Wolverine (character): Difference between revisions
Odin's Beard (talk | contribs) |
RV: Wolverine cannot regenerate his entire body. It was a SHIELD LIFE MODEL DECOY. Read the next issue. Don't be a retard. |
||
| Line 253: | Line 253: | ||
==Powers and abilities== |
==Powers and abilities== |
||
[[Image:wolb.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Wolverine's recovered from a skeleton, from ''Wolverine'' #43]] |
|||
:''See also: [[healing factor]]'' |
:''See also: [[healing factor]]'' |
||
Revision as of 22:04, 8 July 2006
| Wolverine | |
|---|---|
| File:Wolverine (comics).PNG | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Incredible Hulk #180-181 (October-November 1974) |
| Created by | Len Wein, John Romita, Sr., Herb Trimpe |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Logan (born James Howlett) |
| Team affiliations | X-Men, X-Treme Sanctions Executive, Avengers, Those Against the Superhuman Registration Act, Secret Defenders, Four Horsemen, Alpha Flight, Weapon X, Department H, Team X, Central Intelligence Agency, HYDRA, S.H.I.E.L.D. |
| Notable aliases | Death, Patch, Weapon X, Agent Ten |
| Abilities | Regenerative healing factor, Retarded aging, Retractable claws, Adamantium-laced skeleton and claws, Superhumanly acute senses, Superhuman strength, stamina, agility, and reaction time |
.PNG){kind=link}
Wolverine, born James Howlett and often simply called Logan, is a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the X-Men. He first fully appeared in Incredible Hulk #181 (October 1974).
He has since become one of Marvel’s most popular and marketed characters. His willingness to use deadly force, efforts to come to terms with his questionable past and angst-filled inner conflicts, and gruff personality have become standard for comic book anti-heroes. He has become one of the most recognizable superheroes introduced in the Modern Age of Comic Books.
A mutant, Wolverine possesses animal-keen senses and reflexes, razor-sharp claws, and a healing factor that allows him to recover almost instantaneously from virtually any wound. The supersoldier program Weapon X bonded the unbreakable metal alloy Adamantium to his skeleton, making it unbreakable. He is also a master of hand-to-hand combat.
Wolverine joined the X-Men as part of a new roster, introduced in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). The X-Men became a sales sensation and Wolverine became the most popular and iconic member of the group. He has been featured in his own solo comic since 1988. He has also been a central character in every X-Men animated television series and video game adaptation, and is one of the main characters of the live action 20th Century Fox film series, where he is played by Hugh Jackman.
Wolverine was created by writer Len Wein and artist John Romita Sr. with some influence by Incredible Hulk illustrator Herb Trimpe, although Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne did much to develop him into the character he is today. Frank Miller, artist and co-writer of the first Wolverine mini-series, established some important nuances, such as the catch phrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice."
Publication history
Wolverine made his first appearance in the final "teaser" panel of The Incredible Hulk #180 (published in June 1974 though cover dated October 1974) written by Len Wein and illustrated by penciller Herb Trimpe and inker Jack Abel. The character then appeared in a number of comic book advertisements that ran through various Marvel Comics publications in early July 1974 (cover date: Nov. 1974) before making his first full appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 (cover date: Nov. 1974) which was again written by Wein and illustrated by Trimpe and Abel.
His yellow-and-blue spandex costume was designed by John Romita, Sr. Initially, Wolverine's claws were drawn as attachments to his costume and not naturally coming out of his forearms as they did in later appearances. His introduction left an ambiguous impression, revealing little more than that he was an agent of the Canadian government with superhuman powers. The basic facts about the character had yet to be established.
Wolverine next appeared in 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1 (written by Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum), in which Wolverine joined The X-Men. Gil Kane, who drew the cover of the comic, accidentally drew Wolverine's mask wrong, with larger headpieces. Dave Cockrum liked Kane's alteration (believing it to be similar to Batman's mask) and decided to incorporate it into his own artwork for the actual story.
This was followed by a revival of the X-Men series beginning with #94 (August 1975), drawn by Cockrum and written by Chris Claremont. Wolverine was initially overshadowed by the other characters, although Claremont and Cockrum did introduce a subplot involving Wolverine having a crush on Jean Grey, the girlfriend of the team's leader, Cyclops. This caused tension within the team dynamic, especially as Cyclops was written as a more cautious character than he had been previously, which allowed another avenue for writers to develop tension. Cockrum was also the first artist to draw Wolverine without his mask, in the process designing the distinctive hairstyle which would become a trademark of the character. As the series progressed Claremont and Cockrum considered dropping Wolverine from the X-Men series.
However, artist John Byrne, Cockrum's successor on The Uncanny X-Men, championed the character, later explaining that as a Canadian himself, he did not want to see a Canadian character dropped. Byrne subsequently created Alpha Flight, a group of Canadian superheroes who tried to recapture Wolverine due to the expense the Canadian government incurred in training him. Wolverine's murky past was gradually established, as was his unstable nature, which he battled to keep in check. Byrne also designed a new brown-and-tan costume for Wolverine, while retaining the distinctive Cockrum-designed cowl.
Following Byrne's departure, Wolverine remained with the X-Men. His growing popularity led to his starring in a solo, four-issue limited series, Wolverine by Claremont and Frank Miller, (Sept.-Dec. 1982), followed by the six-issue Kitty Pryde and Wolverine by Claremont and Al Milgrom (Nov. 1984 - April 1985). The success of these books prompted Marvel to launch an ongoing solo book, written by Claremont with art by John Buscema, in November 1988. The series was later taken over by writer Larry Hama, who had an extensive run on the series.
In addition to this Wolverine series and his appearances in the various X-Men series, two other limited series gradually expanded upon the character's past: Weapon X, by writer-artist Barry Windsor-Smith, which was serialized in Marvel Comics Presents #72-84 (1991; not to be confused with several other Wolverine stories in Marvel Comics Presents); and Origin, a six-issue limited series by co-writers Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, and Bill Jemas, and artist Andy Kubert (Nov. 2001 - July 2002). Wolverine has now received a new solo series, Wolverine: Origins, running concurrently with his existing solo series.
