James Mangold Pitched Logan As Little Miss Sunshine With Wolverine

Director James Mangold told Empire Magazine that he had a pretty unique pitch to the studio for the upcoming Logan.

"I said, 'I want to make Little Miss Sunshine with Logan, Charles Xavier, and X-23," he told the magazine. "'Trap these three superheroes in a van driving on a highway in the year 2029 and see what happens.'"

"The idea is to very much enjoy the interfacing of these characters that are usually up against presidents of the United States and villains from another planet or another time zone or time age and actually just have them dealing with gasoline dependence and convenience store clerks and bank tellers," he added. "To me, that's interesting, to suddenly plunge them into our world."

According to Hugh Jackman, the film takes on a "raw" and "gritty" tone while exploring the psyche of the aging Logan, who is struggling with the toll that being Wolverine has taken on his mind and his body.

"What's the collateral damage of being Wolverine for all those years?" he teased. "It sticks, it's a brand. If you're a weapon and you're killing for good or bad and everyone you've ever loved have died, what does that look like when he's older?"

Professor X has also aged considerably in the film, with Patrick Stewart losing more than 20 pounds so he could play a more fragile version of the character. Charles is also sporting hair in the trailer, a surprising departure from the character's signature bald look.

"The theory was that he originally lost all his hair because it's just too d–n busy [in his head] to grow hair," said Mangold. "The idea for me was, well, maybe there's a little fringe on there, because things are slowing down mentally."

In the interview, Mangold also talked about the relationship between Laura, better known as X-23, and Logan.

"Children have tempers and they have strength and they can be stubborn as hell and that Logan is finally confronted, for me the joy, I think it's part of the appeal when you see Laura arrive on the scene, is that for once he's confronted with a version of himself, just as belligerent, just as tough, and maybe even a little more agile and yet he needs to protect her," he said. "I think there's great joy in watching him confronted with the role of parenthood."

The R-rated Logan hits theaters on March 3. While we wait, check out how the cast should really look based on the comics and a few details you may have missed in the film's trailer.