WonderCon: Behind The Creative Process Of Logan Panel Recap

Logan was no doubt one of the best superhero movies to ever come out. The box office and reception help prove that. WonderCon decided to carry on the momentum Logan has by hosting a behind-the-scenes panel on the creative process for the film.

Clint Reagan and Francois Audouy being the panel by showing of some concept art from Logan. They then talk about how initially Logan was thought up as a sci-fi superhero story but early in development it was morphed into the ground story we saw in the film.

They then moved the conversation to the vehicles for the movie. Some concept art was shown of Logan’s limo. They spoke about how they wanted the car to be a reflection of who Logan is when we find him at the beginning of the film. They then mention how the Lincoln Continental was used as an inspiration.

Continuing with the vehicle talk they go over the Reavers vehicle shown as a futuristic hummer vehicle.  We then saw some concept art of a Reaver named Bonebreaker, whose lower half is shown to be a tank while his upper body is human with a rifle. This idea for a Reaver was scrapped early on.

Moving onto Logan’s hideout we saw some concept art for the hideout in El Paso. Concept art shows Logan at a gas station with a dog, reminiscent of Fallout 4. The location evolved to smelting plant but the crew learned it was not a safe place to film a movie.

Charles tank was originally supposed to be an oil tank but when they found a beehive burner they decided to go with that as Charles room at the hideout. Water tank was then found and used also for Charles’ room.

A smelting plant in Deming, New Mexico was used as an inspiration for Logan’s final hideout. They did not shoot there because of how dangerous shooting a film is there. Still used it as reference for designed the hideout from scratch in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The next thing that is talked about is the set-up for the Laura vs the Reavers scene at Logan’s hideout. While planning the sequences James Mangold used a Fox parking lot by James Mangold to layout how the fight would go

An Oculus Rift was used to help the designers see the 3D model of the limo that was created. Three different versions of the limo were created before final choice was made.

They then showed concept of the fight at Logan’s hideout that used a gaming engine to see how different scenarios would work. First concept footage of the fight shows the Reavers killing a local outside Logan’s hideout. Bonebreaker tank shown as part of the Reavers. Ends on the same note with the train seen in the Logan film.

Mangold thought it was too easy of an escape for Logan, Charles and Laura to escape during a chase with no fight. They went back to redevelop escape scene with 50 different ideas.

Ideas for the Logan hideout escape included: Federales, Add a trench, Missiles the bridge, Laua leaps onto train, Crashing concrete pites, Limo roof fight, Laura snatched, Truck blockade.

It is mentioned that the limo was not seen as normal limo as it is not a maneuverable vehicle that slowed Logan down to make things difficult.

After Mangold saw the test game engine footage he felt it did not look realistic as it was still “to Hollywood.” They then came up with the fence stopping Logan’s escape after Mangold yelled out the idea. They decided to go with the fence scene shown in the finished Logan movie with more concept art shown of the scene in that way. Myth Busters inspiration mentioned.

Showed concept of a playground was original set location. Francois designed around it for final warehouse location and built what we saw in finished product.

Location deals had to be made with 65 different people that owned various square feet of the land of the location of where Logan hideout was located.

Q&A Highlights

  • They talk about how James Mangold wanted to make Logan even if it wasn’t a superhero movie as it was more about it being a Western and other things that inspired him.
  • How to continue moving forward with X-Men after Logan? They are guns for hire and aren’t involved in master plan but Logan is a good sign of where X-Men may go thanks to audience response.

Panel ends with it being mentioned that Laura being born in New Mexico was inspired by team going through the research process and location of where movie took place.