While most would agree that Logan is a success and one of the comic book adaptation (CBA hereafter)* genre’s best entires, there’s room for discussion as to why so many have found it so compelling. In particular, some have tried comparing this film to one of the CBA genre’s other “best” films, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, going so far as to call it the “Dark Knight” of the Marvel adaptations.
This came up recently in our podcast discussion about Logan, with Elijah Davidson questioning if such a comparison should be made: Thematically The Dark Knight functions more as a socio-political commentary which demonstrates the inconsistencies and counter-intuitiveness of ends-justify-the-means justice, echoing the concerns of a fraught nation in the midst of a “War Against Terror.” Cinematically, The Dark Knight is an auteurist film featuring Nolan’s bland aesthetics, non-linear crosscutting, and abbreviated scenes. Logan, however, is a personal story about a man whose life has been so soaked in violence, he has, at this point, acquiesced to his fate of being a monster. Cinematically, the film evokes the (revisionist) Westerns from its blood orange horizon backdrops and the music in its fight scenes, but there’s nothing immediately distinctive about director James Mangold’s style. Are these films really comparable?
I think there’s something worthwhile in holding these adaptations up next to each other. Instead of comparing (and contrasting) them as stand-alone films, perhaps it would be more fruitful to compare them in terms of their style of adaptation. Doing this would help explain why people think of The Dark Knight when they experience Logan.
The Dark Knight has a dynamic relationship with its source material. To use Andrew Dudley’s terms, Nolan and crew both “borrow” from and “intersect” with the comics. Borrowing is a method of adaptation that seeks to capture the essence of the character and/or their story without confining itself to the source material. It allows filmmakers creative freedom to distance themselves from the source material for the sake of reaching a wider audience as well as tell a kind of story which resonates more deeply with the culture, hence, The Dark Knight’s noir/realist tone, its sociopolitical theme, and its title, which doesn’t immediately reference the comic book character. And when borrowing is done right, many “fans” will feel no difference between the cinematic iteration of their beloved icon and his or her comic form. Despite being a kevlar-wearing, tank-driving vigilante fighting those who seek to terrorize Gotham, Nolan’s Batman is still the Batman of D.C. comics’ former president Dennis O’Neil’s Bat-bible – Nolan’s Batman refuses to kill, seeks to hone his moral compass, is haunted by the murder of his parents, etc.
However, Nolan and screenwriter David Goyer don’t jettison the source material either. They also intersect with key story lines to touch on themes which they found necessary to adapt for the sake of good story-telling. For example, the alliance between Harvey, Gordon, and Batman make to defeat the mafia is a key component to the critically acclaimed Batman story, The Long Halloween. Intersecting with this source material allowed Nolan to build character arcs crucial to his film while pacifying comics fans with assured fidelity to the source material. The Dark Knight was a masterful adaptation, therefore, in the way it presents itself as an adaptation of superhero which both comic book fans and regular filmgoers alike can come together to appreciate an iconic character and experience a socially relevant story.
Similarly, Logan resists both the limitations of its source material and the conventions of the CBA genre of origin stories, simplistic moral arcs, and campy action. With no Stan Lee cameo, broad moral ambiguity, graphic violence, and the death of a main superhero character, Logan stands as one of the most transgressive, revisionist adaptations the genre has produced.
Still, as Hugh Jackman has suggested in interviews, the filmmakers sought to capture the essence of who Wolverine is, so they “borrow” from the Wolverine/Logan mythos, highlighting the character’s angst of being a literal walking weapon who feels unworthy of connecting meaningfully with others. With its R-rating, Logan is able to match the ferocity of Jackman’s performance with the berserker Wolverine violence fans are used to seeing in the comics. Logan also intersects with several comic book storylines, albeit more subtly: The promo poster of just Logan’s face visually echoes the aesthetic of Old Man Logan, and in the film Charles Xavier struggles with the guilt of a horrific act he committed in the past which Logan is guilty of in the comics. Even the title of the film hints at what source material is chiefly informing this adaptation. By borrowing and intersecting with the storyline of Old Man Logan, Mangold and crew can accentuate the existential, drama they know filmgoers of all kinds deserve, again, without estranging Wolverine’s fan base.
While many might not be aware of the particular creative decisions which underlie adaptation of comics to film, it seems to be something we can all “feel,” as evidenced by the way these films draw a diverse audience of casual and ardent superhero fans who find these stories speak to our communal struggles. Ergo the critical and popular acclaim both adaptions have received.
This is why I think people feel the need to reference The Dark Knight when reflecting on what makes Logan so great. After taking sometime to mull it over, I appreciate the affect Logan has on me more than what The Dark Knight offers: the latter intersects with our lives on the macro level with its socio-political freight, sometimes losing me in its dour gravitas; Logan is excruciatingly intimate while remaining just as epic. If anything, Logan will hopefully remind all filmmakers in the CBA genre that the character should never be eclipsed by their analogical potential.
Further Reading
A discussion of Nolan’s style from David Bordwell.
Comparisons to The Dark Knight from The Sun, Variety, and ComicBook.com.
Interviews with Hugh Jackman about Logan from Superhero News:
Hugh Jackman Talks Logan With Superhero News
Jerry Seinfeld Convinced Hugh Jackman to End Wolverine With Logan
* Superhero narratives haven’t been the only stories adapted from comic books to the big screen. In fact, non-superhero adaptations outnumber the superhero ones despite the frequency with which we see the latter in the multiplexes. There’s a growing opinion amongst film scholars that there is no such thing as “the superhero genre.” While the superhero adaptations have established the syntax of the comic book adaptation genre, the non-superhero narratives also play a role in shaping the genre, with adaptations like Sin City and The Spirit revolutionizing what it meant to adapt the comic book aesthetic. While meaningfully engaging the superhero adaptations doesn’t depend on being aware of all comic book adaptations, it certainly helps deepen the discussion.