Warning: Spoilers are in play for Logan, bub. Bookmark this story, and come back after you've taken the journey.
For a film that serves as the victory lap of an already successful superhero franchise, Logan was probably expected to have a lot more moments of fan service than it ultimately did. While there were certainly references, moments, and pieces of dialogue that all tickle the fancies of Wolverine fans, there's one plot thread that folks were expecting to come up, but never did. That thread was Logan's love for fellow mutant Jean Grey, and believe it or not, she was really close to having been mentioned in the film's final cut.
During a guest stint on Empire Online's in-house podcast, director James Mangold discussed several facts about Logan that weren't readily available to the public. One such fact is how Jean Grey was almost introduced into the film's continuity, and in a very specific way. Mangold's original thoughts, and why they were ultimately scrubbed from the film, were explained thusly:
I sketched out different conversations for that dinner scene and one of them went to a much darker place. Mrs. Munson asks Logan if he's married, and Charles says he was -- but he killed her. Of course, he wasn't really married, but what that then spawns is Charles waxing poetic about Jean Grey, and it's a really cool moment. Both Hugh and Patrick were amazing. The problem was, it created an incredibly powerful lead brick in the middle of the only moment in the movie where there was a breather. Even I, with my taste for the dark, felt that it was one too many. Things go pretty shitty within seconds after that. I think [the deleted scene] will make it to the Blu-ray.
On one hand, the prospect of one last reference to Jean Grey finding its way into Logan would have been fitting, as the character was integral to Wolverine's psyche in The Wolverine, as well as the entire original trilogy of X-Men films. So having a final moment of her memory in the final journey of Logan's life would have been extremely fitting, especially during what will eventually become a legendary dinner scene during the film. And yet, the fact that this scene in which our protagonists break bread with a family that won't be around by the end of the night proved that such a scene would have probably looked tone deaf if it threw on the pity factor linked to Jean Grey.
Yet the death of the Munsons, and frankly the tone of the rest of Logan from that point on, would have in fact been more dour than needed. What works about the dinner scene is that it's a perfect slice of life. It's the one best moment in the lives of all involved before the situation inevitably descends into all hell breaking loose. To have a moment of mourning Jean Grey's death, whether it be through Wolverine's actions in X-Men: The Last Stand, or presumably through Professor Xavier's actions during "The Westchester Incident," just isn't conducive to the feeling of safety in the final conversation all of these characters have.
Fitting or not, the Jean Grey reference in Logan was a nice aspect to leave out. With Logan's closure involving Jean already being sort of granted in The Wolverine, the moment would have felt more forced than sincere. Not to mention, again, the dinner scene would have really suffered if it went that dark that fast. See for yourself, readers, as Logan is currently in theaters now, for your enjoyment.
