The new Logan trailer is out — and it’s good enough to warm the heart of even the most skeptical of X-Men fans. Heat Vision editor Aaron Couch is already on record praising the trailer for promising something rare in the superhero movies (an actual ending). Now he’s asking colleague Graeme McMillan for his take.
Aaron Couch: Graeme, history is repeating itself. I have not cared for the Wolverine films so far — but each time the first trailer is released, I’ve told friends, “This is going to be amazing.” (Yes, even for X-Men Origins.) Am I crazy here to say I think this could be one of the best X-Men movies ever?
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McMillan: With absolutely nothing against Hugh Jackman, I would’ve sworn up and down that I was over Wolverine in the movies, especially after X-Men: Days of Future Past, which felt like a great way to just leave the character behind. All the Logan teases, as well done as they were, did nothing to change my mind — I just felt like I’d seen that character too many times, and that he was continually hitting the same notes in every single movie. (I feel the same about Xavier and Magneto, as well; I get it, they’re friends and enemies at the same time, let’s do something else please.) And then, the trailer for Logan was kind of great.
Couch: I’ve also been saying we need to move beyond the Xavier and Magneto dynamic — and finally we will be getting a Charles movie where he’s not defined by Erik. I also love that this bucks the trend of aging everything down. I like the First Class crew and (for the most part) enjoy the rebooted Star Trek movies. But older characters have a lot to offer and they’ve generally been overlooked for the past decade . Wrath of Khan is about Kirk finding his place in the world as an aging officer and director James Mangold has said he wants to explore the idea of wondering where you belong in a world you feel has moved on without you. That’s potentially really powerful stuff.
McMillan: I really like that it’s pretty much the non-Wolverine movie. We don’t even get to see the claws until the last 30 seconds of the trailer! The gimmick of the rest of the mutants being gone for mysterious reasons — with the exception of Xavier, because of course it’s Xavier, Caliban and X-23 — helps it feel pretty disconnected from the rest of the X-Men movies, too. Seeing Laura being positioned as this new mutant and hope for the mutant race in the trailer made me wonder if the movie will be pulling from the Messiah Complex comic book storyline as much as it clearly is from the original Old Man Logan storyline, too. It really wasn’t what I expected, and all for the better.
Couch: Finally we’ve got a movie that isn’t trying to set anything else up. Sure, there could be an X-23 movie down the line, but that’s not what this is about. Also, how great is it to see Patrick Stewart back one last time — taking the character to places he hasn’t been able to yet? The once all-powerful hero not so powerful anymore.
McMillan: If I had one complaint, and I do, of course, it’d be that the music felt a little too on-the-nose. Not just that it’s old, somber Johnny Cash for the old, somber Logan, but that it’s “Hurt” in particular. “I hurt myself today to see if I still feel”? Subtlety, thy name isn’t whoever chose music for this trailer. Still, at least it wasn’t another slowed-down, creepy version of a kid’s song.
Couch: I’m going to start calling you Old Man McMillan. The music was one of the best parts, Graeme. Deal with it.
