Logan: Is X-23 The New Wolverine?

With the release of the Logan (aka Wolverine 3) trailer we got our very first glimpse of live-action X-23 as a lost little girl in desperate need of help.

X-Men fans are already very familiar with X-23 also known as Laura Kinney – the female version of Wolverine. In the comics, she was created by a group of scientists from a strand of Wolverine’s DNA. However, the “Y” chromosome was damaged, meaning the scientists used Wolverine’s X chromosome to create a female clone instead. After 22 failed attempts, the lab finally got it right – resulting in the birth of Wolverine’s “daughter” X-23.

She was controlled and tortured by the scientists serving as the perfect weapon until she went on a murderous rampage, killed the scientists, and destroyed the entire Weapon X lab – including other clones of…herself.

She was finally free and searched to find Wolverine and Professor X, eventually joining up with The New X-Men and especially X-Force, a much darker, more violent version of the original X-Men.

We already know that X-23 is the new Wolverine in the comics and that her origin story will be infused into Logan. But a big question remains – will x-23 be the new Wolverine in the X-Men movie franchise as well?

Considering Logan is sadly Hugh Jackman’s last film in the iconic X-Men role, fans have been wondering if Wolverine will be recast for upcoming movies. The answer here is simple – replacing Wolverine with another male actor would be impossible to pull off and fans will most likely not react well.

In the cinematic world, Hugh Jackman IS and always has been Wolverine, so it’s possible they may scrap the original Wolverine character all together and replace him with X-23. But after seeing how young X-23 is in the new Logan trailer, we’re guessing around 8 to 10 years old, how could she possibly fit in to the current X-Men movie timeline?

The current X-Men timeline has been problematic from the start, all of the main mutants had to be recast and we were taken on a wild trip to the past. The last few films have been on a 10 year time jump, with X-Men: Apocolypse taking place in the 1980s.

ComicBook.com’s Kofi Outlaw explains the issues with the timeline and recent films:

“To be clear: X-Men has one of the worst movie franchise continuities ever. The original trilogy ended on drastic note with major franchise character deaths; X-Men Origins: Wolverine contradicted the trilogy continuity, and ruined a lot of characters and mythos in the process; X-Men: First Class came along and tried to wipe out the problems of the of The Last Stand and XO:W; even the more successful films of the last few years like Days of Future Past and The Wolverine don’t quite synch up the prequel continuity and OT continuity; Apocalypse is further establishing a brand-new continuity to replace the OT version; and Logan is… what exactly?”

Despite the generation gaps in the timeline, Wolverine has always been the same age in every film, which doesn’t exactly make any sense or match up at all. But then again, remember how it would be impossible to recast such an iconic character? Wolverine has never seemed to follow along with the timeline, he just appears whenever, wherever.

Now that Hugh Jackman is done, it’s possible that they may recast him with a younger version of Wolverine but then the timeline would be exceptionally screwy, even if “Future Wolverine” did travel back to the past in 1973 like the films suggest.We just saw him as an older man in X-Men: Apocalypse. But it doesn’t matter now because the Wolverine we know and love will be non-existant after Logan. Again, it would make much more sense to throw X-23 into the current mix instead.

However there is a slight problem which we’re sure you have all noticed. Logan (mostly based on the Old Man Logan comics) will take place in thefuture in 2024 after the rest of the X-Men have been destroyed, Professor X is on his last leg, and most importanty X-23 is born into the X-Men franchise as an 8 to 10 year old.

Basically, if the next X-Men ensemble movie takes place in the ’90s (like Simon Kinberg has already said) – X-23 did not exist yet, so she can’t possibly take on the role of the new Wolverine. Unless we don’t see her again until AFTER Logan takes place, or the franchise uses another huge time jump or time travel machine to their advantage.

But then we thought what if the Logan version of X-23 is NOT Laura Kinney? Too late – check out the official synopsis below:

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 leaving it to destruction, 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.

A few X-Men spinoff films are currently in development like Deadpool 2, The New Mutants, and most noteabley X-Force. Based on previously released artwork of the X-Force movie, it’s already been speculated that X-23 (in her teens or early twenties) would be playing a role. So if we don’t see her as “The New Wolverine” in the next X-Men movie, we may see her as X-23 in some spinoffs.

The hard truth is, that we might have to get used to the fact that there just won’t be a Wolverine in the next core X-Men movie, because as of now, the timeline does not match up to use X-23, no matter how badly we want to see her take over the cinematic mantle.

But who knows with 20th Century Fox, a million things could change before another X-Men movie even makes it into pre-production!

MORE: Be sure to get all the lastest on Wolverine 3: Logan:

Logan R-Rated Trailer / Logan Official Trailer / Official Old Man Logan Image / SPOILERY Synopsis Revealed? / Possible X-23 Reveal Coming! / Logan Villain Revealed / Who is the Clawed Child? / 5 Things We Want to see in Logan / 5 Things We Won’t see in Logan

Logan hits theaters on March 3, 2017, followed by Deadpool 2 on January 12, 2018. Movie versions of Gambit, New Mutants and X-Force are still being developed.