Character history
Early life
Wolverine's early life has been revealed gradually over time. The story of Wolverine's childhood was told in the limited series Origin.
 |
He was born James Howlett, the son of wealthy Canadians John and Elizabeth Howlett in 19th century Alberta. As he was a sickly youth, his father hired a girl named Rose to take care of him. They met a third youth in the estate whose name was not specified, but was often referred to as "Dog", who would later become James' bitter enemy.
Elizabeth's first son was believed to have been born with the same claws as her second son James, but he died in an unspecified tragedy prior to the story's beginning. This traumatic experience caused Elizabeth to go insane and be committed to an asylum for some time. It is revealed that she had an affair with the groundskeeper of the Howlett estate, Thomas Logan, a man who looks exactly like the adult Wolverine. Years passed and she eventually gave birth to James Howlett.
Thomas Logan's son, Dog Logan, attacked Rose, leading John Howlett to reprimand Thomas Logan. After Dog murdered James's puppy Callie, Thomas was dismissed from the estate, but the father and son broke into the Howlett estate to abduct Thomas' beloved Elizabeth. Here Thomas Logan killed John Howlett. James' mutant powers, particularly his claws, emerged when he discovered his dead father and the murderer. With his new powers, James killed Thomas Logan and scarred Dog. Elizabeth chose to commit suicide, having lost her husband and lover and discovering her second son was also a mutant.
James's grandfather blamed him for these events and sent James and Rose into exile. They made their way to a British Columbia mining colony, where James grew into a strong and ferocious worker. He also adopted the name Logan (originally given to him by Rose in an attempt to hide James' true identity) and acquired the nickname of Wolverine.
Years later Dog, who by now strongly resembled the adult Wolverine's adversary Sabretooth, tracked him down. Forced to remember his painful childhood, Logan fought Dog savagely. Logan had gained the upper hand in the fight but as Rose attempted to prevent the killing of Dog, she was accidentally impaled by Logan's claws. Wracked with grief over the death of his first love, Logan's mind reverted into a more animal-type of nature and spent more time in the woods with wolves where he felt more at home.
Early years
Apparently, Wolverine returned to civilization sometime later, as he met Nick Fury, Captain America, and a young Black Widow fighting the Nazis in Madripoor and Europe during World War II. Afterward, he joined the Canadian Army and participated in D-Day, as well as the liberation of the Netherlands. He may have also been a spy for the allies and it was recently revealed that he may have spent time in the Sobibor concentration camp.
Wolverine has strong memories of loving the Native American woman, Silver Fox, and living with her in a cabin before they were recruited into Team X, but whether or not these memories were true would tantalize him for a long time before he finally learned the truth. On his birthday, Sabretooth, who lived in the same town that Wolverine lived in, apparently killed Silver Fox.
Years later, Logan resurfaced as a federal agent. During the 1960s, he was placed on a government Black Ops team with Sabretooth, Maverick, Kestrel, Mastodon, and Silver Fox. Team X was apparently disbanded after a botched mission concerning Omega Red.
Weapon X
Barry Windsor-Smith created a backstory for Wolverine in Marvel Comics Presents. Taking place prior to his first appearance, Logan was revealed to be a man wandering, aware that something would soon occur to change his life as a drifter. At a bar, men appeared and drugged him, so they could take him to the Weapon X facility in Canada. There, a mysterious man commanded the enigmatic Professor to reinforce Wolverine's skeleton with Adamantium. The Professor, and his assistants Dr. Cornelius and Ms. Hines, complied with the man's orders.
Brainwashed, (like many of Weapon X's projects, into a killing machine) Logan suddenly extended his Adamantium covered claws for the first time. He escaped the facility after killing nearly everyone there. He fled into the wild, and was later found by James and Heather Hudson.
First appearance
Wolverine made his first appearance as a shadow in one of the last pages of The Incredible Hulk #180. He was a super-agent of Canada's Department H, which the Hudsons worked for, and was dispatched to halt the destruction caused by The Incredible Hulk and the Wendigo, who were locked in a savage fight. His speed and maneuverability proved to be a match for the two plodding powerhouses, and he managed to take out the Wendigo after Hulk gained the upper hand, throwing the Wendigo into a patch of trees. The Hulk and Wolverine kept on fighting, with the Hulk emerging victorious. Hulk abandoned the unconscious Wolverine, unaware of his healing factor. The defeated Wolverine returned to Department H.
X-Men
Professor X later recruited Wolverine to join a new team of the X-Men. Over the following years, Wolverine frequently clashed with the X-Men's leader Cyclops. Given to berserker rages in combat, he slowly learned to control his feral instincts. However, Wolverine also established himself quickly as the X-Man most willing to permanently deal with their adversaries.
James Hudson, as Guardian, eventually sought Wolverine out to return him to Department H, but was defeated. He later returned as the leader of Canada's first superhero team Alpha Flight, whose first mission was to capture Wolverine. They were again defeated, but Wolverine eventually was able to make peace with Hudson and Alpha Flight.
Chris Claremont and other writers have added layers of complexity to the character over time. For instance, it was revealed that Wolverine can read and speak Japanese and that he has a strong sense of personal honor. Wolverine has also developed a close friendship with his teammate Nightcrawler, a character whose personality seems written to diametrically oppose Wolverine's.
Romantically interested in Jean Grey, but unable to pursue his attraction, Wolverine later fell in love with and became engaged to Lady Mariko Yashida, heir to an extremely powerful Yakuza family in Tokyo. Wolverine revealed that he was able to fluently speak Japanese, surprising her with the contrast to his often savage exterior. Wolverine later traveled to Japan to confront his ex-mentor, Ogun, along with Kitty Pryde. Years before, Ogun was defeated in combat, and ever since, his malicious spirit has had to find host bodies. Ogun captured Kitty, and Logan used his training to help her overcome his evil, forcing him from her body. Afterwards, Logan and Kitty became very close friends, with her as a near-foster daughter to him.
