Logan (2017)
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Spoilers (36)
When Charles Xavier suffers from his seizures, Hugh Jackman did not act as if he was being pushed away. Instead, he was held back by a rope pulled by two men in order to give a more realistic portrayal of being restrained.
(at around 55 mins) When Laura and Charles are watching Shane (1953), Charles mentions remembering seeing the movie as a child in his hometown. This was entirely improvised by Sir Patrick Stewart, because Shane was one of the first memories he had at the theater as a child. James Mangold says George Stevens' Shane is "a masterpiece of golden age American film-making."
Hugh Jackman said this was the hardest Wolverine movie for which he had ever trained.
Hugh Jackman stated in an interview that the only way he would reprise his role is if a crossover between Deadpool and Wolverine would happen. Both Deadpool movies have contained jokes aimed at Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) is also close friends with Hugh Jackman. Hugh Jackman would be reprising his role as Wolverine in Deadpool 3 as confirmed in 2022 by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
Hugh Jackman induced dehydration for forty-eight hours prior to filming scenes of Wolverine shirtless, losing water weight. He added that the method is dangerous, and no one should attempt it at home. Jackman used this same technique five years earlier to create his emaciated look for prisoner Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (2012).
According to director James Mangold, allowing the movie to be R-rated was important, not so much for violent content, but for style: "For me, what was most interesting in getting the studio to okay an R-rating was something entirely different. They suddenly let go of the expectation that this film is going to play for children, and when they let go of that, you are free in a myriad of ways. The scenes can be longer. Ideas being explored in dialogue or otherwise can be more sophisticated. Storytelling pace can be more poetic, and less built like attention-span-deficit theater."
James Mangold stated that this movie is set in 2029 to avoid any conflict with the timeline established in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), but that his goal was to make a stand-alone movie that was not bound to continuing previous storylines or setting up sequels.
Sir Patrick Stewart claimed that much of the dialogue at the dinner table scene, in which Logan and Charles Xavier tell the family about the school for mutants, was improvised by the actors at the request of director James Mangold, after having filmed takes of scripted dialogue.
(at around 16 mins) The Samurai sword presented to Logan in The Wolverine (2013) can be seen in the smelting mill where Logan and Charles are hiding.
Hugh Jackman stated that while he doesn't doubt that the character of Logan will be eventually rebooted with a new actor, he has hopes for X-23 becoming the new "Wolverine" of the franchise.
Hugh Jackman admitted to having two lingering regrets about retiring from the role of Logan/Wolverine: that he never appeared in an Avengers movie, and that he never appeared in a Deadpool movie. Jackman said that had he known Deadpool (2016) was going to be such an enormous hit, and that his performance as Wolverine was a recurring gag in the movie, he might have postponed his retirement.
The name Logan used as a driver, "James Howlett", is his birth name in the comics and in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).
Director James Mangold was so impressed by the commitment of Laura's stunt double Rissa Kilar, he decided to give her a role in this movie. She was cast in the role of mutant "Pine Cone Girl".
Throughout all of his portrayals of Logan, Hugh Jackman stated he learned his American accent from copying Johnny Depp.
James Mangold said that this movie has a more "human" feel relying very little on CGI and greenscreens. Saying that CG and green screen work has "robbed movies of a kind of authenticity that I miss. The films always film oddly fake even though the effects work is often amazing."
This is the first superhero movie to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It is also the first superhero movie to be nominated for screenwriting since The Incredibles (2004).
Upon opening at 4,071 theaters in the United States, this movie became the widest opening R-rated release in cinema history. It was later surpassed by It (2017), which opened in 4,103 theaters.
Dafne Keen (Laura) was eleven years old at the time of filming, and so was not allowed inside the casino, even with all the correct shooting permits. So some shots were done with Keen on a greenscreen, and some scenes were shot in the actual casino with Keen's body double Cheramie Martin, who is over eighteen, but of a similar build to Keen.
In the U.K., the first wide release showing of this movie was at the unusual time of 10:23 p.m., rather than the usual midnight showing for a major release. This is a reference to the movie including the character of X-23. X is the Roman numeral for 10.
(at around 55 mins) According to one of the files attained from the lab, one of the children was the specimen derived from "Christopher Bradley", a former cohort of Logan's from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) under the alias "Bolt", which explains the child's ability to summon and manipulate electricity.
