Logan: Hugh Jackman Was Originally Hesitant To Play X-24

By now, Logan has come and gone and Hugh Jackman has officially hung up his Wolverine claws for good. The actor’s journey as the iconic X-Men character came to a touching end during Logan‘s runtime but not before he had to play the villain of the film, as well.

As it turns out, Jackman was a little reluctant to take on the role when director James Mangold pitched it to him.

“I was very skeptical of having X-24 being played by me,” Jackman said. “I understood what it represented and thematically the idea of battling himself, which of course is right at the core of this character that we never fully got to, so I kind of loved the externalization of that.”

Then, there’s the side of Wolverine fans hadn’t been treated to just yet that Jackman wanted to bring to them before concluding his run with the role.

“I also know that myself as an actor and fans of Wolverine come up to me in the street every day and go, ‘We wanna see that full berserker animalistic crazy off-the-wall Wolverine,’ right?” Jackman said. “So I was like, ‘Jim if we introduced halfway or near the end of the movie that full berserker animalistic crazy Wolverine and he’s somehow fighting our hero, audiences won’t know what to feel.’ And I remember him saying, ‘Trust me, trust me, trust me.’ And I was a bit of a pain in the ass on that one, I was like, ‘I’m just not sure. Let’s keep exploring it and exploring it.’ When I saw the movie it’s just clear, for some reason I think because he skewers Patrick Stewart in that moment the audience just sort of hates him. We did some subtle things, I changed the bridge of my nose, I wore contacts—I just wanted him to look a little different from myself. And I think by that point we’d created already the Wolverine that people wanted to see. So anyway, that was one of my examples of being wrong.”

Logan has an 88.07 ComicBook.com Composite Score, which is the second-best ComicBook.com Composite Score among all comic book movies. Logan also has a 4.62 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Rating, making it the second most-loved comic book movie ever among ComicBook.com readers. Let us know what you thought of Logan by giving it your own rating below.

In Logan, in the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan‘s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.

Logan is the final performance as Wolverine for Hugh Jackman. Jackman has played Wolverine for 17 years and through nine movies: the original X-Men trilogy, the prequel X-Men trilogy (though two of those appearances were cameos), and the Wolverine trilogy.

Logan also introduces a possible heir to Wolverine’s mantle in Laura, a.k.a. X-23, a clone young female clone of Wolverine with his claws, healing factor and fierce fighting skills.

Logan is directed by James Mangold, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Frank and Michael Green, from a story by Mangold, and also stars Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant and Dafne Keen.

More Logan news: Sabretooth Easter Egg In Logan Deleted Scene / How Fox’s X-Men Franchise Succeeds By Doing What Marvel Won’t / Hugh Jackman Got An NSFW Gift From X-Men: Origins: Wolverine / Logan-Deadpool Team-Up Fan Trailer

(via Collider)