He was one of Marvel’s characters with the most potential: why was his solo movie canceled?

On October 24, 2017, James Mangold announced that he dreamed of making a spin-off of his film Logan, centered on Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, dedicated to Laura, aka X-23. Played by Daphne Keane (recently seen in the Star Wars TV series The Acolyte and Deadpool & Wolverine), X-23 is a creature cloned from Logan’s DNA.

A thoroughly endearing character who found himself capable of the same ferocity in battle as his illustrious predecessor, X-23 was adored when Logan came out, so what has become of his poor film from 2017?

A matter of principles

Between 2017 and 2019, Disney was in the process of acquiring Twentieth Century Fox Studios and its catalog. When we talk about Marvel, this catalog includes all the X-Men, but also the Fantastic Four or the famous Doctor Doom, who will soon have his own movie. But during those two years, all of Fox’s Marvel projects were basically frozen, including the movie X-23, which was supposed to further develop Laura’s character.

James Mangold had it Started working on itBefore that two-year hiatus forced him into another project, he left for the Formula 1 film Le Mans ’66.

I never had a script. I started working on the story, but not as a continuation of the universe, I just liked the character. I thought Daphne was an incredibly brilliant actress.

After the merger between Disney and Fox became effective, Mangold was responsible for the 2023 Indiana Jones and the Clockwork revival, and he followed up with the Bob Dylan biopic opposite Timothée Chalamet (out Jan. 29).

With two upcoming projects, the filmmaker has effectively abandoned X-23, who is now part of the Avengers universe, as shown by Deadpool and Wolverine. Thus, the character’s fate is not in his hands, but in Disney’s hands, who intend to use this “new Wolverine” in future X-Men, which may be formed in response to the dark designs of Doctor Doom in both subsequent Avengers. Movies…