Continuity. For comic fans, it has been both a blessing and a curse since time immemorial. And if there is one way above all others that the ‘X-Men’ films have come to reflect their source material, it’s their convoluted, at times contradictory or impenetrable continuity. And a new wrinkle was added to that continuity this weekend by ‘Logan’ star Hugh Jackman himself, and now director James Mangold has weighed in as well.
To recap, we recently reported on an interview with Digital Spy in which Hugh Jackman made the following comment:
When you see the full movie you’ll understand. Not only is it different in terms of timeline and tone, it’s a slightly different universe. It’s actually a different paradigm and that will become clear.
This, along with other remarks from the interview was taken by many (ourselves included) to mean that ‘Logan’ was set in an alternate universe or parallel timeline of some sort to the core ‘X-Men’ films. While this might not have been entirely shocking to hear (considering that the ‘Old Man Logan’ storyline on which the film is based similarly took a “one possible future” approach to its timeline), fans were nonetheless caught off guard.
But perhaps we were premature in taking Jackman’s statements at face value? In the wake of that interview’s publication, James Mangold took to Twitter to clarify Jackman’s comments and their implications for the film:
Don’t think @RealHughJackman said that exactly. Simple fact. We take place in 2029, 5 yrs past anything depicted in XMEN
That seems pretty straightforward. And Mangold later added to that with the following tweet:
Because we take place after all the other movies, we have freedom. That’s all he meant. Breathe.
So there we have it. Confirmation from the director himself that the film’s setting is what it appeared to be all along: a future (or possible future) of the ‘X-Men’ timeline.
Hugh Jackman will return to the screen for his final appearance as Wolverine in ‘Logan’. Cast members Boyd Holbrook, Patrick Stewart, Elise Neal, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Richard E. Grant will be joining Jackman in the film, which is set for release on March 3, 2017.
