How old is wolverine
Wolverine (character)
Marvel Comics fictional character
For other uses, see Wolverine (disambiguation) §&#;Marvel Comics media.
Comics character
Wolverine (birth name: James Howlett;[1]alias: Logan and Weapon X) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, often in association with the X-Men.
He is a mutant with animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, a powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor, a skeleton reinforced with the unbreakable fictional metal adamantium, significantly delayed aging and a prolonged lifespan and three retractable claws in each hand. In addition to the X-Men, Wolverine has been depicted as a member of X-Force, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
The common depiction of Wolverine is multifaceted; he is portrayed at once as a gruff loner, susceptible to animalistic "berserker rages" despite his best efforts, while simultaneously being an incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent polyglot, strategist, and martial artist, partially due to his extended lifespan and expansive lived experiences.
He has been featured in comic books, films, animation, and video games.
The character first appeared in the last panel of The Incredible Hulk # before having a larger role in # (cover-dated November ), in the Bronze Age of Comic Books. He was created by writer Len Wein[2] and Marvel art directorJohn Romita Sr. Romita designed the character's costume, but the character was first drawn for publication by Herb Trimpe.
Since , Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas has also claimed co-creator credit.[3]
Wolverine then joined a revamped version of the superhero team the X-Men; writer Chris Claremont, artist Dave Cockrum and artist-writer John Byrne would play significant roles in the character's development.
In , Wolverine featured in his first solo story, published in Marvel Comic # (UK). His position as a standalone character further advanced when artist Frank Miller collaborated with Claremont to revise Wolverine with a four-part eponymous limited series in , which debuted Wolverine's catchphrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice." The subsequent Weapon X storyline by Barry Windsor-Smith established that Wolverine had received the adamantium grafted to his skeleton in a torturous process conducted by a secret government project intended to create a super soldier, and that this experience led to post-traumatic amnesia.
Wolverine is typical of the many tough antiheroes that emerged in American popular culture after the Vietnam War;[4]:&#;&#; his willingness to use deadly force and his brooding loner nature became standard characteristics for comic book antiheroes by the end of the s.[4]:&#;&#; As a result, the character became a fan favorite of the increasingly popular X-Men franchise,[4]:&#;,&#;&#; and has been featured in his own solo Wolverine comic book series since
Wolverine has appeared in most X-Men media adaptations, including animated television series, video games and film.
In live action, Hugh Jackman portrayed the character across ten installments of the X-Men film series produced by 20th Century Fox between and , and reprised the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Deadpool & Wolverine (). Henry Cavill portrayed an alternate version of Wolverine dubbed "Cavillrine" in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Troye Sivan portrayed a young version of Logan in the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Publication history
Creation and development
Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas asked writer Len Wein to devise a character specifically named Wolverine, who was a Canadian of small stature and with a wolverine's fierce temper.
John Romita Sr. designed the first Wolverine costume, and believes he introduced the retractable claws, saying, "When I make a design, I want it to be practical and functional. I thought, 'If a man has claws like that, how does he scratch his nose or tie his shoelaces?'"[5] Wolverine first appeared in the final "teaser" panel of The Incredible Hulk # (cover-dated October ), written by Wein and penciled by Herb Trimpe.
The character then appeared in a number of advertisements in various Marvel Comics publications before making his first major appearance in The Incredible Hulk # (November ), again by the Wein–Trimpe team. In , Trimpe said he "distinctly remembers" Romita's sketch and that, "The way I see it, [Romita and Wein] sewed the monster together and I shocked it to life!
Fictional biography of wolverine and batman He is proficient with most weaponry, including firearms, though he is partial to bladed weapons. Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth [ edit ]. Roy Thomas Ross Andru. Hidden categories: Literature stubs Movie stubs.It was just one of those secondary or tertiary characters, actually, that we were using in that particular book with no particular notion of it going anywhere. We did characters in The [Incredible] Hulk all the time that were in [particular] issues and that was the end of them."[6] Though often credited as co-creator, Trimpe denied having had any role in Wolverine's creation.[7]
The character's introduction was ambiguous, revealing little beyond his being a superhuman agent of the Canadian government.
In these appearances, he does not retract his claws, although Wein stated they had always been envisioned as retractable.[9] He appears briefly in the finale to this story in The Incredible Hulk #
Wolverine's next appearance was in 's Giant-Size X-Men #1, written by Wein and penciled by Dave Cockrum, in which Wolverine is recruited for a new squad.
Gil Kane illustrated the cover artwork but incorrectly drew Wolverine's mask with larger headpieces. Dave Cockrum liked Kane's accidental alteration (he thought the original was too similar to Batman's mask) and incorporated it into his own artwork for the actual story.[10] Cockrum was also the first artist to draw Wolverine without his mask, and the distinctive hairstyle became a trademark of the character.[11]
Chris Claremont took the name Logan from Canada's Mount Logan, stating that "the idea was the tallest mountain being the name of the shortest character".[12]
Wolverine's first intended origin
Despite suggestions that co-creator Len Wein originally intended for Logan to be a mutated wolverine cub, evolved to humanoid form by an already established Marvel geneticist, the High Evolutionary,[13] Wein denies this:
While I readily admit that my original idea was for Wolvie's claws to extend from the backs of his gloves I absolutely did not ever intend to make Logan a mutated wolverine.
