It's not often that an actor gets to say goodbye to a character on his own terms, especially
when it comes to big-budget superhero action-fests.
More often than not, an actor's movie flops, or he decides not to come back for the sequel,
or merciless producers kill characters off to make room for more exciting heroes.
But in the case of Wolverine, Hugh Jackman got the chance to go out with a bang in 2017's
Logan.
And while the ending was pretty straightforward in a lot of ways, there are definitely some
lingering questions both within the story and in the real world that are worth discussing.
Pop your claws, light a cigar, and watch out for spoilers while we test out some theories
to try to explain the ending of Logan.
What was across the border?
Throughout the film, Logan embarked on a quest to deliver Laura to Eden, someplace in North
Dakota that would provide sanctuary for her and every other mutant kid who escaped the
Transigen program run by Doctor Rice.
Logan's skeptical because he thinks it came out of a comic book, only to discover that
Eden was real, and that the kids were going to trek a few miles through the woods to make
it over the Canadian border to safety.
Only, we never quite find out just what was across that border.
Obviously something was waiting for them up there, and it was powerful and important enough
that Rice, Pierce, and the Reavers had to nab the kids before they crossed the border.
If you're a longtime X-Men fan, you may already know what...or who...we're obliquely referring
to.
Canada, powerful, mutants...
Alpha Flight
That's right, it's Canada's premiere super-team of mutants.
Alpha Flight was sort of a combination of the X-Men and the Avengers, but covered in
maple syrup and always carrying hockey sticks.
In short, there's plenty of reason to believe that some cinematic adaptation of Alpha Flight
was waiting to receive and rescue the kids across the northern border.
And because Alpha Flight has usually been depicted as working as a part the Canadian
government, it makes sense that they wouldn't legally be allowed to cross into American
territory to rescue the X-23 kids directly.
But once they're in Canadian jurisdiction, they'd be able to blast any Reaver stupid
enough to follow.
And there's plenty of real-world evidence that Alpha Flight was waiting under the shade
of some pine trees for the kids.
For starters, 20th Century Fox has still only barely scratched the surface in terms of the
characters it can use to build its comic book cinematic universe.
Fox has the movie rights to pretty much every character associated with the X-Men.
That clearly includes Alpha Flight, which debuted as a partial explanation of Wolverine's
then-mysterious backstory in X-Men #120, back in 1979.
To this point, the movie franchise has made only very oblique references to Alpha Flight,
most notably in an on-screen easter egg in X2: X-Men United.
But in February 2017, X-Men producer Simon Kinberg told Comicbook.com that there are
potential plans to develop an "X-Flight" movie.
That's likely either a slip of the tongue, and that he meant to say "Alpha Flight," or
the franchise is being changed to brand it closer to the rest of the films in the franchise.
But either way, don't be surprised to hear that the follow-up to Logan is the start of
an Alpha Flight-related franchise.
Unless...
Generation X?
We don't know anything about the woman on the other end of the radio during Rictor's
chat with whoever was in Canada, waiting for the kids.
Maybe it was one of the members of Alpha Flight — or maybe it was another famous X-Men character
who's long been associated with Wolverine: Jubilee.
In the '90s, the Generation X series was a more modern take on the New Mutants team that
had morphed into X-Force by that point.
Jubilee, who at times has been kind of an unofficial sidekick for Wolverine in the comics,
was a main component of the team, as was the White Queen, Emma Frost.
Both characters have been established in the X-Men films in different ways, and the franchise's
murky timelines make it entirely possible that the woman on the radio could've been
either one.
While this isn't quite as fun as the Alpha Flight theory, it's just as possible that
the end of Logan could be setting up a possible Generation X film, with a whole batch of young
mutants to learn under the instruction of these veteran characters.
The eulogy
After Laura buries Logan in the woods of North Dakota, she delivers a eulogy that, while
meaningful, might have left some viewers confused.
Don't feel bad — it was easy to get distracted by the delightful mayhem throughout the movie,
so you may have missed this.
Laura was quoting the closing monologue from Shane, which she watched in the hotel room
with Xavier.
"There's no living with... with a killing.
There's no going back from one.
Right or wrong, it's a brand.
A brand sticks."
And it wasn't just a random reference, of course: Shane was a western about a gunslinger
putting his spurs on again for one final fight.
Sound familiar?
"Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her... tell her everything's all right.
And there aren't any more guns in the valley."
X Marks the spot
After all the kids have left, Laura picks up the little wooden cross that marked Logan's
grave and tilts it on its side, making an X.
That's a pretty obvious nod to, well, the X-Men.
But it's also a pretty beautiful, quiet statement about the kind of guy Wolverine was throughout
all these movies.
The cross at a gravesite is meant to reflect a person's faith in God, in something higher
than them.
Obviously Logan wasn't much of a Christian...
...but he was an X-Man, and he spent his life fighting for the betterment of mutantkind
and the ideals of Charles Xavier.
The fact that he devoted the final years of his life to taking care of Xavier shows that,
despite his insistence that he didn't care about much, he believed in Xavier and his
dream of peace and prosperity more than he might have admitted.
Resurrection?
Now, you can't keep a good hero down.
Hugh Jackman has clearly said goodbye to the role that made him famous with Logan, so chances
are pretty slim that he'll put the claws on again.
But this is Wolverine.
He's on par with Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man in terms of recognizability and popularity.
He's an incredibly valuable brand to Fox, and you'd be crazy if you thought a little
thing like Hugh Jackman's retirement might stop them from putting Wolverine in more movies.
This is definitely not the last time we'll see Wolverine on film — and frankly, don't
even believe that Jackman's as done as he says he is.
They always come back, man.
If an old dude like Spock can come back to life, Wolverine — a super mutant with a
super healing factor—certainly can.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out this other cool stuff we know you'll love too.