In his first solo (limited) series, written by Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller, Wolverine was forced to kill Mariko's father in a duel. Mariko and Wolverine decided to marry, but the happiness was short lived as they became estranged due to the honor customs of her family, assassination plots by Viper, the Silver Samurai, and manipulations by the villain Mastermind.
In a fight between the X-Men and a giant dragon over Tokyo, a mother was killed in the aftermath. Wolverine took it upon himself to watch over the girl, Amiko, who to this day Logan tries to visit, although she is currently under the care of his close friend and sometimes lover Yukio.
When the X-Men temporarily relocated to the Australian Outback, Wolverine took the runaway mutant Jubilee under his wing, after she saved his life from an attack by Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers. She eventually became like a daughter to him, much like Kitty before. Wolverine also spent a lot of time in the seedy areas of Madripoor, under the false identity of 'Patch'.
While based in Australia, a man would ask Wolverine to go to the Savage Land, where he encountered a tribe of humans. Arriving in a lightweight plane, the tribe believed him a god, with the exception of Gahck, the tribe's female chieftain. Gahck challenged Wolverine to combat, and once it was established that he wasn't a god, he offered to help their hunting parties. Logan subsequently started a relationship with Gahck . When members of the tribe were captured, Wolverine discovered that a robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex would attack the tribe and take their members to a secret base. Wolverine discovered that experiments were performed on the tribe members by Apocalypse, and after freeing himself and the captured Gahck, he battled Apocalypse, though it turned out to be a robot. In the Apocalypse robot's lab, Logan learned that Apocalypse was the man who had told him to journey to the Savage Land. Wolverine then left, not realizing that he had fathered a son with Gahck named Erista.
After the X-Men returned to America, Wolverine finally returned to the Weapon X base in Canada. There, he inadvertantly activated the Shiva program, which was designed to kill rogue Weapon X graduates. Wolverine also became much darker, as he learned many of his memories were implants.
Wolverine then finally reunited with Mariko, who had refused to reconcile her love with Logan until her clan was cleansed of all illegal activities. However, almost immediately after they were reunited, she was promptly poisoned by a Yakuza assassin working for Matsuo, a business man who bore a great grudge against Wolverine. Mariko asked Wolverine to end her life quickly rather than let her die a slow and painful death from the toxin. Wolverine reluctantly complied. This changed Wolverine's character significantly, making him even more disciplined and emotionally distant. Wolverine then vowed to Matsuo that every birthday he would pay him a visit, and slice off a body part until there was nothing of him left.
Shortly after Mariko's death, he rejoined his former Team X members Silver Fox, Sabretooth, Maverick, John Wraith, and Mastodon, with Jubilee, and Hines of the Weapon X Program, in hunting down Aldo Ferro a.k.a Vole, a powerful psi-talent who brainwashed many of them for Weapon X. Wolverine was shocked to learn that Silver Fox was still alive. To his surprise, Silver Fox despised him for something she believed he had done. She was subsequently killed by Sabretooth, who was controlled by Ferro, before Wolverine could figure out what she believed he had done. Ferro himself died soon afterward.
Wolverine suffered a mental breakdown which stemmed from the deaths of Mariko and Silver Fox and Weapon X's mental tampering. Thinking he was on a prior Team X mission to assassinate a "Terry Adams", Wolverine broke into a Russian space program facility. There he encountered Epsilon Red, a genetically-engineered cosmonaut with powerful psychic abilities. Red, who was the "Terry Adams" Wolverine had once been sent to assassinate, broke down many of the mental blocks in Wolverine's mind in return for some assistance in breaking free from the facility. Now with a greater knowledge of which memories were true and which were false, Wolverine was finally able to pick up the pieces of his shattered life.
This happiness was short, for at the end of the Fatal Attractions crossover, the Adamantium in Wolverine's skeleton was forcibly removed by the X-Men's most dangerous enemy, Magneto. The act inflicted injuries to Wolverine's body that were so devastating that his mutant healing factor burned itself out in order to keep him alive. In fact, most of Wolverine's other natural abilities including his enhanced strength, stamina, agility, and reflexes were burned out along with his accelerated healing powers.
Unwilling to accept his severely weakened state, Wolverine began a training session in the Danger Room. In a fit of rage and frustration, he shocked his teammates by extruding his claws, which were now bone. It was now clear that Wolverine's claws, like the rest of his skeleton, had been coated with adamantium by the Weapon X project and were a natural part of his mutation, rather than implants. Furthermore, each time he extruded them, they had forcibly pierced their way through the skin of his hands. Due to his severely weakened healing factor, Wolverine was now unable to extrude his claws without severe tissue damage and blood loss, which would force him to wear heavy bandages on his hands and forearms. Feeling useless, Logan set off on a series of solo adventures.
During these adventures, he encountered some of his past enemies, such as the steel skinned Cyber, the Reaver Cylla, the vampiric Bloodscream, and MacLeish, a vengeful assassin Wolverine encountered before his claws and skeleton were bonded with adamantium. While travelling alone, Wolverine stopped for a training session with Generation X, re-encountered his Weapon X ally Maverick, and his X-Men teammate Gambit, who told him to return to the X-Men soon, to settle up with Sabretooth, who was at the mansion to be cured of his bloodlust, but was a problem to the team. Wolverine finally returned, and defeated his archenemy in a battle when the X-Men were gone. The battle ended with Wolverine puncturing Sabretooth's brain, which took a long time to heal.
