As of late, Fox has had a hit-or-miss reputation with their control over the X-Men film franchise. Of course, unless you have been living under a rock, you'll know that Disney has officially acquired 20th Century Fox. This means they have gained control over the potential film representation of the X-Men characters, which leaves fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe eager to see how they will be incorporated. However, despite Fox's most recent results, they have put out some hits.
For example, First Class, Days of Future Past, The Wolverine, and the Deadpool movies ranged from "good" to "great." But arguably, their best effort that transcended all of those was 2017's Logan. This film redefined how an X-Men story could be told, be vastly different from all the others, and still be significantly superior to everything else they've done with the series. Here are 10 reasons why Logan should have been the last Fox X-Men movie.
Among The Last Good X-Men Movies
Obviously this point shows how hindsight is 20/20, but is nonetheless valid in retrospect considering what has been happening most recently with the franchise under Fox. Logan was released three years ago already, and there have been two more movies in the series released since. Following it was Deadpool 2 in 2018 and Dark Phoenix in 2019.
The former was an overall good, solid, raunchy, and funny follow-up to the breakout-hit predecessor, while the latter was a critical and commercial disaster. But Logan is far from good; it is excellent. Everything from the plot, characters, actors, and more was done superbly, which will be elaborated on in this article.
The Perfect Sendoff For Hugh Jackman's Logan/Wolverine
Even in the lead-up to the release of the film fans became well aware that Logan would be the last time that actor Hugh Jackman would play the famed role. This ultimately proved to be the perfect sendoff for Jackman in the role and for the character in terms of his journey in the Fox film series. Jackman gave his best performance as Logan/Wolverine, and the story did him and his character justice.
He's ultimately a tortured soul cursed with a ridiculously long lifespan forcing him to watch loved ones die and himself become more cynical and jaded. Seeing him, after the disastrous course of events mutants had to go through, have to accomplish and be part of something infinitely greater than himself was the most rewarding experience in any of the current X-Men films.
The Perfect Sendoff For Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier/Professor X
Of course, as fans knew practically at the same time as the news of Hugh Jackman departing the role after the movie, Logan was also the final time that the legendary Patrick Stewart would portray Charles Xavier/Professor X. Likewise, but to a slightly lesser extent since the focus of the film was Logan himself, it served as the perfect, albeit tragic, sendoff for Stewart portraying the character.
Charles Xavier, or Professor X, had to live a long time seeing loved ones and pupils die, friends turn away from his big-hearted and well-intended cause and, in this case, eventually become the catalyst for why mutants are once again highly persecuted and hunted down. It's one of the most tragic and well-written plot devices in the X-Men series.
It Could Have Been The Perfect Bittersweet Ending
Aside from the X-Men spin-off film Deadpool 2 and the upcoming The New Mutants, the most recent Dark Phoenix further sullied the state of the film series under Fox. If Logan was the last film in the series under Fox, despite being a spin-off itself, it would have been the perfect sendoff before the Disney acquisition based purely on the fact that it was the best entry yet.
Finally, while Logan was still very much a canon story, it was a canon story set in an alternate, bleaker timeline from the (new) main continuity. If they made this story part of the main timeline, it would have been the perfect bittersweet ending having Logan find closure and peace in death, having Charles' death not been in vain, and left an open-ended sense of optimism in the future of mutants with X-23 and her friends.
The Darker, Grittier, More Serious Film In The Series
Not every superhero movie needs to be a dark, gritty, serious story in order for it to be considered good in modern comic book storytelling. There are examples of comic book films being all of those things and falling flat, at least in part, because of it with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being the best example.
However, if the characters fit those elements and the story is written and directed well then it can certainly fit. Logan does just that by being the grittiest and most bleak story in the franchise. Everything from the dystopian future to the state of the characters illustrated these elements beautifully.
No Worldwide Stakes Needed
Comic book stories in general tend to love introducing worldwide or even galactic-level threats and stakes for the protagonists to face. They can still certainly do this and still be great stories, like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, but they don't always need this. Logan does away with that and for the better of this particular story.
While still dealing with the concepts of having cyber-enhanced humans and super-powered mutants running around, this film takes things to a much more grounded level. The story is a very intimate one, mainly for Logan, and the film came out better for it.
The Future Of X-23
Certainly an unlikely long-shot, but having Logan be the last bout could have set up a future for X-23 in the MCU. As it stands now, it looks like we will likely never get an X-23 movie focusing on her essentially becoming the new Wolverine.
Perhaps Kevin Feige and the rest of Marvel Studios could have picked up where this particular story left off and take this opportunity to introduce the X-Men with X-23 as Wolverine. It would be convenient as no one would need to beg Jackman to come back and Logan was already set in an alternate timeline.
Phenomenal Acting
As with any movie, comic book-based or not, acting is a crucial piece of any media that incorporates the art. With Logan being released and it already standing above the rest in every other aspect, the acting is a further highlight compared to other X-Men movies and in movies in general.
Obviously, it helps that you have Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart leading the charge, but the cast from top to bottom performed brilliantly. Every performance of every character, particularly Jackman, Stewart, and Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 was passionate and emotionally charged.
Experimental With Genres
Experimenting with different elements from different genres is a good way of invigorating the comic book genre to make them feel unique from each other. Sure, Fox's upcoming The New Mutants is set to experiment by being a horror-based comic book film, but the fate of that project remains to be seen.
Logan expertly blended elements from other genres that fit the context of this story. It felt like a western with Logan being a worn-out outlaw being called back to the front lines and noir for its bleak, dystopian-like setting.
A Terrifying New Threat
There are more than one individual and collective threats present throughout the film's narrative with Transigen, the Reavers, and Donald Pierce individually. All of them have tremendous power over the protagonists and are constantly on their tails throughout the film, but there's one threat in particular who proves most terrifying.
X-24, an essentially rabid clone of Logan representing him at his peak physicality, was the ultimate terror-inducing threat to the trio. Despite being a mindless, yet monstrous, threat with no world-ending motives, he felt more daunting and real than others like Apocalypse. He forced Logan to fight a physically-perfect mirror image of himself, with Logan at a massive disadvantage. Their encounters felt like our heroes could lose gravely at any moment.