Logan Director On Why You Won't See The Yellow Costume
There's always been a reluctance to feature the X-Men in their trademark comic costumes onscreen, [...]
There's always been a reluctance to feature the X-Men in their trademark comic costumes onscreen, and that continues to be the case with perhaps their most popular character, Wolverine.
While Logan is a rather different beast entirely, being that it takes place in a downtrodden future without the X-Men or other superheroes, fans were treated to a glimpse of what could have been in The Wolverine. Director James Mangold included a peek at a more traditional costume for the fan favorite, but he never actually suited up in it.
The Logan director, who's film is sporting a 4.28 out of 5 on ComicBook.com's anticipation rankings, recently spoke to ScreenRant about the reason why that never happened, and it comes down to his take on what the character would be in real life.
"I always feel a certain contingent of fans who are yearning for it. But the biggest block I've had – I'm willing to take the heat for it – is that, I can never get past, being a writer for these movies as well, that Logan is the least narcissistic of all the superheroes, any kind I can think of – Marvel, DC or anywhere else. What I mean by that is, who puts a special branded outfit on when they do good deeds? And why? The only reason you do it is so you can have some sort of trademarked claim and get credit for what you did. Nothing seems less Wolverine-like than the desire to put on a trademarked outfit , particularly canary yellow, and kind of prance about doing good deeds and have people go, "Oh my God! It's The Wolverine!" At least the Wolverine, as I see him, that's a real struggle for me and always has been. I somehow feel that if somehow we ever put Hugh [Jackman] into one of those outfits, people would not be happy. Essentially, it's something that lives on the page and I'm not sure could live anywhere else."
Even in the comics themselves, Logan has regularly worn civilian clothes. Still, the majority of the time he's still in costume, and at the end of the day, these are superheroes. If you can suspend disbelief that someone can command the weather or control magnetic fields, maybe a yellow costume isn't such a stretch.
Logan takes place in the year 2029, where mutant births have become extremely rare. The defenders of mutant kind, the X-Men, are long gone, and the only remains of them are an old and struggling Charles Xavier and a weary Logan. Logan's vaunted healing factor has slowed, and at times doesn't seem to work at all. When a young mutant needs his help, Logan has to unsheathe his claws once more. His job isn't over yet.
Logan stars Hugh Jackman (Logan), Boyd Holbrook (Donald Pierce), Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Dafne Keen (Laura Kinney/X-23), Doris Morgado (Maria), Stephen Merchant (Caliban), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Gabriela), and Richard E. Grant (Dr. Zander Rice). James Mangold is directing and helped on the screenplay along with Scott Frank and Michael Green.
Logan hits theaters on March 3, 2017.
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