On Monday we got to see Stephen Merchant doing his best impression of one of the bald henchmen from Mad Max : Fury Road as Caliban in the new X-men movie, Logan . A new teaser showing Hugh Jackman as old man Wolverine popped up today, showing a slightly aged Logan instead of an old man. 20th Century Fox has a lot riding on this movie; it’s their only hope to reinvigorate the X-men franchise without having to shoehorn Deadpool into the mix.
I have high hopes for Logan . The comic book it’s based on, Old Man Logan, is one of my favorite miniseries of all time. If Fox wants to have a hit on their hands, here’s a list of five things they need to keep in the movie in order to capture what made Old Man Logan so good.
1.Stay True To The Source Material
Logan is going to be based on a comic book called Old Man Logan, and the success of the movie will depend on how loose of an adaptation it is. The story arc was helmed by Mark Millar, who wrote other classic stories like Kick Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service. Both movie adaptations of those comics were great, because they followed the original story closely.
Fox has a tendency to take the title or characters from a X-Men story and essentially ignore everything else. The Days Of Future Past movie shared almost nothing with the comic of the same name, except Sentinels and a dystopian future. X-Men : The Last Stand would have been a much better movie if it just followed the Phoenix Saga, sending the X-Men into space to mingle with the Shi’ar Empire. I don’t even want to get into how off-base X-Men: Age Of Apocalypse was; even the 90s’ cartoon had a more believable Apocalypse.
2. It’s Not A Happy Story
Spoilers for the comic book ahead. In the OML universe, years before the story started, Wolverine accidentally slaughtered all the X-Men because of an illusion created by Mysterio. That guilt drove him into seclusion, settling down with a family in Nevada and hanging up the Wolverine persona. Without the mad berserker or the X-Men, America devolved into chaos and was slowly taken over by villains.
This is a world that’s been broken down and demolished by some of the worst monsters the world has ever seen. The Kingpin, Dr. Doom and even Electro all have realms of their own to rule over and control at their will. At the end of the story, Logan’s family is murdered and left for him to find, which finally pushes Wolverine to come back and swear revenge on all the villians.
My biggest worry is that Fox chooses to forgo all of this important world building to make an easier, more boring movie. Logan needs to be more than claw fights and angry screaming if it wants to be anywhere near as good as the source material.
3. Logan Doesn't Want To Fight
Old Man Logan, at its core, is a story about Wolverine learning to get over guilt and embrace who he really is. The comic book starts with Logan having a happy family, with no desire to fight ever again. He doesn't even pop his claws until the end of the series, choosing to do anything else other than be confrontational. A Wolverine movie where he doesn't pop his claws until the end of the movie would be really boring though, most superhero movie fans don’t need pathos in their blockbusters.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Fox balances the struggles of Wolverine’s character while also appealing to a wider demographic. Logan should be a sad, gritty movie about the real consequences of a world with superheroes, and I’m terrified they are going to try and add jokes to make it “funny” and more like Deadpool .
If Fox can keep the gritty realism, Wolverine’s emotional arc and add some action, then Logan will be an amazing movie.
4. Keep the New Characters, Especially The Weird Ones
Old Man Logan takes place decades from now, with new heroes and villains rising up all over the place. Hawkeye has a daughter who takes on the mantle of Spider-Girl, a Venom-symbiote infused dinosaur, and my personal favorite: a group of redneck Hulks called the Hulk Gang.
Fox can’t use any of those characters because Disney owns the rights, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get something equally awesome to take their place. The X-Men universe is filled with thousands of mutants, most who have never seen a movie screen. According to teasers from director, James Mangold, we know that mutants will be scarce, since “where all the mutants” can be seen scratched into a bathroom stall.
I have high hopes for Logan , I think it can be the movie that makes the X-Men franchise fun again. I just hope Fox doesn't let me and every other comic book fan down.