Professor Xavier's Psionic blast was done by shooting shaky footage and then re-stabilizing the frame in post, resulting in footage containing strange motion blur with smearing effect that is both organic and very unusual. The team shot the sequences slightly wider than was needed so that shots could be blown up to hide the edges of the stabilizing effect.
Professor Xavier's psychic blast initially was conceived as a huge pulse of energy, akin to the traditional super power, but director James Mangold wanted to keep everything much more naturalistic. So visual effects supervisor Chas Jarrett evolved the idea from the energy wave into a mind control field that caused people to become immobile indefinitely, a corrupted version of Xavier's ability in the X-Men films to freeze large groups of people.
This is the first Wolverine-centric movie where Sir Patrick Stewart played a major credited role. His appearances in the previous Wolverine movies were brief, uncredited cameos.
The title of this movie is "Logan". This is a reference to Mark Millar's graphic novel "Old Man Logan", and was deliberately chosen to form an opposite from The Wolverine (2013).
Sir Patrick Stewart stated on The Graham Norton Show: Hugh Jackman/Sir Patrick Stewart/Sir Ian McKellen/James Blunt (2017) that this would be his last appearance as Professor X. However, he would reprise the role five years later in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
(at around 1h 55 mins) The shot where Logan is running through the forest trees to kill attacking bad guys or "reavers" at the end of the movie was nicknamed "Logan's Run" by the visual effects production team. What seems like one long shot of Logan running and impaling a bad guy on a tree is actually four separate takes of different stunt guys running, combined with head and neck replacements, digital claws, background fix-up, and CG gore.
According to director James Mangold, this movie was influenced by the crime story The Gauntlet (1977), and the dramas Paper Moon (1973), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and The Wrestler (2008); and the Wild West movies The Cowboys (1972), Unforgiven (1992), and Shane (1953) (Charles and Laura watch this movie as a tribute).
This is the only entry in the "Wolverine" movie trilogy to have no post-credits scene, thus bringing a definite end to the saga.
It was believed that after the success of Deadpool (2016), Twentieth Century Fox decided to aim for an R-rating for this movie, unlike the other Wolverine movies. However, it was confirmed in an interview with X-Men producer Simon Kinberg that this was not the case, and the R-rating was always going to happen.
Visual effects supervisor Chas Jarrett, who had not worked with director James Mangold before, said he suddenly understood Mangold during the pre-production discussion of the "desert escape". At one stage, Logan had to knock down and drive through the fence. James Mangold just stopped him saying, "No, no, they can't get through, everyone will expect that. It would be a The A-Team (1983) moment. Everyone thinks that they will just knock through it, but they cant, they just can't."
Though Laura maintains a stern demeanor throughout the movie, Dafne Keen had to shoot her fight scenes across several takes, because she was having a bit too much fun.
Sabretooth was originally going to have a small role, where he helps Wolverine, X-23, and Professor X when they arrive in Oklahoma. Liev Schreiber was even approached about reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). There was also going to be a scene where Logan encounters a kind of "Underground Railroad" for mutants, which might have had a cameo from a well known character. Both scenes were removed because the team behind the movie didn't want to have an abundance of cameos, or mutants in the movie.
According to James Mangold on the audio commentary, the collapsed water tower that Charles stays in at the abandoned Mexican smelting plant was supposed to be a dark reflection of Cerebro.
Director James Mangold confirmed that he wanted to release the Blu-ray of this movie in black-and-white color format, just like director George Miller did something similar with his chrome version of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). He later revealed that the idea started after seeing Hugh Jackman's black-and-white location photographs during production stages.
The character X-23 debuted in the X-Men: Evolution (2000) cartoon and has also appeared in Marvel Comics. Also, at one time, she took on the identity as Wolverine after the "Death of Wolverine" comic arc, until 2018.
This movie was re-released in theatres on May 16, 2017 in a new black-and-white version, known as "Logan Noir". The new edition will also be included in the Blu-ray and 4K release of the movie
Stephen Merchant announced his participation in this movie by posting an Instagram picture, which showed him with a freshly-shaven bald head, and having a "Wolverine 3" tagline, though the post did not mention his character's name, nor any other specifics about his role. Later footage and notes revealed he is a kind-hearted mutant named Caliban, who is taking care of an aging and very ill Professor Charles Xavier.
