In 2029, real X-Men read Marvel’s X-Men comic books.

Old Man Logan is one of those great comic book ideas that surprisingly took such a long time to come around.  It would be like seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger come back in Conan the Conqueror to play an elder King Conan, a film that always seems in the works but never quite in a moving-forward state.  In the X-Men movies it means Hugh Jackman in the big-screen release Logan, supposedly his last of nine films portraying the steely clawed X-Man, providing a rare chance for an actor to complete a character study 17 years in the making.  We’re NOT looking forward to anyone else being cast in this role down the road.  The first trailer (previewed earlier here) gave us a moody, grim look at Logan backed by Johnny Cash.  The final trailer released this week gives more hope for the future, with a little Jim Croce thrown in.

The final trailer reveals more than what we thought the studio would reveal in advance of the film:  2017’s leading contender for kick-ass superheroine… the little girl comic book readers know as cyborg X-23 (Laura, played by Dafne Keen) taking off her kid gloves and opening up her X-Men powers on some bad guys.  Hugh Jackman is the wise guardian we all need, and his own 90-year-old guardian and mentor Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is along for the ride, bringing that additional, personal dimension to the story.  The other universe of Marvel films outside the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” has been well-established to bounce around in parallel worlds and has resulted in the most satisfying movies in the superhero genre, particularly with the spectacular X-Men: Days of Future Past.  This film takes us about five years after that film’s epilogue.

This new trailer features a comic book on-screen for the first time in the X-Men universe, and comic book creators are featured in a new and unique way.  Comic book artist Joe Quesada drew the pages with ink work done by Dan Panosian (see above).  Comic book creator Gabriel Hardman created the storyboards for the film.

Check out this final trailer, first the U.S. version followed by the international version:

Isn’t it great to know radios are still playing Jim Croce in a post-apocalyptic America?

Logan is almost here.  Look for it in theaters March 3, 2017.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com