New 'Logan' Photo Has Wolverine Looking Much, Much Worse For The Wear
Hugh Jackman is in great shape. This is obvious to anyone who has ever seen Wolverine in an X-Men movie, which is to say just about everyone, since he's been in eight of them over the past sixteen years. Wolverine, on the other hand, is not doing so hot. He's still got the enviable biceps and washboard abs, but in Logan, he's covered in scars and scrapes that weren't there before — that couldn't have been there before because Wolverine used to boast an awesome healing factor.
The first Logan trailer gave us a little peek of what Wolverine's life looks like these days, now that he's suffering chronic pain after his powers go into steep decline. Now director James Mangold has shared yet another new photo of Logan looking very much worse for the wear. Check it out below.
After months of radio silence, Mangold, Jackman, and 20th Century Fox have unleashed a veritable torrent of Logan promo material over the past few weeks. Some of the coolest have been the portraits and other photos shared by Mangold on social media, like this latest one below.
Taken w/ Leica S 007 Vario Elmar 90mm, ISO 3200 1/25 ƒ11 — JM pic.twitter.com/oVBdzkrqeU
— Mangold (@mang0ld) October 26, 2016
When the first Logan trailer came out, I called Johnny Cash's "Hurt" an obvious choice of soundtrack music. But boy, is it an appropriate one. This photo just radiates pain and angst.
Logan is set in a future where the mutant population is rapidly falling. Logan is much older now, and for once he looks it. This version of the character is loosely based on "Old Man Logan" arc from the comics. A page from the Logan script shared the character's current state as follows:
As for our hero, well, 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.
So by all means, go ahead and worry about him.
The screenplay also warned that this is the kind of movie where "people will get hurt or killed when shit falls on them." But an even better reason to worry about Logan making it out alive is the fact that this is Jackman's last outing as the character. 20th Century Fox no longer needs to keep Jackman's Logan around in case they need him for future sequels, so they can kill him off this time if they want to.
Still, the film isn't just two hours of Logan sitting at home wallowing in fear and self-pity. Logan finds a new purpose when he's called upon to help a young mutant, Laura (Dafne Keen), who is not so unlike himself. Patrick Stewart returns as Professor X, Stephen Merchant plays his caretaker Caliban, Boyd Holbrook plays the villain Donald Pierce, and Richard E. Grant plays mad scientist Zander Rice.
Logan is in theaters March 3, 2017.