Modern adventures
Some time later, a maniac named Genesis, kidnapped Wolverine and attempted to re-bond Adamantium to his skeleton. This was unsuccessful and Wolverine discovered that his mutant powers had increased from what they had been beforehand. Wolverine's healing factor had constantly been forced to counteract the toxicity of the Adamantium, decreasing the speed in which he could heal from other injuries. The side effect of his sudden enhanced abilities was that he became even more feral. In his rage, Wolverine murdered Genesis. Wolverine, with the help of Elektra and Stick, was able to regain his humanity and reverse the bulk of his feral regression. It was rumored that Wolverine and Elektra had a short-lived romance.
Continuing to exist without the benefit of the Adamantium, Wolverine was kidnapped by the villain Apocalypse. Apocalypse set up a contest between Wolverine and an Adamantium-bonded Sabretooth to determine who would become the new leader of the Four Horsemen.
Although he knew it would mean being brainwashed and turned against his friends, Wolverine emerged victorious, brutally injuring Sabretooth, on the supposition that Sabretooth would enjoy being set loose as a killing machine, but he himself might be able to fight it. As a prize for victory, Apocalypse had the Adamantium stripped from Sabretooth and bonded to Wolverine's skeleton once more.
Wolverine became the Horsemen Death, hidden behind a scarf while doing battle with the X-men. Wolverine continued to fight the brainwashing, but it was Jubilee who was able to coax him back to his normal self.
Wolverine was then recaptured by a restarted Weapon X program under the leadership of Director Malcolm Colcord, a soldier Wolverine disfigured when he escaped from the original Weapon X facility. It was revealed that the mental implants installed by the original program were still functional, for the Colcord used Wolverine to track down and eliminate the old members of the program. However, it would seem that during his assassination of Senator Drexel Walsh, the previous director, Wolverine's mental implants were finally destroyed due the stress of the situation.
Grant Morrison's run as writer of the "X-Men" title (temporarily renamed "New X-Men" during Morrison's tenure) also brought revelations about Wolverine's murky life story: The "X" in "Weapon X" was a Roman numeral, making Wolverine "Weapon Ten" in a sequence of living super-weapons that began with Isaiah Bradley (Weapon 0) and Captain America (Weapon I). The Weapon X program that experimented on Wolverine was in fact spun off from a larger "Weapon Plus" program, leading Wolverine to join Cyclops and the mysterious Fantomex (himself Weapon XIII) on a mission to bring down Weapon Plus and discover Wolverine's true identity. During the assault on Weapon Plus, the three heroes fought against the latest creation of the program: Ultimaton (Weapon XV).
Wolverine then gained access to the Weapon X files that describe his genesis, though he does this largely off-panel and it is not clear to the reader precisely what he learns. What is known is that he was intended to be a kind of Sentinel to hunt down mutants and that he had been forced to exterminate the populace of the small Island colony of Roanoke as a test of his abilities. This revelation led Wolverine to believe he was a monster and that his only purpose was to kill, but Jean Grey was able to persuade him out of this mentality.
Despite Jean's death at the hands of a Magneto imposter in the Planet X story arc of Morrison's X-Men run, Wolverine did not leave the X-Men, though he considers the affair between Cyclops and Emma Frost to be an insult to Jean's memory.
Recent Adventures
Wolverine encountered several illegal activities such as kidnapping women, smuggling illegal immigrants, and the mysterious Native, who had apparently undergone Weapon X enhancements like Logan, but escaped. After Sabretooth killed the Native, who had problems controlling her feral nature, Wolverine has been brainwashed into becoming an agent for HYDRA. He murdered several heroes so HYDRA could resurrect them as their own agents. Among the murdered heroes are Elektra and Northstar. Wolverine was able to overcome their conditioning with the help of SHIELD. In return, Wolverine became a temporary SHIELD agent in order to help put a stop to HYDRA's plans.
Wolverine was then recruited by the Avengers, for he was willing to cross the lines they refused to cross.
At the conclusion of Marvel's 2005 company crossover House of M, Wolverine's memories were completely restored. This caused a large amount of panic for some of the major powers and governments across the Marvel universe, not only because of their involvement in Wolverine's life, but also because of the knowledge Logan had recovered. The United States and Canada purged their records of any trace of Wolverine and Weapon X in anticipation of Wolverine's revenge.
Wolverine unnerved many high level officials, including those of SHIELD, by his sporadic movements in and out of the grid, with the tensions mounting in what seemed to be Wolverine's attempted assassination of the Prime Minister of Japan.
Eventually it was revealed that Wolverine's true target was not the Prime Minister, but his bodyguard, the Silver Samurai. During an interrogation that began during their battle, and ended shortly after Logan severed the samurai's right hand, Wolverine received some more information that led him back to Department H.
It was then revealed that despite what he had originally thought, it was not the carelessness of his captors that allowed him to escape. Rather, it seems that the Winter Soldier, who is none other than the famous Bucky, interfered with the operation in such a way that allowed Logan's escape. Wolverine tracked down the Winter Soldier in Serbia for information.
A sneak attack from Bucky aggravated Wolverine into a berserker rage. Just after gaining the upper hand, Wolverine was knocked out by a mercenary Bucky had hired. Bucky revealed to the mercenary that he murdered Logan's pregnant wife.
Bucky apologized to Wolverine, telling him that he was not in control of his actions at the time. Wolverine then began to reminisce about his wife, a Japanese woman named Itsu, and the events that led up to him meeting her. Before he had been given his Adamantium skeleton by Weapon X, Wolverine trained under the martial arts master Ogun. After completing his training, Ogun sent Wolverine to a village where another master, Bando Saburo, taught men who had been trained how to be weapons how to be men once more.
In Saburo's village, Wolverine met Itsu and after four years of training, married her. She soon became pregnant with his child. To celebrate, Saburo organized a ceremony in which Wolverine would dodge the attacks of five ninjas and not retaliate, to show the mastery of his bestial side. Wolverine exerted full control, as well as impeccable martial arts, until an explosion rocked the mountains that towered over the village. Wolverine popped one of his claws instinctively, puncturing the biceps of one of the ninjas.
