This New Logan Teaser Shows Us How X-23 Got Her Claws—And It’s Harrowing
…laura.mov pic.twitter.com/ZbcNiN8Jzl
— Mangold (@mang0ld) February 15, 2017
If blood makes you faint, you’re not going to want to watch this new Logan clip. You also probably won’t want to watch Logan, which is rated R for “strong brutal violence and language throughout, and for brief nudity.” This new clip definitely shows us some of the “brutal violence” that earned the movie its R rating.
This footage comes to us by way of director James Mangold, who tweeted out the brief video with the caption “…laura.mov”. The clip doesn’t have music and it’s all done with a handheld camera, plus it’s very low-resolution, almost like someone is taking a covert video.
The clip starts out with a slow pan across what appears to be a surgical laboratory; we can easily infer this lab is part of the mysterious Weapon X program. We first see a hacksaw and other blood-spattered sharp instruments on a surgical table. The camera then pans over to a blood-splattered operating table with no one on it. Next, we see some test tubes on the counter, some of which appear to contain blood samples; others contain a more yellowish fluid that looks to be plasma samples. There’s also some bright blue liquid in a larger flagon in the background, and on another table, some purple liquid in bottles.
The camera then cuts to show an image on a nearby computer screen of a DNA strand, then another computer that has an image of an X-ray of someone’s arm labeled “TISUE REGENERATION” and “CELL REGENERATION.” The camera then cuts to a new shot of an in-progress operating room with two masked surgeons simultaneously operating on a patient, who is soon revealed to be Laura, a.k.a. X-23. Her arms and legs are covered in blood. Each surgeon is operating on each of her arms simultaneously, presumably implanting her claws, which can be seen extended from her hand in the following shot. Laura is still unconscious for all of this.
Then, we see other medical staffers wheeling Laura on a gurney down a hallway. Laura wakes up and looks at her bandaged hands; she growls in pain. The video fades to black, then depicts Laura walking down a hall with a couple of other children who appear to be about her age. Guards are guiding the children into individual barred cells. Once inside her cell, Laura sits on the floor, facing away from the bars on the door. In the final frames of video, we see a zoomed-in shot of her using her extended claws to cut her arm. She then turns to the camera, and as soon as she makes eye contact, the film cuts to black.
Most of this matches up with the backstory that we already know about Laura from the comics. She’s a government experiment who has the same healing factor as Wolverine and who grew up in a lab, raised to be a child soldier. She also struggles with self-harm; her healing factor allows her to heal from any cut, but she still has a history in the comics with cutting herself as a form of mental release. Also, like the comics, we can see that other children are the product of Weapon X experiments; perhaps it’s possible that we’ll get a hint towards seeing “the Sisters,” who are the other clones of Laura raised in similar circumstances. In this movie, they might not be clones so much as just other versions of the same type of experiment. Three other young actress–Sienna Novikov, Saber Bankson, and Jaden Francis–all have the role of “Mutant Kid” according to Logan‘s IMDB page, so I expect that we’ll see the three of them in the lab at some point or other.
Speaking of characters we can expect to see, I’m still sad that we aren’t going to get to see Laura’s maternal figure, Doctor Sarah Kinney. Even though Dr. Kinney does end up dying in the comics, it would still be nice to have at least one other female character in this movie–plus Dr. Kinney’s influence on Laura is a big part of her backstory in the comics. However, her character isn’t listed on the IMDB page for the movie, so I don’t expect to see her. It’s entirely possible she’ll show up after all, though, since I can’t imagine how else Laura would choose the last name “Kinney.” We’ll just have to wait and see when Logan comes out on March 3rd!
(via Newsarama)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
