When Hugh Jackman said "Logan" is "a slightly different universe" from the rest of Fox's X-Men films, he apparently didn't mean an actual different universe.
RELATED: "Logan" is Set in a Different Universe From X-Men Films, Jackman Says
Director James Mangold suggested the actor's remarks were widely misinterpreted, clarifying on Twitter that "Logan" is set in 2029, five or six years after the epilogue of "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
@Voldemorgoth Don't think @RealHughJackman said that exactly. Simple fact. We take place in 2029, 5 yrs past anything depicted in XMEN film.— Mangold (@mang0ld) January 22, 2017
That's a reiteration of the filmmaker's earlier statements about the timeline. "My goal was real simple: it was to pick a time where I had enough elbow room that I was clear of existing entanglements," he said.
When it comes to the X-Men, either in comic books or in films, timelines and realities aren't straightforward things. The time traveling in 2014's "Days of Future Past" provided the franchise with a reset button, undoing not only some of the events of that movie but also of 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." Realities are even further complicated by the appearance of X-Men comic books within the world of "Logan," which are suggested as depicting sanitized accounts of the team's adventures.
RELATED: "Logan" is Rated R For "Strong Brutal Violence"
“Maybe a quarter of it happened, and not like this," Jackman's Logan says in the film's final trailer as he finds Laura's stash of comics. "In the real world, people die.”
In “Logan,” a weary Wolverine, whose healing factor is failing, cares for an ailing Professor Xavier in a hideout on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, pursued by dark forces.
Opening March 3, “Logan” stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal and Elizabeth Rodriguez.