The reason that I wanted to deconstruct this poster is because I think it subverts most other poster expectations by being incredibly vague but distinctly understandable at the same time. For starters, there is minimal text. Where some posters try to be reassuring with lines such as 'From the Director of...' or 'From the Studio that brought you...' this poster opts for a minimalist approach. The blurred institutional logos along the bottom are indistinctive but still present, suggesting a need to maintain a commercial image without being intrusive on the film. Logan's poster effectively promotes the film, since there is nothing to read but the title 'Logan' and the release date 'March 3' audiences are easily immersed in the two bits of key information (the title and the release date), giving them enough information. The colour of the typography is another crucial aspect of the film, with the blandness of the colour white adding an impactful balance to the dark gloom of the image, whilst the red of the release date provides an intrusive and dangerous warning, acting as both an invitation and a challenge.
It is heavily based on context, which is why it doesn't need to be as instantly forthcoming and informative. The focus on the claws makes it identifiable as a Wolverine movie, and the title Logan already hints that tonally it will be a very different film especially since it doesn't involve a titular reference to either the 'Wolverine' or the 'X-Men'. There has been a lot of coverage and attention drawn to how this movie is unlike any of its predecessors, and the poster here has tried to reflect this. The child's hand gripping Wolverine foreshadows how he becomes a mentor and protector to a younger mutant like himself, suggesting a more intimate and character driven story rather than the explosive blockbusters expected from the X-Men universe. Similarly the blood on his arm and claws reflects the older age certification that the film will be given (15 instead of a 12A like the rest of the franchise). What we are seeing here is a clear attempt to diverge from expectation and establish the individuality of this film, both in terms of the franchise but also in the wider scale of the superhero genre itself. The poster is neither heroic nor intense. The simplicity but emotional depth conveyed here is enough to express the focus on the characterisation of the globally recognised protagonist, which is also fitting since it is confirmed to be Jackman's last outing in the role. Therefore the poster appears as a conclusive and important departure from both our understanding of Wolverine as well as his portrayal on screen.
I absolutely love this poster. I have chosen to analyse this first one rather than the others that were released later on (shown below) because I think that its subtlety adds authenticity to the film as a character study rather than a franchise blockbuster. Themes like attachment and preservation are hinted at and the global awareness that this film will wrap up Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Logan adds both a sense of tragic farewell whilst also being a tribute.
The colour scheme of the above two posters (released later than the first) is intentionally designed to reflect the Western setting of this instalment. The sunset, orange glow and vast plains in the background pay tribute to Logan as being genre-subversive, taking on the conventions and tones of an old western, with inspiration credited to films such as 'Unforgiven' (the director has even confirmed the tonal similarities). With this in mind we can see how the differences in this poster are intended to hint at the visual style and tone of the film, whereas the first poster was drawing our focus to its themes. In the second version, the tagline 'His Time Has Come' is attached to the title, confirming the finality of this particular film. However the fact that this statement is absent from the other posters suggests that the film didn't need a heightened sense of drama because the promotional buildup was enough to justify the basic approach to the posters. Therefore it benefits from being nuanced.
This type of poster is very rare, and if the title character wasn't so well known the ambiguity might be too overwhelming and thus make the poster ineffective. I must admit that I love how the posters aren't insistent on showing us the Wolverine in that much detail because we all know who he is and so the focus has manifested to reflect the film rather than the character.
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