I write stories about human beings, not evolved animals (with apologies for any story I may have written that involved the High Evolutionary). The mutated wolverine thing came about long after I was no longer involved with the book. I'm not certain if the idea was first suggested by Chris Claremont, the late, much-missed Dave Cockrum, or John Byrne when he came aboard as artist, but it most certainly did not start with me.[9]
Wein said on the X-Men Origins: WolverineBlu-ray special features that he has read "Ten things you did not know about Wolverine", which says the character was originally intended to be a mutated wolverine cub, and that this rekindled Wein's frustration.
He again stated that he had "always known that Wolverine was a mutant."
In an article about the evolution of Wolverine included in a reprint of The Incredible Hulk #–, titled Incredible Hulk and Wolverine, Cockrum said he considered having the High Evolutionary play a vital role in making Wolverine a human.[11] Writer Wein wanted Wolverine to be the age of a young adult, with superhuman strength and agility similar to Spider-Man.
This changed when Wein saw Cockrum's drawing of the unmasked Wolverine as a hairy year-old.[11] Wein originally intended the claws to be retractable and part of Wolverine's gloves, and both gloves and claws would be made of adamantium.[9] Chris Claremont eventually revealed that they were an integrated part of Wolverine's anatomy in X-Men #98 (April ).
Writer Jeph Loeb used a similar origin for Wolverine in the Marvel continuity, having feral mutants be an evolved lifeform.[14]
Wolverine's second intended origin
John Byrne said, both in interviews and on his website, that he drew a possible face for Wolverine, but then learned that Dave Cockrum had already drawn him unmasked in X-Men #98 (April ), long before Byrne's run on the series.[15][16] Later, Byrne used the drawing for the face of Sabretooth, an enemy of the martial artist superhero Iron Fist, whose stories Chris Claremont was writing.
Byrne then conceived of the idea of Sabretooth being Wolverine's father.[17][18] Together, Byrne and Claremont came up with Wolverine being about 60 years old and having served in World War II after escaping from Sabretooth, who was about years old.[17]
Chris Claremont era: s and s
A revival of X-Men followed Giant-Size X-Men, beginning with X-Men #94 (August ), drawn by Cockrum and written by Chris Claremont.
In X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine is initially overshadowed by the other characters, although he does create tension in the team as he is attracted to Cyclops' girlfriend, Jean Grey. As the series progressed, Claremont and Cockrum (who preferred Nightcrawler[19]) considered dropping Wolverine from the series;[19] Cockrum's successor, artist John Byrne, championed the character, later explaining, as a Canadian himself, he did not want to see a Canadian character dropped.[11][20] Byrne modeled his rendition of Wolverine on actor Paul D'Amato, who played Dr.
Hook in the sports film Slap Shot.[21] Byrne also created Alpha Flight, a group of Canadian superheroes who try to recapture Wolverine due to the expense their government incurred training him. Later stories gradually establish Wolverine's murky past and unstable nature, which he battles to keep in check.
Byrne also designed a new brown-and-tan costume for Wolverine, but retained the distinctive Cockrum cowl.[22] Cockrum had introduced a new costume for Wolverine (taken from his adversary Fang) in the final issue of his run, but it was dropped one issue into Byrne's run because he and Cockrum alike found it painfully difficult to draw.[23]X-Men # introduces the fastball special, a combat maneuver in which the super-strong Colossus throws Wolverine at a distance as if he were a projectile weapon.
This tactic recurs in many future battles.[24]
In , Wolverine featured in his first solo story, "At the Sign of a Lion", published in Marvel Comic # (UK). Written by Mary Jo Duffy, with pencils by Ken Landgraf and inks by George Pérez—marking Pérez's debut as an inker—the story centers on Wolverine as the protagonist.
The narrative unfolds in a bar, where Wolverine, sitting alone, becomes embroiled in a fight with Hercules after the latter attempts to intimidate him. This story is notable for being Wolverine's first appearance as a standalone character, separate from the X-Men.[25][26][27][28]
Following Byrne's departure, Wolverine remained as a prominent character in X-Men, which later changed its name to Uncanny X-Men.
Cockrum returned for a longer, monthly run and afterwards Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee were frequent artists on this series.[29] He remained a significant protagonist in this series until Chris Claremont left the title to write the new X-Men (vol. 2) and Wolverine transitioned to this new series.
The character's growing popularity led to a solo, four-issue series, Wolverine (September–December ), by Claremont and Frank Miller. Elliott Serrano, a comic writer and commentator, argues that this series was particularly significant in establishing the character's popularity: "Before Claremont and Miller created the Wolverine series, Logan wasn't a key figure, but the creation of this series is when Wolverine became Marvel's Batman."
In this period, Wolverine's appearance and characterization were particularly influenced by the film roles of Clint Eastwood, particularly the Revisionist Western antihero films featuring the Man with No Name.
Dialogue and scenes also present a direct homage to Eastwood's neo-noir detective film Dirty Harry.[31] This inspiration continued to be significant throughout the development of the character and his adaptations.[32]
The mini-series was followed by the six-issue Kitty Pryde and Wolverine by Claremont and Al Milgrom (Nov.
&#;– April ). Marvel launched an ongoing solo book written by Claremont with art by John Buscema in November It ran for issues. In , Wolverine also featured in a crossover graphic novel with Nick Fury, written by Archie Goodwin with art by Howard Chaykin. He appeared in a second self-contained story taking place in the Savage Land written by Walter Simonson and illustrated by Mike Mignola the following year.[33]
s
Larry Hama took over the ongoing series and had a seven-year run, from to In the first years of the s, the series was usually illustrated by Marc Silvestri.
