If you've been paying to the Wolverine 3...sorry, Logan, news over the last year, then you've likely heard how the movie is adapting the Old Man Logan comic book storyline. Obviously 20th Century Fox can't to a completely faithful adaptation given character restrictions, but they've definitely nailed down one part fantastically: Wolverine's older appearance. That's right, we finally have our first official look at an older Wolverine, and it is intense.
Following reports about how Wolverine will be worse when Logan kicks off, director James Mangold has posted a photo on Twitter of Hugh Jackman looking older as Wolverine than he ever has in the previous movies. He's back to rocking a beard, but this time around, he looks rugged and worn down. He even has a scar running down the side of his face. In previous movies, that would have been unthinkable given that his healing factor allows him to quickly recover from bodily harm, but since that ability will be on the fritz in Logan, it appears that not all of his injuries quickly disappear anymore.
Hugh Jackman has been playing Wolverine since 1999, when the first X-Men movie was shooting for its 2000 release. Up until now, he's done a remarkable job of keeping in shape and retaining a youthful appearance for every X-Men-related movie that's come after. For Logan, though, Wolverine's age is finally starting to catch up with him, which means that Jackman looks more like Old Man Logan than the Wolverine we're used to seeing in the comics. As mentioned earlier, his healing powers are failing. Whether that's due to an external force or old age hasn't been revealed, but either way, at times he doesn't heal at all. This has forced him to turn to booze to dull his consistent pain. Since Logan reportedly takes place in 2024 (or somewhere around that time), that means Wolverine is nearly 200 years old by now. Even though he's aged a fair amount since X-Men: Days of Future Past, he still looks good for a man who's been walking the Earth for almost two centuries.
Wolverine's older look is just one of the shocking things in store for Logan next year. At some point, the eponymous protagonist will reunite with his old mentor/friend, Professor Charles Xavier. Sadly, in his old age (he's nearly 100), the former X-Men leader has grown unstable. However, it's not just Wolverine and Professor X who have problems to deal with in the movie. Apparently the mutant birth rate has fallen at this point in the future, meaning that their population has decreased tremendously. If that wasn't bad enough, young mutants are also be taken by an organization called Transigen to be turned into living weapons. Inevitably Wolverine will have to jump into action to stop these new villains, but his faltering abilities will make the task significantly more difficult.
Logan slashes its way into theaters on March 3, 2017.
