When it comes to the X-Men from the Marvel comics, none is unaware of the character Logan, aka Wolverine. The character appearing for the first time in 1974 is undoubtedly one of our favorites at the moment, especially after the movies, where Australian actor Hugh Jackman gave phenomenal performances.
Wolverine was a mutant who could rapidly heal from practically any wound and tear and kill all opponents with his razor-sharp adamantium claws. Wolverine’s healing abilities make it difficult for anyone to guess his age, and the character has lived for 100s of years. He is also believed to have fought alongside
Captain America during World War II. Wolverine was not born with adamantium claws. His claws were bone-like before being operated upon, after which his endoskeleton was fused and transformed into Adamantium. The character’s rage is similar to Hulk, and there is practically no way to stop an angry Wolverine.
Throughout his long life, he had his fair share of love, pain, and fights. Despite having different plots for his origin there is one thing that is common in every storyline and that is his tragedy.In today’s video, we will be unfolding the character’s origins from different media and also notable stories.So without any further delay let us dive into the origins of Wolverine.
WOLVERINE ORIGIN
The 1992 X-Men: The Animated Series gave us an idea of Wolverine’s origin. Since Wolverine has lived for more than 100 years, it isn’t easy to track down his origin, especially when he doesn’t remember much. Season 3 Episode 19, going by the name ‘Weapon X, Lies and Videotape’, showcased a glimpse of Wolverine’s past and the source of his Adamantium endoskeleton. It was aired on 11th June 1995.
The story began with Wolverine suffering from traumatizing visuals of his past. He is restrained in the mansion by the X-men, with Charles Xavier trying to calm down as he grows vicious, dreaming about Sabretooth injuring his beloved Silver Fox. He tears away the restraints as the Professor grows weak and escapes the mansion with the Beast following him secretly. Logan leaves for Canada, where he finds the old Weapon X facility.
He enters the old facility and regains painful memories of how Adamantium was bonded onto his skeleton. Beast arrives and tries to help Wolverine. He eventually calms him down, but Sabretooth, who is also suffering from similar painful visuals and suspects Logan for this happening, arrives.
They both exchange quick blows before being stopped by Maverick and Silver Fox. On seeing the duo, Wolverine recalls memories of the four escaping the facility. The four of them were attacked by Omega Red, and Sabretooth left Maverick and Silver Fox while escaping with Wolverine. Their presence proves that the two survived, and Fox had lured them to the facility to get answers for the traumatizing visuals of memories she had been experiencing as well. While searching for clues in the facility, Beast gets hold of two videotapes.
The videos revealed that the four were experiments conducted by a man named Kenji Oyama, also known as the Professor. His first experiment was Logan, where he, along with Dr. Abraham Cornelius, had fused his endoskeleton with Adamantium. They were all created to be murder machines whose memories were erased after every battle. Searching for further answers, they reach a door with four scanning devices made for genetic identification.
Beast tries, but it only responds to the four mutants, Wolverine, Silver Fox, Maverick, and Sabretooth. The doors open, and a safety protocol gets activated. A dangerous robot named Talos gets released on them. Talos was stronger than they imagined, but with the aid of Maverick’s explosives they took down the robot.
In a moment, another protocol gets activated and the four experimented mutants experience excruciating pain, most likely the sequence of painful memories and faint. A second Talos appears but Beasts manages to escape the facility with the four of them before it explodes to nothing. After taking a friendly goodbye from Maverick and Silver Fox and with Sabretooth escaping , Wolverine and the Beast leave Canada and go back to their mansion.
WOLVERINE’S TRAGIC BACKSTORY FROM X-MEN ORIGINS
In 2009 X-Men: Wolverine Origins was released, which had a similar origin story to that of the animated show, but there were different plot details. In the movie, Wolverine was born to the Howletts and named James. In 1845 his father was murdered by their groundskeeper Thomas Logan in front of his children. The anxiety triggers the boy’s mutation, and bone claws sprout out from his knuckles with which he impales Thomas.