Following Silvestri's departure in , the series was often illustrated by Mark Texeira. Hama's run included a storyline inspired by Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.[34] The series was bimonthly from July to September Hama also introduced "Albert," a cyborg copy of Wolverine, and often featured Jubilee as Wolverine's sidekick.[35] Hama also frequently delved into Wolverine's mysterious past in the Weapon X program, which was often highly convoluted and unreliable because of the false memories implanted by the program's designers.[36] In , Hama revisited the Japanese setting and characters of Claremont's and Miller's earlier limited series, ending the story with the poisoning of Mariko Yashida and her mercy killing at the hands of Wolverine.[37] Hama credited the influence of Yakuza films as well as Ridley Scott's Black Rain.
Himself a Japanese American, Hama argued that his depiction was somewhat more authentic than previous American superhero stories told in Japan.[38]
In , Wolverine also appeared in a one-shot story written by Howard Mackie and penciled by John Romita Jr., co-starring with Punisher and Ghost Rider. John Romita Jr.
acknowledged primarily commercial motivations, because, as he said at the time, these three "are the top characters, right now."[39]
During this period, Wolverine also regularly appeared in cover stories for the anthology series Marvel Comics Presents. Among these stories was "Weapon X", by writer-artist Barry Windsor-Smith, serialized in Marvel Comics Presents #72–84 (), which was an essential depiction of Wolverine's past and the event of adamantium grafted to his skeleton.
Subsequent stories in this publication were often illustrated by Sam Kieth and had a more psychedelic aesthetic and storytelling style.
In , the Wolverine ongoing series was often drawn by Dwayne Turner.
Other writers who wrote for the Wolverine ongoing series include Peter David, Archie Goodwin, Erik Larsen, Frank Tieri, Greg Rucka, Mark Millar, and Gregg Hurwitz.
Many artists have also worked on the series, including John Byrne, Gene Colan, Marc Silvestri, Mark Texeira, Adam Kubert, Leinil Francis Yu, Rob Liefeld, Sean Chen, Darick Robertson, John Romita Jr., Joe Madureira, and Humberto Ramos.
In the early s, Wolverine featured as a prominent character in X-Men vol. 2, initially written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Jim Lee.
The first issue of this comic book series is the highest selling comic book in history.[40] Following the departure of Claremont and Lee, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza usually wrote the title while Andy Kubert illustrated it.
In , Wolverine's adamantium is ripped out by Magneto in X-Men (Vol 2) # Writers were inspired by a passing joke of Peter David's.[41] It is revealed that Wolverine has natural bone claws, in contrast to previously established narrative continuity that his claws were entirely bionic.
Wolverine himself is confused by this realization, and his healing factor is also greatly weakened by recovery from this extraordinary injury. He leaves the X-Men temporarily as a result.[42] In , the Wolverine ongoing series was usually drawn by Adam Kubert, the brother of the artist for X-Men.[43]
In , all of the X-Men related comic books were temporarily replaced by a storyline in an alternate reality, named Age of Apocalypse.
The Wolverine series was replaced by a series called Weapon X (not to be confused with the origin story published in ), in which Logan is generally referred to by this code name rather than as Wolverine.[44] In this reality, Logan still has his adamantium, and Magneto, now the leader of the X-Men, helps him to control his feral rages.
Weapon X is also missing a hand. He and Jean Grey are lovers in this reality.[45] The series lasted four issues, before concluding and the return to the original name and numbering of the Wolverine series.[46]
Following the return to the original timeline, a follower of Apocalypse captures Wolverine and attempts to bond adamantium to his skeleton a second time, with the goal of making him one of Apocalypse's warriors.
However, Wolverine's healing factor and willpower reject the process; the ensuing stress leads him to regress into a bestial state.[47]Stick, the former mentor of Daredevil, sends Elektra to re-train Wolverine, and heal his psyche.
Fictional biography of wolverine actor Back Issue! Dave Cockrum liked Kane's accidental alteration he thought the original was too similar to Batman 's mask and incorporated it into his own artwork for the actual story. Retrieved April 23, On the evening of the party, Wolverine and several members of X-Force are assigned positions as security.For a few issues, Wolverine remains in a bestial state in which he is less articulate and shrewd. In this period, Val Semeiks is usually the penciller.[48]
s
Sales for X-Men comics declined somewhat at the turn of the 21st century, and Grant Morrison was hired to revive interest in the characters, including Wolverine, by means of the more experimental New X-Men.
Frank Quitely and Chris Bachalo drew many of these issues, as well as a returning Mark Silvestri. Subsequently, he featured in the Astonishing X-Men series initially written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday.
When the Ultimate Marvel imprint was created with reimagined versions of Marvel's characters, an alternate Wolverine appeared in with the Ultimate X-Men.[49] The series was initially written by Mark Millar, who went on to write a number of other influential stories about Wolverine, in both mainstream continuity and alternate versions.
This version of the character is significantly more aggressive and amoral.