Bando Saburo informed Wolverine that he had failed and had to leave the village until he was ready to return. Before he left, Saburo told Wolverine the explosion was caused by Muramasa, a powerful demon swordsmith. He was a madman and, just as Saburo healed the broken souls of those who were once weapons, he made them to create weapons. When Wolverine was ready, he would have to face Muramasa.
As Wolverine left, he realized he had to say goodbye to Itsu. He turned back towards the village and, as he neared their home, he smelled her blood. He ran inside and found her corpse. Thinking the people of Saburo were responsible, when it was actually Bucky who was given orders to lure Wolverine to Madripoor for unknown reasons, he climbed to the top of Muramasa's mountain and pledged allegiance to the demon lord. Muramasa boasted that he would make a sword in honor of Wolverine, one that could even defeat him.
Through unknown means, Muramasa began the process, which Weapon X completed, that made Wolverine into a weapon. Bucky defied his orders and freed Wolverine from Muramasa. What followed remains unclear, but Wolverine apparently was recruited into Team X and then given the Adamantium by Weapon X.
After remembering this, Wolverine went back to Muramasa's mountain and reclaimed the sword that belonged to him. It was this sword he was asking the Silver Samurai about before he got side-tracked by what he learned about Bucky. Muramasa willingly gave the sword to Wolverine and told him to "wield it like an angry god". Currently, Wolverine wants revenge, and he now remembers who deserves his vengeance.
Civil War
Soon after discovering Nitro's murder of over 600 civilians with his self-destruct ability, Wolverine - much to the dissaproval of Tony Stark - embarked on a mission to take vengeance on Nitro. After putting a noticeable number of people in the hospital on his interrogations, he catches Iron Man's attention. Iron Man catches up with Wolverine and in an argument Wolverine slips the location of Nitro - leading Stark to deploy his strike team to subdue and arrest Nitro. Wolverine participates in the raid because he suspects the mission will fail. His suspicions are proved correct when Nitro uses his ability to incinerate the entire team and Wolverine himself down to his skeleton. Wolverine, however, not only heals but surprises Nitro by slugging him as he is about to get into his car.
Wolverine: Origins
Wolverine: Origins is a second ongoing series, starring Wolverine in his quest as a result of Origins and Endings. He encounters a Shiva robot while trying to extract information from a government foe. Subsequently, those in the government hiding from Logan send Frank Simpson a.k.a. Nuke against him. It is revealed through flashbacks that during the Vietnam War, Wolverine was responsible for implanting a trigger word into Nuke that caused him to massacre a Vietnamese village. Whether or not Wolverine was being controlled himself remains unclear.
Nuke is unleashed in a village in South Vietnam, thus catching Wolverine's attention. Despite knowing that it is obviously a trap, Wolverine goes to confront him, knowing that Simpson is partially his responsibility - as it is also revealed the Logan murdered Simpson's father and babysitter before extracting him as a child. Despite Wolverine's sincere attempts to appeal to whatever sanity may have remained in Simpson, Nuke persisted in his attempts to kill him - eventually forcing Wolverine's hand. As Logan is about to kill Nuke, he is suddenly struck by Captain America's shield - who follows up the sneak attack with the words, "I don't know why you look so surprised Logan. You've had this coming for a long time."
Other versions of Wolverine
Wolverine's intended origin
When speaking in a comic shop many years ago, X-Men artist Dave Cockrum revealed to several fans that originally, he and writer Chris Claremont had meant for Logan to have been an actual mutant wolverine - a wolverine cub that was evolved to humanoid form. The evidence for this can be seen in the X-Men #103; there is a scene where Wolverine is talking to a leprechaun and complaining to it that he doesn't believe in leprechauns. The Leprechaun replies that, "Maybe we leprechauns don't believe in talking wolverines". [1]
In the comic book entitled Incredible Hulk and Wolverine (a 1980s reprint of The Incredible Hulk 181 and 182), an interview with Cockrum supports the claim that Wolverine was intended to be a mutated wolverine. In the interview, Cockrum said he considered having the High Evolutionary play a vital role in making Wolverine a human. He wanted Wolverine to be the age of a young adult, with superhuman strength and agility similar to that of Spider-Man. However, this changed when Cockrum saw Steve Ditko draw a maskless Wolverine as a hairy 40 year old. Ditko also intended the claws to be retractable and part of Wolverine's gloves. This idea was nixed by Claremont for he believed that anyone could then become Wolverine by wearing the gloves.
Shortly after this it was revealed that Spider-Woman was a spider evolved to human form by the High Evolutionary. Stan Lee, then still publisher at Marvel, disagreed with this interpretation of the character and insisted that her origin be changed to show that she had been a young girl poisoned by continual radiation exposure during childhood, and saved by her father who injected her with spider DNA. His partner in genetic research (who would eventually become the High Evolutionary) used his new evolution device to accelerate the healing process. Lee's strong reaction and subsequent demand for a retcon convinced Cockrum and Claremont that they could never get away with introducing Logan as a mutant wolverine.
Wolverine: The End
In this series, purporting to be Wolverine's last adventure, Logan is an old man living in the Canadian wilderness. His only friend is a sixty-one year old man called George, who has been getting him groceries since he was a child. Logan knows that, despite his healing factor, he will die soon. He doubts his own sanity and his memories, including the Weapon X program. This doubt is exacerbated by the spirit of Professor X, who lives on (in diminished capacity) in Logan's mind.
One day, Wolverine is invited to the funeral of Victor Creed, also known as Sabretooth. After denouncing Sabretooth's faith in God as a fear of death, Wolverine receives a letter from Creed's attorney. He has George drive him to an ancient and destitute mansion in Alberta. After quickly walking through the mansion, George notices that a crest above the fireplace is the same as on the letter given to him by Creed. Wolverine finds the grave of John Howlett and a book entitled Ghosts of Japan: Lost Rituals of the Kanaguri. Someone had left the book on the grave earlier that day, knowing that Wolverine had lived both in Japan and in that region of Alberta. Paranoid, Wolverine goes to a port on the West Coast and stows away on a ship headed for Japan. Before he leaves, he has George go back to his home, asking him to check a stack of magazines in his cabin, saying 'one of them ain't right. It ain't...me, if ya follow".