In his last words, Thomas reveals to James that he is his biological father. James escapes with his half-brother, Victor Creed, who, like James, has mutations like long sharp nails and a fast healing factor. Throughout the next century, they served as troops fighting both the World Wars, the American Civil War and Vietnam War in 1973. Victor becomes more violent and aggressive and tries to rape a Vietnamese woman but later gets sentenced to death by the firing squad along with James for defending him.
They both survive with the aid of mutant healing abilities and are kept in military detention. There the duo comes across Major William Stryker, who offers them to join his mutant team. The team consisted of an expert marksman Agent Zero,katana-wielding mercenary Wade Wilson, teleporter John Wraith,super-strong and impenetrable Fred Dukes, technopath Chris Bradley and was known as Team X. James and Victor join the team with James using the identity Logan.
They participate in a few missions, but Logan leaves because of the squad’s lack of empathy for innocent lives. Six years later, we get to see Logan living happily with a girl named Kayla Silverfox. The year is 1979, and he is a logger in Canada and a happy husband. One day Stryker and Zero arrive to pay a visit to Logan and inform him that Victor has killed Wade and Bradley and is currently pursuing the team.
They both ask Logan to join them, but Logan resists. The next day Logan finds Kayla dead in the woods and suspects Victor. He tracks Victor down in a nearby tavern and attacks him to avenge the death of his beloved wife. He eventually loses the fight and later accepts Stryker’s offer to strengthen him enough to take down Victor. Logan undergoes a painful process where his skeleton is fused with Adamantium.
After the procedure is complete, Stryker believing Logan to not be in senses, orders to erase his memory so that he can be used as a perfect weapon, but Logan hears it. Logan breaks out from his chamber and escapes after killing everyone coming in his way. He takes refuge in a nearby farm owned by an elderly couple who greet him warmly and offer him their son’s clothes.
The next morning Zero kills the couple and tries to take down Logan. In a fearce fight, Logan tears off the blades of the chopper, making it explode with Zero in it. Logan tracks down Wraith and Dukes and learns that Victor actually worked for Stryker and helped him hunt down mutants for his experiments conducted at a place named “The Island”. The only person who knows the ins and outs of this place is Remy “Gambit” LeBeau as he was the only person who escaped from the place. Logan and Wraith track down Gambit in New Orleans, where he faces off Logan before accepting defeat and promising him help. Meanwhile, Victor kills Wraith and harvests his DNA.
On reaching Stryker’s base, Logan discovers that Kayla is still alive and has been spying on Logan all these years in exchange for her sister’s protection. The two plan on freeing all the mutants that were held captive. Meanwhile, Stryker summons a mutated and operated Wade with his mouth sealed, now known as Weapon XI, a mutant murderer.
Logan and Victor fight this new monster while the other mutants escape. After a long and tough fight the two win, and Weapon XI gets killed by his own lasers. Stryker arrives at the scene, and before Logan could think, he shoots him in the head with adamantium bullets knocking him out. Wolverine recovers from it but loses all his memories.
ORIGINAL WOLVERINE ORIGIN FROM THE COMIC
The comic book series titled ‘Wolverine: Origin ‘, or ‘Origin: The True Story of Wolverine’, published by Marvel Comics from November 2001 to July 2002, has its take on Wolverine’s origin. Written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins, the plot revolves around Wolverine, born James Howlett, the son of wealthy plantation owners in the late 19th century. As a child, James was weak and frequently suffered from allergies, for which his father, John Howlett, brought an orphan girl named Rose to be his companion.
The Howletts’ had a cruel groundskeeper, Thomas Logan, who had a son named Dog Logan. James, Rose, and Dog were friends and often played together. Thomas Logan’s look was very similar to that of The Wolverine that we all know, which infers two solutions: either Dog is Wolverine or James’ mother had an affair with Thomas Logan, and young James was the child of Thomas.
There was a building tension between Thomas and John Howlett centering on Elizabeth. One day, Rose stumbles upon Elizabeth changing and notices 3 parallel scars along her ribs that seem from claws. Thomas Logan as a father, was terrible to Dog. He often used to get drunk and beat him up.
