Superhero movies are everywhere right now. Between the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Extended Universe, and X-Men franchise, there will be a new comic book movie coming out every few months for the foreseeable future. But many critics are worried about "hero fatigue", where the genre will become so predictable and stale that they'll all blend together. Then there are movies like Deadpool and Logan; R-Rated romps that change the game of what hero movies can do. The latter is one of the biggest hits of the year, and with various figures from the X-Men franchise praising the stylistic choices. Case in point: James McAvoy.
James McAvoy has played Professor X in the past three X-Men movies, taking the role from Patrick Stewart. He recently revealed what he thought about Logan, while appearing at South by Southwest (via ET). He said,
It was really awesome. And I thought it was beautifully done. And just really great to see these stories that we're seeing told a lot, actually, just taken somewhere incredibly different.
High praise from Professor X himself. Despite giving his role back to Patrick Stewart's capable hands, it appears that James McAvoy was thoroughly impressed with the unique way Logan told its story.
Logan is really unlike everything we've previously seen from comic book movies. Rather than a giant ensemble project, Logan basically focused on just three characters: Logan, Charles, and X-23. Because of this, each character gets the proper attention and growth throughout the film's runtime. Most comic book movies (especially X-Men films) tend to try and fit a giant cast of characters, and therefore none of them are really fleshed out. But not Logan.
Additionally, Logan also flipped the script in regards to the X-Men franchise's canon. Set in an alternate future, Logan essentially ignored most of the events of the past 6 movies. This allowed the audience to truly focus on the film's contents, rather than wondering if and how things have changed since X-Men: Days of Future Past changed the timeline.
It should be interesting to see how the X-Men franchise changes in the wake of Logan's critical reception. The series as a whole is rather up in the air, with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michel Fassbender all having completed their contracts with X-Men: Apocalypse. While it seems that the Dark Phoenix saga may be the focus of the next film, how closely the canon will be followed is a mystery. After all, the next movie should be set in the 90's, meaning that the characters should start to look like the actors in the original X-Men movie. Like I said, there are a ton of balls in the air.
Logan is still currently available in theaters, and X-Men: Apocalypse can be viewed from home and HBO.
