Is Wolverine an Avenger? X-Men character’s other superhero teams explained

Wolverine has made his mark on the Marvel Universe with a five-decade career that has seen him joining up with some of the biggest superhero teams ever. 

Wolverine’s upcoming 50th anniversary is a huge deal. The character has been one of the most popular comic book characters in recent memory and is regularly put in titles to help boost sales. 

This means he’s made his way onto a number of teams. Since his debut in the X-Men titles, Wolverine has been a team player across the Marvel universe, joining up to help stop a big bad or two and then usually heading on his way. 

Before his anniversary takes over Marvel Comics, here’s a look at every team Wolverine has been on for the past 50 years. 

X-Men

It feels almost redundant to say, but yes, Wolverine is an X-Man. He joined the team in the all-time classic Giant-Size X-Men #1.

Wolverine makes his X-Men debut in Giant-Size X-Men #1

Giant-Size X-Men functions as something of a soft reboot for the book. Wolverine joins a team of new X-Men, including Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler, who are tasked with rescuing the original X-Men from the island of Krakoa. 

Since then, Wolverine has gone from a gruff loner to an iconic team member. He’s even been known to lead them on occasion, serving as the Headmaster of the revamped Jean Grey Institute. 

X-Force

The original X-Force was a strike force led by the time-displaced mutant Cable. The name would crop up from time to time, though, with multiple iterations of the team appearing over the years. 

Wolverine led multiple iterations of the mutant wet works team, X-Force.

During the Utopia era, Wolverine would bring X-Force back as a mutant wet works team. With a long roster of members, including X-23, Deadpool, Archangel, and Psylocke, X-Force would strike down targets before they become threats to the dwindling number of remaining mutants. 

In the Krakoa era, Wolverine’s role in X-Force would continue. The new X-Force was still a mutant problem-solving squad, with less of a focus on wet works. They’re more of a covert squadron designed specifically to skirt Krakoa’s laws in the name of mutants. 

Multiple teams of Avengers

Wolverine found himself stepping out on the X-Men with the New Avengers in the ’00s. When Iron Man and Captain America viewed the Raft breakout as a turning point, they revived the Avengers with everyone who was present. Their first mission to capture the mutant terrorist Sauron took them to the Savage Land, where Wolverine was already in pursuit.

Wolverine was a mainstay of multiple New Avengers line-ups.

Wolverine would remain an Avenger for years, joining multiple iterations alongside other heroes like Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. He also found himself on the Avengers Unity Squad, a team of human and mutant heroes designed to improve relations in the wake of the Phoenix Five’s attack on the world. 

Most recently, though, Wolverine found himself on the Savage Avengers. This unusual team consisted of Conan the Barbarian, Venom, Doctor Voodoo and The Punisher. His stint with the Savage Avengers was brief, though, ditching the team after they quelled a cult uprising. 

The (New) Fantastic Four

It’s hard to imagine Wolverine as a member of the Fantastic Four, but he was a notable member – even if it was only for two issues. 

Wolverine found himself forming a scab Fantastic Four team.

Wolverine briefly found himself partnered up with The Hulk, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man to form the All-New Fantastic Four. This scab team took over while the original FF was displaced from the universe and were swiftly booted out when the original team returned. 

The All-New FF would occasionally reunite, be it to fight the FF (an encounter that ended when Wolverine scarred The Thing) or to allow Spidey and Wolverine to form an even newer all-new Fantastic Four with Franklin and Valeria Richards (which was the origin of one of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s new suits). 

Alpha Flight

Before the X-Men, Wolverine joined Alpha Flight. The team, a premiere superhero team in Canada, worked at the behest of Department H to defend the Canadian wilderness. 

Wolverine has a strained relationship with Alpha Flight, Canada’s top superteam.

Wolverine’s time with the Alpha Flight was fairly brief, as Professor Xavier essentially poached him to join his X-Men. Alpha Flight would periodically show up in the years after, attempting to bring Wolverine back to their team. 

Most recently, Alpha Flight found themselves embroiled in the Fall of X. They worked alongside Wolverine’s son, Daken, to discreetly save mutants who were being sought by Orchis. 

Team X/Weapon X

Wolverine was on Team X long before he found himself on any superhero team. This wet works team traveled the world, killing high-value targets and doing dirty work for various governments. 

A brainwashed Wolverine worked for the clandestine Team X before being experimented on by Weapon X.

Team X is where Wolverine’s mutant powers first came to the attention of the Weapon X Program. Through his work with this team, Wolverine eventually finds himself subjected to experimentation. 

Wolverine would forget about Team X and the Weapon X program for a time after his escape. Since then, he’s had good and bad encounters with his former teammates, such as Sabretooth. 

That’s all we have for now about Wolverine’s various teams. For more Wolverine and Marvel Comics news, stick with Dexerto.