His prolonged torture started changing Dog’s behavior as with each passing day, he became increasingly like his father and even assaulted Rose and killed James’ Dog. John expels the kid and his father from the mansion, but later that night, Thomas returns on the purpose of robbing the Howlett estate. He tries to convince Elizabeth to escape with him, which now finally reveals they both had an affair.
John Howletts hears noises from the bedroom and enters to find Thomas. Thomas kills John with a shotgun in front of the kids, which causes James to experience his powers for the first time. His claws appear in his hands, and he kills Thomas and injures Dog. It is finally concluded that Thomas was James’ biological father. Elizabeth looks at James with disgust and says, “not you too”. Rose and James escape while Elizabeth strangely cradles Thomas Logan’s body instead of John’s. She then picks up the shotgun and kills herself in front of Dog.
Later, when police interrogate him, he states that all this was the doing of Rose, who then escaped with James. James, meanwhile, starts forgetting the trauma of everything owing to his healing abilities. They both travel to British Columbia and start working in a stone quarry for foreman Smitty. Rose disguises James as Logan and herself as his cousin. Over the years, Logan grows stronger, and the locals give him the name ‘Wolverine’ as his intense digging at the quarry resembles that of wolves.
He doesn’t want Rose to remind him of his past, for which Rose wrote everything down in her diary. Logan becomes a good friend to Smitty while Smitty develops romantic feelings for Rose. Logan, too had feelings but his identity as her cousin made it impossible for him to address his feelings. The camp’s obese cook did not like Logan and went out his way to cause him trouble until one day Logan beats him up after he provokes an explosion in the quarry.
Smitty proposes to Rose to which she agrees. They plan on making easy money in cage fights. Logan confesses his feeling to Rose but gets rejected and unleashes his violence in a series of cage fights. In the final round, when Smitty arrives as his opponent, he accepts an easy defeat in order to make Rose happy. After the last cage fight, Dog appears and confronts Logan. He blames him for his father’s death and has come for revenge.
Logan beats Dog easily, and just as he is about to kill him Rose accidentally comes in his way and gets impaled by his claws. Logan goes crazy with the grief of killing his first love and runs into the woods, where he stays for an unknown amount of time like a wild animal. Smitty searches for Logan and tries bringing him back to humanity but fails as Logan no more wishes to come to the society. Malone gets hold of Rose’s belonging and purposely burns the diary which had Logan’s past.
INTERESTING FACTS
Wolverine is a well-known Marvel character, but there’s a lot about him that only comic book readers are aware of. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the movies is 6ft 3inches tall, but he is barely 5ft 3 inches tall when he appears in the comics. In Savage Wolverine (2013), another character named Shanna quips that she expected him to be taller than Hugh Jackman. Wolverine has fought in various wars throughout his long life.
During the conflict, they collaborated on multiple occasions. Only comic book fanatics may be aware that Wolverine served in the Canadian Air Force during WWII, fighting with another well-known Marvel character, Captain America. Laura Kinney, aka X23, a superhero clone, was introduced to fans of the film franchise in 2017’s Logan. Daken Itsu was Wolverine’s son and Itsu’s wife in the comics. To draw out Wolverine, his mother was assassinated by the Winter Soldier while pregnant with Akihiro.
Logan has always had a rough connection with Daken. One would not anticipate Logan to have many phobias given his long life; nevertheless, Wolverine has one, which is water. His adamantium-lined skeleton will cause him to drop like a rock when submerged. His healing abilities are also rendered useless when immersed, making him as susceptible as any other human.
Wolverine has only ever been depicted as a part of the X-Men team in the movies; yet, in the comics, Logan has served on over ten distinct superhero teams, including the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Force. While Logan’s sexuality has never been verified in the main timeline, there is enough evidence to lead comic-book fans to believe he is bisexual. There was a problem with a Wolverine from another dimension having a relationship with Hercules and kissing him in an iconic panel.
