Wolverine 3: New Look At X-23 In Logan

Today is Oct. 23, or 10/23, or – if you’re into Roman numerals – X-23.

And today, at 10:23 ET – or, again, X-23 – the Logan Instagram account commemorated that numerical convergence by releasing a new image of Dafne Keen as X-23, Wolverine’s teenage, female clone.

The Instagram status simply reads “Laura,” which is the name given to X-23 (fully Laura Kinney in the Marvel Comics Universe) by her creators.

X-23 is a character created by writer Craig Kyle for the X-Men: Evolution animated series. X-23 made her way into the Marvel Comics universe in the 2004 series NYX. She was later taken in by Wolverine and brought to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, where she joined the student X-Men team. Since then, X-23 has been a member of Wolverine’s X-Force squad and joined the time-displaced original X-Men team as part of All-New X-Men. Following Logan’s death, Laura has carried on his legacy as the All-New Wolverine.

Like Wolverine, X-23 has a powerful healing factor. She also has adamantium claws, two coming out of each hand and one in each foot, though her skeleton is not coated in adamantium the way Wolverine’s is.

In contrast to Wolverine’s feral rages, X-23 was rigorously trained the by the program that created her to be a cold, calculating killing machine. However, they also imprinted her with a “trigger scent.” If X-23 smells the trigger scent, she goes berserk and murders everyone around her.

Logan was announced as the title for the third Wolverine solo movie at New York Comic-Con. A series of black and white teasers followed, leading up to the release of the first Logan trailer on Oct. 20.

In the wake of the Logan trailer release, director James Mangold (who also directed The Wolverine) has tried to explain exactly how Logan fits into the X-Men movies’ messy timeline, though it may still be best for every fan’s sanity to just enjoy the movie for what it is and not worry too much about the larger continuity.

In Logan, Set in the future of 2024, Logan and Professor Charles Xavier must cope with the loss of the X-Men when a corporation lead by Nathaniel Essex is destroying the world. With Logan’s healing abilities slowly fading away and Xavier’s Alzheimer’s forcing him to forget, Logan must defeat Nathaniel Essex with the help of a young girl named Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine.

Logan takes inspiration from the comic book story “Old Man Logan” by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Logan is directed by James Mangold and stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, and Dafne Keen. The film will be Jackman’s final performance as Wolverine.

Logan opens in theaters on March 3, 2017.