Logan is a “standalone” Wolverine movie

Continuity, the bane of any comic book. Or comic book movie! While Disney’s Marvel movies have a pretty solid timeline so far, the same can’t exactly be said for Fox’s X-Men movies. With the original trilogy, two Wolverine movies and a another trilogy set in the prequel era of the First-Class timeline, it’s easy to get somewhat confused.

And then you have Logan, the final Wolverine movie set in a future that kind of…well sucks for mutants. So what’s the connection then between all of these flicks? Pretty much nothing, as star Hugh Jackman explained to Digital Spy that Logan was a “standalone” movie with elements of the X-Men series drawn in to help flesh out its story. “And so Jim [Mangold] and I had this blank canvas and we wanted to make something really different,” Jackman said to DigitalSpy.

Definitely tonally different, I kept thinking The Wrestler, Unforgiven. He was thinking Unforgiven as well and The Gauntlet and these other movies which just seemed to really match his character. Early on we had the idea for the title not having anything to do with Wolverine in it, but making this more about the man. And what the collateral damage of being Wolverine your entire life would be.

It’s a standalone movie in many ways. It’s not really beholden to timelines and storylines in the other movies. Obviously, Patrick Stewart is in there so we have some crossover, but it feels very different and very fresh.

“I’m not critical of it – X-Men was the first movie really in comic book, no one thought there’d be another and there were different directors and different off shoots,” Jackman added.

When you see the full movie you’ll understand. Not only is it different in terms of timeline and tone, it’s a slightly different universe. It’s actually a different paradigm and that will become clear.

Here’s where things get a bit more confusing, as director James Mangold responded on Twitter with the following comments:

@Voldemorgoth Don’t think @RealHughJackman said that exactly. Simple fact. We take place in 2029, 5 yrs past anything depicted in XMEN film.

— Mangold (@mang0ld) January 22, 2017

@Voldemorgoth @RealHughJackman And “slightly different” causes an uproar? Everyone should breathe and focus on important things.

— Mangold (@mang0ld) January 22, 2017

Y’know what? I reckon going in to see Logan and expecting a cohesive timeline is just going to hinder your expectations for this flick. Sit down, threaten the kid next to you who Whatsapps next to you during the movie and just watch Logan as a movie starring Jackman’s character for the ninth and final time. Logan is out this March and also stars Eriq La Salle, Stephen Merchant, Elise Neal and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

Last Updated: January 23, 2017