Another publication expanded upon the character's past: Origin, a six-issue limited series by co-writers Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, and Bill Jemas and artist Andy Kubert (Nov. &#;– July ). This story first provided Wolverine's birth name (James Howlett) and fleshed out many details of his childhood and adolescence that were previously mysterious.[50]Tom DeSanto, a writer and producer for the X-Men film franchise, indicates that Marvel felt the necessity to provide a definitive origin for Wolverine because of his success as a film character and concern that the films would begin to answer these questions if the comic books did not do so first.[51] In , Jenkins, who scripted Origin, wrote Wolverine: The End as a bookend to the story.
The story portrays the old age of a possible future Wolverine, resolving ideas and character arcs from the origin story.[52] Other writers subsequently present other possible futures for Wolverine.
In , Wolverine appeared in Wolverine: Snikt! by Tsutomu Nihei, which is an apocalyptic manga interpretation of the character.
Following Larry Hama's exit from the Wolverine solo title, Mark Millar became a particularly influential writer for the character. In , Millar wrote the "Enemy of the State" storyline in Wolverine vol. 3, in which Wolverine is brainwashed by the ninja secret society the Hand.
Fictional biography of wolverine characters: Retrieved April 3, TPB: In The Dark Phoenix Saga , Jean Grey apparently sacrifices herself after transforming into the Phoenix Force , thereby temporarily ending the love triangle among herself, Wolverine, and Cyclops. Retrieved January 2,
Before returning to consciousness, he kills numerous innocent people. As in his previous bestial state, Elektra helps him to recovery humanity, although the earlier storyline is not referenced.[53] In , Millar and artist Steve McNiven explored a possible future for Wolverine in an eight-issue story arc entitled "Old Man Logan" that debuted with Wolverine #[54]
In , at the conclusion of the House of M storyline, Wolverine regains the memories he had lost or repressed.[55] The following year, a second solo series, Wolverine: Origins, written by Daniel Way with art by Steve Dillon, ran concurrently with the second Wolverine solo series.
In the series, Wolverine delves into the ramifications of his newly remembered past. The series introduces Daken, Wolverine's son, in issue #11 (April ). In the "Decimation" storyline, 90% of mutants lose their powers. Wolverine is among the mutants who retain their powers.[56]
In , Jason Aaron became a prominent writer for the character.
In his tenure, he wrote issues for the ongoing series as well as a new miniseries titled Wolverine: Manifest Destiny and an ongoing series titled Wolverine: Weapon X. Aaron's story arcs include more hallucinatory narratives, including an homage to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, along with more conventional adventure stories.
In Aaron's tenure, Wolverine begins a relationship with a non-superpowered woman, a reporter named Melita Garner.[57]
In Uncanny X-Men # (February ), part of the Messiah Complex storyline, Cyclops asks Wolverine to re-form and lead X-Force. This new, more militaristic sub-team of the X-Men initially includes X (Wolverine's daughter), Warpath, Hepzibah, Caliban, and Wolfsbane.[58] The new team featured in its own ongoing series, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, from to
s
In the s, Wolverine continues to lead X-Force.
Fictional biography of wolverine movie Wildlife is actually an amnesiac Beast , an X-Men member. In Marvel Comics Presents The two longtime friends then say their goodbyes to each other, with Nightcrawler assuring Wolverine that he will be welcomed into heaven. X-Men: Fatal Attractions.In the X-Force: Sex and Violence miniseries, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and illustrated by Gabriele Dell'Otto, he begins a romantic relationship with Domino.[59] The series was revamped as Uncanny X-Force, also in , written by Rick Remender. This version of the team retained Wolverine as leader, and included Psylocke, Warren Worthington III, Fantomex, and Deadpool.[60]
Jason Aaron continued writing Wolverine stories prolifically in this decade.[61] In addition to multiple solo stories, Aaron wrote Wolverine and the X-Men, in which Wolverine becomes the headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning and must mentor a younger generation of mutants as well as leading one of the X-Men teams.[62] He also wrote Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted in
Wolverine also joins the Avengers.
He appears as a regular character throughout both the – Avengers series and the – New Avengers series. In the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline of , Wolverine sides with the Avengers against his previous team.[63] He describes his place in the group as "the lone killer on a team full a' heroes."[64]
In , he also appeared in Savage Wolverine first written by Frank Cho.
This is an adventure story in the Savage Land co-starring Shanna the She-Devil. The second story arc, written by Zeb Wells, features another encounter with Elektra.[64]
In , Charles Soule wrote the Death of Wolverine storyline. In this story, Wolverine contracts a virus that disables his healing factor, allowing his enemies to finally kill him.[65] He is eventually resurrected.
begins a new era for the X-Men. Beginning in House of X and Powers of X, by Jonathan Hickman, the mutants found a new nation on the living island of Krakoa, where they are capable of regularly resurrecting mutants after their death. Wolverine reconciles with Cyclops and abandons their long-standing rivalry.[66] Wolverine leads a new version of X-Force in a series written by Benjamin Percy, which now includes Domino, Beast, Black Tom Cassidy, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire, and Sage.[67]
In , Wolverine also features as part of the Savage Avengers, along with Punisher, Elektra, Venom, Brother Voodoo, and Conan the Barbarian.[68]
s
Wolverine continued in appear in a number of series in this decade, both as a solo hero and as part of multiple teams.
