Last year, the Department of Justice approved The Walt Disney Company’s $71 billion offer to acquire Fox’s entertainment assets, including television and film properties. The news was a cause for celebration for Marvel fans as the move meant that X-Men and Fantastic Four characters would finally be able to play in the Marvel Studios sandbox.

However, this also meant that the current X-Men franchise, including its many spinoffs like Deadpool and the yet-to-be-released The New Mutants, was in serious jeopardy of no longer continuing or being rebooted. Deadpool, a raunchy superhero with a debaucherous behavior, doesn’t quite fit into what Disney has done with the MCU and the family friendly films they release.

Long-time X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner spoke about passing the franchise to their new owners, Disney. She also addressed its future, as well as the future of Deadpool and when The New Mutants will be released. More on the report below.

Disney’s live-action adaptation of their animated classic Beauty and the Beast is set to arrive in theaters tomorrow. As the title clearly states, that movie has a beast in it.

Logan was released a couple of weeks ago, and has done darn well at the box office, making $457.8 million worldwide so far. That movie also has a beast in it. And that beast still has some fight in it. Instead of sitting back, enjoying the success it has had, and appreciating whatever it does at the box office moving forward, Logan has decided to try to lure some moviegoers away from seeing Beauty and the Beast and into theaters showing the latest Wolverine movie instead.

This strategy comes in the form of a brief but effective TV spot, which you can check out below.

For me, this is a hard article to write. What was going to be simply a slightly biased glowing review of the new Wolverine film Logan became something more in my mind. Of course I loved the movie and highly recommend seeing it, but the reasoning for that was something I felt deserved a more little more exposition.

A little background on my love of the Wolverine character: The first comic book I bought with my own allowance was a Wolverine comic. I grew up as a teen in the 90s and for me, the X-Men cartoon on Fox was a main staple of my Saturday mornings. It was why I got up early. Out of all the teenage mutant characters to identify with as a teenager, the one that was my favorite was of course Wolverine. He was an anti-hero for anti-heroes. Moody, irritable, hairy… all good reasons for me to love the guy, but not to mention that he was nearly unstoppable. Wolverine was one of the few characters universally feared it seemed. I wanted to be that guy. Villain and hero alike respected Logan. There is little to wonder why he became the biggest part of the X-Men universe. So back to my point. With the film Logan, it isn’t just director James Mangold honoring the end of Hugh Jackman‘s portrayal of Weapon X. No, Mangold is saying goodbye to the entire X-Men universe from 2000.

Logan
Written by Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green
Directed by James Mangold
Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant
20th Century Fox
Release date: March 3, 2017

For some it’s Batman, for other’s Spider-Man. For me, it’s always been Wolverine. For more than two-thirds of my life, the crazed Canadian with berserker rage, healing powers, and adamantium-coated claws has been MY hero. I’m a die-hard fan of the University of Michigan for no other reason than their team name. I am constantly drawn to anti-hero characters in both film and literature. And I have a penchant for growing scruffy beards and calling people “bub”… okay, that last part is a stretch, I called my grandmother “Bub.” I am such a Wolverine fan, that I convinced myself that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was good the first time I saw it. Talk about denial! Last night, I took my son and nephew to see Logan, a late show on an opening Friday. Me, there like a fanboy wearing my Wolverine #1 comic book t-shirt. All I can say is that when your expectations for a film are at a fever pitch, and the film not only lives up to, but surpasses them, it is a truly special feeling.

At some point, the X-Men franchise needed to take a gamble. On the surface, Deadpool was risky. But the film turned out to be such a huge success, it gave Twentieth Century Fox the confidence they needed to approve of James Mangold‘s Logan, the first R-rated Wolverine film to be released theatrically. Releasing a third installment of the Wolverine franchise was always a part of the studio’s plan. So in order to give Hugh Jackman a proper send-off, Mangold wanted the film to be deeply personal. Based on what we have seen throughout the marketing campaign, it looks like he accomplished that goal.

But that isn’t to say that the new direction didn’t worry studio execs. In fact, some were concerned about the film’s tonal shift. More on the story below.