While they’ve never confirmed his sexual orientation, he was recently seen enjoying an intimate embrace with Cyclops and Jean Grey at a panel, leading many to believe he’s bisexual. Natasha Romanoff, better known as Black Widow, was trained by Wolverine. Black Widow is given the Red Room counterpart of the Super Soldier serum in the comics, giving her the same longevity as Steve Rogers.
When the two heroes met, they realised how much they cared for each other. They’ve maintained a close bond, with Natasha referring to Logan as her “little uncle” on several occasions. Wolverine is a noted alcoholic in both the comics and the movies. Captain America has a similar problem with alcohol in Captain America: The First Avenger. Because of his healing mechanism, alcohol does not effect Logan in the same way it does other people. In 1974, Wolverine made his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk. When Wolverine appears out of nowhere, the Hulk is fighting the Wendigo. Fans of comic books will recall that his time as a villain was brief. In the 2017 Logan movie, the younger malevolent version of Logan was more like the reflection of his evil past as a weapon.
WHAT MAKES HIM SO POWERFUL?
Wolverine’s most notable ability is his ability to heal. This enables him to recover from almost any injury at a breakneck speed. His healing power also makes him immune to all Earthly ailments and allows him to live longer. He was one of the only people who could eat enough Blowfish venom to kill 20 men without feeling sick. Wolverine has superhuman durability thanks to a combination of his healing factor and adamantium skeleton.
This allows him to withstand strikes from characters with a class of 100 or above, such as the Hulk, Thing, Wonder Man, Red Hulk, Juggernaut, and others while still fighting. His ligaments are nearly impenetrable thanks to the adamantium bonding, preventing superhuman characters like the Hulk or Ba’al from ever dislocating a joint. Wolverines have keen senses that are several times stronger than a human’s and much beyond those of most other creatures on the planet.
His hearing has also been improved, allowing him to hear across long distances and distinguish tones that other people cannot. Wolverine’s sense of taste has been improved as well, allowing him to smell and taste pheromones in the air, as he did in the Danger Room when he mentioned training with Jean Grey. Wolverine possesses superhuman strength. His strength ranges from 1,200 pounds to a maximum of two tonnes.
Wolverine has used one arm to swing tree trunks around like baseball bats, to hold an elevator with one hand, to toss trash, motorbikes, and even to lift and fling a dozen men. He can also strike outside his strength range, knocking out extraordinarily tough opponents such as Roughhouse, Caliban, and Spider-Man, albeit the latter was caught with a sucker punch.
Wolverine has the ability to move at near-superhuman speeds. He’s been known to attack quicker than the human eye can follow, allowing him to blitz opponents before they understand what’s going on. In combat, he has proved that he can keep up with Spider-Man or the Gorgon, and even hit quicker opponents like Speed Demon. He is able to recognise and interact with the emotions of the animals around them on a very basic level. Wolverine has been observed demonstrating his intents and actions to animals so that he is not viewed as a danger to them.
Wolverine has retractable bone claws that are six and a half inches long. Three are contained in his forearms, one in each arm. They rip through the flesh of his knuckles when stretched, yet his healing factor repairs the injuries almost instantly. The bone claws can rip through almost any form of flesh and have even been known to cut through stone and steel. Wolverine’s claws, when combined with the adamantium, are capable of cutting through almost anybody and anything.
His claws have pierced the toughest of opponents, including the Thing, Thor, Hulk, Gladiator, and, most notably, Thanos. Professor Xavier placed level 9 psi barriers in Wolverine’s brain, and when paired with his own resolve, Wolverine is highly immune to mental attacks. Many characters, including Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Xavier, and Tomi Shishido, have had mental effects on him. On Earth, Wolverine has learned 28 different types of Kung-Fu, as well as the pressure spots found on both human and extraterrestrial bodies.
He proved this understanding by defeating Kid Gladiator with a pressure point strike and crumbling the Rock of Buddha with a single well-placed blow. He has also been found to be able to manage his thoughts and emotions in order to counteract the harmful effects of Chi-based attacks. Wolverine has developed and displayed superior clandestine talents during his time with the C.I.A., Canadian Intelligence, and S.H.I.E.L.D..
