Evidently, audiences can’t patiently wait for a movie to come out. Or at least bloggers can’t. Details for the upcoming “Wolverine 3” (unofficial title) have been extremely thin on the ground: no logline or no official word on what the movie is about has emerged, and perhaps that obfuscation has led fans to be even more curious about what’s coming. The biggest clue before filmmaking started suggested that director James Mangold would incorporate the “Old Man Logan” story —a comic storyline about an aged Wolverine in an alternate timeline. That rumor has essentially been confirmed in the myriad set photos of a hirsute Hugh Jackman with gray hair and an unruly beard. Since it’s Hugh Jackman’s supposed last go at Wolverine, 20th Century Fox has evidently agreed to age the character up, and at this point, it might seem odd to do a prequel story with a younger version of the character.
Check out these #Wolverine3 set photos from @JustJared! Exciting! #wolverine pic.twitter.com/4CglFHt1gK
— Nerd Fit (@nerdfitnews) June 10, 2016
If that’s the route Fox and Mangold are going, the Old Man Logan storyline raises plenty of questions. For one, the filmmakers are likely going to have to take the story in a new direction given that off-limits Marvel characters like The Hulk, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Mysterio, Red Skull, Venom, etc. are central parts of the comic book’s narrative. Much like Marvel, which uses the comic books as jumping off points for “original” stories, it appears Fox and Mangold will follow suit.
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As for the rumored titles: there have been many, and a new alleged title pops up every few days. There has been “Wolverine: Weapon X,” simply “Weapon X,’ and now “The Death of Logan.” Is Fox prepared to take the character out with a bang ? We’ll see, but the R-rating certainly suggests that’s the case. But one thing that’s really odd is that Wolverine takes forever to age because of his healing abilities. The movies have already shown that Wolverine has essentially looked the same for nearly 100 years. So if this movie is set in the future, with Logan finally appearing old, wouldn’t Professor X (Patrick Stewart) be long dead? Yet the “X-Men” movies have always have had timeline issues and they’re only getting worse with the ongoing reboot that needs to somehow catch up to “Deadpool” eventually (which is three decades away).
The last piece of speculation: X-23, a female Wolverine clone who has been rumored to be the next version of the character, could be played by the young girl in these photos (actress apparently unknown). Whatever it’s called, the third Wolverine movie opens on March 3, 2017.