4) Enter Dr. Rice
It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but the second Logan trailer gives us our first glimpse of one of the movie’s major villains. At the 1:35 mark, you can see Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce, the leader of the Reavers, meeting a man coming out of a helicopter. Beneath the sunglasses, we can make out that this is Richard E. Grant, who is playing Doctor Zander Rice.
Not much is known about Rice, but it’s thought that he’s the head of the organization that’s after Laura – and possibly the organization that created her in the first place. Judging by the way he doesn’t even bother to look at Pierce, the Reavers are clearly little more than his lackeys. Presumably, Laura escaped from wherever she was being held and Rice sends the Reavers to get her back for whatever evil scheme he’s concocting.
It’s generally thought by fans that Grant is going to be revealed at some point in the film as Nathaniel Essex AKA Mister Sinister. The classic comic book villain has always had a knack for cloning – though usually he’s obsessed with the Summers family – so creating X-23 would certainly be in his wheelhouse. Plus, do we need to remind you that a suit from Essex Corporation was seen taking a vial of Wolverine’s blood from Alkali Lake at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse? You don’t have to have Professor X’s telepathic powers to work out that he’s going to play a part in Logan.