In June 2017, this movie became the number one superhero movie of all time on RottenTomatoes, knocking The Dark Knight (2008) to number two.
The coordinates to Eden (48.9770333, -102.155491) lead to a spot in North Dakota. According to the movie, Eden is roughly six miles east of Northgate, North Dakota, and seven miles south of the Canadian border in the Des Lacs National Wildlife Reserve.
Although the action takes place in 2029, all of the vehicles seen are relatively recent years' models. Exceptions are the modified Chrysler 300 limousine (identified as a 2024 model) used in the first third of the movie, and the early 1970s Ford Bronco used in the final third. Also the Suburban with the horse trailer.
Theatrical movie debut of Dafne Keen (Laura/X-23).
Stephen Merchant is the second actor to portray the mutant Caliban, after Tómas Lemarquis in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).
Sir Ian McKellen, who played Magneto in the X-Men film franchise, had expressed interest in appearing in this movie.
Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" was used on the first trailer for this movie. Lyrics from the original Nine Inch Nails version were printed on the cover to the script draft for X-23: Innocence Lost, which detailed X-23's origin story.
According to the directors commentary, the film is called Logan because it's about the man, not the hero Logan has become tired of being.
The red band trailer was an unofficially released trailer, with the added bonus of a grainy clip of Wolverine/Logan stabbing a man in the head. The grainy clip was a small clip that was still being rendered, with no polished and fully rendered CGI.
The second longest X-Men movie, behind X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).
This movie takes place six years after Wolverine woke up in alternate 2023 at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). However, it was later confirmed that the previous X-Men movies took place on Earth-10005, while Logan takes place on Earth-17315.
Hugh Jackman said that he wanted this movie to be a mix of Unforgiven (1992), The Wrestler (2008), and Shane (1953).
The only X-Men movie where Hugh Jackman is not listed in the end credits as "Wolverine", non-cameo-wise.
Millie Bobby Brown auditioned for the role of X-23.
The first X-Men movie that does not include a post-credits scene since X-Men: First Class (2011). This is the fourth movie of the franchise not to have one.
(at around 20 mins) The first X-Men movie to show bare breasts, and only the third Marvel movie to show bare breasts, following The Punisher (2004) and Deadpool (2016).
This is the third collaboration between Hugh Jackman and James Mangold, having previously worked together on Kate & Leopold (2001) and The Wolverine (2013).
On her dossier, it says that Laura has type O negative blood. O negative blood is the universal donor, meaning anyone can accept her blood and suggests that she might be able to save a dying compatriot by using a blood transfusion. Wolverine has done this successfully when Leech was dying in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992).
One of the comics Laura had in her bag was X-Men #132. This comic had the first appearance of the X-Men villain Donald Pierce.
(at around 55 mins) When Logan opens the files from Transigen, the first page is to Rictor, who has his genetic donor listed as Dominic Petros. While never shown in any of the X-Men movies, Dominic Petros is a terramorph, and well known enemy of the X-Men, as well as a longtime member of Magneto's "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants", code named "Avalanche".
Second X-Men movie to have its world premiere at a major film festival (Berlin). The first was X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Laura's X-Men comic books were specially made for the film, to showcase the contrast between the adventurous fiction and the real world of mutant persecution. They were written and drawn by Joe Quesada and Dan Panosian.
James Mangold got the idea from Unforgiven (1992), where ageing cowboy William Munny meets biographer W.W. Beauchamp: "When you've got these aging heroes who are twilight versions of their own legends - that idea of being a kind of celebrity or sports star long past your heyday, was really interesting for me to investigate."
James Mangold got the idea from Unforgiven (1992), where ageing cowboy William Munny meets biographer W.W. Beauchamp: "When you've got these aging heroes who are twilight versions of their own legends - that idea of being a kind of celebrity or sports star long past your heyday, was really interesting for me to investigate."
Boyd Holbrook gained ten pounds of fat for the role of Donald Pierce.
Although the theme of death and disease is present throughout the movie, the song "When the Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash also can be seen as a nod to two of the characters' pasts. In comic continuity, Logan and Caliban were members of Apocalypse's Horsemen. Logan being Death, and Caliban being both Death and Pestilence.
