The story of Wolverine may have drawn to a close with the tragic, powerful conclusion to Logan, but it also served as an introduction to Laura, or X-23, played by Dafne Keen. Keen's first entry into the X-Men universe was a memorable one, as she routinely stole the film from Hugh Jackman who was giving his final performance as the clawed, feral mutant. Laura has proven so popular that fans have been begging to see more, and now director James Mangold tells THR that plans are underway.
Mangold revealed that they are "working on a script" that will follow Laura in some capacity. Whether this will be a story that brings back Keen, or ages the character up like in the comics is unclear. We don't even know if it will be set in the regular X-Men timeline or in the alternate one Logan was in. Producer Hutch Parker promises that Laura's story won't be a mirror image to Logan's, however...
“Yes, there are other facets of that character and some others potentially to explore in their own way. It may not be in the same exact tonality or with the same genre orientations as Logan, but I think part of what has been opened up in this universe to all of us now is, drawing on different genre traditions, there are new pathways to be opened for new characters that populate this universe.”
The timing is definitely right for another female-led superhero movie, and Mangold talks about the influence the success of Wonder Woman had in moving this project forward...
"Patty [Jenkins’] success with [Wonder Woman] only solidifies more for studios that there’s less to fear with a female protagonist.The more that keeps getting hit home, that ends up giving me more space turning around and going, ‘Well here we are with a female protagonist. That’s incredible. And what are we going to do with her?’ And that’s where we are with that [the Laura script] right now, dreaming.”
Fox finds themselves in a unique position with an X-23 movie. As they move the X-Men into different genres we could be seeing the first major teen superhero movie with a female protagonist, assuming they go in that direction.
