Dr. Zander Rice (X-Men Movies)

"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 surgical head of Essex Corp, the leader and employer of The Reavers, and the one behind Project: Transigen. He is based on the character from the Marvel Comics.

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

Personality
A sophisticated sadist would be the best way to describe Dr. Zander Rice. He talks in a smooth, collected way almost all the time in order to make the person he is talking to believe that he is affable. While he does seem genuinely nice at times, he is also often arrogant, underestimating Wolverine's powers when he and Donald Pierce were torturing Caliban.

Rice is a sadistic and heartless monster that tortures and enslaves mutant kids for monetary gain, making their lives absolute nightmares in the process. Not only that, but Rice is also delusional, and sees what he does as less brutal than it truly is.

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 continued to work in the company. He signed a project, named "Project: Transigen", whose purpose was to capture and control mutantkind.

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

He bred mutant children by impregnating Mexican women with DNA taken from other mutants. Through this method, various mutants were born into the X-23 program, including the Wolverine's biological daughter, Laura Kinney. However, Laura had betrayed him and tried to massacre the facility. Gabriela, a nurse working for Transigen, also helped many mutant kids, including Laura, 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. Rice tried to get Caliban to control the mutants, however, Caliban took control of X-24 and caused him to kill a few of Rice's soldiers. Caliban then threw two grenades, and bombed Rice's van. Rice later returned to his base to plan a strategy while the Reavers took care of X-24 and Donald Pierce. He determines that X-24 has fulfilled the project's purpose and decides to kill all of the remaining mutant children. Rice then receives reports from Pierce about the whereabouts of the mutant kids.

Final Battle
"Random mutancy went the way of polio. We embarked on our endeavor (Logan: Growing mutants of your own) Precisely."

- Rice's last words to Logan/Wolverine 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 monologuing his intentions to use the mutants and exploit their powers, an angered Logan kills him with a shot to the throat.

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.

Trivia

 * Like his father, Dr. Zander Rice was killed by Logan / The Wolverine.