Logan Director Explains Why Xavier Has Hair

02/01/2017 04:52 pm EST

In 20th Century FOX's upcoming Logan, the fan favorite finds himself the caretaker for his former mentor, Charles Xavier. Their bond will be at the heart of the anticipated film, and Xavier's worsening condition will also most likely play an important part in the film's plot.

Fans were surprised in some of the earliest glimpses of Xavier (played by Sir Patrick Stewart) to see the faint presence of hair. Xavier's been iconically bald in the comics as well as the film's in Stewart's previous portrayals, so some fans didn't know what to make of it. Director James Mangold recently explained to Empire the thinking behind the visual.

"(Jackman) kind of looks like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, while Sir Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier has a little bit of hair, which Mangold acknowledged "could be kind of sacrilege. The theory was that he originally lost all his hair because it's just too damn busy [in his head] to grow hair – the idea for me was, well, maybe there's a little fringe on there, because things are slowing down mentally."

This Xavier is not what he once was from a power perspective, so his theory works about as well as any other.

Fans finally got to see Xavier go bald officially in X-Men: Apocalypse, but Stewart has always been bald when portraying Xavier.

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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