That's enough, these too.
(Noise) - Not okay.
- "Hugh Jackman's" final run at "Wolverine" is one of the highlights of
2017, and maybe even in the conversation for best comic book movie ever?
(Sound) - But the genre mashing tale of redemption
has its roots in 2009's 'Old Man Logan' run by "Mark Millar".
- I'm "Clint Gage".
- And I'm "Laura" (Inaudible).
- And without further ado and no restraint on spoilers, it's time to ask,
'What's the Difference', 'Old Man Logan'?
(Music)
First of all, 'Logan' wasn't really adapted from 'Old Man Logan', per se.
While "Mark Millar" was reportedly brought into consult on the film, narratively,
they have very little in common aside from some broad stroke elements.
But the thematic resemblance is undeniable.
And hey, fans love 'Old Man Logan', so why not lean into it a little?
- First up, the broad stroke narrative elements.
Both 'Old Man Logan' and the film 'Logan' are set in the future.
The future in which the comics are set is a post-apocalyptic wasteland,
more reminiscent of Mad Max than anything else.
It's a world where the bad guys have won.
Supervillains working together en masse, have straight-up
murdered all the superheroes and divided the world amongst themselves.
Yay.
Going by the name of "Logan", the titular old timer has a wife and two kids,
trying to live peacefully as a farmer,
just trying to pay rent in Hulkland near what used to be Sacramento.
- In the movie though, 'Logan' is set in the not too distant future of 2029.
It's nowhere near the hellscape vision of the future in the comics,
but is bleak in its own way.
With corporate greed run amok, and criminals embolden enough to murder in
the streets, the world of the film is clearly one in decline.
"Logan" himself is also clearly in decline.
Scarred, gray-haired,
and limping, he's being poisoned by a constant stream of booze and pills,
as well as the adamantium grafted into his bones leaching into his system.
He spends his days driving a limo and bouncing back and forth
across the border to Mexico, where he's got an aging "Professor X" hidden away.
- The new quesalupa from Taco Bell!
It's the next big thing!
Go now while supplies last!
- Which brings up another broad difference.
Just who exactly is left?
"Charles Xavier" isn't in the comics at all.
In fact, in the books, most every superhero you've heard of is dead, and
in "Antman's" case, still just laying there.
The cast of characters is extensive in 'Old Man Logan'.
Obviously, Marvel can write whoever they want into the pages of their comics,
without needing to pay anyone.
Hence, you get "Hawkeye", who is a blind and grizzled, Kristofferson-esque bad ass.
Hiring "Logan" to drive him cross-country, a trip that sees "Daredevil" and
"Punisher" get eaten by a dinosaur.
And ultimately "Logan" fighting "Red Skull", who is wearing "Captain America's"
uniform, before flying back to Hulkland in "Ironman's" armor.
Yeah, basically everybody shows up.
- And just as obviously, in the film, Fox only has the rights to the X-Men universe.
So it's "Logan" and "Charles" drive across country with a little girl who's
been cloned from "Logan's" DNA by a company called Transgen,
that was specifically made up for the movie.
So to recap, similarities are "Logan" is old, heroes are gone,
bad guys are winning, road trip.
- And "Logan's" got an little X scar on his forehead
that seems straight from 'Old Man Logan'.
And yeah, there are little cyborg looking dudes that seem to have
inspired the bad guys from the movie.
- Sure, yeah, those things too.
But that's basically where it ends.
All of the details you find looking any closer than that are very different.
- So that's it, end of episode.
- Not even a little bit.
(Sound) What makes 'Logan' and 'Old Man Logan' an interesting case study in
adaptations is how they're negative images of each other.
The movie essentially reversed many of the choices are in the comics,
while still dealing with the same things.
The DNA is the same, but the details are polar opposites.
(Sound) - For example,
the "Logan" of 'Old Man Logan' is a pacifist.
He hasn't popped his claws, (Sound) in 50 years.
He even willingly takes a beating from in-bred hillbilly "Hulk" offspring for
not paying his rent on time.
Over and over again, he refuses to fight.
He's broken and truly no longer "Wolverine".
(Noise) - The "Logan" in the movie though,
is violent as hell.
Killing a whole pack of dudes because they're trying to steal his car,
stabbing all these dudes in the face.
For a guy who'd spent 17 years with razor-sharp claws,
but never being allowed to hack and slash in PG-13 movies, he's really making up for
lost time in this one.
So in that way,
he's also truly no longer the "Wolverine", at least not the one we've
come to know over the years in the movies - There's also a tragic
back story that's fundamentally change "Logan" in both mediums.
In the comics, he was brainwashed into murdering all of his friends.
