The X-Men movie series experienced a major change in 2017 when Logan was released. This movie is still seen as one of the best from 20th Century Fox’s take on the mutant heroes, and it was also the last time Hugh Jackman played Wolverine—at least for a while.
Logan brought Jackman back together with James Mangold, who had directed the earlier Wolverine movie, The Wolverine, in 2013. Mangold took a bold approach, giving the film a hard R rating and focusing on a deeply personal story rather than a world-ending battle. The movie is set in a distant future where Logan works as a limo driver while taking care of an aging Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart).
But their lives change when a girl named Laura, also known as “X-23” (played by Dafne Keen), shows up. Laura has mutant abilities like Logan, and soon, Logan, Laura, and Xavier are on the run from Transigen, the corporation that created Laura and now wants her back at any cost. Adding to their problems is the fact that Logan’s healing powers are fading.
Laura’s arrival is significant because, before the events of Logan, almost all the X-Men had been killed, and no new mutants had been born in 25 years. At first, it’s suggested that Logan might have killed the X-Men, which would reference the Old Man Logan comic story by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.
In that story, the villain Mysterio tricked Wolverine into killing the X-Men, leading Wolverine to give up violence. But Logan takes a different turn, revealing that it was actually Xavier who accidentally caused the deaths of the X-Men. Suffering from dementia, Xavier’s telepathic powers became uncontrollable, causing dangerous seizures that harmed everyone around him. This twist—having the X-Men’s mentor be the reason for their downfall—is one way Logan pulls at the audience’s emotions.
The lead scientist at Transigen, Dr. Zander Rice (played by Richard E. Grant), eventually sends a younger, more savage clone of Logan named X-24 to capture Laura. X-24 kills Xavier and later seriously injures Logan by impaling him on a tree. In the end, Laura kills X-24 using an Adamantium bullet that Logan had kept.
She stays by Logan’s side as he dies, and with his last words, Logan tells her, “Don’t be what they made you.” After burying Logan, Laura tilts the cross on his grave to make an “X,” symbolizing his legacy as one of the X-Men.
Laura believes that Logan and Xavier are taking her to “Eden,” a safe place for mutants near the Canadian-American border. But Logan finds out that Laura got this idea from a comic book, leading to one of the most ironically dark lines in the movie: “Maybe a quarter of it happened, and none of it like this.” Eden turns out to be a real place, but it’s not what Logan or Laura had expected.
It’s a community of young mutants who, like Laura, were created by Transigen but managed to escape. One of these mutants is Julio Richter (played by Jason Genao), who comic book fans know as the earth-controlling mutant Rictor. Rictor and the other mutants at Eden use their powers to kill Donald Pierce (played by Boyd Holbrook), Transigen’s top mutant hunter, and they go with Laura after she buries Logan.
Even though Logan was said to be the end of the road for Jackman and Stewart in their roles, both actors ended up playing different versions of their characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Stewart appeared as a version of Professor Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
This version of Xavier was part of a secret superhero group called the Illuminati and even had the same yellow hoverchair as his comic book version. But, just like before, this Xavier doesn’t have a happy ending, as Wanda Maximoff (played by Elizabeth Olsen) kills him.
Jackman has a similar role in Deadpool & Wolverine, where he plays a version of Wolverine who is seen as having “let down his entire world” because he failed to save the X-Men. Deadpool & Wolverine also pays tribute to Logan in both funny and emotional ways.
For example, Deadpool (played by Wade Wilson) digs up Logan’s skeleton and uses it as a weapon, and in a more serious moment, the duo encounters Laura in the Void. Dafne Keen even returns to her role, confirming that her character Laura had grown up after the events of Logan.
The fact that Keen’s return is being celebrated as one of the best parts of the movie shows how much Logan impacted viewers and serves as a bittersweet reminder that Laura could have had her own movie if not for the Fox/Disney merger. Still, as superhero farewells go, Logan remains unbeatable.
Logan is more than just a superhero movie; it’s a powerful, emotional journey that redefined the genre. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine and Patrick Stewart’s role as Professor Xavier are deeply moving, bringing a sense of closure to their characters while exploring themes of legacy, loss, and redemption.
The film’s raw storytelling, combined with its darker, more mature tone, sets it apart from other entries in the X-Men series. Even as both Jackman and Stewart have reprised their roles in new ways, Logan remains the definitive conclusion to their characters’ stories, leaving a lasting impact on fans and the superhero genre.
