The Creator of X-23 on Her Inclusion in LOGAN and How He'd Like to See Her Story Continue
X-23 is such an incredible character who was beautifully and brutally brought to life in Logan. The character was originally created for the X-Men: Evolution animated series by Craig Kyle, who most recently worked on the script for Thor: Ragnarok.
After X-23 made her debut in the series, she was introduced to the Marvel Comics Universe, where she eventually took on the mantle of Wolverine. She is the new Wolverine, and this is something that the creator never wanted or intended. Marvel just took the character in a completely different direction.
In a recent interview with THR, Kyle was asked what he thought of X-23 taking on the role of Wolverine, and this was his reply:
"I was happy when after the 'Death of Wolverine' she was going to step into the role. That said, I never wanted her to put on Wolverine's costume and take his name, because she's not Wolverine. Wolverine is Wolverine and no one will ever be him. He is this extraordinary, beautiful, perfect thing. I don't want to take away from him and I don't want to strip her of her individuality. I love that she's taken that role. I just wish she could do it in her own costume, that's all."
I think it would have been more interesting to see X-23 go her own way as X-23 instead of as the new Wolverine. She's always been a great character, but now she seems a bit less interesting because she kind of has been stripped of her individuality. Oh well, that's what Marvel is rolling with. I completely understand what Kyle is saying, though.
Kyle does like what they've done with the character in James Mangold's Logan, though! He's happy with her portrayal and when talking about how that all came about he said:
"In 2014, I sat down with James. We had lunch. He had obviously read 'Innocence Lost.' At the time, he had not read 'Target X,' so I pointed him in that direction. In that first lunch, he said, 'The very core of the story, it's a broken man with an aging and very sick father who discovers he has a daughter that he never knew about.' He had a lot of questions about her. He wanted to know the reasons behind the claw placement. And he actually ended up using that. Patrick Stewart stops Logan in the car and tries to explain the fact that she has her claws that way — and uses the pride of lions as an example. That was both my pitch at lunchtime and in an email later."
He went on to share his gratitude for how Mangold brought the character to life in the film and shared the story of how she made her way into the comic books saying:
"I am so grateful for how he brought her to screen. He has a chance to do what I couldn't. My pitch to Joe [Quesada] when he said he wanted to put her in a [comic book] title was, 'Interview with the Vampire had this great Kirsten Dunst character, who was this young child vampire and she was horrified when she realized she couldn't age.' To me, the beauty and tragedy of X-23's continuing story was she leaves the institute when she's 13. I could have pushed that younger. I could have made it 11. She's going to continue to grow and mature and evolve, but because they activated her healing factor early, she's going be trapped in her youthful body for a long time. What I didn't realize was Joe had a very specific story in mind for NYX. I didn't know about NYX. My excitement of having her in a book was all I cared about at that time.
"But she was then immediately aged up to 16, and then in Uncanny [X-Men] she was 22 and had a boob job. Those issues are a dark place. I was really hoping we would have a young character, a child, a pre-teen who wasn't going to be in the dating, the sexuality aspects of the storylines for a long time to come. ... It's just one of those things she's going to have to carry as she evolves and grows and takes a journey through the Marvel U. But because of the jump in the NYX, that chunk of her storyline couldn't be told."
When asked where he'd like to see X-23's story go in a Logan spinoff sequel, he offered the following pitch:
"We know the kids were created and tested. I'd love to see some of the stories that we told [in the comics], see as much as we can of how she came to be, but then really get into the stories of what she was forced to do and commit. She said she killed people. She said bad people. The bulk of who X-23 and Laura killed in the comic books were bad people, but she did kill some children. She did kill a whole press corps. I think there's something powerful about watching her go through those horrors without any say and without any ability to not take those actions.
"A story I always wanted to tell was, once she's free and once she's gone through what she's gone through, the only way she can have a hope for a future is for her to go back and trace the lives that remained and were harmed by the actions she was forced to commit. You put her on this journey of redemption. She faces the families that lost fathers. The orphans, everyone that was touched by her horrific acts. And she can go through them one by one and face everyone affected by the murders she was forced to commit, if she can get to the end of that road without being killed by those that remain, there's something on the other side of that. I think it would truly be transformative for the character."
That would definitely be a powerful story to tell! I think fans would dig it and it would have that same kind of western tone and story structure that Logan had. Kyle said he'd love to be involved with a new film if he was asked, and I guess if anyone should be involved with an X-23 movie, it should be the guy who created it.
Below you'll find a photo of the original young model used to help bring X-23 to life.