Logan: Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Swan Song

After a gob-smacking nearly two decades long career as Wolverine, Logan will be Hugh Jackman’s swan song as the most infamous X-Man in history.

And what a swan song Logan is for Jackman — at least if you believe our sister site, Entertainment Weekly. Based on the Old Man Logan comics series, Logan tells the story of an older, wiser Wolverine who comes back out of hiding to save a mutant that’s more like him than he realizes.

Along the way, he’ll encounter some deranged mutant fanboys.

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And we, the fans, will also see an older Professor X that’s battling dementia — because irony has cruelly twisted its knife — and a Logan that cares for him tenderly despite initially showing resistance to joining the X-Men in the first place.

As for the inspiration behind Wolverine, Jackman drew from an unusual place: Clint Eastwood’s character in Unforgiven. Jackman told EW that he’d hoped that his depiction of Wolverine would bring an “Old West” mentality to his depiction, and turn him into an anti-hero for the ages.

And boy, was he right.

"“Jackman imagined doing for the superhero genre what that 1992 film did for Westerns. “The tone was very clear to me from the beginning,” he says. “But think about pitching that to the studio.”"

But, what’s most interesting of all: Jackman originally didn’t get the part of Wolverine. The role, back in the 1990’s, went to Dougray Scott. However, scheduling conflicts led to Scott giving up the role, thus turning Hugh Jackman into a member of the pop culture zeitgeist. And when a man is willing to take a pay cut to get his vision of Wolverine right, you know he deserves all the accolades he can get.

Next: BAE-Watch: Benedict Cumberbatch Talks Doctor Strange

Logan is in theaters beginning tomorrow. Will you be checking out Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine swan song?