He has been trained in the use of a variety of weapons, vehicles, planes, and computer systems, and is well-versed in them. Wolverine is a great assassin as well. Wolverine has been said to be able to speak a variety of languages as a result of his many trips across the globe made possible by his immortality. Wolverine is a highly talented technician who, together with Nightcrawler, has been the mechanic on the X-Blackbird Men’s for a long time.
WHERE ELSE HAS HE APPEARED?
In an episode on the history of Firestar, Wolverine appears alongside Angel, Professor X, and other X-Men. In the episode “The X-Men Adventure,” he is also a member of the team. Wolverine is represented with an Australian accent in this edition of the X-Men. It was also one of the rare occasions he was animated in his traditional brown and beige outfit. Wolverine’s history is likewise shrouded in mystery in X-Men: Evolution, and he is portrayed as an intimidating figure, however his kind nature finally comes through.
Wolverine, along with Professor X, Storm, Jean Grey, and Cyclops, is one of the founding members of this alternate universe. The series revolves around Wolverine, but it also includes the rest of the X-supporting Men’s cast. Steven Blum provides his voice for him. Wolverine makes a surprise appearance as a soldier of Steve Rodger’s WW2 unit in a flashback episode from the show’s’micro series’.
Captain America conducts an attack on a HYDRA facility in which Logan is a participant in the episode. He was also a member of the New Avengers in the second season, with Spider-Man, the Thing, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and War Machine. Wolverine also appears in the episode “Freaky” of Ultimate Spider-Man. Spider-Man and Wolverine team together to destroy Mesmoro in this episode. However, before being apprehended, he manipulates the minds of Spider-Man and Wolverine. Wolverine appears as a guest star in Japanese animation.
He appears to assist the youngsters in their fight against Sabretooth at first, but it is later revealed that he was dispatched to find Noriko Ashida, a young Japanese mutant. Kenji Nomura provides the character’s voice. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has appeared in films such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine,2009, X-Men: First Class,2011, X-Men,2000, X2: X-Men United,2004, X-Men: The Last Stand,2006, Hulk vs. Wolverine,2009, The Wolverine,2013, X-Men: Days of Future Past,2014, and X-Men: Apocalypse,2016.
In the film Logan, Jackman makes his farewell appearance in this film set in the near future. After the X-Men are disbanded due to a tragedy, Logan and Caliban travel to the Southwest to care for Professor X, who is losing control of his mental faculties due to his old age. When a young girl called Laura comes, hunted by the Reavers, the scenario is turned upside down. He also had appearances in video games such as The Uncanny X-Men (1989), X-Men: Madness In Murderworld (1989), X-Men 2: Fall of the Mutants (1990), Wolverine (1991), Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge, X-Men (1992), Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (1994), X-Men: Wolverine’s Rage (2001).
Wolverine was the focus of Wolverine: The Long Night, an audio drama podcast published for Stitcher Premium. The series is set in a tiny Alaskan village and follows a couple of federal investigators who are investigating Logan after he is suspected of being the perpetrator of a string of heinous killings. English actor Richard Armitage voices Wolverine in the podcast. Wolverine: The Lost Trail, the second season, was released in 2019.
CONCLUSION
Wolverine is undoubtedly one of the finest of all Marvel characters. His share of tragedy and pain portrays him as the best tragic hero in the Marvel universe. In every form of media, Wolverine has gone through huge losses while keeping it together and fighting. His healing abilities are sometimes cruel to him as he does not feel the loss for long, which gives him immense guilt.
In the X-men movie franchise, right after the death of his beloved Jean Grey from X-men: The Last Stand, Logan seeks a new life in Japan, as shown in his second solo movie ‘The Wolverine’ he experiences hallucinations of Jean Grey asking him to meet him on the other side signifying his death. This resulted from his guilt for killing Jean and the fact that he has moved on.
Wolverine’s characterization is at great depth and all thanks to Hugh Jackman, fans cannot imagine any other actor taking up the role. It was as if Hugh Jackman was made for this role, similar to Robert Downing Junior who seemed too perfect for the role of Tony Stark.