If the first trailer failed to convince you, Logan's second and final trailer certainly persuaded you that this is the movie to see this March (the month that will see the release of Kong: Skull Island, Beauty and the Beast, and Ghost in the Shell, so that alone says something). There’s plenty of action, there are great dramatic moments, and there are also heartwarming ones. As far as we’re concerned, it appears that James Mangold succeeded in making a superhero flick like no other.
And if the first trailer focused on Logan as a broken man, the second trailer has at its center the new character Laura, also known as X-23 (it isn't known whether or not she’ll be called by that name throughout the movie). And it’s now pretty clear that this Wolverine send-off might also be the Laura’s introduction to the X-Men shared universe.
So what else can we say after seeing the final trailer? Well, there are quite a few things! So check it out - but be warned: there are spoilers here!
The setting
The end of Days of Future Past saw everything in its right place, an idyllic future in which all of the dead X-Men were alive, Professor X was still the head of the school, and Wolverine himself was a professor. Then came X-Men: Apocalypse, with the Wolverine cameo and, tied to it, the tease of Mister Sinister.
According to James Mangold, Logan will take place five or six years after the Days of Future Past ending. And that’s because he wanted to break free of everything said about the character up to that point. According to the director, this gave him enough space to make a Wolverine movie that was solely about Wolverine, a fresh movie that doesn't rely on the previous ones (Mangold talks about elbow room). And this is great, since the X-Men timeline is not exactly understandable.
As far as Mister Sinister is concerned, the director also said that the character won't appear in the film, for the same reason. However, he also says that Sinister is a bit too outlandish for what he has in mind for the final installment of this franchise.
Logan, Professor X, and Caliban
As revealed in the first trailer, Logan now leads a secluded life in the middle of the New Mexico desert. At first, we believed that he’d be found by Professor X, but that wasn't the case. Wolverine keeps Charles hidden, and provides him with medicine to help with his condition. What condition? Apparently, with old age, Professor X is losing control of his powers, which means that he became a threat to humans and mutants alike. With the help of Caliban (who appears in the beginning of the film, at least in those 40 minutes screened), Wolverine is able to keep him hidden.
Of course, at this point, we’re wondering if Professor X's condition has something to do with the disappearance of mutants. If Wolverine had been tricked by a villain in Old Man Logan to kill his fellow X-Men, could it all be because of a misunderstanding in the film? It could be, although many say that Charles himself, in a single moment of craziness, defeated almost all of the mutants, most likely using Cerebro (there is certainly some tension between them).
To be noted, the Professor isn’t the only one who can no longer control his powers. As shown in the first trailer, Wolverine can’t regenerate and heal as he used to. In the second trailer, we actually see him trying to un-jam one of his blades - a hint that not even an adamantium skeleton can keep you alive forever.
Could it be due to age? Or is this the result of some mutagen that targets only mutants?
Laura/X-23
As always in the X-Men shared universe, there are baddies who try to replicate mutant powers by manipulating the genetic code. In the comics, Laura is a clone of Wolverine. We don't know her origin story in the movie. However, James Mangold says that she’s basically a miniature Wolverine, and this causes sparks to fly between her and Logan. Furthermore, one of the movie’s themes seems to be the father-daughter relationship. And since Mister Sinister exists in this universe (even if he doesn't appear in Logan), we can assume that she is a clone in the movie, as well.
We actually see her creator (Zander Rice, played by Richard E. Grant) in this second trailer, after the first trailer revealed several scenes from her escape. And, as the first scene of the final trailer shows, she has no social skills - she wants to steal and doesn't really know that what she's doing is bad. This leads us to believe that she must have had help when she escaped.
And she’s ferocious - for example, when one of the evil minions goes after her, she comes out and throws his head at the feet of the other Reavers. The beginning of the scene is in the second trailer; the end remains unseen.
Which is great - if Wolverine has been rather tame so far, this movie will make up for all of the previous PG-13 flicks and set X-23 as a proper killing machine.
Also, as far as Laura is concerned, her knuckle wounds heal nicely - which means that the mutagen theory is wrong.
Reavers
The Reavers are the movie’s baddies - although we believe that they do answer to someone, and that someone isn't Zander Rice. Just as James Mangold wanted, they are realistically enhanced. But, unlike what the first trailer led us to believe, they are all augmented in some way. Donald Pierce isn’t the only one with a bionic arm - we also see someone with a gun-arm (which must be pretty inconvenient most of the time), someone with a claw-arm, and so on.
And speaking of Donald Pierce…After viewing the second trailer, we get the impression that he is more than capable of taking on Wolverine. We still don't know what the character’s abilities are in the film, but the way he talks (with Wolverine and, later on, with Laura) shows that he is the top dog and he won’t be easily overthrown.
And he also says something very interesting - that he needs the girl. Does this mean that he’s just muscle for hire? We don't believe so, since he could have asked for the girl in another way. So maybe Laura isn't just another subject in the Weapon X program.
