‘Logan’ director James Mangold has released another promotional nugget through his Twitter account. This most recent tweet consists of a picture of actor Stephen Merchant in full makeup, and while nothing in the tweet officially confirms Merchant’s character (indeed, the only information that accompanies the photo is the specifications of the camera used to take it), his appearance lends more than a little credence to one of the more interesting casting rumors that has taken hold in recent weeks.
Specifically, rumors have been circulating that Stephen Merchant has been cast as Caliban in the upcoming film. Failing an official confirmation, however, these reports have been met with a fair degree of skepticism in the wake of the character’s appearance in this summer’s ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’, in which he was played by Tomas Lemarquis. Assuming that Merchant is in fact playing Caliban, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time the X-Men films saw multiple actors share a single role (James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, for example), though it is worth noting that while there is a fifty-ish year year gap between ‘Logan’ and ‘Apocalypse’, Merchant is a mere three years older than Lemarquis. Granted, we are talking about a movie that stars a seemingly ageless mutant, but if Caliban is meant to have aged that well, why recast the role at all? Regardless of any rumors or speculation, if Merchant is in fact playing Caliban, he certainly looks the part.
Due for release on March 3, 2017, ‘Logan’ sees both the return of James Mangold, who previously directed ‘The Wolverine’, and the departure of Hugh Jackman from the franchise. In addition to Jackman, the film’s cast includes Boyd Holbrook, Patrick Stewart, Elise Neal, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Richard E. Grant.
Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on ‘Logan’ as it becomes available!
