LOGAN Was Originally Going To Begin With A Sequence Depicting The Death Of The X-MEN
We never actually got to see the "Westchester incident" in Logan, but James Mangold has now revealed that an early draft of the script contained a scene that spelled out exactly what happened...
Although we're given enough information to piece together what led to the demise of Wolverine's fellow X-Men in Logan, things are left deliberately vague when it comes to the specifics. However, at one time the movie was actually going to open with Charles Xavier suffering the devastating psychic episode that inadvertently caused the deaths of his beloved students.
During a new interview with IGN, director James Mangold explains that the disturbing sequence was part of an early draft of the script, but he decided to remove it because he felt it ultimately detracted from Charles and Logan's story.
“I literally had written an opening which started with that sequence, and so it was quite literal, who was dead. But the reason we didn't do it wasn't to spare other films, it was that it redefined the movie. It made the movie about the X-Men, instead of being about Logan and Charles. And irrevocably, when you read the script opening that way, it became about this other tragedy, as opposed to that tragedy being something hovering like a shadow in the background for these characters.”
Though some fans definitely seemed to be a little disappointed that they didn't find out exactly who died and under what circumstances, it's hard to argue with Mangold's reasoning here.
That said, it's a shame the scene was never filmed so it could be included as an extra feature on the upcoming Logan Blu-ray, which will be available from tomorrow.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.