Second movie in the X-Men franchise to use a Jim Croce song, specifically "I Got A Name" (playing in the convenience store when Laura is shoplifting). The previous was "Time In A Bottle" in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), during Quicksilver's slow-motion sequence.
The fourth comic book adaptation nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, after Ghost World (2001), American Splendor (2003), and A History of Violence (2005).
The song playing over the end credits, "The Man Comes Around", and the one playing over the teaser trailer, "Hurt", are both songs by Johnny Cash, although "Hurt" is a cover of Nine Inch Nails. Director James Mangold directed Walk the Line (2005), a biopic based on Cash's life.
At 6'7", Stephen Merchant is a full foot taller than Tómas Lemarquis, who played Caliban in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).
Richard E. Grant is the fourth Game of Thrones (2011) actor or actress to join the X-Men film franchise. After Peter Dinklage (Boliver Trask), Ed Skrein (Ajax), and Sophie Turner (Jean Grey).
In the second trailer, after Logan leaves the gas station, the track played is "Way Down We Go" by the Icelandic band Kaleo. Their song "Automobile" can be heard later in the movie in the gas station.
(at around 1h 17 mins) On the back wall of Nate Munson's bedroom, several "deathcore" posters can be seen quite clearly. Deathcore is a sub-genre of heavy metal (a combination of "death metal" and "hardcore"), while the boy himself appears to be listening to pop/rap music on his headset in the same scene. The bands in question are All Shall Perish, Dr. Acula, and Suicide Silence.
(at around 33 mins) Pierce refers to Professor X as an octogenarian. Professor X corrects him stating he's actually a nonagenarian. An octogenarian is someone between the ages of eighty and eighty-nine. A nonagenarian is someone between the ages of ninety and ninety-nine.
(at around 54 mins) Xavier and Laura are watching the classic western Shane (1953). Shane was played by Alan Ladd, whose son Alan Ladd Jr. was President of Twentieth Century Fox in the 1970s (He is personally responsible for green-lighting Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)). Twentieth Century Fox produced all of the X-Men movies.
Caliban's appearance in this film draws from the William Shakespeare play "The Tempest", where a character named Caliban serves a hero living in self-imposed exile.
Some people assumed James Mangold's interest in the R-rating was that he'd be able to increase the level and detail of violence, foul language, and sexual references, "and in many ways all those things were attractive." His biggest reason for going this route though "was a little more complicated than that." An adult-rated film means the studio won't make an effort to market the film to children with Happy Meals and toy tie-ins, and "what does that mean to the filmmaker?" He says what it changes for the writers/director is that no one at the studio is reading the script on a marketing level and then dictating editing choices to ensure it plays well to kids. "The ideas of the film are allowed to be more sophisticated because you're no longer having to pace up the movie, edit it faster, make it more charming or colorful for a nine year old's attention span. The film becomes what I had hoped for which is a comic book film for adults."
The hotel sequence where Xavier loses control and affects everyone in the area was an instance of ingenuity over budgetary limitations. Rather than hand the sequence over to an effects house (that they couldn't afford anyway) they essentially used a program currently available on smart phones that takes shaky footage and attempts to smooth it out. "What we did is we used that technology, only we shook the camera like mad." James Mangold explained.
Regarding the question of why X-24 instead of Sabretooth or some other super-villain, Director James Mangold says he played around with these other ideas before settling on the clone. "With any more elaborate character arriving you required a set of explanations. What is Sabretooth doing there? Why is he helping Transigen? What is his role in capturing Laura? Also these are more verbal characters, so now they're gonna talk." It also goes back to his earlier point about finding what scares Wolverine the most. Fighting another bad guy doesn't do it, but fighting and facing himself.
The "Superman Theme" by John Williams is on the soundtrack. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner is the wife of Richard Donner, director of Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980).
In September 2022, after years of hopeful speculation following the release of this film, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman released an official teaser announcing a reprisal of their iconic Marvel characters, Deadpool and Wolverine, respectively--slated for Deadpool 3 (2024). They had previously played the roles in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). All 3 major films are in different continuities of Marvel's X-Men film franchise.
