This week, two major updates hit the web regarding Wolverine’s final outing in the upcoming ‘Logan’. First, on the official Instagram page for the movie, wponx, the villain for the movie was revealed. With a fantastic black and white silhouetted photograph and the simple words “Pierce”.
Played by Boyd Holbrook – famous for his role in the series Narcos – Holbrook will bring the villain Donald Pierce to life. Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, originally appearing in Uncanny X-Men # 132, Pierce was originally a member of the Hellfire Club which frequently battled the X-Men and, namely, Wolverine. A fatal skirmish ensued at one point and Wolverine ended up killing Pierce but he was later brought back, teaming up with Lady Deathstrike to form a group of cybernetic organisms called The Reavers. Yuriko – Lady Deathstrike – at one point took X-23 under her wing in an attempt to find Logan, who was rumored to, and believed to be, dead.
This all ties perfectly in to the rumors that have been circulating regarding the still mysterious and still confidential plot to the movie.
But there’s more.
Long rumored to be coming to the screen, and long wished for by her legions of fans, we finally have an answer to a question a few years in the making. Is X-23 going to make an appearance in a Fox Studios X-Franchise movie? The now, officially, is yes. Not only will it be in some X-Titled movie, it will be in this one, in this last outing by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
It seems a perfect time to pass the torch on to another character who is more than capable of carrying on the mantle of the iconic Wolverine. Previously starring in the hit feature film “Bad Moms”, Sienna Novikov will portray Laura Kinney, also known as X-23.
The rumors started to really heat up when the official movie poster was released depicting Logan holding the hands of a young person. There was debate over whether or not this would be X-23 or the other Logan spawn, Daken Howlett. While not a completely official confirmation, an insider who is reportedly close to the production of the film, has stated to The Wrap that the hand is indeed that of X-23, a little girl bred by a corporation called Transigen to become a brutal and lethal killing machine.
Richard E. Grant will reportedly be playing non other than Dr. Zander Rice, the one who is responsible for creating X-23, and the mind behind Transigen.
In the Marvel comic books, Dr Rice’s father was one who worked on the original Weapon X program that created Wolverine. X-23 was created in a laboratory test tube using some of Wolverine’s DNA. Dr Rice helped oversee X-23’s early years in the laboratory and during the times when she was sent out on assassinations and covert operations around the globe. She was treated like a lab experiment and was abused, tortured and left for years in isolation with her only contact with humans being brutal and inhumane. X-23 was so mentally distraught and her mind tortured that she would cut herself with her own claws to let out the pain. There was one person in her whole world that was kind to her and treated her with some compassion and that was Dr Sara Kinney.
When Dr Kinney died in the arms of X-23 in a blistering snow storm on her last mission for Zander’s company, she took on the last name Kinney in honor of the one person that showed her there was some good in the world. X-23 found herself on the streets and in the dirty underground world as a prostitute before the X-Men recognized her mutant ability and rescued her.
Just how will this back story play in to the movie remains to be seen but rest assured, ComicBooked will be watching and ready to bring you the latest updates and insight in to who these people are!
ABOUT LOGAN:
Directed by James Mangold and written by Michael Green and David Kelly, Logan is set for wide release on March 3rd 2017. Logan, also referred to as Wolverine 3, stars Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine, Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce, Patrick Stewart as Professor X / Charles Xavier, Sienna Novikov as X-23 and more. This will be the last outing for both Jackman and Stewart in their respective roles.
