Logan Trailer Breakdown and Analysis
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The first trailer for the Hugh Jackman's final Wolverine movie, Logan, is here. When the first poster was released, we were left wondering who was holding Wolverine's hand. With the trailer, we now have a good idea what's going on in the story.
Logan has the shakes. Set in the near future, this isn't the Wolverine we've seen all these years. Johnny Cash's "Hurt" plays over the trailer, and it perfectly sets the tone.
Professor X asks, "What did you do?"
The world has gone to hell. We wouldn't necessarily say it's a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but things don't look good. Something pretty devastating has happened. There's clearly destruction about, and no one bothered to repair things.
Our first look at Logan shows this is similar to the Old Man Logan version seen in the comics, which was set 50 years after the death of the X-Men.
If the movie does take the same route as the comic, Wolverine was responsible for the death of his teammates. That could explain Professor X's "What did you do?" line at the beginning.
Logan tells Charles Xavier that the world is not the same as it was. Mutants are gone. Wolverine is seen drinking in a cemetery where it's likely his friends and loved ones are buried.
Logan is older. Despite his healing factor suppressing his aging, we see it's not working as it once did. Logan's hands are bloody and scarred from using his claws. Normally, as the claws burst through his skin, his hands would heal immediately. In the comics, he vowed not to use his claws again. Logan may have decided to live a life of solitude but something changes that.
Visible unhealed scars cover his back further show how his healing factor has slowed down or been reduced to that of a normal man.
Update
Director James Mangold told Empire, "One of the things we all thought about as we worked on this film is, well, we don’t want to rebuild everything. We want to have some questions. In order to make a different Logan, and a different tone of a Wolverine movie, we felt like we couldn’t hold on to every tradition established in all the movies religiously, or we’d be trapped by the decisions made before us. So we questioned whether Logan’s healing factor causes him to heal without even a scar. We imagined that it may have when he was younger, but with age, he’s getting older and ailing. Perhaps his healing factor no longer produces baby-soft skin. So we imagined he heals quickly, still, but it leaves a scar. The simple idea was that his body would start to get a little more ravaged with a kind of tattooing of past battles, lacerations that remain of previous conflicts."
Even though mutants may be "gone," Professor X is still alive in this time period. Seen in a hospital bed in a rundown place, it's not clear how he survived whatever killed off the others or is still alive after all these years. Has he been in a coma? Why is the room is such disarray?
A young girl stands in a building overlooking the desert. Logan asks, "What is she?" Professor X tells him she's a lot like him.
Listed as "Laura," this is X-23 from the comics, a female clone of Wolverine. As seen in the after-credits scene in X-Men Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister (or the Essex Corporation) got a hold of Logan's blood. It could be that it took all these years to create the perfect clone.
Whenever a bunch of armed guys in off-road vehicles arrive, it's not a good thing. They must be after Laura. This is how Logan gets pulled back into the fight.
Who is this guy? It's probably Caliban, the mutant with the ability to sense other mutants. When he was last seen in X-Men Apocalypse, he was played by Tómas Lemarquis. This time he's portrayed by Stephen Merchant. If the last X-Men film took place in the 80s, Caliban must be pretty here.
"She needs our help."
Logan is reluctant to get involved despite Professor X's pleading. Logan says someone will come along, but it appears whoever is chasing her are the ones that are coming.
Logan ponders over whether or not he should get involved. He looks at his old dog tags, thinking about who he used to be and if he should return to his old life.
Armed guards arrived. They have some sort of logo on their arms. At first, it seemed they could be from the Essex Corp, looking for Laura. It is revealed these are federal police working with, or for, someone else.
Donald Pierce is leading the hunt for Laura. Pierce has a cybernetic arm and is the leader of the Reavers. It was never clear how Pierce originally lost his arm. Here, we can assume either Logan or Laura is responsible for the loss of his arm, fueling his hatred of mutants.
Armed guards are after Professor X. The room is shaking. Could Charles be trying to use his telepathy to stop them? In addition, Laura is crawling on the floor towards them. Perhaps another mutant is being used to try to neutralize the threat of their powers.
Logan carries Professor X. It's unclear if this is when they first meet up. Did Professor X just awake from a coma and call out to Logan? We're not sure where or what this room is. Is this the fallen water tower seen early in the trailer?
The movie looks grim, but there will be some happy moments. Logan, Laura, and Charles will get to share at least one moment of laughter and happiness.
Logan and Laura are on the run. Logan has become Laura's protector, but she watches over him as he sleeps.
Logan and Laura must have been separated or Logan went off somewhere. Laura is pinned down and handcuffed.
Pierce and his Reavers like to stand around and try to look intimidating.
What pushes Logan over the edge?
Throughout the trailer, we saw his reluctance to get involved. While he agrees to help Laura, this is the first time we see the old familiar Wolverine begin to unleash his fury.
Logan chases after the armed guards and does his old move where he jumps at his enemies with his claws unsheathed.
Laura may be a child, but she shows off some of her abilities here. She easily takes down a couple armed soldiers. With Policia Federal and a Mexican flag on their arms, it looks like they're in Mexico.
Caliban may be a creepy guy, but it looks like he's being forced to track Laura and Logan.
Clash of the Claws.
In the comics, Laura has claws. Why wouldn't a Wolverine claw have them? Instead of three on each hand, she has two. Why would she try using them on Logan? When she was created, a chemical trigger scent was created which puts her in an uncontrollable state in which she kills everything around. It makes sense they would use it to try to get her to kill Logan.
"Logan, you still have time."
Time for what? To redeem himself? If Wolverine was responsible for the death of the X-Men, saving Laura could be his path to redemption.
As seen in the U.K. version of the trailer, the movie will earn its R-rating.
Logan opens in theaters on March 3, 2017.