It goes without saying, spoilers if you haven't seen Logan yet.
Hugh Jackman's final run at the Wolverine in Logan has been highly regarded and deemed a fitting end to a superhero regime that has lasted 17 years and nine films for the actor. The ending, however, wasn't always Jackman's first choice as he told Yahoo in a recent interview.
In the ending of Logan, Jackman is seen out in the woods where his dwindling healing capacity finally sees him succumb to his wounds. As powerful as it was, along with his daddy-daughter speech to Laura (X-23), Jackman did not always want Logan to die. In fact, he noted that he was inspired by western film Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood (which was indeed awesome by the way).
“It’s more powerful that Munny doesn’t die at the end. You assume he’s going to die, but by taking that final action and shooting everyone down, he embraces all the darkness he’s tried to put outside him. Now he’s got to live with it, and it’s almost more devastating.James was always certain of that ending, and he was right. Unlike a human character [like William Munny], what’s most poignant for someone who is thought to be indestructible is him dying while saying, ‘This is what it feels like.
This ending would have made a lot of sense. After all, Wolverine has always been one who has struggled with his emotions as a killer but never really embraced them, simply rearranging them in his head as part of the greater good. An ending like Unforgiven would have seen him with the proverbial "This is who I am, get over it" mantra. One issue is the plot line of the adamantium poisoning would have needed to be altered a bit in order for this to be depicted successfully.
Either way, Logan is one of the great 'superhero' movies as it depicts the actual raw, human emotion that is generally lacking from the genre. If you haven't seen it yet, we highly recommend it and it is in theaters now.