(at around 49 mins) When Logan, Charles, and Laura stop off during their road trip, Logan is seen standing next to a road sign that says "Oklahoma". Hugh Jackman starred in a revival of the stage musical "Oklahoma".
Wolverine only has one bone in his body that is not made of Adamantium. He used to call that bone his "Logan's Run" but now he calls it his "Logan Lucky" due to his age.
This movie and Doctor Strange (2016) are the only two Marvel movies to date to be shot with the Arri Alexa Mini digital camera.
Richard E. Grant (Dr. Rice) and Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto in other X-Men movies) shared the role of the Great Intelligence on Doctor Who (2005).
(at around 1h 16 mins) On the bedside table in the Munson's bedroom, a copy of Sarah Ban Breathnach's "Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy" can be seen while Professor X and Logan are speaking.
This is Lennie Loftin's second comic book movie after Daredevil (2003).
The Deadpool 2 (2018) teaser trailer was omitted from the DVD release.
Liev Schreiber was approached to reprise his role as Sabretooth from the first Wolverine movie, but scheduling conflicts with Ray Donovan prevented this from happening. He would've appeared in Oklahoma City as a casino owner, with Logan and the others surprisingly going to him for help this time.
When Logan pulls up to the smelter the railroad tracks appear to be too wide. To reinforce this the ore car wheels in the background are entirely too narrow for the tracks.
James Mangold's goal with Marco Beltrami's score was to avoid the typical sounds of big summer blockbusters and comic book films. "I wanted a more '70s feel, I wanted more a kind of thriller or detective movie score, a more intimate score, something that wasn't trying at every moment to bring the London Philharmonic to bear on the action."
Road to Perdition (2002) and I Am Legend (2007) are considered possible influences behind the movie.
At the beginning of the film when Pierce sits in the back of the limo, he tells Logan he heard about the "cholos" he killed and it had to be done by either Freddy Krueger or a tiger. But since one is fictional and the latter are extinct it could only be Logan. In reality tigers are actually on the verge of extinction. It is revealed that this film takes place in 2029 and tigers may very well be gone by then.
Prior to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century FOX in 2018, it was believed that this film was going to be the final roles of both Wolverine (Logan) and Professor Charles Xavier by their respective actors in the X-Men franchise.
James Mangold and Hugh Jackman began thinking about a follow-up immediately after completing 2013's The Wolverine, and they knew it would most likely "bring the curtain down on his character." They both agreed that superhero films in general had grown repetitious and wanted to do "something different, something deeper."
The first thought on the road to crafting the story here was "what is Wolverine frightened of? What is Logan afraid of?" They wanted his final story to be the thing that scares him the most, and after scouring the comics he realized there was no villain or end-of-the-world scenario that would unsettle Wolverine. "The answer that came to me was love. Love scares him, intimacy scares him, being dependent on others scares him, being vulnerable scares him."
Early drafts had Logan and Xavier living in an old Kentucky bourbon mill before being moved to the U.S./Mexico border.
They were aiming for a "more natural vibe" with the film, and he mentions influences like The Wrestler, Paper Moon, and "a lot of '70s films."
James Mangold described his initial sixty page treatment as "Little Miss Sunshine meets The Gauntlet."
They struggled after deciding Xavier would be kept in an old water tank because it felt impractical that Logan would go up and down a 200-foot ladder every time. They were playing around with a model "and then suddenly we just tipped over the model of the tank on its side with its legs sticking out like some kind of dead spider."
James Mangold was very fond of Stephen Merchant's performance saying the actor makes it clear that Caliban has real affection for Logan and Xavier. More than that though, he likes the varied rhythm that comes with blending performers like Merchant into the mix.
There was a risk that Laura would come off as "ridiculous" onscreen. "Would anyone believe the power and intensity and ferocity of this little kid and her foot claws." James Mangold credits her performance for overcoming all of those concerns and delivering something truly special and remarkable here.
The film was shot primarily in and around New Orleans with a month of exterior work filmed in New Mexico. They had lost Stewart to a stage production by that time though meaning they had to intercut footage shot previously into the big scenes where the crew escape from Pierce. He details one thirty second sequence as follows. "This is shot in New Mexico. New Mexico. Louisiana, two months earlier. New Mexico. Louisiana. New Mexico. Louisiana."