As the Krakoa era continued for all of the X-Men characters, Benjamin Percy wrote a new Wolverine ongoing series beginning in , along with his leadership role in the X-Force series.[69]
Wolverine also featured in a new version of the Midnight Sons in a series that began in [70]
Fictional character biography
Early life and backstory
Wolverine was born as James Howlett in northern Alberta, Canada (approximately near Cold Lake), during the late 19th century, purportedly to rich farm owners John and Elizabeth Howlett,[71] though he is actually the illegitimate son of the Howletts' groundskeeper, Thomas Logan.[72] After Thomas is thrown off the Howletts' property for an attempted rape perpetrated by his other son, named simply Dog, he returns to the Howlett manor and kills John Howlett.
In retaliation, young James kills Thomas with bone claws that emerge from the back of his hands, as his mutation manifests.[73] He flees with his childhood companion, Rose, and grows into manhood on a mining colony in the Yukon, adopting the name "Logan".[74] When Logan accidentally kills Rose with his claws, he flees the colony and lives in the wilderness among wolves,[75] until he is captured and placed in a circus.[76] Saul Creed, brother of Victor Creed, frees Logan, but after he betrays Logan and Clara Creed to Nathaniel Essex, Logan drowns Creed in Essex's potion.[77] Logan returns to civilization, residing with the Blackfoot people.
Following the death of his Blackfoot lover, Silver Fox, at the hands of Victor Creed, now known as Sabretooth,[78] he is ushered into the Canadian military during World War I.
During World War II, Logan teams up with Captain America[79] and continues a career as a mercenary. He serves with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion[80] during D-Day, and later with the CIA before being recruited by Team X, a black ops unit.
Sometime after WWII and before joining Team X, Logan spends time in Madripoor before settling in Japan, where he marries Itsu. While Logan is away from home, Romulus sends the Winter Soldier to kill the pregnant Itsu and has her baby taken from her womb; the boy would later become Daken. Logan believes his son to be dead for many years.
As a member of Team X, Logan is given false memory implants. Eventually breaking free of this mental control, he joins the Canadian Defense Ministry. Logan is subsequently kidnapped by the Weapon X program, where he remains captive and experimented on, until he escapes.[81] It is during his imprisonment by Weapon X that he has adamantium forcibly fused onto his bones.
James and Heather Hudson help him recover his humanity following his escape, and Logan begins work as an intelligence operative for the Canadian government's Department H.
s
He becomes Wolverine, one of Canada's first superheroes. In his first mission, he is dispatched to stop the destruction caused by a brawl between the Hulk and the Wendigo.[82] After the Canadian government fails to capture Hulk, Wolverine is forced to team-up with Living Diamond to infiltrate Brand Corporation, where they are briefly caught by Mesmero and a mysterious masked mutant named Wildlife.
Wildlife is actually an amnesiac Beast, an X-Men member. Former Secret Empire agent Linda Donaldson recovers Beast's memories. Wolverine then kills Living Diamond for killing both Beast and Linda. Before taking Mesmero away, as Wolverine's old mask was heavily damaged, Wolverine takes Beast's Wildlife mask, which then becomes the iconic mask he uses through years.[83]
Later, Professor Charles Xavier recruits Wolverine to a new iteration of his superhero-mutant team, the X-Men, along with Banshee, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus.
He competes with Cyclops for the affection of Jean Grey.[84] It was later revealed that Wolverine had been sent to assassinate Xavier, who wiped Logan's memories and forced him to join the X-Men.[85]
s
In The Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean Grey apparently sacrifices herself after transforming into the Phoenix Force, thereby temporarily ending the love triangle among herself, Wolverine, and Cyclops.
While his teammates often distrust him, Wolverine is invaluable in rescuing the others and defeating their enemies, particularly in their conflict with the Hellfire Club.
In this decade his new X-Men teammates included Longshot, Dazzler, and Rogue.[86] He becomes engaged to Mariko Yashida and battles The Hand.[87] However, the engagement is broken because of the intervention of a member of the Hellfire Club.
He becomes a close defender and mentor for Kitty Pryde. He battles Sabretooth during the Mutant Massacre story line,[88] though he later discovers that he had many previous interactions with Sabretooth that his traumatic amnesia concealed. Separate from the X-Men, he has adventures in Madripoor disguised as his alter ego "Patch."
s
He is a mentor for Jubilee.
When the X-Men split into two different subgroups, he participates in the "Blue Team" along with Cyclops, Rogue, Beast, Gambit, and Psylocke. Jean Grey had been resurrected by this point, leading to resumption of his rivalry with Cyclops.[89]
He also discovers some aspects of the trauma and brainwashing he received from the Weapon X program, although his memories remain unreliable.
He meets Maverick, another former participant in the Weapon X project, and discovers that he had previously worked together with Sabretooth in a covert team subsequent to the project.[90]
In X-Men #25 (), at the culmination of the "Fatal Attractions" storyline, the supervillain Magneto forcibly removes the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton.
This massive trauma causes his healing factor to burn out and also leads to the discovery that his claws are actually bone. Wolverine leaves the X-Men for a time, embarking on a series of adventures during which his healing factor returns. Feral by nature, Wolverine's mutation process will eventually cause him to degenerate physically into a more primitive, bestial state.[91]Elektra helps him to recover his humanity.[92]
After his return to the X-Men, Cable's son Genesis kidnaps Wolverine and attempts to re-bond adamantium to his skeleton.[93] This is unsuccessful and causes Wolverine's mutation to accelerate out of control.
He is temporarily changed into a semi-sentient beast-like form. Eventually, the villain Apocalypse captures Wolverine, brainwashes him into becoming the Horseman Death, and successfully re-bonds adamantium to his skeleton.