A villain named "Mysterio" made it appear to "Wolverine" that a group of
supervillains was descending on the X-Mansion.
And while he didn't know what he was doing, slicing up all his teammates made
him kinda swear to never hurt another living soul.
- In the movie, mutants are dying out.
None have been born in decades.
And even "Logan's" healing factor is failing him.
There was also an incident in Westchester alluded to, but
never explicitly explained, where apparently "Charles" was responsible for
the deaths of most of the X-Men.
Now "Logan" is keeping him doped up and hidden away, so
that "Charles" will never hurt another living soul.
- This idea of protecting the present from his past is really at the heart of
both the books and the movie.
'Old Man Logan' is just trying to live quietly and ignore his violent past.
Tending to his family and his land, aww.
But when he needs money to make rent, it's the past he's trying to
ignore that shows up, giving him the opportunity to make ends meet.
Which by the way, is basically the plot of 'Unforgiven'.
Which also by the way, is possibly referenced right here.
- Movie 'Logan', meanwhile, is also just trying to stay under the radar,
saving up cash to buy a boat that he and "Charles" can literally sail away on.
But in the movie, his past is represented by a literal clone of himself.
"X-23", or "Laura", is an experimental weapon made from his own genetic material.
(Sound) But the idea of the X-Men in "Wolverine's"
past is played differently in each as well.
In the movie, the X-Men have been relegated to actual comics.
Because mutants have been quietly disappearing,
their heroics have turned into historical fantasy.
- You do know they're all bull (Bleep), right?
Maybe a quarter of it happened, and not like this.
- In the books though, the history of super heroes has been
written by the villains that defeated them.
"Andy", "Logan's" own daughter,
brings up rumors her friend's mom talks about, saying how Pa used
to be a hero on some kind of team before the bad guys took over.
So both the books and the movie present a murky understanding of what "Logan"
really used to be, with only his version of events being the most reliable.
The point here is, in both versions,
"Wolverine" from the past is confronting "Logan" in the present.
The difference lies in what "Logan" does next.
- By the end of the film, "Logan" has been given a clear reminder of what he is,
in the form of both "Laura" as "X-23" and the mindless rage monster "X-24".
His journey is one of literally protecting the physical embodiment of his
good nature from the physical embodiment of the fury that's always driven him.
The death left in the wake of this conflict, with "Charles" and
an innocent family just quietly trying to make a living on a farm-
- Ahem, sounds familiar.
- Also reminds him that he can’t escape the things he has done,
a point made eloquently in the film by a meaningful clip from the western 'Shane'.
- A man has to be what he is, "Joey".
Can't break the mold.
- But when he tries to stay detached,
to send "Laura" on her way because- - Bad (Bleep) happens to
people I care about.
- He finds that he can't.
- By the end of the comics though,
"Logan" has been dragged across the remains of the United States, stared down
"Ghostrider" thugs, weird subterranean monsters, "Venom" taking over a T-rex,
and a shady deal gone bad, and has steadfastly refused to engage.
It isn't until he returns home with a briefcase full of cash to find his
family murdered that he truly goes berserk.
(Sound) - And
here's where we get to the one difference that truly matters.
In the film, "Logan" continues to fight and ultimately die to save "Laura".
While the fatal blow is dealt by "Logan's" own rage,
it's his better nature that ultimately kills that rage.
And with his final words,
"Logan" tells "Laura" that she doesn't have to be what they made her.
- Don't be what they made you.
- 'Old Man Logan' has a similar revelation.
Once he's done murdering the crap out of all the inbred "Hulks" and
the original "Bruce Banner" himself, he decides to get back into the hero game.
After 50 years of not fighting,
he's going to fight to make the world a better place again.
And in a symbolic gesture, he takes the last remaining baby "Hulk" along with him,
using a member of the very family that murdered his own
to get back into the fight.
- So back to the idea of these two versions of "Logan" being negative images
of each other.
On one hand, 'Old Man Logan' refuses to kill, to be the weapon he was designed
to be, until he discovers there is literally no escaping it.
And on the other hand, "Logan" from the film is resigned to the fact that he is
a weapon, until he sees hope in a little girl clone of himself and
tries to make sure she's not stuck with the same fate.
- "Laura".
No, no.
(Music)
Move! - So yeah, in
the comics there freaking dinosaurs and carnivorous small people,
populating an apocalyptic wasteland where the hopeless masses pray at Thor's hammer.
But the character arc of "Logan" himself is the most significant difference
between the two.
- Be sure to let us know in the comments what other books and
movies you want us to cover here.
And be sure to subscribe to Cinefix for more 'What's the Difference'.
(Sound)
- (Foreign) - What?
Shut up, okay, shut up. Shut up, Shut the (Bleep) up!