Logan pays for his Sins

There is a new demand for super hero movies in today’s world. There are the infamous marvel movies like captain America, all the way up to the Guardians Of the Galaxy. For some reason this generation of movie goers are just sucking it all up. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this generation was the one who grew up reading the comics, and watching the cartoons. As a child ( I am 22) I remember growing up buying the action figures of spider-man and Captain America. I remember watching Saturday mornings the avengers, and loving them. Now that I have grown out of the adolescence age, Marvel has found a way to bring back my child hood on the big screen. I am able to enjoy the superheroes I learned to love as a child again.

Now there is a certain franchise that I want to talk about who actually has been taking this market since the 90’s. This is marvels x-men. This franchise was very popular with super hero fans, even though they take another route. Humans eventually mutate, and grow different powers. Evolution has yet to complete its course, and the humans have not finished the life cycle. One imparticular Mutant that I want to talk about is the infamous wolverine. Wolverine is one of the most recognizable superhero in the entire world. Portrayed in this series as actor Hugh Jackman, who has starred or cameoed in 8 wolverine movies, from x-men all the way to the most recent movie Logan.

Now Logan is unlike any superhero film ever produced. It is a story about once-invincible superhero now facing the perils of old age. Who would have ever imagined that the great, and might wolverine would turn out to be some old guy who drives for a living. We see Logan here with puss, and blood oozing from his body, and not healing like they did before. The year is 2029, and mutants have stopped evolving for a couple of years now. The x-men are nowhere to be found in this movie except Logan and professor x who from his strenuous gift is losing his mind slowly, but surely. In Logan Professor x is 90 years old, and his brain disease is taking over his body, and even putting others in harm’s way. Logan is trying to work a 9–5 so he is able to pay for medicine to calm his brain down, so no seizures occur.

It is not often that actors get to say goodbye to a character on their own terms, especially one so loved and recognized like Wolverine. However, it makes perfect sense. When we find Logan in Wolverine Origins we see him as a small child who discovers his powers around the age of 12. Just because his body has a special gift of healing does not mean that he is invincible. He has aged over time, and somewhere along the line he tries to cheat. In Wolverine Origins, we see that adamantium, which is a fictional metal alloy, that replaces the bones, in Wolverine. He is trying to maximize his gift by creating his own mutation. However, we all know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Logan is dying because of an combination of factors. First he is nearly 200 years old, and he is reaching the end of his natural life. Most importantly his body is reacting to the adamantium in his bones. His healing gift seems to be slowing down with age, and his body is having trouble coping with the body that was put inside him. His weaknesses in the movie were slowness, muscle weakness, and we also see him having trouble retracting his claws. He is becoming the old man wolverine, which nobody really calls him that anymore hence the name of the movie. It is almost a sign that he has passed his old life of being the superhero wolverine. One point in the movie Logan sees that there are comic books made in his image, and he looks at the story either how fictional, or real they are.

Now we all know no one can escape death. There are only two things for sure in your life, death and taxes. In Romans 6:23 it says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Now in this world it seems that Logan has done everything in his life to escape death. His life is full of violence, immortality, and foul language. He is the bad guy of the good guys. His life is full of sin, and for the last 200 or so years it seemed as though he was escaping death. In Logan it shows the humanity of the heroes. It shows the beloved Professor X die, and it shows Logan heroically lay down his life. Wolverine has now paid for his sins. No one can escape death not even the X-men. Even Wolverine tried to find a way to make himself even more invincible, yet that act became part of his downfall. It took towards the end of Logan’s life to find and enjoy the company of others. Logan knows that everyone around him will eventually die away, but in this film, he is able to pass on his life to the next generation. No matter how great these joys in life may be, they will all eventually pass away. Our brains like Professor X, and our bodies like Logan.

This is how I see Logan as the most different superhero movie ever made. This isn’t just another Saturday morning cartoon of childhood fantasy, but as a parable for life, and the hope that can be found in what we do not deserve. Even the very last image of the film shows hope for the future, there is a cross over Logan’s grave, but it falls to make the shape of an X. Logan has finally played a role in someone’s life, that was not ended. His wisdom, ruggedness, and yes even love was passed down to the next generation of mutants, who Logan lays down his life for at the end. He put his all on the line knowing that there was no other way for the young mutants to escape. This is almost an exact replica of what Jesus Christ did for us. He knew he had to give up his life for all of us to be saved, yet he did it without hesitation. He did what he had to do, dying on the cross, and Logan was buried right under a cross. Now Jesus rose again three days later, so far there has been no talk about another wolverine movie. In fact, I think Hugh Jackman was ecstatic to say goodbye to this character who has been a part of his life for such a long time. Maybe there will be a return, maybe not.

In the book “Christian Perspectives on Sociology” it talks about how society needs to step up, and take care of families who have lost family members. “Society needs a regular system for replacing the members lost through mortality and mobility. Disease, war catastrophe, migrations and normal mortality demand that constant replacements be provided.” As the child Laura or X-23 loses a father figure or Logan. She is taken care of by her family that she grew up in. Even though this is a short piece of the film, it is still the most important. They are running to a safe haven, yet we don’t know what or where that is. All we know is that they are sticking together, because they have been together through so much. Not only that they have lost so much together. The nurses that were taking care of them, to Logan who watched over them for a brief period of time. Together they are building a community that will take the place of fallen family members. Hopefully there will be a movie coming out that will show that bond continued.