James Mangold knew that the internet being what it is audiences would know by the time they saw the film that Laura is essentially "a mini Wolverine, so you build the film with this anticipation."
There's obviously stunt performers and doubles involved in Dafne Keen 's scenes, "but you'd be amazed how much of this stuff Dafne's doing, even wire work was one of her favorite things." James Mangold says most adults are tired of wire work almost immediately, but Keen was always wanting to do more.
James Mangold pimps the black & white version (included on a second Blu-ray) saying "the idea of releasing a monochromatic version of this movie really was the very organic result of early stills that I was taking in production, some of which I was releasing on Twitter, and I was making them black & white, and I think it startled all of us because I think it's conventional wisdom that audiences don't like black & white, it seems old-fashioned. People responded so intensely to those stills that it occurred to us to try and make a black & white version of the film." He credits cinematographer John Mathieson with shooting a film that works beautifully in color or b&w.
The secret videos shot by the nurse were meant to appear as if she could actually have shot them surreptitiously, but James Mangold acknowledges they grow more elaborate as they go on. "My hope being that you're being drawn into the story that Gabriela is telling and less and less aware that the film-making and the cutting of her video might be a little beyond the level of your average nurse. Not that nurses can't make great films."
One of the motifs of the movie is hands holding hands. The shot of Laura looking at the casino mannequins first sets up the symbol of interlocked hands between a parent and a child as something she's longing for.
The idea that X-Men comics exist in this film's universe came to he and co-writer Scott Frank late in the writing of the script. He acknowledges it's similar to Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) (an inspiration here) which features a character chronicling the adventures of various gunfighters. The idea of Logan's uneasiness with the burden of fame and public awareness fascinated him.
The scene featuring horses loose on the freeway was accomplished with riders "in blue leotards" on each of the horses who controlled the animals to their mark under Xavier's psychic control.
Much of the dinner scene between Logan, Xavier, Laura, and the farming family was improvised by the actors.
James Mangold was thrilled to cast James Handy as the country doctor, both because he's a great actor and because "he's in a favorite film of mine, Sidney Lumet's The Verdict."
Some crew members were shocked to hear Dafne Keen speak during the scene where she first does so onscreen.
The very first trailer resulted in fans sending James Mangold images from the game The Last of Us (2013), and while he wishes he could credit it as even a minor inspiration he had never seen or played it before making his movie. He's since played it and agrees that "it's a great game." And now he's getting requests from fans to adapt it for the screen. "Well no, I think I kind of did, you guys made that clear to me."
co-writer Scott Frank wrote Logan's final line of dialogue, "So this is what it feels like." James Mangold believes he's referring to more than just the feeling of death. "I also think he means love."
The idea of Laura turning the grave marker from a cross into an X was inspired in part by James Mangold's father, a painter who is known for a series of paintings called the Plus series and the X series, "so I have a very ingrained sense of the relationship of the cross and the X." There's also a comic book cover from the '80s showing Logan stuck to an X atop a mountain of skulls.
Ian McKellen expressed an interest in returning as Magneto.
Cliff Martinez was originally hired to do the score but for unknown reasons, dropped out and was replaced by Marco Beltrami, who has previously worked with Mangold before on The Wolverine.
Pierce's full name in the comics is Donald Pierce. He is named for actor Donald Sutherland, who played Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970).
One of the reasons the film is called Logan is because it's about the man, not the "hero" who Logan's tired of being.
Spoilers
Sir Patrick Stewart lost twenty-one pounds to play Charles Xavier as elderly and sick. Stewart claimed that he had a steady weight since he was a teenager, and had never deliberately lost weight before. Hugh Jackman genuinely held Stewart in all of the scenes of Wolverine carrying Professor Xavier.
This is the last movie in which Hugh Jackman will play Wolverine. He has cited his age and his skin cancer as factors in him retiring from the role. He also said that having a discussion with Jerry Seinfeld played a part in retiring the character, as Jerry talked generally about how he wanted to make sure he never got to a point with Seinfeld (1989) where audiences were weary of seeing it anymore, saying, "Oh, it's you again." Jackman felt fortunate to have avoided this for Wolverine, and wanted to ensure it never happened.
