Dr. Zander Rice (X-Men Movies)

"Please stop, Mr. Howlett. You gonna have to tell this bunch of file on these children. You don't want that. conceading the effect of serum. It will not survive for the wounded. Allow me to introduce myself. Zander Rice. I believe you knew my father in the weapon x program."

- Zander Rice first meeting Logan

"My goal was not to end mutant kind, but to control it. I realized, we needn't stop perfecting what we eat and drink, but we could use that as part of us to perfect ourselves. To distribute gene therapy discreetly through everything, from sweet drinks to breakfast cereals. And it worked. Random mutantcy went through the way of polio."

- Dr. Rice explaining his plans to Wolverine Dr. Zander Rice is the main antagonist of the 2017 Marvel superhero drama film, Logan. He is the head of Essex Corp., the leader and employer of The Reavers, and the one behind Project: Transigen. He is based on the character from Marvel Comics.

He was portrayed by the legendary actor, Richard E. Grant, who also played Barkis Bittern in Corpse Bride, and The Great Intelligence in Doctor Who and Vic Van Wrinkle in Horrid Henry: The Movie.

X-Men: Apocalypse
A younger Dr. Zander Rice is seen with glasses, entering The Alkali Facility and creating X-24.

Logan
His father, Dale Rice, originally founded Essex Corp. After he was killed by The Wolverine, his son, Zander took over the company. He signed a project, named "Project: Transigen", whose purpose was to capture and control the mutants.

He later hired on the ex-military mercenaries, the Reavers, led by Donald Pierce, as a private security force for his company.

He kidnapped mutant children, including The Wolverine's biological daughter, Laura Kinney or X-23. Some of the children who participated in the program have even been born in The Alkali Facility. However, Laura had betrayed him, and had tried to massacre the facility. Gabriela also helped many mutant kids, including Laura, to escape. A while after that, he decided to recapture Laura and program her to be the new Weapon X.

Using Caliban
"My name is Dr. Rice. But you can call me Zander if you like."

- Dr. Zander Rice introducing himself to Caliban.

Dr. Zander Rice sends Pierce and his men to recapture Laura, and kill whoever stands in his way, mostly The Wolverine. After the many failed attempts of capturing them, Rice decides to "bring new tools to bear". Using mutant tracker Caliban, Rice and the Reavers track Logan, Xavier and Laura to Will Munson's house. Dr. Rice sends X-24 to kill Charles Xavier and recover Laura. Zander's attack has caused the deaths of Will Munson and his family. Zander tried to get Caliban to control the mutants, however, instead, he took control of X-24, and caused him to kill a few of Zander's soldiers. Caliban then threw two grenades, and bombed Zander's van. Zander later returned to his base to plan a strategy while the Reavers took care of X-24 and Donald Pierce. He then receives reports from Pierce about the whereabouts of the mutant kids.

Final Battle
"You will not survive any further injuries.."

- Rice's last words to Wolverine, stating that his healing factors ended, moments before being shot

He and the Reavers later go to stop the mutants from crossing the border into Canada. Meanwhile, Dr. Rice and The Reavers chase after the mutant kids, almost managing to capture them all, until Logan enters the scene and starts tearing them down. Dr. Zander Rice reveals to Logan his plans to gain control of the mutants, and states that he does so in order continue the legacy of his father, and become rich. While speaking about his intentions to use the mutants and exploit their powers, an angered Logan kills him with a shot to the throat, killing.

Despite Rice's death, his vow to kill Logan came true when X-24 managed to fatally impale Logan on a fallen tree, though X-24 would later be shot to death by Laura in revenge for Logan's death.

Personality
Dr. Zander Rice is an incredibly exploitative and pitiless individual, who exploits mutants for money, and enslaves them in the name of his father. He enjoys hurting others, as he did on Caliban, when he and Donald Pierce have tortured him. Near the climax of the film, he admits he wants to enslave the mutant kids, and become rich by exploiting their powers and abilities.

Trivia

 * Like his father, Dr. Zander Rice was killed by Logan / The Wolverine.
 * Dr. Zander Rice is similar to Ajax from Deadpool:
 * Both are British evil scientists played by British actors.
 * Both are from an R-rated Marvel superhero movie.
 * Both love to torture the titular hero (The Wolverine and Deadpool.)
 * Both have strong accomplices (Donald Pierce and Angel Dust.)
 * Both get killed by the hero with a gun.
 * Both are highly intelligent, manipulative, calm and polite, but Pure Evil as well. Rice is far worse than Ajax though, as he conducted horrific experiments on small mutant children and attempted to kill said children, as well as unleashing X-24 onto an innocent family, as he watched callously as the entire family and Xavier were brutally slaughtered, before rounding up all the children just short of the Canadian border and threatening to kill them all before Logan.