As Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Wolverine gets nearer and nearer, it seems ever more likely that we’d be getting an “Old Man Logan” story this time around. Jackman set the world on fire last July during San Diego Comic Con when he teased the world when he said “I got three words for you guys: Old Man Logan.”

However, this could just meant that Wolverine would be older this time around, and may have nothing to do with the comic book from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. After all, that story has several characters owned by Marvel, and there’s no way that the story would work without that, right? Not quite. In an interview with IGN, Mark Millar states that the story without the Marvel characters will “totally work” and that the actual characters outside of Logan don’t really matter.

“They’re not important to the story. The way I worked that thing is I actually structured it as, I broke it down mechanically–I figured out going from this part of America to that part of America and what he would encounter along the way, and then I added in the adversities later. Basically Wolverine doing The Road movie is the important thing and he has a friend [a now-blind Hawkeye] withhim. But that friend could be Cyclops and he could be blind by the fact that his ruby-quartz visor is broken and he has to keep his eyes closed the whole time and everything, but still insists on driving the car they’re crossing America with. There’s lots of stuff. Instead of the Hulk, you could have the Blob or something.”

This may sound like straight-up blasphemy to comic book fans, but once we step back and take a look at it objectively, Millar is absolutely right. So long as the characters fit their role, all that matters is our lead character’s journey.

“Honestly, the continuity stuff is the most boring side of it. I kind of like it, keeping it in the ‘X-Men’ universe a little, too, because comic fans are different from the mainstream world. I know this stuff backwards because I’ve lived my whole life loving this stuff, but most people don’t know all the minutia and everything so I think keeping it simplified and keeping it generally ‘X-Men’ universe is a smarter thing to do.”

Of course, Millar knows what the next “Wolverine” film is going to be about at this point, but he couldn’t confirm whether or not it would be the next film, which is unfortunate. All the same, the man seems perfectly content to play along with all the speculation.

For those unfamiliar to the “Old Man Logan” story, the official synopsis is as follows:

“Nobody knows what happened on the night the heroes fell. All we know is that they disappeared and evil triumphed and the bad guys have been calling the shots ever since. What happened to Wolverine is the biggest mystery of all. For 50 years, no one has heard hide nor hair from him…and in his place stands an old man called Logan. A man concerned only about his family. A man pushed to the brink by the HULK GANG. A man forced to help an old friend–the blind archer, HAWKEYE–drive three thousand miles to secure his family’s safety. Get ready for the ride of your life, Logan.”

It’s a great story, and it’ll give you a completely different (and disturbing) perspective on the Hulk.

So what do you think? Do you think Fox will take a leap of faith and follow through with “Old Man Logan” for “Wolverine 3?” Let us know your thoughts down below!

SOURCES: IGN, Amazon