While working as a galley assistant on the voyage to Japan, Logan reads Lost Rituals of the Kanaguri, and learns that it is a factual account of a supposedly extinct evil Shinto sect. When he arrives at his destination, he breaks up a Kanaguri ritual. He asks the participants if they are working for Weapon X. The leader of the group declares his allegiance to the White Ghost, before being killed by a shadowy figure. Logan follows the figure up the mountain, where he is attacked and left for dead. The White Ghost says, "I could have killed you, old man. Any time in the last two hundred years, I could have killed you." Logan loses consciousness.
Back in Canada, George sifts through the magazines. Among Popular Mechanics and Custom Bikes, he finds an issue of Wine Lover. George recognizes the title is an anagram of "Wolverine". A note in the magazine gives George the login information to access Logan's computer. George finds instructions from Wolverine and is given the location of a large amount of cash, which he is to use to purchase a list of items. He is told to keep whatever money is left over as a tip (a joke that refers to a conversation in the first issue of the series, in which George complains that in fifty years of grocery deliveries, Logan has never given him a tip).
In Japan, Logan awakes. He discovers that the White Ghost is none other than John Howlett Jr., his brother, presumed dead during Logan's childhood. He is a mutant, with Logan's bone claws and healing factor, but also the power of intangibility (similar to Shadowcat). He used these in a successful career as a spy, which in combination with his share of the Howlett fortune, has made him rich. He became involved in the Weapon X program, and watched Logan all through his life. He promises to tell Logan everything as soon as he completes his scheme: to teleport an atomic weapon into the atmosphere over Las Vegas. With this act, the American economy will collapse, and mutants will ascend in the resulting chaos. They struggle, falling out of a window. As they land, John is impaled on Logan's claws. With his dying breath, he tells Logan he's sorry that he doesn't have enough time to tell him about Rose. John dies in Logan's arms, just as Japanese attack helicopters arrive with orders to destroy the compound and all its occupants, Logan included.
It should be pointed out that Wolverine: The End is not canon. It depicts an alternate reality/timeline and isn't part of the mainstream Marvel Universe.
Age of Apocalypse
Wolverine is never actually called "Wolverine" in the Age of Apocalypse time line. Instead, he retains his code name of "Weapon X." In this reality he never had his Adamantium ripped out, and it is Magneto that helps him to control his feral rages. Weapon X was a loner and initially an unwilling recruit to the X-Men. He reconsidered after meeting the team’s telepath, Jean Grey. The two had an instant connection and eventually became lovers.
Logan trained Magneto’s newer recruits, including Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat). Unbeknown to the rest of the X-Men, Magneto had asked Weapon X to train the girl as an assassin. Weapon X taught Shadowcat everything he knew and even crafted a pair of claws similar to his own for her with Magneto’s help.
One of the main differences between Weapon X and the Earth 616 Wolverine is that Weapon X’s left hand is missing and he has a number of facial tattoos. The hand was blasted off by the Prelate Scott Summers, a villain in this universe, when Weapon X tried to rescue Jean from Mr. Sinister. He succeeded and gouged one of Summers' eyes out in return. Not willing to return to the X-Men, Logan and Jean worked on their own.
After months of guerrilla warfare, they were contacted by Sinister who revealed Apocalypse’s plan to attack the humans in Europe. Logan and Jean delivered this information to the Human High Council and learned of the Council’s plan to launch nuclear missiles on America to stop Apocalypse. In the end, Jean was killed by the Prelate Alex Summers, but Logan avenged her.
Logan's relationships with some of his old enemies is different in the Age of Apocalypse universe, such as Sabretooth being his ally instead of his nemesis. In the recent 2005 mini-series of the Age of Apocalypse, Logan learned from Magneto that Jean is still alive, but mind-controlled by Mr. Sinister. Eventually, the X-Men face Sinister and manage to bring Jean back, and she and Logan become lovers again. Logan also learns that he now has a "daughter" of some-sorts in the form of the X-Man Kirika, who can be compared to X-23. Kirika's mother is revealed to be Mariko Yoshida, whom Logan in the past rescued from a bunch of thugs but is now dead.
Ultimate Wolverine
Main article: Ultimate Wolverine
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Wolverine first appeared as an assassin who worked for Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, who was sent to infiltrate the X-Men in order to assassinate Charles Xavier because of the powerful mental blocks he possesses. In this continuity, he quickly seduced Jean Grey, ultimately falling in love with her. Grey later left him upon discovering his connections to the Brotherhood of Mutants and his intention to assassinate Xavier. At this point, Wolverine changed sides and abandoned his original mission. Wolverine then allowed Cyclops to seemingly fall to his death, thinking it would allow him to continue his relationship with Jean Grey uninterrupted. However Cyclops survived the fall, and when Grey learned of this, she once again spurned Wolverine.
Other changes in the new continuity involve Sabretooth, Wolverine's archnemesis, who now became a high ranking officer of the Weapon X program. Wolverine knocked Sabretooth off a cliff while battling at their arctic headquarters after watching Sabretooth burn all records of his past. In a later battle between the X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants, Wolverine decapitated a charging Sabretooth who later returned with a large scar on his neck. Realizing how badly he had betrayed his friends, Logan drastically changed his ways. He stopped his antisocial, ruthless ways and became a much more serious, responsible character. He began to show a protective side for the younger X-Men - especially Rogue - and has very remarkably become friends with Cyclops again. Recently, Wolverine started a relationship with Storm which he quickly shot down, but it is hinted that both sides have not spoken the last word on this matter yet.
Wolverine apparently still performs a few missions for Nick Fury every now and then, and is currently hunting down the Hulk for him.
