Eriq La Salle and Elise Neal help wrap up Wolverine's journey in “Logan”

Ben Rothstein-© 2017 Marvel. TM and © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.(NEW YORK) — Bolstered by near unanimous positive reviews — and a “Certified Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score of 94% — Logan is now in theaters. The film is, by all measures, Hugh Jackman’s last stand as the titular hero, the razor-clawed X-Men character he first played in 2000. 

The film is being called the superhero film for those who don’t like superhero movies, and the R-rated action drama is also being compared to classic Westerns like Unforgiven and Shane. It has even been dubbed No Country for Old X-Men for its tonal similarity to the Coen Brothers’ austere, Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men.

Set in the future, Logan finds Jackman and Patrick Stewart playing aged versions of their characters, Logan and Professor Charles Xavier. Their mutant primes behind them, both are in hiding near the U.S. border with Mexico when a powerful young mutant played by Dafne Keen appears; she needs their help.

Along the way, these unlikely travelers are taken in by a kind family: ER veteran Eriq La Salle and Elise Neal play a husband and wife whose family adds a needed bit of normalcy to the comic characters.

“It’s just cool to be a part of this piece that sort of wraps up the original theme: which is mutants are fighting for equality, for love, for the basic stuff that people get to take for granted,” La Salle told ABC Radio before a red carpet event in New York City.   

Elise agrees, citing a dinner scene between the characters. “I love the fact that we have this quiet moment in such a lot of chaos…It’s awesome!”

When Logan sees what he’s been missing “first-hand,” La Salle explains, “I think it starts pulling on him in certain ways, and I think it sort of helps him make decisions as to how he wants to end his journey and his legacy.” 

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