Logan Was the Super Bowl’s Best Commercial, Claws Down

I dig superheroes, but I’ve never been a huge X-Men guy. I never read the comics, and all the movies fall on a scale between “pretty good” and “meh.”

But after seeing the Super Bowl ad for Logan, I wonder whether star Hugh Jackman’s last turn as Wolverine might be his best. And while I’m no fan of R-rated superhero movies on principle, the ad made me want to see this one.

Granted, this year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials wasn’t exactly remarkable. I thought the Skittles ad was cute and the one featuring Adam Driver was kinda funny. And it’s hard to deny the simple pleasures of seeing Justin Timberlake and Christopher Walken share a screen. But for me, the Logan spot did what advertising’s supposed to do: Make you want to check out the actual product.

The haunting rendition of “Amazing Grace” makes this ad. It feels at once both bleak and beautiful, poignantly juxtaposed with the frenetic, violent images we see on screen. It hints that Logan’s gritty, gruff hero may find some overdue grace himself.

Wolverine’s been a tortured soul throughout his cinematic history. And how could he not? He’s special because he can recover from even the most horrific wounds and keep on fighting. (His mutation allowed someone from Logan’s murky past to coat his bones (including the claws that sprout out of Logan’s knuckles in times of need) in the mysterious metal adamantium, making him even more intimidating.)

But while Wolverine is nigh invulnerable, he’s not immune to pain. In the first X-Men movie back in 2000, Rogue (Anna Paquin) asks Logan if his claws hurt when they come out.

“Every time,” he says.

Logan has always been something of a kick-butt martyr–a reluctant hero who suffers for us. Who, on some level, dies for us. But he’s no Messiah: He’s flawed. Deeply scarred. When I watch Jackman’s depiction of Wolverine, I see a superhero who feels unwilling, or unworthy, to experience love or happiness. He’s the forever loner, unwilling or unable to make real connection with anyone. He reminds me of the Robert de Niro character in the great film The Mission: a man perpetually doing penance.

But in the trailer for Logan, we see hints of hope. He’s not just fighting and bleeding and dying for humanity, as heroes do. It seems like he’s protecting a little girl, someone who needs him. Someone special to him. Someone that, maybe, he loves.

I’m contractually obligated to tell you how this story, if it unfurls like the trailers suggest, contain a little echo of Jesus. Like Wolverine, He suffered to save the world. But more critically like Logan here, He suffered for us–not us collectively, but us individually. He knew us already, and He loved us.

But more than that, the Logan trailer suggests a hopeful end for one of superherodom’s most cynical heroes.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see.

Wolverine has been lost for a long time. He’s been blind to what life’s really about: Connection. Involvement. Risking everything to love someone else. He feels the foolishness of God.

Christianity is a religion of paradox, and perhaps we see hints of another one here. On a practical, empirical level, Wolverine doesn’t need saving. He’s the guy who saves.

But here, this age-old, multi-movie narrative feels different. Logan’s saving someone special this time. And maybe, the trailer hints, the act of saving and sacrificing for her may just lead to him being saved in turn.