While auditioning for the part of Laura, Dafne Keen asked director James Mangold if she could improvise her lines. After Hugh Jackman started his dialogue, Keen interrupted him by yelling at him in perfect Spanish, something that was later included in the finished movie. Her dedication for that scene during the audition was praised by Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart.
The explanation of why there are no mutants in the last twenty-five years in America is that high-fructose corn syrup, derived from genetically modified corn crops, was altered and spread by Dr. Rice to specifically cause sterility and suppress the mutant gene. Two scenes in this movie allude to this: The first was when Willy Munson tells Logan about the corn while fixing the leaked pipes in the fields; the other one is when Dr Rice mentions corn cereals to Logan at the climax.
(at around 1h 35 mins) When Laura shouts at Logan In Spanish, the lines are not translated. Her words, roughly transcribed and translated: ¿Tú pretendes que hable contigo si siempre me insultas, si me gritas, si me intentas dejar tirada? Tú pretendes que abra la boca... "Why do you want me to talk to you if you're always insulting me, yelling at me, if you try to leave me behind? You want me to open my mouth ..."
One of the children in Eden is Rictor from the comics, who had the ability to release seismic energy through his fingertips. In this iteration, Rictor was created using the DNA of Dominik Petrakis, known as Avalanche in the comics.
In the story "Old Man Logan", Mysterio tricked Logan into killing the X-Men. In the movie, Charles killed the X-Men by one of his seizures.
In the final scene, you can see the mutant Bobby carrying an original Wolverine action figure, which was featured in a deleted scene.
In The Wolverine (2013) (also directed by James Mangold), Logan's travel companion Yukio predicted that Logan would die with his chest ripped open, and his heart in his hand. Although this ultimately didn't happen in The Wolverine (2013), many fans point to the fact that she may have been predicting his death in this movie: Wolverine lying down with his chest ripped open, holding the hand of his daughter (his flesh and blood, and therefore his symbolic "heart"). Mangold later confirmed the notion via Twitter.
This movie is based on the X-men storylines "Old Man Logan" (an aging Logan sets out for one last adventure), "Mutant Massacre" (mutants being slaughtered), "X-23" (Wolverine encounters a female infant clone of himself pursued by her creators), and "The Death of Wolverine" (a dying Wolverine has a last adventure).
There was a flashback originally filmed that explains what originally triggered Charles' dementia, and thus causes the catastrophe at his Westchester school. The flashback was to have been shown during the seizure attack at Harrah's in Oklahoma. While James Mangold said that this was cut because having less information would allow the audience to focus more on character, co-writer Michael Green said that, having seen both versions, the omission of the flashback hits home harder than having the flashback included.
(at around 14 mins) When Charles tells Logan that they will come for him at the Statue of Liberty, Logan mistakes it for the end battle in X-Men (2000), but the hotel where Logan meets Laura for the first time is called the Liberty.
Sir Patrick Stewart told interviewers before the premiere that this would "probably" be his last performance as Charles Xavier, and cryptically noted that regardless of what happened to him in this movie, nothing was impossible in science fiction. After sitting through the completed movie with an audience, he determined there would never be a better final impression, and he is retired from the role for good. However, he later expressed interest in reprising the role for the X-Men drama Legion (2017) and did reprise the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Hugh Jackman originally didn't want Logan's death in the movie. He envisioned an ending similar to Unforgiven (1992), the story of an assassin who just can't leave behind his violent lifestyle. That movie concluded with the assassin killing numerous more people, but surviving, forcing him to live on with this dark side of himself. However, director James Mangold was always committed to kill off Wolverine at the end. He convinced Jackman that Wolverine, who is plagued with immortality and a violent past, had finally deserved his peace in death. Mangold wanted Logan dying next to X-23, the younger version of himself, as it was something "interesting on numerous psychological levels."
X-24 is based on Albert (a robotic version of Wolverine created by Donald Pierce) and carries characteristics of Logan's rival Victor Creed (dark clothes, a buzz-cut hairdo, animalistic behavior).
