Wolverine: The X-Men character’s origins, powers, and best comics

❘ Updated: 2024-07-24T15:50:58

Disney/Marvel Comics

From the X-Men movies to Deadpool 3’s haunted variant, Wolverine is one of the most storied Marvel characters to leap from page to screen.

Although Logan bristled at being called “the X-Man,” in Deadpool 3, it’s true. His pop culture reach, claw iconography, and main character status in several Marvel movies make it so.

He’s a beloved staple for generations of Marvel fans, whether you first fell in love with the short king from the X-Men animated series in the ’90s or loved watching him find family at Xavier’s school in live-action.

Hugh Jackman undoubtedly played a huge role in the rugged hero’s journey through the X-Men movie timeline, and it’s not over yet, bub.

Who is Wolverine?

Wolverine (James “Logan” Howlett) is a mutant known for his violent temperament and adamantium skeleton.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in Deadpool 3.

Despite his volatile temper and shrouded past, he became one of the team’s mainstays when Charles Xavier approached him to join the X-Men.

Though he has a gruff, volatile personality and used to be a lone wolf, his soft spot for Jean Grey and loyalty to mutant-kind keep him around.

His integration into the team was challenging because of his temperament and conflict with Cyclops, but he nonetheless became part of their found family.

While he might not be the leader Scott is or the teacher Storm becomes, he showed a natural talent for mentoring young mutants like Jubilee and X-23.

Origins

Born as James Howlett to a wealthy Canadian family rife with conflict at the end of the 19th century, he was forced to leave after his mutant abilities manifested.

A string of domestic issues led to a traumatic childhood, and he was shunned when his X-gene kicked in. Taking the name Logan, he left and wandered alone for decades as a soldier, mercenary, spy, and anything else you can imagine (he’s been alive a looong time, folks).

Logan was eventually a subject in the Weapon X Program and had his bones coated in Adamantium, an indestructible substance. It’s fair to say he did not give informed consent, not knowing the pain that would befall him and how the US government wanted to weaponize him.

He was later rescued by Mac and Heather Hudson of the superhero team Alpha Flight. The couple found him living ferally in the wild after he escaped the program.

Logan started a new life by becoming an operative for Canada’s Department H. It was at this point he started being called Wolverine.

Later, Logan was invited by Charles Xavier to join the X-Men, a team of heroes fighting for peace between humans and mutants.

His powers

Wolverine’s adamantium bones and extraordinary healing factor make him almost indestructible.

Logan's claws in Deadpool and Wolverine.

Wolverine’s powers:

Regenerative healing factor
Contaminant immunity
Fatigue resistance
Decelerated aging
Some telepathic resistance
Acute senses

He has regenerative healing paralleled only by the likes of Wade Wilson, but the addition of his combat prowess and bestial claws up the ante.

His experience training as an assassin, under a sensei, and the Weapon X Program turning his bone claws into adamantium all lend a hand to Wolverine being one of the fiercest X-Men.

While he can’t match the most powerful mutants in raw power, his deployment of hand-to-hand combat and proficiency in lethal environments makes him a dangerous asset.

Wolverine in the X-Men movies

Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine appears in most X-Men movies and largely shares the same origin story as the comic character.

The X-Men movie timeline is absolute chaos. But – whatever way you slice it – Logan was captured by William Stryker, who bonded adamantium to his skeleton and erased his memories after.

Sophie Turner’s Jean freed him in X-Men: Apocalypse and partially restored his memories in the revised timeline caused by Days of Future Past.

Wolverine even got his own movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And guess what, it’s rubbish. But, it’s key to his journey, so you have to watch it anyway.

With Deadpool 3, we will finally see Wolverine in his iconic yellow and blue supersuit that he wears in the comics and the animated series.

Appearances (in chronological order):

X-Men: First Class
X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men: Apocalypse
X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
The Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine
Logan

Logan was the perfect send-off

2017’s Logan was a goodbye to Wolverine after almost 20 years of Jackman’s interpretation.

In a dystopian 2029 where most of his allies have died, Wolverine meets X-23/Laura: a young girl bio-engineered using Logan’s DNA. As stubborn and fiery as he is, she convinces him he can’t give up on mutant-kind.

This is undoubtedly one of the best movies in the franchise. It encapsulated Wolverine’s character flaws and unique resilience, and James Mangold directed the hell out of it.

The X-Men have earned a passionate following over the decades, and this film was a reminder of what’s so special about them.

It ended with Logan sacrificing his life to give Laura and other young mutants a sliver of hope. And then we sat in the cinema and sobbed to Johnny Cash over the credits.

It was the ideal place to wave goodbye to Jackman’s role, however…

The Deadpool & Wolverine variant

Jackman plays a Wolverine variant in Deadpool 3 who “let his entire world down.”

Hugh Jackman as Logan in Deadpool and Wolverine.

Wolverine is back from the dead (but not really) in the 2024 movie. We’ve not met this variant before, and he has a mistake in his past that led him to ditch his heroic responsibilities.

Whatever it was, the TVA and citizens of his world have lost respect for him. Deadpool arrives just in time to remind him who he should be, inviting Wolverine to join him for some multiverse chaos. Wade will also almost certainly rope him into some MCU shenanigans heading into Phase 6.

So, we’re dealing with an entirely new character. He will share the broad strokes we associate with Logan but has his own timeline and experiences.

In the new movie, we suspect we will also see another variant of Wolverine known as Patch. This was Wolverine’s alias when he was in hiding in Madripoor, and it remains to be seen how that’ll play out in Deadpool 3.