For 17 long, long years, Hugh Jackman brought Wolverine to life with such a raw intensity that it’s difficult to imagine anyone else donning those iconic adamantium claws anytime soon. That saga, one with many ups and downs, reached its conclusion back in March with the release of Logan, James Mangold’s poignant, R-rated finale that struck a chord with critics and X-Men fans the world over. And even now, many months since it first hit theatres, the film continues to find itself making headlines.
This time, it’s because 20th Century Fox has made their intention to give the flick a strong Oscar push quite clear, with the studio sending out “for your consideration” screeners to Academy voters this week. We’re not sure what nominations they’re hoping for, but Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director seem likely. Who knows, maybe even Patrick Stewart will get a Best Supporting Actor nod?
Then again, comic book movies don’t have the best luck when it comes to Oscars, so Fox may end up striking out here. Admittedly, Logan is far from your average CBM and is, quite frankly, one of the best things the genre’s ever produced, but still, we’d be surprised if it gets any major nominations. We are hopeful, though, as James Mangold’s threequel was truly something special and deserves more than a few honors at the big ceremony.
What the future holds for Wolverine at the moment is currently unknown – and the studio doesn’t seem too eager to recast – but the next few years certainly look bright for Fox’s X-Men Universe. We’ve got New Mutants, Deadpool 2 and X-Men: Dark Phoenix to look forward to, not to mention any other unannounced projects that are still brewing in development. Big things are in store for our favorite mutants, make no mistake about it, but no matter which new and exciting directions they head in from here, I think we can all say that Logan‘s absence will most definitely be felt and it’d be great to see his final hurrah get some Oscar gold early next year.