Wolverine overcomes Apocalypse's programming and returns to the X-Men.[volume&#;&&#;issue&#;needed]
s
Jean Grey becomes again possessed by the Phoenix Force, and Wolverine has no other choice but to kill her with his claws.
Wolverine learns about the existence of X He initially believes her to be a clone, raised to be a perfect assassin.[94] X later goes by the name Laura.
She is eventually enrolled at the Xavier Institute, with her true origin being kept secret as Logan's way of protecting her.[95] Despite being introduced as Wolverine's "sister", she quickly accepts Wolverine as a father figure.[96] She eventually learns that he is actually her biological father.[97]
In the Enemy of the State story line, Wolverine is brainwashed by the Hand.[98] He battles Elektra, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Fantastic Four.[99][] He also attacks the X-Mansion and kills Northstar.[] Wolverine is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D.
and submitted to VR reprogramming.[] He turns against the Hand.[]
In the House of M story line, Scarlet Witch drastically transforms reality. As a consequence, Wolverine is able to recall memories of his previous life, overcoming his previous traumatic amnesia.[]
In Wolverine: Origins, the character's second solo series, Wolverine discovers that he has a son named Daken, who has been brainwashed and made a living weapon.
Wolverine then makes it his mission to rescue Daken.[]
During the events of the "Messiah Complex" storyline, Cyclops orders Wolverine to reform X-Force.[] Wolverine and the team (initially consisting of X, Warpath, and Wolfsbane) starred in a new monthly title.[] In the "Messiah War", Cyclops ends the X-Force program,[volume&#;&&#;issue&#;needed] but Wolverine continues a new Uncanny X-Force team in secrecy with Angel/Archangel, Psylocke, Deadpool and Fantomex.[]
Wolverine splits with Cyclops and opens a new school in Westchester, New York, the "Jean Grey School for Higher Learning".[] Around half of all the mutants on Utopia accompany Wolverine to Westchester to be a part of the new school.
He appoints himself as the headmaster, Kitty Pryde as the co-headmistress, Hank McCoy as the vice-principal, and various other characters are appointed as the school's staff.[]
s
In Avengers vs. X-Men the Phoenix Force returns to Earth and this produces conflict between the X-Men and the Avengers, and Wolverine takes the side of the Avengers.[] Cyclops becomes possessed by the Phoenix Force and kills Professor X.
In Uncanny Avengers Wolverine gives a eulogy at the funeral of Professor X, in which he admits that he wanted to kill Cyclops.[] He becomes a member of the Avengers Unity Squad, a team created by Captain America in which X-Men and Avengers work together.[]
In the "Death of Wolverine" story line, a virus turns off Wolverine's healing factor.
Wolverine determines that Doctor Abraham Cornelius, the founder of the Weapon X program, has placed a bounty on his head. Wolverine gets covered in adamantium after confronting him, and dies from suffocation.[] Wanting to possess Logan, Ogun finds his dead body.[]
The aftermath of Wolverine's death is explored in the series Wolverines.[] The "Wolverines" (a team formed from the fallout of his death by Daken, Lady Deathstrike, Mystique, Sabretooth, and X) try to find Logan's adamantium-covered body, which is taken by Mister Sinister.[]
X begins wearing a variation of Wolverine's costume and adopts his codename.[]
In Marvel Legacy #1, the time-displaced Jean Grey discovers the adamantium shell in Wolverine's grave has been cracked open and is empty.[] The X-Men set up Wolverine's 'public' grave in the cabin and were able to get his body out of the adamantium shell by having Kitty phase his corpse out of it, subsequently burying him in a secret location in Canada while leaving the shell as a site for others to attend in memorial of him.
The shell is cracked when the Reavers attempt to steal Wolverine's corpse and shortly after that attack, Kitty visits the 'real' grave and realizes that it is empty. Kitty contacts Daredevil and Tony Stark for help finding who took Wolverine, but all are left concerned at the questions of who would even know the location of the true grave- which was known only by a few key X-Men- and whether Wolverine was stolen or 'woke up' on his own as the X-Men also began their investigation, leaving the time-displaced Jean Grey alone in the cabin.[] At the same time, some of Wolverine's worst enemies hear what happened and join the hunt.[]
The Return of Wolverine miniseries focusing on Wolverine's resurrection opens with Wolverine having been brought back to life in an amnesic state by an unidentified force.
He eventually realizes that he was brought back to life by Persephone.[]
Wolverine joins the X-Men to attack the Orchis's Mother Mold solar orbiting space station. As Wolverine and Nightcrawler volunteer for a suicide mission to teleport into the vacuum of space. The two longtime friends then say their goodbyes to each other, with Nightcrawler assuring Wolverine that he will be welcomed into heaven.
As Nightcrawler is disintegrated, Wolverine's body immediately ignites into flames and he and the Mother Mold are vaporized as they fall into the Sun.[] Wolverine, along with the rest of the X-Men who perished in the attack on the Mother Mold space station, are then resurrected in the Arbor Magus' hatchery on the Pacific island of Krakoa using a new 48 hour cloning process.
