We Already Have A New Wolverine, And Her Name Is Laura

As the closing moments of Logan hammer home, all things must come to an end–even popular portrayals of superheroes. The James Mangold-directed, casually sort-of-post-apocalyptic R-rated rumination on family capped off Hugh Jackman’s 17-year career as the X-Man Wolverine. The character became so essential to pop culture over the course of the 21st century that it’s sometimes hard to remember that we spent the entire 20th century without him. Think about it: Jackman had already played Wolverine three times before Robert Downey Jr., quite possibly the second most important big screen super-actor, suited up as Iron Man. Jackman helped relaunch the entire superhero genre with the release of X-Men way back in 2000, a genre that he finally said farewell to in Logan.

But also, all reverence nudged gently aside ever so slightly, who are we kidding? Things do not end nowadays. Everything gets a sequel, a prequel, a reboot, or a relaunch. A seemingly definitive and final Batman trilogy ends only to have Bat-fleck show up four years later. One Spider-Man swings off into the sunset and another gets bitten (and another gets bitten after that). And mind you, we’re talking about Fox’s X-Men franchise here–a franchise that takes a haphazard “more is more”  approach to continuity and timelines (often to great success). While Hugh Jackman may have sheathed his claws for the last time, there’s no way and honestly no reason to expect Fox to bench their most popular mutant (Deadpool is not a mutant, BTW).

I’m sure people expect Wolverine to be recast, probably with someone even younger than Jackman was when he debuted in the part (he was 32, by the way–thirty-two!). I agree that Fox should recast the role of Wolverine, but I don’t think they have to recast the role of Logan to do it. Real talk: we’ve already met a perfectly capable replacement for Wolverine, and her name is Laura.

Logan introduced audiences to both 12-year-old actor Dafne Keen and the character of Wolverine’s clone, a ferocious and feral tween named Laura. As Wolverine’s only descendant, Laura literally carries on Logan’s legacy with every claw swipe and gnarly growl. Like him, she was molded into a weapon by a shadowy government operation wishing to harness the deadly power of mutants, her own humanity sacrificed. Keen’s performance in the film is a revelation; it’s a big thing to say that a newcomer, a character that could have easily slid into Scrappy-Doo territory, stole the show from Jackman and a frail but feisty Professor X (Patrick Stewart, also making his final appearance). Keen is engaging in the film, both sympathetic and terrifying, believably taking down men three times her size by spinning like a tornado of razor-sharp claws and attitude.

If the movies follow the same trajectory as the comics, then there she is, your new Wolverine. Laura Kinney, designated X-23 by the laboratory that created her, debuted 14 years ago in an episode of the cartoon series X-Men: Evolution. Immediately that show’s breakout star, X-23 made the jump to comics in December 2003’s NYX #3. From there, she starred in her own limited series before joining the X-Men comics line’s teen series New X-Men in 2006.

As a teen female clone of a popular male hero, X-23 could have easily been a gimmick character whose popularity was merely a passing fad. That obviously did not happen, as a new generation of readers (and plenty of those that had been around for a few decades) gravitated to the new hero, following her as her profile increased within the Marvel Universe. New superheroes are introduced all the time, but their popularity can rise and fall quickly. Comic book fans tend to be set in their ways and resistant to change. Speaking from personal experience, I find it hard to shake the notion that I just want my X-Men to look like they did when I fell in love with them. It takes a lot to make a new character stick–and Laura stuck.

She stuck so much that when Wolverine died in the comics as part of the aptly titled 2014 event Death of Wolverine, Laura stepped in to fill the void. She got her own comic (All-New Wolverine) and became nearly as ubiquitous in the Marvel Universe as her predecessor, mentor, and father figure. And that’s where Laura, who has long aged out of being defined as a teen hero, has operated for the last two years. She’s been Marvel’s flagship Wolverine, and that’s precisely where the movies should go next.

Laura as played by Dafne Keen gives Fox a totally new direction to take Wolverine in, one that pushes the character into modern times (and even past modern times, as movie Laura lives a few decades in the future). Laura shows that trauma and aggression are not just the problems of gruff manly men like Logan, but they also affect girls and women even if pop culture tends to like its female heroes smart, sarcastic, sexy, or some combination of the above. Laura, in the comics and on screen, is different. She’s an open wound of a character, vulnerable yet invulnerable at the same time. And that’s the reason she’s resonated with so many readers: she represents for all the brooding girls out there that don’t see themselves in media, and Laura’s tenacity and persistence is quite frankly inspirational.

Dafne Keen showed that she can convey all of that emotion and resolve without saying a word (remember how she was mostly mute in Logan?). As both an actor and a superhero, Dafne and Laura are a force to be reckoned with, and Fox needs to let the film franchise go where the comics have ventured. Laura is our new Wolverine, and Fox just needs to be brave enough to let her cut loose.

Where to stream Logan