A girl with a two-clawed hand and the mad scientist behind Transigen are among the latest cast revelations
Umberto Gonzalez | October 10, 2016 @ 3:39 PM
Last Updated: October 10, 2016 @ 4:56 PM
TheWrap has exclusively learned of two key roles in the upcoming “Logan,” after a photo was released earlier today revealing Boyd Holbrook‘s role as Donald Pierce.
The girl in the poster is a young mutant, an insider with knowledge of the production told TheWrap. In 2024, mutant births are severely in decline, and people aren’t sure why. “Logan’s” plot follows a government-type operation called “Transigen” that is turning mutant children into killing machines. Jackman ends up mentoring the girl, who has two claws instead of his three.
According to TheWrap’s insider, the young mutant girl is being played by Sienna Novikov and the character is named “Laura.” A two clawed mutant girl named Laura should ring a bell to fanboys because, multiple sources have confirmed the actress is in fact the mutant known as X-23.
Like Wolverine, X-23 has a regenerative healing factor, superhuman strength, senses, speed and reflexes. She also has retractable adamantium-coated bone claws in her hands and feet.
Meanwhile, Holbrook is playing Donald Pierce, “the head of security for a global corporation” known as Transigen. Earlier Monday, a photo was released on the movie’s official Instagram, which shows Holbrook sitting in a car with a caption that simply reads, “Pierce.”
We also learned about the mad scientist behind Transigen. According to our insider, Richard E. Grant plays Dr. Zander Rice.
In the Marvel comics, Dr. Rice was the surgical head of the project which created X-23. Dale Rice, Zander’s father, worked on the original Weapon X Project where he was killed by an escaping Wolverine as he fled with a briefcase full of information about the project. Years later, Zander — now called Dr. Rice — became the surgical head on a project to recreate the Weapon X procedure.
One last thing, according to our insider after being heavily rumored, the mutant known as Mr. Sinister will not appear in “Logan.” However that doesn’t rule out the possibility of a post credit scene.
A representative for 20th Century Fox did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“Logan” will be released on March 3, 2017.
For more on these new characters, check out our gallery below.
'Logan': Meet the Characters You'll See in Third 'Wolverine' Film (Photos)
As the clock ticks down on Hugh Jackman's tenure as Wolverine, details are beginning to appear on "Logan," the upcoming "X-Men" film that will see Jackman play an aged Wolverine with diminished powers. In addition to some plot details and the addition of a senile Professor X to the cast, we now know that several lesser-known characters from the comic books will make an appearance. But who are these characters? Read on to learn more about them.
Marvel
The little girl that Logan will adopt and protect in the movie is a younger version of X-23, a mutant clone created by the team behind Project Weapon X to replicate Wolverine's powers. In the comics, X-23 undergoes torturous physical and mental conditioning to turn her into an obedient killing machine, including radiation poisoning and mental triggers.
Marvel
In the comics, X-23 eventually crosses paths with Wolverine, who becomes a mentor figure for her. Unfortunately, Wolverine was killed in the comics, after which X-23 decided to honor his memory by taking up his mantle and becoming the new Wolverine. She later adopted a young clone named Gabby, who was created using the same Wolverine cloning process.
Marvel
X-23 was originally created for the animated series "X-Men Evolution." In that series, she was a teenage assassin who was created by HYDRA to attack the X-Men. She had a rocky relationship with Wolverine, as she blamed him for her pain. Eventually, though, she comes to accept him as a positive force in her life and allows Wolverine to help her take down HYDRA.
Marvel
In the comics, the scientist responsible for X-23's creation is Dr. Zander Rice, whose father was involved in Weapon X and was killed by Wolverine. Rice was in charge of the processes that put X-23 through years of pain, as well as the "trigger scent," a pheromone that overrode the mutant's free will and allowed her handlers to send her to kill whomever they wished.
Marvel
One of his most sadistic practices -- and one he did out of bitterness over his father's death -- was to fuse X-23's claws into her hands without anesthesia. Eventually, history repeated itself when X-23 killed Rice, but Rice had the last laugh as he used his dying breath and the trigger scent to order her to kill her surrogate mother, Sarah.
Marvel
Zander isn't the only villain in "Logan." As revealed by the film's Instagram page, "Narcos" star Boyd Holbrook will play Donald Pierce, the leader of the Reavers.
Pierce is a cyborg-human hybrid who was nearly killed by Wolverine during a battle with the X-Men. Swearing revenge, he and four other cyborgs created an army of henchmen and formed the Reavers to destroy the X-Men.
Marvel
Eventually, Pierce expanded his war beyond the X-Men and began planning to eradicate all mutants from the world. But despite his attempts to overpower Wolverine by replacing nearly all his human tissue with cybernetics, he was defeated.
Marvel
One villain you won't see in "Logan" is Nathaniel Essex, a.k.a. Mr. Sinister. He was teased in the "X-Men: Apocalypse" post-credits scene, as agents from his corporation gathered material Wolverine left behind in his bloody escape from his Weapon x containment cell. But it seems that the scene was meant to tease a different future X-Men film.
Marvel
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Allow us to introduce you to the friends and enemies Wolverine will encounter in “Logan,” as well as the one villain you won’t see
As the clock ticks down on Hugh Jackman's tenure as Wolverine, details are beginning to appear on "Logan," the upcoming "X-Men" film that will see Jackman play an aged Wolverine with diminished powers. In addition to some plot details and the addition of a senile Professor X to the cast, we now know that several lesser-known characters from the comic books will make an appearance. But who are these characters? Read on to learn more about them.