LRAD
The second trailer is much more violent than the first. And it reveals quite a few ways to eliminate opponents. One of these is the Long Range Acoustic Device, which can be seen in the forest battle (it targets and hits Wolverine). However, we believe that it’s being used somewhere else in the trailer, as well.
The first trailer saw Professor X in the wheelchair, with guns pointed at his head and the entire room trembling. There was another shot – which we assumed happened in a flashback – with Wolverine in a hallway. This image trembled, as well.
Can we assume that the LRAD can also be used as a telepathy deterrent? It’s a valid assumption. And we guess that it will be used against Professor X, which will lead to his capture and, most likely, death. But, for now, we can be certain that this device will appear more than once in the film.
Happy moments
One of the most heartbreaking moments in the first trailer was a shot in which Wolverine, Laura, and Professor X sit at a table, having a great time, genuinely smiling. It was heartbreaking because we already knew that Professor X didn't have much time, that Wolverine's past was very dark (especially if Logan adapts several essential moments from the Old Man Logan story line), and that Laura was on the run.
The scene is expanded in this second trailer, and we see that there is someone else at the table: Eriq La Salle's character, whose identity remains unknown. Some assume that he’s an old friend of Professor X, Peter Corbeau, who has helped the professor on several occasions. But this is speculation.
Nonetheless, we’re fairly sure how this scene will end - the Reavers will come, everything will begin to tremble, Professor X will have a seizure, and so on"¦
The comics
This was unexpected - a sort of break in the fourth wall that came out of nowhere. It’s revealed that Laura is an X-Men fan, which says something about how the mutants are/were perceived by the humans. But it’s a bit difficult to understand what’s being said.
The ending of Days of Future Past saw Mystique stop Magneto and become a hero. However, the same thing happened during the Apocalypse events - with Magneto once again taking center stage in destroying the world.
So now the world knows that there are good and bad mutants - but, as always with minorities, only the bad will be taken into account, and the mutants will be seen as threatening. So who wrote Laura’s comics, and why were they included? Are the X-Men described as heroes or villains in those comics?
And, more importantly, what events are depicted? As far as this last question is concerned, we may not find out, since James Mangold was pretty firm when he said that Logan will be connected with the shared universe in as few ways as possible.
The suit
We can understand why Bryan Singer chose the black leather suits in the early 2000's. However, as the studios started making more and more superhero movies, Bryan Singer should have learned that the costumes the X-Men wore in the comics could be brought to the silver screen without looking silly.
Just look at what Marvel did with Thor, or even Captain America for that matter.
We did catch a glimpse of the traditional Wolverine costume in a deleted scene from 2013's The Wolverine. But that was all.
So now, when Logan says that the events described in Laura's comics didn't happen that way, does he also talk about the costumes? It's hard to believe that his traditional suit will make it into this film. Although we believe that there will be an Easter-Egg (other than Laura's comics).
It would have been sweet, nonetheless, if Hugh Jackman were to wear that yellow spandex, as Cyclops mockingly described the suit in the first X-Men.
R-rating
Each of the trailers released for Logan had two versions - one for everybody to see, and one for an R-rated audience. We already knew, after Deadpool proved to be a success, that Logan would be R-rated. And having blood splattered all over the place, limbs and heads flying, and a couple of F-bombs surely means something. Doesn't it?
Well, James Mangold has said that the film’s rating hasn't been determined yet. The studio does want to make a more violent Wolverine, but it remains to be seen if it will receive an R-rating.
And speaking of F-bombs, after the first 40 minutes of the film were previewed, there were some who said that Professor X shouldn't swear that much. We hear him doing that in the final trailer, as well. But given his condition (he has dementia), it’s explainable.
Hearing both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart swearing is a little weird. But, unfortunately, we won't get used to this - since Logan will be their last outing as Wolverine and Professor X.
Isn't that true?
One last time?
This is the tagline Hugh Jackman used to launch the Logan marketing campaign - it’s the final time for him to don the claws. After 17 years of portraying the same character in nine movies (one of them being a cameo), this is understandable. Considering this, as well as the fact that the entire cast of the X-Men movies has been changed"¦
But there is this pic, with Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, and Pierce Brosnan. It’s a hint that the actor will return, one way or another, in the Deadpool sequel. Plus, didn't James Mangold just say that he's open to doing another movie with Hugh Jackman? Yes, we know that he didn't say it would be a Wolverine movie. But still"¦
Logan seems to be not only the best of the series, but one of the best movies in any shared comic book movie universe. And, while we're not ready to see Hugh Jackman go, this should be his swan song. It should be the character's final outing. Otherwise, it would all have been just a marketing strategy to fool the fans of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine into coming out to see the flick.
And we’ll be there on the 3rd of March, when Logan is released!
