The trailer and photos released for Logan so far have made it perfectly clear that this will be one of the darkest X-Men movies released yet, if not ranking at the top of the list. Taking place in the year 2024, the mutant population has significantly decreased, and things aren't that great for the survivors. Many of you already know about the troubles plaguing Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier in Logan, but take a look at the uncomfortable situation Caliban will find himself in at some point during the movie.
Empire Magazine (via X-Men Films) released this photo of Stephen Merchant's Caliban imprisoned in a cage in Logan. No information was provided about how Caliban ended up in that cell, but it's obvious he wants out bad. If I had to guess, I'd say that Caliban has been captured by Transigen, the mysterious organization that's reportedly experimenting on mutants in Logan. Its members include head of security Donald Pierce (played by Boyd Holbrook) and surgical head Zander Rice (played by Richard E. Grant), i.e. the third Wolverine spinoff's two primary villains.
Caliban was briefly spotted in the Logan trailer with his face covered (he sunburns easily, I suppose), and since then the official Instagram account has released other looks at Stephen Merchan as the mutant. However, few detail have been revealed about how he fits into the plot. Like his comic book counterpart, he'll have the ability to sense and track mutants, and in this movie, he'll help Wolverine take care of the mentally-unstable Professor X. It's unclear whether Caliban already knows Wolverine and Professor X before the movie or if they'll meet him once the story has progressed. If it's the latter, maybe Wolverine's the one who rescues him from his imprisonment above. Regardless, Caliban sounds like he'll be a valued ally to Logan's eponymous protagonist.
It's worth pointing out that the X-Men movie series hasn't been the greatest stickler of continuity, and Caliban is yet another example of that. Earlier this year, Caliban was played by Tómas Lemarquis in X-Men: Apocalypse, where he was seen in the 1980s working as a sinister underground broker who helped mutants relocate and provided coveted information for the right price. However, over four decades later, he hasn't aged a bit and is helping Wolverine take care of Professor X. What's up with that? Still, this wouldn't be the first time we've seen multiple versions of the same character, be it Jubilee, Psylocke, Blob or even Deadpool...okay, it was acceptable to ignore Wade Wilson's previous cinematic iteration. Anyway, given Stephen Merchant's comedy and acting chops, we're hopeful his version of Caliban will be something special.
You can see Caliban on the big screen when Logan arrives in theaters on March 3, 2017.
