Director Foresees An X-23 Movie After The Events of Logan

They say the closing of every chapter is just a prelude to the opening of another. As Logan sees youngster Dafne Keen take center stage alongside some heavyweights of the industry. The 12-year old has been praised for her performance by co-stars Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman. With the pair now being joined by director James Mangold arguing for more screen time for the young actress.

During a 30-minute Q&A with fans on Facebook Live, the filmmaker outlined that an X-23 standalone/spinoff title would not be out of the picture. Given the events of Logan take place in 2029, the furthest point advanced in time the series has ventured, it would be curious to see what Marvel do with their newly acquired asset.

"Expect is a big word," replied Mangold. "I think Dafne is a remarkable actress and I think she does an incredible job with this role. Personally, I would be shocked if we don't look into trying to develop that character further."

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X-23 Logan

Opening up about the casting and screenwriting process with his inner sanctum, Mangold explained that Keen's character was the key cog in the operation, allowing Jackman and Stewart to bid farewell in style.

"When I started working on the script, Scott Frank and I got to a pass on the script around a year and a couple months ago, where I sat and I could see the whole thing beginning to end and I knew we had a movie," he remarked. "It was like a three-legged stool. It's not a big movie, it featured three characters. Two legs of the stool, were these two gentlemen (Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart). I knew that already, so I had tremendous confidence. I knew each of them was up for it, I knew each of them would leap at it, I think both of them exceeded any expectations I had in the movie, in terms of the level of risk and boldness of their performances, but the mystery, the really terrifying thing getting into this film, was the question mark of the third leg of that stool."

Global Niche Search Returned A Keen Actor To The Team

X-23 Marvel

Needing to fill the role of Laura at short notice and with a very specific skill set, Mangold recalls that the process was hard to find the amount of people to compete for the role.

"I remember explaining to casting directors that I needed to find a Spanish-speaking, Latin heritage young woman between 10 and 12 years old who was excellent at tumbling and martial arts and who could also act up a storm at a moment's notice and shoulder a role that would be one of the three major roles in a tentpole film," the director said. "As you can imagine, a lot of names didn't come back in, meaning you say all that, there are very few people who pass through those filters."

Then footage from a mobile phone came through. And, given her family's background in the acting world, Mangold knew he had the right girl.

"One day, I was sitting in my office and this tape came over of a young woman named Dafne Keen and I remember showing it to each of these gentlemen. We looked at this tape and, I'll have to put it on the Blu-ray or something, but it's Dafne climbing around the bookshelves of her house and jumping on the floor and tumbling, and then, delivering scenes from the movie, all shot with her dad's iPhone. She was amazing in this tape. She comes from a family of actors, her mom is a Spanish actor and her dad is a British actor, and I think she has a great sense of what it is, but I also think she has a great sense of her very own. She was a remarkable find and I hope you'll agree when you see the film."

Logan opens in theaters March 3, 2017.

Source: MovieWeb

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