Logan: A step in the right direction for superhero movies?

Fans of superhero/comic book movies seem to be eagerly waiting the new instalment in the Wolverine trilogy, Logan (2017). I for one am one of those people.

Anyone who may have missed the first two Wolverine films, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Wolverine (2013) will be happy to know that you needn’t waste the time and effort, as both films (in my honest opinion) were absolutely rubbish. Whilst it may be fun to watch Hugh Jackman dispatch numerous enemies with his adamantium claws, the films were utterly terrible.

Whilst Wolverine is easily my favourite X-Men character, apart from Nightcrawler (not X-Men: Apocalypse’s (2016) version), his solo outings have been tarnished with terrible takes on other supporting characters (here’s looking at the first onscreen version of Deadpool) and poor stories that leave you ashamed to have paid for the ticket.

Director James Mangold may have potentially created a heartfelt and brutal take on everyone’s favourite cigar-chomping murder machine. The moody and atmospheric trailers have already given me a lot of optimism as to what we can expect from the potential curtain call for Jackman’s portrayal of Logan.

In interviews, Mangold and Jackman have both said that this story is going to be a character-driven adventure, heavily focusing on a small cast of the universe’s well-established players; Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and obviously Logan himself. To be honest, I think this will work in the film’s favour. As we all learned from X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) this franchise can easily become over-saturated with D list characters from the comics, drawing attention away from the core of the story.

Personally, I cannot wait for Logan to hit the silver screen. It has been a long time coming a standalone Wolverine film shows the gory, confused and downright primal workings of the main character, but also touches on the strong relationship between Logan and his father-figure Professor X.

From what we can tell at this point, Logan won’t be another multi-million dollar production, filled with CGI and an ending that will be filled with happiness and victory. This film could be the antidote to the (albeit enjoyable) poison that is the superhero blockbuster. If Deadpool taught us anything, it is that you don’t need The Avengers, or an ensemble cast to make a fantastic adaption of a graphic novel.

This will hopefully be one that will cement itself as a classic comic book movie.