‘Logan’ did a lot of things right to make it not just a fantastic superhero movie but a great film in general. Playing the role for almost two decades and never complaining in public about being Wolverine makes ‘Logan’ a movie I’m thankful that Hugh Jackman was able to exit the X-Men franchise on a high note. It’s the type of ending that Hugh Jackman deserves for all that he has done as Wolverine.
There is no doubting that ‘Logan’ is a fantastic film. Not only does it have a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A- CinemaScore it also, unsurprisingly, topped the box office with $85.3 million domestically and $152.5 million internationally, totaling $237.8 million for the weekend. That all speaks volumes to the passion everyone involved in ‘Logan’ showed in creating such a well-received film, which just happens to be Rated-R. That passion makes ‘Logan’ the perfect send-off for is the final time Hugh Jackman in the Wolverine role he made iconic to a mainstream audience.
For many actors and actresses being part of a superhero movie franchise, especially being the main character, can be what launches an entire career. Being a leading person who everyone in the world sees as a superhero is an incredible burden to bear. That burden is made easier with how much actors and actresses are paid to play the roles but sometimes not enough to quit hearing how many they dislike hearing about or training for those roles.
We have even seen first-hand recently with all the Batman news about how quickly that burden of being a big time superhero can prove to be a negative. While things have settled down recently it was incredible to see how things quickly got out of control for Ben Affleck, Warner Bros. and DC Comics. It got to the point that they lost control of their own PR narrative because of a simple rumor that Ben Affleck wants to already stop being Batman.
Whether that rumor is true or not is an instance that makes the fact that we never heard something like this from Hugh Jackman incredible. Whatever your opinions on Hugh’s portrayal of Wolverine is there’s no denying that he had a passion for the role. So much so that since X-Men first came out in 2000 we never went more than 3 years without seeing Hugh as Wolverine. While it is easy to see that as a cash-in for Fox, it actually speaks to Hugh’s dedication to continue playing the character even after many actors leave or be replaced in iconic roles, such as Spider-Man and Batman, during that same timeframe.
Making this an even bigger feat is the fact that Hugh is someone with a deep pool of roles he has played during the 17 years since first becoming Wolverine. Along with playing Wolverine he has also been in almost 50 films and 10 theater productions, on top of countless TV appearances. With all these roles Hugh has had to morph himself into different appearances all the while making sure to get back into his ripped Wolverine appearance that got even more defined with each appearance. Given the fantastic shape that Hugh had to be that is an enormous dedication to get himself into Wolverine shape after all the other roles he plays in between.
All of this work highlights how Hugh Jackman is the person that sets the example of how everyone playing a superhero role should be. He not only understands how important the role is to fans of the characters but also once he signed up for it he represents it to a whole generation of people. Even with that burden Hugh Jackman has never complained and continuously promoted his role as Wolverine, even after some disappointments like X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Through all of that Hugh was finally able to make the Wolverine movie in ‘Logan’ that he clearly wanted to make and that is such a satisfying feeling.
So for Hugh Jackman to go out as Wolverine with such a high caliber film like ‘Logan’ is befitting the man he has represented in these 17 years and the powerful example he has set for everyone that followed him in playing a superhero. For all of that I, as a fan of the X-Men growing up, can’t thank Hugh Jackman enough for all that he has done to be respectful to the role and fans. It was truly a pleasure to see how things began and ended for the big screen version of Wolverine.
