Hugh Jackman’s Logan Draws Inspiration From A Classic Western

At their foundations, most stories owe a little inspiration to the past, and that’s no different for FOX’s anticipated Logan, the final film in Hugh Jackman‘s run as Wolverine.

Part of that inspiration comes from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s successful Old Man Logan storyline obviously, which depicted Logan in a world where all the heroes of the Marvel Universe were taken out by a mass onslaught from the universe’s villain community. Since FOX lies outside of the Marvel Studios umbrella, though, much of that outlying scope was reigned in and trimmed, and the upcoming film is strictly an X-Men affair.

There’s much more inspiration than just from the original comic, however, and it turns out that director James Mangold looked to a classic western for some additional guidance. FOX recently previewed 40 minutes of footage from the film to the press, and it was accompanied by a book of stills from the project. IGN recently shared some text that was included in the front of the book, and it comes from Shane, a favorite western that released in 1953.

The text is specifically from the very end of the film, which depicts Shane (played by Lan Ladd) and Joey (Brandon deWilde) sharing an exchange before Shane rides off to parts unknown. There is a definite western vibe throughout the first Logan trailer, and visuals seem to cement that, with shots of open sky and unpopulated plains. The text also bears a few resemblances to where Logan finds himself during this time. When Shane says “A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can’t break the mould. I tried it and it didn’t work for me”, you can see the correlation to someone like Logan, who has tried to walk the hero’s path in the past, and finds that isn’t who he is anymore.

It could also be a hint at where Logan goes by film’s end, as he’s always struggled with staying in one place for a mentor like purpose. You could easily see him teaching X-23 some important lessons and then moving on to ride out the rest of his days in isolation. It will be interesting to compare this text to the final film when it releases next year.

Logan takes place in the year 2024, 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.

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Logan hits theaters on March 3, 2017.