The X-Men franchise has had a rocky journey since its birth in 2000, one that has rocked up to the heights of Deadpool and X-Men First Class, and descended to lows of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Whilst it has picked up since the prequel/reboot trilogy that began with ‘X-Men: First Class’, fans feel that characters have not been well and consistently adapted across the board, and often Fox is restraining what the creative team intend to do. Still, Ryan Reynolds’ persistence in creating a faithful Deadpool movie seems to have paved the way for a higher standard of X-Men film, with Hugh Jackman going on to star in his final Wolverine appearance in Logan, which he claims is the best treatment of the character so far.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show just last night, while promoting the new film, Hugh Jackman asked Patrick Stewart a question that has not yet come to light (with so much focus on his departure from the X-Men franchise). Not long into the episode, Hugh turned to Patrick and said “It’s not your last outing is it?”. Patrick began by explaining how Hugh had very much gone into this project knowing it was his final outing as Wolverine, but Patrick himself saw is as “another great opportunity to be in this franchise.”
Patrick continued to explain that he and Hugh were in Berlin on Friday night, at a film festival where the movie screened, adding that the last five or six minutes of the movie are “a very emotional ending”. He described seeing Hugh wipe away a tear, realising he felt the need to do the same, then saying “this is what I felt”, touching Hugh’s hand. To both the audience and Hugh’s surprise, he went on to say this:
“I swear, this is what happened, Hugh held my hand. And of course I was done, I was finished then, just weeping. We had to wait for the credits to roll before we could go up on stage and be introduced. And while the credits were rolling, cause they are long in these movies, I realised, if this is the end, there is no more perfect and beautiful way to say au revoir, goodbye, adios than what’s just happened, so I think it’s the end for me too.”
Hugh himself seemed shocked to hear Patrick say that, suggesting this was Patrick’s first time announcing that in public. It did sound as if he’d come to the conclusion very recently. We’ll have to wait and see what the movie offers in terms of a send off for the both of them, and whilst Patrick did seem fairly certain in what he said, the phrase ‘I think’ does create the perfect amount of uncertainty to give anyone hope that he may change his mind.
Logan hits theaters March 1st.