Logan (formerly Wolv3rine casting begins)

[Ambaryerno]

If Hugh Jackman's hanging up his claws permanently after W3, then here's the sort of basic plot I'd personally like to see in the film:

Xavier (cos we know Patrick Stewart's on board for this film) discovers that a secret lab is attempting to clone Logan using DNA samples gained from (why not) his time in the Weapon X program - as presumably seen in Apocalypse.

He and Logan head off to find this lab and end the experiments. Juxtaposed with this plot, you can have the successful cloning and training of Laura, before she and Wolverine ultimately face off against each other. Xavier takes the opportunity of the fight to enter Laura's mind and try to "rescue" her before Logan is forced to stop her the hard way!

You could incorporate the trigger scent into this, which would help to differentiate Laura from Logan (or at least, their motivations) and be a convenient plot point to explain why Laura would attack him.

Also, you could add in elements of the Target X storyline and have Laura escape and seek out her mother's relatives, with Kimura tailing her. Logan and Xavier show up and, following a trigger scent-inspired fight between him and Laura, they can team up to stop Kimura from killing the family (with help from Charles, seeing as Kimura's impervious to Adamantium).

There's a mind-link between Laura, Logan and Xavier at the climax where all of Laura's past is laid bare and Logan decides to head into the sunset and destroy any of his DNA samples he can find, to prevent anything like this happening again. He says that this is something he has to do alone.

He leaves Laura in Charles' care for both integration into the world and to try to mend her damaged psyche. There could be some poignant speech from Jackman about how Charles did this for him and so he knows that he is the right man to "fix" Laura...

That gives Jackman a decent (in my opinion) way to exit the franchise whilst simultaneously introducing and fleshing out his replacement, as well as her primary antagonist (Kimura). If they made it R-rated, they could go to town with all the trauma associated with Laura's childhood and training as well, which is a massive part of who she is (was) and why she was that way.

I'd personally pay good money to see a movie along those lines!

I had a similar idea along those lines, but borrowing elements of her introduction to Logan in Uncanny, pieces of Target X, and Not Forgotten, and hints at NYX. IE, Laura comes to Logan's and Xavier's attention when a notorious New York gangster and drug and sex trafficker Zebra Daddy is murdered with "parallel knife wounds." After discovering her identity during a brawl with Kimura while the two are investigating the killing, they learn the details of the project that created her from her belongings (including Sarah's illegible letter, which Beast is able to reconstruct). Logan catches her scent and realizes she followed him back to the school after their first encounter, so heads out alone to draw her into the open. She attacks him, but is able to talk her down from killing him and herself by revealing he knows what happened to her, and gives her the reconstructed letter so she can read her mother's words for herself. He asks her to come back to the school with him and promises to help her, but they're attacked by Kimura, who manages to subdue them both.

They're taken to a Facility installation, where Laura is tortured. Logan meets Adam Harkins, who positively geeks out over the capture of Weapon X. Logan manages to break free, however, kills Harkins, and rescues Laura from her cell. Laura insists that the base and any materials associated with them must be destroyed, to which he agrees. Harkins is killed during the rampage, and Kimura arms the guards with carbonadium rounds (introduce these in a scene earlier in the movie) and orders them to kill the pair. Laura and Logan are separated (or Laura sneaks away on her own), and Laura ends up confronted by Kimura. They fight and Laura is defeated, but not before explosives she and Logan set go off, forcing Kimura to flee. Laura is incapacitated, but Logan rescues her, and carries her out of the bunker before it goes up.

However he's pursued by the remnants of the base's security and is shot several times. He nonetheless manages to fight most of them off despite his wounds until Kimura arrives. She unloads a magazine of carbonadium into him before he finally goes down. Laura wakes up in time to see this, and charges her, but Kimura reloads and shoots her, as well. However before she can finish her off, Xavier arrives with the rest of the X-Men, having finally located them on Cerebro (have scenes after Logan's capture where they try to locate him and can't), and freezes Kimura in her tracks. He learns of her own past, and mentally orders her to finish off the remnants of the Facility, sending her on her way. Meanwhile, Laura crawls to Logan, who is being tended to by Hank, while the rest of the X-Men look on. Logan begs her not to give up on her own life, and promises that the X-Men can help her, before dying.

Laura is taken back to the school where her gunshot is tended by Beast until her healing abilities are able to kick in again, and is introduced to the students as Logan's daughter. Xavier discusses Logan with the rest of the X-Men, and the movie ends on a shot of Laura sitting in a classroom during a lecture (other students could be Rockslide, Mercury, Hellion, Pixie, etc.), while Hugh Jackman recites Xavier's "Mutation" monologue from the first film.

A major theme of the film could be Logan feeling out of place in the new timeline. He's been a soldier all his life, and in the piece achieved in this new future, now feels useless without a war to fight.

[MikaelNovasun]

I don't see them out right killing Logan. They may leave his exit/ending open to interpretation allowing a new actor to take over the role in a few years or room for Jackman to return if he wants another run as Logan.

[TooFlyToFail]

Just to remind people, as much as Laura debuting in this movie would be awesome (and we want this to happen), it's still a Logan centric solo; this isn't Mad Max (tho it'd be pretty cool), where he's there as the vehicle to help the actual main characters.

[Ambaryerno]

Just to remind people, as much as Laura debuting in this movie would be awesome (and we want this to happen), it's still a Logan centric solo; this isn't Mad Max (tho it'd be pretty cool), where he's there as the vehicle to help the actual main characters.

Mine could still play out where Logan and his relationships are the focus of the film (as I said, play on the theme of Logan feeling out of place in the new timeline), with X being the vehicle to explore them.

[Ambaryerno]

Stephen Merchant has been added. No information yet as to the role.

[Wolverine12]

Stephen Merchant has been added. No information yet as to the role.

I saw that, what an odd and interesting addition to this film.

[Ambaryerno]

I saw that, what an odd and interesting addition to this film.

The question is: Comic relief? Or will he be playing against type?

[Ambaryerno]

A new detail emerges on Merchant's character:

Apparently, he's going bald for the role.

[Wolverine12]

The question is: Comic relief? Or will he be playing against type?

I don't know what to hope for, he is really funny but I could see him pulling off creepy and sadistic also.

[Ambaryerno]

Eriq La Salle joins the cast. No details on who he will be playing.

[Ambaryerno]

And another one. Elise Neal has been added in an unspecified role.

At SOME point they have to start revealing who the heck these people are playing, right? :-P

[iByakuya]

I hope she's not Dr. Kinney lol. Anyway Shawn Madden from heroichollywood said there will be two major female characters in Wolverine 3. X-23 and any guess?

[Project Initiative Cascada]

I hope she's not Dr. Kinney lol. Anyway Shawn Madden from heroichollywood said there will be two major female characters in Wolverine 3. X-23 and any guess?

Hopefully Rogue and/or Yukio and Mariko!

[Ambaryerno]

I hope she's not Dr. Kinney lol. Anyway Shawn Madden from heroichollywood said there will be two major female characters in Wolverine 3. X-23 and any guess?

Got a link to that report?

And hmmm... If X-23 is indeed being introduced and the speculation that she will be taking over in the franchise is true, Kimura wouldn't be a bad choice to establish her rogues gallery.

[iByakuya]

Got a link to that report?

And hmmm... If X-23 is indeed being introduced and the speculation that she will be taking over in the franchise is true, Kimura wouldn't be a bad choice to establish her rogues gallery.

It's on Shawn's twitter I think.