Logan Director Explains Film's Lack Of Mutant Characters

02/21/2017 08:22 pm EST

Even though the release of Logan is still a little ways away, fans and critics alike have been praising the film for its unique and intimate storytelling. Instead of utilizing a large team from the ever-expanding list of X-Men characters, the film opts to focus on the trio of Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Laura Kinney/X-23 (Dafne Keen), and Charles Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Stewart).

According to the film's director, this was entirely intentional, and was a way to break the mold of what has become expected for the superhero movie genre. James Mangold revealed to ScreenRant that while the film almost had additional mutant characters, it opted instead for the smaller cast.

"We toyed with it, but one of the things I've been very conscious of is that I think one of the reasons a lot of different movies are in the comic book arena these days, is they keep operating from the 'more is more' philosophy." He explains. "If we made a movie last time about four superheroes, this time it's gonna be seven, next time it's gonna be twelve. And there's a kind of arms race in visual effects and cast and I don't think it necessarily yields more."

The trend Mangold is referring to is becoming more and more prevalent, with ensemble films such as X-Men: Apocalypse, Captain America: Civil War, and the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War all boasting large casts.

The director - who previously helmed 2013's The Wolverine - proceeded to break his philosophy for the film down even further.

"Do the math. If you have a 120 minutes and you have seven actors with principal roles, then they're each getting six minutes to themselves, or to their storylines. If you make a movie about two or three characters, the movie is really owned by these characters and you get to go deep with them. That was our goal."

Fans will just have to wait and see how that character-based storytelling pays off when Logan premieres on March 3rd.

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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·Has Logan Been Given A Last-Minute Post-Credit Scene?

Logan hits theaters on March 3, 2017.

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