In this era, the X-Men have learned how to resurrect any mutant who has died.[][]Forge, using Krakoan-Transmode cybernetics inside the island's armory, provided the Adamantium and the skeletal bonding process.[]
s
Wolverine has been resurrected and equipped with an Adamantium skeleton no less than 10 times, having died in battle against Orchis's Nimrod at least 9 times,[] and has grudgingly allowed for one of his clones to be created without Cerebro's memory upload and to be genetically modified with phosphorescent blood to be fed upon by Dracula and his vampires.[]
During the "Hellfire Gala" storyline, Wolverine decides to spend time with his biological daughter Laura Kinney/X, and her clone Gabby/Scout, his biological son Daken, and also Kate Pryde and Jubilee.
On the evening of the party, Wolverine and several members of X-Force are assigned positions as security. He and Domino then suddenly find themselves in a fight against Deadpool, who attempts to gatecrash the party.[] Meanwhile, Beast's telefloronic programming on the Terra Verdan ambassador is hacked and starts attacking the party.[]
In the X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine story event, Wolverine travels in time to save the life of an important figure to the mutant race.
In the midst of his travels, Wolverine will relive certain moments from his own long-forgotten past as well. Upon revisiting the past, is revealed that Wolverine was present during the birth of Charles Xavier and indirectly Cassandra Nova, having saved his family from an invading Omega Red, when the Russian mutant possessed some of Xavier family's butlers and nurse.[]
During the Judgment Day storyline, Wolverine was with the Quiet Council when Jack of Knives leads the attack on Krakoa.
After killing some opponents, Wolverine finds Egg badly wounded and takes an attack from Jack of Knives as he tells Jean Grey to have the Five protected. After the opponents retreat, Wolverine learns from Nightcrawler on what Uranos the Undying did on Arrako.[]
Personality and themes
Animal and human nature
Chris Claremont indicates that one of the main themes of Wolverine's character is his struggle to maintain his humanity and to reconcile it with his wild, animal nature.[] This theme recurs through Wolverine stories, such as in the period in which he temporarily regresses into a bestial state.[] Claremont compared Wolverine to Hulk, because of his tendency to lapse into a "berserker rage" while in close combat.
In this state, he lashes out with the intensity and aggression of an enraged animal and is even more resistant to psionic attack.[] Though he loathes it, he acknowledges that it has saved his life many times, it being most notably useful when he faced the telepathic "Mister X", as X's ability to read his mind and predict his next move in a fight was useless as not even Wolverine knows what he will do next in his berserk state.[]
Military experience and samurai aspiration
The essence of (Logan's) character (is) a "failed samurai".
To Samurai, duty is all, selfless service the path to their ultimate ambition, death with grace. - Chris Claremont[]
Chris Claremont says that he drew some of his characterization of Wolverine from Conan the Barbarian, declaring that "Wolverine in his essence is a lot closer to Conan than any other Marvel hero we have."[] Like Conan, Wolverine is a perennial warrior.
Various stories depict Wolverine's experiences in various historical and fictional wars (such as World War I, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and various Cold War conflicts), as well as attempts to train him or brainwash him into a weapon to be controlled by larger institutions or entities.[] Despite his apparent ease at taking lives, he mournfully regrets and does not enjoy killing or giving in to his berserker rages.
Logan adheres to a firm code of personal honor and morality, and he generally only responds in a violent or deadly manner to enemies attacking him with deadly force. He often tries to restrict killing to a "last resort," though he will often respond to deadly force with deadly force.[]
Mental health struggles and psychological profile
Wolverine is frequently depicted as a gruff loner, often taking leave from the X-Men to deal with personal issues or problems.
He is often irreverent and rebellious towards authority figures, though he is a reliable ally and capable leader, and has occasionally displayed a wry, sarcastic sense of humor. J. Andrew Deman points out that while Wolverine is commonly associated with hypermasculinity, at least in Claremont's characterization he also "consistently demonstrates an emotional intelligence and sense of empathy," to an extraordinary degree.[]
Psychologist Suzana E.
Flores writes that Wolverine demonstrates clinical psychological symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, antisocial personality disorder, dissociative disorder, and even sociopathy, but does so in a way that can be understood and empathized. She interprets his origin story as a depiction of complex childhood trauma, and its effects of dissociative amnesia and hypervigilance.
Larry Yarbrough, a clinical psychologist and Navy veteran, says that some of Wolverine's personality traits are typical of combat veterans: "The violent/kind demeanor of vets who witnessed war is paradoxical.
Logan has an extremely reactive temper, but he's also a kind person. The violent mood swings are a symptom of trauma, not a reflection of his character."
Yarbrough also observes Wolverine's habitual smoking and drinking, as coping mechanisms for this experience of trauma. In addition, Wolverine practices zazen sitting meditation to maintain self-control and restore mental health.[]
Canadian identity
Wolverine is the best known Canadian superhero.
In civilian clothes, he usually dresses in Western wear characteristic of Saskatchewan and Alberta (one of the early Wolverine artists, John Byrne, was raised in the latter of these provinces).[] Vivian Zenari has written about Wolverine's Canadian patriotism: "Wolverine must have national pride, almost out of structural necessity, in order to justify the Canadianness that coalesces around him."[] His primary connection to Canada is his affinity for the wild outdoors.
Fictional biography of wolverine Following Larry Hama's exit from the Wolverine solo title, Mark Millar became a particularly influential writer for the character. Wolverine tells her to "get bent," and she immediately kills him, leaving nothing but his adamantium skeleton. Wolverine has been resurrected and equipped with an Adamantium skeleton no less than 10 times, having died in battle against Orchis's Nimrod at least 9 times, [ ] and has grudgingly allowed for one of his clones to be created without Cerebro's memory upload and to be genetically modified with phosphorescent blood to be fed upon by Dracula and his vampires. Retrieved January 12,One of Wolverine's nicknames is "Ol' Canucklehead," a variation on a slang term for Canadians.[]
Powers and abilities
Wolverine is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial improvements to his physiology.