Hugh Jackman opened up about everything that unfolded the day he, Mangold and Dafne Keen recorded Wolverine's death scene. The actor shared details of the emotional scene with Anne Hathaway during an interview for Variety's Actors on Actors issue. Jackman revealed that the scene was shot on the day a stunt sequence was planned. "I remember when we shot that scene, we were shooting very high altitude, and there were thunderstorms going off everywhere, and we had to shut down. He just said, 'We can't do this big stunt scene. But we're just going to do the death scene.' I'm like, 'Like, now?' He goes, 'I'm just going to have you and Dafne, and if you could just do that.' I'm like, 'All right.' He knew that's best for me," Jackman revealed. While it was a sudden change of events, Mangold made sure Jackman was given enough time to bid farewell to the character. "We got there and we're shooting the scene. Dafne was 11. She was fantastic. We shot Dafne, and she turned around in two takes and he goes, 'Let's just kick out. Let's do another.' I said, 'You sure? I feel like' and he goes, 'Man, let's just stop the clocks. Let's not worry about everything. This is the end of 19 years. Sit it in for half an hour'", Jackman recalled. "Him allowing me not just as an actor, but as Hugh to remember that moment. It was a luxury that I'll never forget," Jackman added.
(at around 1h 4 mins) It is not said which X-Men got killed by Professor X, but the number seven is mentioned on the radio station. No original X-Men appear.
Cliff Martinez was originally the composer, but withdrew after six months of work at the end of 2016. His replacement, Marco Beltrami had only about six weeks to produce his replacement score.
In X2: X-Men United (2003), Stryker's final words to Logan were "One day, someone will finish what we started. One day!" This came to be true, as what started as the investigation from Weapon X program started Transigen.
Logan's funeral scene wherein Laura lowers the cross into an "x" is nearly identical to an early scene in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) where Clint Eastwood's character lowers his family's grave marker from a cross to an "x," signifying the beginning of his quest for revenge.
This is the second time Professor X has died in an X-Men movie, after X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Dafne Keen is rumored to return in an X-Men/Laura spin-off.
Logan's final line before he dies - "so this is what it feels like" - not only refers to death, but also fatherhood.
There are six deleted scenes from the movie: 1. Logan gets a ticket 2. Alternate dinner scene 3. Mutant puppet master 4. Bobby's action figures 5. Caliban's death (extended scene from what is in the main movie) 6. Transigen interrogates worker.
(at around 1h 50 mins) Logan waking up and finding himself in the children's hideout in North Dakota, and the children cutting his beard is an homage to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), which Max, a hero in a post-apocalyptic land, is rescued by a tribe of children, and they cut his hair short.
Though far from a traditional X-Men movie, there is still plenty of imagery using the letter X. When Wolverine is injured in a battle, the blood on his forehead takes on an X shape. Likewise, at the end, when the cross on his grave is laid on its side, it resembles the letter X.
Wolverine fights another character played by Hugh Jackman in the climax; this calls back to X-Men (2000), where Wolverine fights the shape-shifting Mystique in Wolverine's form.
The first words spoken by Laura (Dafne Keen) occur at around the 1:37:00 mark of the film.
This is the second Marvel superhero live-action movie where the title character dies. The first being The Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990).
The main title song is played three times. Once in the beginning when we're seeing the old Logan. The second time is when Logan meets Gabriela at the motel, and a third time after Xavier dies.
The adamantium round Logan carries with him is a .44 Magnum. The bullet itself is called an "Xtreme Penetrator" and is shaped like an X. At Charles' burial, Logan has blood on the right side of his forehead in the shape of an X. At the end, when Laura shoots X-24 with the adamantium bullet, it strikes him in the left side of his head.
One of the Laura's X-Men comic books (specifically created for the film) have the X-Men attending a burial. The film gives you two burials (Charles and Logan himself) in addition to the funeral service seen at the beginning. An example that doesn't even happen in the movie. A short film, Deadpool: No Good Deed (which aired right before Logan during the film's theatrical run) ends with a heavily modified rendition of The Old Man and the Sea. In the film proper, Logan wants to buy a boat so he can take Charles offshore and prevent him from hurting anyone again with his powers.
Bears many similarities with The Last of Us (2013); set in the relatively near-future, an aging albeit grizzled and nigh-unkillable man is entrusted to transport a young girl someplace across the country on what turns out to be a gravely dangerous journey, and along the way he loses a close friend and bonds with the girl in a father-daughter type relationship.
Despite, Sir Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman, insisting their respective roles were retiring with the conclusion of this film, both will be returning to their roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) starting with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) followed by Deadpool 3 (2024).
