Hugh Jackman’s farewell as Wolverine in Logan has gone from a big risk to a massive success, dominating the box office at a rate rarely seen for R-rated films. 20th Century Fox’s big bet on Jackman and director James Mangold has certainly paid off in the early-going, as the film rode mostly positive reviews to a big opening weekend in theaters.

One of the biggest aspects of Logan that set it apart was its R rating and uncommonly graphic violence for a film based on a comic book character. The film’s dark, gritty aesthetic lent itself to the idea that Jackman’s final turn as Wolverine would be far removed from the instantly recognizable yellow mask that the character wore in the comics for decades. A new photo shows that Jackman is well aware of Wolverine’s roots.

Jackman posted a photo of himself to his Twitter account on Thursday, holding the classic Wolverine mask up to his face with the caption, “THE Mask.” Jackman never wears a mask or suits up like the classic Wolverine at any point in Logan. Funnily enough, Jackman erroneously mentions the Twitter account of a man named Logan Eldridge in the tweet - he’s really looking for @WolverineMovie.

THE Mask. @Logan @20thcenturyfox pic.twitter.com/If1S2mNmpI— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) March 9, 2017

Mangold explained in a recent interview why Wolverine’s classic canary yellow suit would have never made sense in Logan or 2013’s The Wolverine, which revealed the suit in an alternate ending. Jackman and the rest of the X-Men famously suited up in more modern-looking leather suits in Bryan Singer’s original X-Men, poking fun at the idea of “yellow spandex” in the process.

It already made sense for modern live action X-Men movies to update the heroes’ looks and forgo cartoonish outfits like Wolverine’s bright yellow and blue suit and mask. It made even more sense for any semblance of that to disappear in Mangold’s Logan, a dystopian tale of mutants on the verge of extinction and Logan coming to grips with his diminishing powers. It would have taken away from Logan if Jackman suddenly decided to suit up as Wolverine at any point, because the character was well past the point of being a true superhero.

Fans who were hoping to see Wolverine’s classic canary yellow in Logan, even in a hypothetical post-credits scene, are bound to be disappointed that Jackman never comes close to wearing any kind of mask or eye-popping outfit. But it all adds up to Logan’s status as a dark, violent departure from conventional superhero fare. Fans have to settle for a photo of Jackman holding up the famous mask rather than wearing it - but considering Logan’s huge success so far, the film’s lack of a yellow mask is not likely to be a big issue.

Source: Hugh Jackman

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