Logan hits theaters this Friday March 3rd, and arguably no one is more excited to see Hugh Jackman in his final appearance as Wolverine than Los Angeles based cosplayer Lonstermash. He is the best, most versatile Wolverine cosplayer I have ever seen. He is also a friend and an all around awesome dude. So you can imagine his excitement when 20th Century Fox contacted him, and wanted to fly him to New York to interview not only Hugh Jackman, but also Sir Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook and Director James Mangold – and attend an early screening of the movie!
After the whirlwind trip, interviews and meeting the real Wolverine face to face, I had a chance to talk to Lonstermash about the whole experience. First, here is the interview with Hugh Jackman.
You can see the rest of the interviews with Sir Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook and James Mangold here on the Lonstermash Youtube Channel.
After watching the interviews, I was excited to talk to Lonstermash about his trip to New York. As a big Captain America cosplayer myself, I can only imagine what it would be like to sit down with Chris Evans. So I had to talk to him and get a feel for his excitement from the experience.
TMR: How long have you been cosplaying as Wolverine?
Lonstermash: I have been technically cosplaying as Wolverine for just over 4 years, but I first “took a stab” at dressing up as him on Halloween back in 2006, and then again in 2009. When I did it the second time on Halloween, I had more time to grow out my beard, and I added the dog tags and Indian head belt buckle. I used homemade foam board claws back then, as well as during my first few times actually cosplaying before upgrading to the good prop ones I use now.
Here are some of Lonstermash’s more traditional Wolverine looks. His makeup on some of these is intense!
TMR: How many different versions of Wolverine have you done? I like how you not only do movie/comic accurate costumes, but you also have some fun with it. Which is your favorite mashup costume?
Lonstsermash: Let’s see, I have a mixture of different undershirts, flannel shirts, bone claws, the army outfit, and Old Man Logan. Plus, I can vary it with my self-taught special effects makeup to give myself open wounds and gun shots. The wounds show my Adamantium laced skeleton and or muscle tissue, too. But, as you mentioned, I also have some fun mashups, including Batman’s WORST nightmare —– The Jokeverine, my Easter version (which I also used as a Roger Rabbit mash up) with bunny ears, a tail, and ACTUAL carrots as claws, my Jedi version with light saber claws, my “LOGON” mashup of Logan and Gaston (because Hugh Jackman also played Gaston many years ago on stage in Australia), and my Uncle Sam and Santa Claus versions (sometimes mistaken for Old Man Logan thanks to the white hair and beard). I will be publicly debuting my version from the upcoming movie at Wondercon. My favorite non traditional one has to be my Easter version, which I call “Logan Cottontail,” because it gives so many people smiles and laughter, and it shows off my wacky sense of humor. And I must say, it really was a damn creative idea on my part!! I love the Jedi one, too, but I can’t take credit for coming up with that concept, as I had seen an artist drawing of it about 2 years before I decided to bring it to life as a cosplay. A lot of people have recently seen the artist version and wondered if HE got the idea from me, funny enough.
I love Lonstermash’s sense of humor and some of these mashups are just hilarious.
TMR: Not only are your costumes spot on, but you obviously put a lot of time into working out to get that Wolverine-like body. What is your workout routine?
Lonstermash: I have been working out super hard and eating right since my mid teens. My workouts all these years (I’m 46 now) are basic weight training, core strengthening, and cardio for 5 to 6 days a week on the average, with each workout lasting about 2 hours. I also studied a lot of karate in my 30s, so I’m sure that added to my physique’s look. I eat 6 meals a day, generally.
TMR: How did 20th Century Fox find you? What did they tell you in their initial contact?
Lonstermash: 20th Century Fox found me via my fan page on Facebook! Just out of the blue I got a message from Fox 2 months ago asking how I would interview the cast of “Logan” and what questions I would ask each person. I replied, they liked my reply, and next thing I knew, I was being flown to New York City and put up in a great hotel to watch a screening and then do the interviews the next day!
TMR: Was this your first time meeting Hugh Jackman in person?
Lonstermash: Yes, this was my first time meeting him in person. I don’t think he had ever seen my work, but I had been constantly tagging him in my IG posts and tweets over the past 2 years.
TMR: How exciting was it not only meeting him finally, but getting to interview him?
Lonstermash: When Hugh first caught a glimpse of me as I stood in the doorway of his hotel room awaiting my turn to interview him, we smiled at each other and I waved my claws at him. I then heard him say, “Oh man—-look who’s on deck!” At that moment, as if I had any prior doubt, I knew this was going to be the COOLEST moment of my life, and it ended up being that. When I actually DID enter the room a few minutes later, he got right up from his chair, big smile on his face, shook my hand and continued to compliment me, as you see in the video. I’m there to interview HIM, and he’s complimenting ME before I can even ask him a a question!! It still seems surreal. I had heard from all the prior interviewers that day that he was just the nicest, most genuine, down to earth guy, as well. I had heard much of this about him over the years.. Let me tell you, words can not describe what a kind, humble, genuine person he was when I actually got my chance to speak to him. I was not allowed to discuss anything that could be viewed as a spoiler, but I did learn a really beautiful story about how he “lucked” into even getting the role as Logan in the first place, which is discussed during our conversation. And, for the record, EVERYONE else I interviewed that day (Patrick Stewart, James Mangold, and Boyd Holbrook) could not have been nicer to me. It really felt like they all were genuinely happy to be there and speaking to me as a friend, which says a lot, given how many interviewers were there!
TMR: Since you got to attend an early screening of Logan, could you give us a brief, spoiler-free review?
Lonstermash: Logan is unlike any comic book movie I’ve ever seen, as far as feeling more like a cool drama, with a lot of emotion, and not relying so much on super powers to make it exciting. It is VERY violent, hence the R-rating, but the violence is NOT gratuitous and is ALL VERY NECESSARY to the story. We finally see the Wolverine we have not seen in other movies. It has a very big family element to it, as well. I loved every minute and nearly cried when it was over.
You can find Lonstermash all over social media: