In the new Logan film – the third and final standalone Wolverine movie and Hugh Jackman's last appearance as the clawed X-Man – viewers will find the ageing hero in diminished form. Older, with a healing factor that can't keep up with the damage he takes any more, this near-future Logan exists at a time where mutants are on the verge of extinction.
Hope remains, though, in the form of Laura, a young girl with uncanny similarities to Logan himself – including a predilection towards savagery. If the former Wolverine can protect her from the murderous Reavers, a band of mutant-hating cyborgs, and train her to control her own worst impulses, the next generation of X-Men might just stand a chance.
However, Laura also happens to be one of the more confusing characters in Marvel's pantheon. While she's been streamlined for the film, she has multiple superheroic identities, a harrowing origin, and didn't originate in the comics. Here's everything you'll need to know about the future of the mutant species.
Who is Laura?
The movie doesn't give her a surname but in almost all other appearances she's Laura Kinney, aka X-23, a teenager with very similar powers to Logan and an even more traumatic origin. Her abilities include a healing factor capable of repairing her from almost any damage, enhanced senses allowing her to track people by scent and hear the faintest sound, and her claws.
Are there any differences?
Unlike Logan, Laura only has two claws on each of her hands. However, she has one retractable claw on each foot, which allows her to create new fighting styles based on these extra hidden weapons. Comics readers will frequently see her incorporate her foot blades into more elegant martial arts attacks, emphasising kicks and distant strikes, where Logan is more of a brawler.
Also, only Laura's claws are coated in unbreakable adamantium, rather than her entire skeletal structure. That makes her far more vulnerable than her father figure.
Finally, as part of her traumatic upbringing, Laura is vulnerable to a trigger scent – a custom pheromone co*cktail that drives her into a rage if she's exposed to it. The knowledge that a substance exists that could drive her to slaughter her friends is a major fear for Laura.
How is X-23 connected to Wolverine?
Laura is Logan's clone. She was created from a corrupted sample of Logan's DNA, with only the X chromosome salvageable, which (in comic book science) explains why she's female. While Logan was initially distant towards Laura, he comes to see her as his daughter.
Is that the same in the film?
Not quite. While some genetic manipulation is implied, she's outright stated to be Logan's daughter. His stolen genetic material was implanted into a surrogate mother by Transigen, a shady pharmaceutical company operating outside US government jursidiction in Mexico, in an effort to build a generation of corporate-owned super-soldiers.
But she's not from the comics?
Nope. X-23 first appeared in animated form, on X-Men Evolution. Her debut came in an eponymously titled season three episode first aired in the US in August 2003. In the episode, she infiltrated the X-Men's mansion, single-handedly defeated the entire team and tried to kill Wolverine. Created by geneticist Dr Deborah Risman, it's revealed that the then-nameless girl was the 23rd attempt to clone Logan, and the only successful result.
In the real world, X-23's creation is credited to Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, who were the writers on her debut episode. The writing duo would go on to translate her into the comics, following a positive reaction to the character on the TV show.
What changed in the comics?
Remember we mentioned a traumatic origin? Brace yourself.
Freed from the shackles of an animated series for mainstream television, Yost and Kyle gave the comics version of Laura a much darker backstory. Introduced to print in the pages of NYX #3 in 2004, a short-run series following homeless mutants on the streets of New York, readers met X-23 as a teen prostitute. At the time, her backstory was unknown – she was a near mute, emotionally dead figure who was working on the streets to get by.
After being freed from her pimp, she ends up working as a waitress – until she kills some mobsters attacking one of her few friends. The claw marks she leaves behind implicate Logan, who she attacks when he investigates. In a classic case of 'fight then team up', this leads to her joining the X-Men.
