Why aren’t the X-Men around in Logan?

Hugh Jackman first played Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, his third film. Logan isn’t inclined to care about Laura or her super problems or much of anything else, frankly – he just wants a drink. The only thing I could think of and it’s not exactly a “Not” was, I expected to see Wolverine in his Yellow-Blue comic book costume as the costume was shown in one of the trailers but was missing from the movie. So what the hell happened to him?

A tired Logan eventually becomes the reluctant guardian of Laura (Dafne Keen), a young girl sporting adamantium claws remarkably similar to his own. This is the first X-Men movie in which people have arteries. Though The Wolverine was also “certified fresh” on Rotton Tomatoes, 239 critics only gave it an overall grade of 69 percent. Stewart, 76, stated that the news of Hugh Jackman’s departure from the franchise was the flawless time for him to announce that he won’t be returning for future films. All of this because he was still recovering from the death of Jean. With the kids, I knew. Jackman told EW that he’d hoped that his depiction of Wolverine would bring an “Old West” mentality to his depiction, and turn him into an anti-hero for the ages. Throughout the film, Logan hints at some awful secret – an accident in Westchester, where Xavier’s academy was located - that might have caused the death of many X-Men. In the end, he created a new timeline which he woke up inside of at the end of the film. When a young mutant needs his help, Logan has to unsheathe his claws once more.

In his more lucid moments, Professor X insists he senses that other mutants still alive. Logan is working as a chauffer in Texas and living in an abandoned factory in Mexico with Professor X, who is suffering from dementia and spends his days drugged so he doesn’t accidentally hurt any more people with his telepathy.

This is the worst of the bunch not only because of the “Been there, done that” lack of inspiration, but also it was a squandered opportunity to really establish the character in a powerful way. We see it in “Logan”, but not just in the service of exploitation.

Professor X presents one of the movie’s most compelling ideas, namely, what happens when the world’s strongest mutant mind is deteriorated by disease?

The picture ends on a ideal pulp image that draws a line under the Jackman Wolverine movies, but also points a way toward something new. It’s clear that Wolverine is sick, and perhaps even slowly dying, from the very beginning of the film. And he is exhausted of getting into fights. I feel he took all that worked from each genre to craft Logan and by the end the same audience that was giddily screeching at the gore and bloodshed was sniffling and wiping their teary eyes.

At some point down the road, Logan likely did realize that the parasite he had ripped out of himself in the other Universe was still inside of him in this Universe.

So why, with his back up against the wall in Logan, don’t his teammates come to the rescue? This is a new world of super “heroes” who, despite their tight costumes, aren’t sexless, and, despite their penchant for violent resolution to conflict, don’t engage in bloodless warfare. That works out to a total box office of about $415 million for the second film. Then we get to the child experimentation and murder. Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!

What are your thoughts?