Logan (2017) Explained: Patrick Stewart's Last Film in the Original X-Men Series

Logan is a 2017 R-rated superhero film directed by James Mangold, and it was billed at the time as Hugh Jackman’s farewell to Wolverine, although he returned to the role in Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024. For Patrick Stewart, it was the final appearance of Professor X in the original run of Fox’s X-Men films. It was not his last turn as Xavier overall, since he returned to the character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 2022 and was named in Marvel Studios’ cast announcement for Avengers: Doomsday. After Stewart’s death on October 28, 2026, many fans are returning to the film, and this guide covers what it is, how it was received and why it matters to his legacy.

What Logan is

The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2017, and opened in the United States on March 3, 2017. It is rated R. 20th Century Studios’ page frames the premise: Logan, worn down and far from the heroics of earlier films, is caring for an ailing Professor X. The story is set in 2029 and shifts into a road story when a young girl, Laura, enters their lives. Dafne Keen made her film debut in the role.

It is a much smaller film than a typical superhero release. The action is violent, the mood is bleak and the focus is on a surrogate family under pressure. The film is loosely inspired by the comic book storyline Old Man Logan, a connection that writer Mark Millar has described as a loose one.

Stewart’s Xavier

In the earlier films, Xavier is the person who holds the team together. In Logan, the roles are reversed. He is old, unwell and dependent on the person he once mentored. As the film presents him, his telepathy has become dangerous, and the people around him have to manage that risk. For an actor who spent years playing the calm center of the story, it is a very different part.

We are deliberately avoiding details of the film’s later events here. What matters is that the character is allowed to be difficult and frightened, and that the relationship with Logan is written as one of care under strain. The film asks Stewart to play the character without any of his usual authority to lean on.

A farewell for Jackman and Stewart

Jackman said at the time that Logan was his last film as the character, and Stewart indicated around the release that it was probably the end of the franchise for him. Neither farewell turned out to be final: Stewart returned as an alternate-universe Xavier in 2022, and Jackman returned as Wolverine in 2024. Logan nonetheless closes the story of the original series as it was told at the time.

Reception and awards

Logan grossed about $619 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards, held on March 4, 2018. The nominees were Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green, and the award went to Call Me by Your Name, according to the Academy’s records.

Logan Noir

A black-and-white version of the film, Logan Noir, had a limited theatrical run in the United States starting on May 16, 2017, and was included as a bonus on the Blu-ray, according to ComicMix. If you have already seen the film, it offers a different way to watch it.

Where it fits

Logan was Mangold’s second Wolverine film, after The Wolverine in 2013. How it relates to the timeline reset in X-Men: Days of Future Past is a question fans debate, and we are not aware of an official answer. For the full list of Stewart’s X-Men appearances, see our Professor X guide.

Why it matters now

Stewart gave a lot of range to the character across seventeen years, and Logan is the film that shows the most vulnerable side of him. For the broader picture of his career, our career guide covers it, and our tribute covers the announcement itself.