As of March 3rd, 2017, fans around the world were graced with Logan, the final film to ever feature actor Hugh Jackman in his role as X-Men Hero/Mutant Slap-Chop Wolverine. This film marked the end of Jackman's 17 year streak portraying the rage-filled Canadian mutant, and many fans are now at a loss with dealing with the potential filling of a role that Jackman has made iconic, and in many ways, his own. With this curtain call, fans are also hitting the realization that the Marvel Cinematic Universe that started in 2008 with Iron Man will also be having its curtain call in the coming years with the Infinity Gauntlet storyline wrapping everything together. So the question that fans face now is how do we say goodbye to something that has kept us entertained for over a decade? How do we say goodbye to actors who we will always recognize for their roles in the Marvel Universe? And how do we deal with the lingering possibilities of the dreaded reboot?

While there will ultimately be many to tell fans that we just need to "get over it," or, "they're just movies, move on," these roles have been filled by actors and actresses who have revolutionized super-hero films forever. Robert Downey Junior will now always be Tony Stark, Christ Pratt will always be Star-Lord, Scarlett Johansson will always be known as Black Widow, etc. We have sat through hours and hours of cinematic story telling, watching the films unfold and learning and loving these characters. Fans have sat through so many credit reels that we now have been trained to wait until the credits are over just to see if there's an after-credits scene at the end, regardless if the movie is a Marvel film or otherwise (I recently did this while in the theater for Kong: Skull Island. There WAS an extra scene). Our fear of losing these characters is very real, and it's happening sooner than we'd like.

This is not to say that there will be no more Marvel films. Netflix is still ramping up to its eventual Defenders run, and Fox still has several X-Men projects in their lineup, and we still have several recently introduced Avengers who will probably take the place of the current roster. Marvel will still be the powerhouse that it has been for years, and superhero films will more than likely stick around for a while. DC is still trying to play catch up, so we still have their efforts to look forward to as well.

In order to say goodbye, fans need to start acknowledging that the films we know will be ending. Actors will end their contracts and go on to be in other performances, and we'll get to see them in many other capacities. Yet they will always be in our minds as these iconic heroes. Hugh Jackman will always be Wolverine. Robert Downey Junior IS Iron Man. That will never change in our minds, even if the roles are re-cast. But it is time to start preparing for the end of the first act. There are plenty of stories to tell, and fans will still flock to see them.

In terms of reboots, movies will be hit and miss. X-Men have recently rebooted with different casting, and seem to do well in theaters. The Avengers films will more than likely continue with the second string cast, and they may even be better than the originals. Marvel knows (for the most part) what they're doing. So while there will always be some kind of reboot, the fans will either love it or hate it. That's just the way it goes.

If you've stuck around for all the end credits scenes and haven't already, go see Logan. Go see the films that have brought you joy for almost a decade, and have brought these wonderful characters to the silver screen in the best way possible. Look for the Stan Lee cameo, and keep marking release dates on your calendar. But start preparing yourself for the eventual goodbyes. Logan will be the first of these films to make the realization hit, and it will be far from the last. So prepare yourselves, true believers. Your emotions are going to be in for a wild ride.