X-Men: The End
In the non-canon version of X-Men: The End, Wolverine is caring for a crippled Storm and has given up his life as an X-Man. However after being attacked by a Warskrull, Wolverine and Storm return to the X-Men only to find a crater where the mansion stood. Wolverine along with Rachel Summers, X-23 and a few others were sent to find out what happened to Cable and his team.
Earth X
According to Earth X, the second child of the Howletts died in childbirth and the Howletts found and adopted an infant member of the Moon Clan, a bestial race which has co-existed with humanity for hundreds of thousands of years. This Moon Clan were mortal enemies of the Bear Clan, to which Sabretooth belongs. Supposedly, it is this Moon Tribe child who was named James Howlett and would grow up to become Wolverine explaining the enmity between Wolverine and Sabretooth in this alternate reality.
Wolverine: Snikt!
In this comic, Wolverine is sent into an alternate future, arriving there by the hand of the humans of that age in need for a weapon to fight against a race of engineered viruses that grow up to be sentient beings, and who can only be destroyed with Adamantium. Though whether this is the future of the Marvel universe or whether it is a crossover into another universe is not completely made clear. This is mainly because Marvel has so many alternate futures and universes, making it difficult to place this particular world within them.
One theory suggests it is a crossover into the pre-Blame universe, as it is drawn by Tsutomu Nihei and the creatures share a similar, if not identical style. However, this is disputed due to no official word from either Marvel or Nihei.
Days of Future Past
In this alternate reality the X-Men fail to prevent the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly, which results in Sentinels ruling the United States of America by 2013 AD. Mutants fall one by one at the hands of the Sentinels, until only Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) are left. They are confronted by a group of Sentinels and Wolverine lunges at one, ready to slice off the Sentinel's head, but his flesh is burned off by the Sentinel's hand laser. Wolverine dies and his charred Adamantium skeleton falls onto the ground. Later on in the Earth X: Heralds storyline, Wolverine is revived by X-51's machine.
Exiles & Weapon X
Another version of Wolverine, originating from Earth #172, was revealed by Sabretooth to have joined an alternate, more sinister version of Weapon X in the Exiles series. Weapon X was the exact counterpart of the Exiles, who are heroes in the proper sense of the word, while Weapon X had to carry out the "dirty" missions where people had to get killed in order to save realities. Not much is known about this version of Wolverine, except that he was killed in action under unknown circumstances and that he was trapped for a time in the Timebrokers Crystal palace. When the Exiles got the chance for it, they send the dead body of Wolverine back to his homeworld, where Logan's ashes were burned by the Silver Samurai and Mariko Yashida.
A lot more alternate versions of Wolverine are set to appear in Exiles #86.
Other comic series
In the MC2 universe, Wolverine and Elektra have a daughter named Rina Logan, who inherits her father's healing factor and senses and possesses "psychic claws" which resemble Psylocke's telepathic "psychic knife". She becomes the superheroine called Wild Thing. He also has a son, with another woman, named Sabreclaw (Hudson Logan). He looks like a short version of Sabretooth, but with Wolverine's hair color. He also has claws like Sabretooth. Sabreclaw joined the villain group known as the Revengers, who of course often face the Avengers.
In the alternate future that the Guardians of the Galaxy come from, his great-great-granddaughter is the evil mutant queen called Rancor, who is obsessed with her illustrious ancestor.
In Amalgam Comics, Wolverine merged with Batman to form Dark Claw.
In a possible future depicted in Weapon X: Days of Future Now, Wolverine assembles his own group of X-Men (which includes Fantomex, Aurora, Juggernaut and others) to battle Weapon X and the Sentinels.
In a crossover with Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wolverine encounters the crew of the Enterprise-E with some of the other X-Men, developing a mutual respect for Worf's abilities as a warrior in the course of their shared adventures against Kang the Conqueror and the Borg of the Star Trek universe.
In recent Spider-Man titles and The New Avengers, Wolverine is a member of the Avengers, spending some time at the Avengers building in New York. He mostly serves as comic relief in the Spider-Man books, hitting on Spidey's wife and the like, while in The New Avengers Spider-Man is the comic relief.
Powers and abilities
- See also: healing factor
Wolverine is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial improvements to his physiology. His primary mutant power is an accelerated healing process that allows him to regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of his body far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human. He can regenerate organs such as missing eyes and large portions of flesh, and he has recently been shown regenerating essentially his entire body after being completely incinerated, down to a bare skeleton. However, his healing factor has been depicted with some degree of contradiction, depending on the writer. In some instances, certain writers have shown Wolverine healing from severe burns over most of his body, multiple gunshot wounds, puncture wounds, and slashes within a matter of moments. Other writers, however, have depicted him healing from similar, or less severe, injuries over the course of minutes to hours.
This healing factor also grants immunity to most toxins and diseases. The unique regenerative qualities of his healing powers cause him to age much slower than an ordinary human. Despite being well over 100 years old, Wolverine retains the appearance and vitality of a man in his prime. Various comic book writers have suggested that the healing factor is also the cause of his amnesia, 'scabbing' over any traumatic memories and experiences that might negatively affect his mental and physiological health. This does not seem to give him any added protection against psionics.
Wolverine possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those possessed by certain animals. Wolverine is able to see, with much greater clarity, at far greater distances than an ordinary human. He retains this same level of clarity, even in near-total darkness. His sense of hearing is enhanced in a similar manner, allowing him to hear sounds that ordinary humans cannot and at much greater distances. Wolverine can use his highly developed sense of smell to track targets. He is able to track with an impressive degree of success, even if the scent has been eroded by time and natural factors such as weather conditions.