Healing and defensive powers
Wolverine's primary mutant power is an accelerated healing process, typically referred to as his mutant healing factor, that regenerates damaged or destroyed tissues of his body far beyond that of normal humans.
In addition to accelerated healing of physical traumas, Wolverine's healing factor makes him extraordinarily resistant to diseases, drugs and toxins. However, he can still suffer the immediate effects of such substances in massive quantities; he has been seen to become intoxicated after ingesting significant amounts of alcohol,[] and has been incapacitated on several occasions with large amounts of powerful drugs and poisons;[]S.H.I.E.L.D.
once managed to keep Wolverine anesthetized by constantly pumping eighty milliliters of anesthetic a minute into his system.[]
His healing factor allowed him to survive the experimental surgical binding of the virtually indestructible metal adamantium to his bones and claws, to which he was subjected under the Weapon X program (in later comics called the Weapon Plus program).
While the adamantium in his body prevents or reduces many injuries, such as broken bones and decapitation, his healing factor must also work constantly to prevent metal poisoning from killing him. When his healing powers were rendered inactive, Beast synthesized a drug to counteract the adamantium poisoning.[]
Wolverine's healing factor also dramatically affects his aging process, allowing him to live far beyond the normal lifespan of normal humans.
Despite being born in the late 19th century,[] he has the appearance, conditioning, health and vitality of a man in his physical prime. While seemingly ageless, it is unknown exactly how greatly his healing factor extends his life expectancy.
Although Wolverine's body heals, the healing factor does not suppress the pain he endures while injured.[] Wolverine also admits to feeling phantom pains for weeks or months after healing from his injuries.[] He does not enjoy being hurt and sometimes has to work himself up for situations where extreme pain is certain.[][] Wolverine, on occasion, has deliberately injured himself or allowed himself to be injured for varying reasons, including freeing himself from capture,[] intimidation,[] strategy,[] or simply indulging his feral nature.[][][] Though he now has all of his memories, his healing abilities can provide increased recovery from psychological trauma by suppressing memories in which he experiences profound distress.[]
Depictions of the speed and extent of injury to which Wolverine can heal vary due to a broad degree of artistic license employed by various comic book writers.
Originally, this was portrayed as accelerated healing of minor wounds,[] though Chris Claremont, head writer of the X-Men comics from the mids to the early s increased Wolverine's healing factor substantially, though not nearly as much as later writers would. During the s, Wolverine's mutant healing factor is depicted as being able to heal massive levels of trauma, though his recovery time could extend to days, weeks or months before fully healing; often depending upon the severity of the injuries, their extent and the frequency with which they are inflicted.[][][] Wolverine has also stated that his body actually heals faster when the injury is grave or life-threatening.[] During the s through the modern era, other writers have increased Wolverine's healing factor to the point that it could fully regenerate nearly any damaged or destroyed bodily tissues within seconds.[][][] Among the more extreme depictions of Wolverine's healing factor include fully healing after being caught near the center of an atomic explosion[] and the total regeneration of his soft body tissue, within a matter of minutes, after having it incinerated from his skeleton.[] An explanation is given in a recent mini-series starring Wolverine for the increase of his healing powers.
In the series, Wolverine is referred to as an "adaptive self-healer" after undergoing numerous traumatic injuries to test the efficiency of his healing factor. Wolverine has endured so much trauma, and so frequently, that his healing factor has adapted, becoming faster and more efficient to cope with increasing levels of trauma.[] The Xavier Protocols, a series of profiles created by Xavier that lists the strengths and weaknesses of the X-Men, say that Wolverine's healing factor is increased to "incredible levels" and theorizes that the only way to stop him is to decapitate him and remove his head from the vicinity of his body.[]
It is possible to suppress the efficiency of Wolverine's healing powers; for example, if an object composed of adamantium is inserted and remains lodged within his body, his healing powers are slowed dramatically.[] The Muramasa blade, a katana of mystic origins that can inflict wounds that nullify superhuman healing factors, can also suppress Wolverine's powers.[] It has also been noted that Wolverine needs protein for his healing factor to generate tissue, meaning that if he was seriously injured and malnourished, his body might not be able to repair itself.[] His healing factor has also been turned off using nanites.[] On one occasion, Wolverine finds himself temporarily deprived of his healing factor, with the scientist and X-Man Beast revealing that an "intelligent virus" originating from the Microverse had shut off Wolverine’s healing factor (though not before it purged his body of the virus), leaving him as susceptible to injury, disease, and aging as any ordinary human.[]
It has been suggested that Wolverine can be killed by drowning.[] He has said that he is not particularly fond of being in the water, due partially to the weight of his adamantium laced skeleton, and that he can die if held underwater long enough - his healing factor would only prolong the agony.[] The two-part story arc "Drowning Logan" finds Wolverine trapped underwater for an extensive period of time.[] The second part of the story arc hints that this experience weakens his healing factor and future health.[]
Due to a combination of Wolverine's healing factor and high-level psionic shields implanted by Professor Xavier, Wolverine's mind is highly resistant to telepathic