Logan Director Explains Why The Westchester Incident Wasn’t Shown

***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW***

In the “Old Man Logan” storyline, written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Steve McNiven, something so unspeakable happened that Logan ditched his Wolverine persona and went out west to go live a quiet life on a farm. Through flashbacks, we saw why he stepped away from being a hero. They show him slaughtering a whole slew of supervillains that were attacking the X-Mansion, or so he thought. What really happened was that Mysterio created an illusion that tricked Wolverine into slicing and dicing his X-Men teammates.

Using that as inspiration, Logan includes a similar event: “The Westchester Incident.” Though it is never shown to us or explained in every detail, it’s made clear that Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) — who is suffering from Alzheimer’s — experienced a seizure-like attack at his School for Gifted Youngsters (located in Westchester County), and because of his telepathic abilities, the seizure caused the powerful mutant to unknowingly paralyze 600 people and kill 7 (including X-Men and possibly students).

Director James Mangold has revealed in a recent interview that a flashback to “The Westchester Incident” was written by him and he had planned to open the film with it.

So did he cut it because it was too traumatic?

“It also made the movie about that. It was really interesting. It suddenly made the movie about X-Men dying,” Mangold told CS, “as opposed to allowing the movie to be a kind of unwinding onion, like allowing you to kind of enter the story and go, ‘Where is this going?’ It was so large and loomed so large, and I felt like it also was still falling into the formula of the movies, with the big opener, that is setting up the mythology first. I thought, ‘What if we do an opener that leans into character first? Actually underplay those things?’ Let them just feel like it’s more like a—what’s that?” He added, “A normal thing, like it’s happened. And instead of underlining it, yeah. Just let it live in the background of all these characters.”

In 2029, the mutant population has shrunk significantly and the X-Men have disbanded. Logan, whose power to self-heal is dwindling, has surrendered himself to alcohol and now earns a living as a chauffeur. He takes care of the ailing old Professor X whom he keeps hidden away. One day, a female stranger asks Logan to drive a girl named Laura to the Canadian border. At first he refuses, but the Professor has been waiting for a long time for her to appear. Laura possesses an extraordinary fighting prowess and is in many ways like Wolverine. She is pursued by sinister figures working for a powerful corporation; this is because her DNA contains the secret that connects her to Logan. A relentless pursuit begins … In this third cinematic outing featuring the Marvel comic book character Wolverine we see the superheroes beset by everyday problems. They are ageing, ailing and struggling to survive financially. A decrepit Logan is forced to ask himself if he can or even wants to put his remaining powers to good use. It would appear that in the near-future, the times in which they were able put the world to rights with razor sharp claws and telepathic powers are now over.

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 (The Wolverine) directed and helped on the screenplay along with Scott Frank and Michael Green.

Logan is now playing!

MORE: Logan: Where Are All The Mutants? / Did Logan Go Too Far With X-24?

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