A number of Wolverine's physical abilities are at superhuman levels. He possesses some degree of superhuman strength, although the precise limit is unrevealed. His strength, much like his mutant healing factor, has been depicted with various degrees of contradiction by numerous comic book writers. Because of his healing factor, he has superhuman levels of stamina. He can exert himself at maximum capacity for several days before fatigue begins to affect him. Wolverine's agility and reflexes are also enhanced to levels that are beyond the human body's natural limits. Wolverine's physical appearance also displays animal-like mutations, including sharper-than-normal teeth with two pronounced canines and six retractable claws housed within his forearms. The claws are made of bone, quite unlike the claws of normal mammals which are made of keratin. These bone claws have proved sharp and dense enough to slice through substances as durable as wood and stone.
Wolverine's entire skeleton, including his claws, has been molecularly infused with Adamantium, rendering it practically indestructible to all forms of harm. The presence of the Adamantium has only enhanced the razor sharp edge of the claws. They are now capable of cutting any known solid material except Adamantium itself. While the claws are unbelievably sharp, Wolverine's ability to slice the claws completely through material depends upon the amount of force he can exert and the thickness of the material. Also, due to the presence of Adamantium, his blows are weighted, similar to using brass knuckles, dramatically increasing the effectiveness of his punches and kicks.
Skills and personality
During his years in Japan, he became a master of martial arts both armed and unarmed: he is especially skilled in the use of the katana. He can use most weapons, traditional or modern, long or close range. He is also an accomplished pilot and is extremely well trained in espionage and covert/black operations.
Though seemingly brutish, Wolverine is actually highly intelligent. Due to his increased lifespan, he has been able to travel around the world and amass an intimate knowledge of many foreign languages, customs and cultures. Wolverine speaks fluent English, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Cheyenne, Spanish, and Lakota; he also has some knowledge of French, Thai, Vietnamese and German.
In the mid-1990s, when Forge monitored Wolverine's vitals during a Danger Room training session, he reported Logan's physical and mental state as "equivalent to an Olympic-level gymnast performing a Gold-medal-winning routine whilst simultaneously beating four chess computers in his head", which gives something of an idea of the level of sophistication and tactical processing Logan is capable of utilizing while in combat.
Wolverine in other media
Wolverine, as the most prominent member of the X-Men, has been the only X-Man to have been included in every adaptation of the X-Men franchise into non-comics media (including film, television, computer and video games) and is the only X-Man to have starred in his own video game.
Wolverine made his first appearance in other media on the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode A Firestar is Born. In the one-shot, 1989 television pilot, Pryde of the X-Men. Just like on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Wolverine, whose voice was provided by Neil Ross on both occasions, spoke with an Australian accent. Wolverine's voice, which was portrayed as particularly raspy, was provided by Cathal J. Dodd in the 1990s X-Men animated television series and in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of fighting games. In the 2000s animated television series X-Men: Evolution, his voice was provided by Scott McNeil. In X-Men: Evolution, Wolverine is a distant man with a past shrouded in mystery. His memories reduced to a flashing series of contradictory images, Logan comes to the Xavier Institute at the behest of Professor X. The object of fear, awe and speculation on the part of the students, he inspires the X-Men in good ways by providing battle tips after clandestinely watching Danger Room sessions and in bad ways in inspiring conflict between the core group of X-Men simply by virtue of his loner status and aggressive behavior.
Wolverine will soon appear in yet another animated series called: Wolverine and the X-Men. The series will handle Logan's quest about his past. Production is said to begin in July 2006.
In the X-Men movies, he is played by Hugh Jackman, a 189 cm (6 ft 2½ in) actor; nearly a foot taller than Wolverine's traditional comic book height of 160 cm (5 ft 3 in). He is the main point-of-view in the movies and takes the lead, sidelining Cyclops, and has a strong attraction to Jean Grey as well as serving as a father figure to Rogue.
In the movie tie-in video game X2: Wolverine's Revenge, his voice was provided by Mark Hamill. Steven Blum provided the voice for Wolverine in the video game series X-Men Legends. Wolverine is also one of the three playable characters in X-Men: The Official Movie Game which fills in the gap between X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. For this game, Jackman himself provides the voice for Logan.
Glenn Danzig, former lead singer of the punk rock band The Misfits, was actually offered the role of Wolverine several times by 20th Century Fox when they had first purchased the rights to an X-Men movie in the early 1990s. [citation needed]
A spin-off film entitled Wolverine has been confirmed and is in the preliminary writing stages. Rumor holds that the film will serve as a prequel to the X-Men feature films, and will either feature the character's origin or will be based on the Chris Claremont-Frank Miller Wolverine mini-series, chronicling his Yakuza adventures in Japan.
Talking to Empire online Hugh Jackman said about proposed Wolverine spin-off film: "I can tell you that David Benioff had written two drafts. He's a fantastic writer and a huge, passionate fan. I know that fans of Wolverine or the X-Men will be excited about the direction it's going. It's a prequel, at present, but we're not finished writing so it's not finalized – and even if it was, I wouldn't tell you!" [2]
Wolverine was voiced by Keith Szarabajka for the Ultimate Spider-Man video game. Platforms include GameCube, PS2, PC, Xbox.
Finally, Wolverine was a playable character in Activision's 2001 video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.
Action figures
Wolverine is a very popular character in the various action figure lines he has appeared in. He boasts eight figures in the Marvel Legends line, and five separate portrayals in the Marvel Minimates line. He has had action figures from X-Men, X-Men 2: X-Men United, and X-Men 3: The Last Stand.
External links
- Alpha Flight members
- Avengers members
- Defenders members
- Fantastic Four members
- Fictional amnesiacs
- Fictional martial artists
- Fictional samurai
- Fictional orphans
- Canadian superheroes
- Marvel Comics mutants
- X-Men members
- Hulk supporting characters
- Marvel vs. Series characters
- Fictional World War II veterans
- World War II fictional beings
- Fictional Shintoists
- Fictional supersoldiers
- X-Men comics
- The 198 Files
- Fictional assassins
- Marvel Legends
- Horsemen of Apocalypse
- Marvel Comics martial artists
- Weapon X