Hugh Jackman Says He Wanted LOGAN to End Like Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN
I loved the way Logan ended. I thought it was a perfect conclusion for the character that left audiences sad but fulfilled. Hugh Jackman originally wanted a different ending for the film, one that was heavily inspired by Clint Eastwood's Academy Award-winning film Unforgiven.
During an interview with Yahoo, Jackman said that he was inspired by Unforgiven, which we've heard was a heavy inspiration for Logan, and you can already see that in the film. Unforgiven follows a retired killer named William Munny, who is living the simple life as a farmer until an opportunity presents itself to make some much needed extra cash. This opportunity takes him on a journey that brings out the killer in him once again and by the end of the film Munny is physically and emotionally torn apart with more dead men weighing on his soul. Munny made it out of his journey alive, but he had to continue his existence with this weight of death on his soul.
When talking about this aspect of the film and the influence it had on his vision for Logan's end, Jackman said:
“It’s more powerful that Munny doesn’t die at the end. You assume he’s going to die, but by taking that final action and shooting everyone down, he embraces all the darkness he’s tried to put outside him. Now he’s got to live with it, and it’s almost more devastating.”
That is one of the aspects that made Unforgiven such an incredible and powerful movie, and I can see why Jackman would have wanted that ending for Logan. But I still prefer the version we got. Jackman pitched his idea to director James Mangold, but he was already set on Wolverine dying at the end. The actor explained why Mangold was right in his decision:
“It was always floated that Logan would possibly die. I said, ‘Let’s be open, because it may be more powerful for him not to die'. James was always certain of that ending, and he was right. Unlike a human character [like William Munny], what’s most poignant for someone who is thought to be indestructible is him dying while saying, ‘This is what it feels like.'”
Wolverine had to die at the end of Logan, and I felt his ending was just as powerful and meaningful as the ending of Unforgiven. Now all Logan needs is that Best Picture Oscar at next year's Academy Awards.