’s DNA to create a young female version of him – adamantium claws and all. The character’s origin in the movie is essentially the same as this, with her being a mini Wolverine. In the comic books, X-23 has largely taken over for the traditional Logan Wolverine.
So a Logan sequel is at least theoretically possible, but the most likely version will revolve around X-23 rather than Logan. With X-23 going off to hang out with the other mutants at the end of the film, presumably her adventures in any sequel would involve them as well. Because this film is set in the future and an alternate timeline, finding a way for her to interact with the Fassbender and McAvoy X-Men would require more time travel shenanigans.
[Featured Image by Fox]
