10 Best Wolverine Team-Up Stories in Marvel Comics

Wolverine is someone who has often preferred to work alone, but thanks to his years with the X-Men, he has opened up more and become a team player. However, he has also found a reason to team with other heroes outside of the X-Men team missions. Wolverine debuted in The Incredible Hulk #181 (1974) and immediately fought the Hulk, which set up his temperament clearly for Marvel fans. He always hits first and asks questions later, if at all, and this is how most of his team-ups start. Whether it is with Spider-Man or even a fellow member of the X-Men, Wolverine will often start a scrap and then decide it is better to work together in the end.

From the heroes he has sworn to protect like Kitty Pryde to those he has always shared an antagonistic relationship with, like Deadpool, a Wolverine team-up is almost always going to be entertaining, at the least.

10) Old Man Hawkeye (“Old Man Logan”)

The Old Man Logan series by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven showed Wolverine in a future where he was tricked into killing the X-Men, and then the world’s greatest villains teamed up to take over the United States. However, Logan would get pulled back into the fight when the Hulk Gang killed his family. The series also saw a few other surviving heroes, including a now-blind Old Man Hawkeye. In Wolverine Vol. 3 #66-72 (2008-2009) and Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1 (2009), the two heroes teamed up for a cross-country delivery job. This is a rare case where they don’t fight and are actually friends. The story opened up this world for some big battles, including against a Venom-symbiote-infected T.Rex.

9) Hulk (Wolverine Vol. 7 #37)

Wolverine’s first Marvel Comics appearance saw him fighting the Hulk. In Old Man Logan, an evil Hulk was the one who brought Logan out of retirement. These two heroes even fought a death battle in the Ultimate Universe. However, they have also teamed up, and one of the best examples was in Wolverine Vol. 7 #37 (2023) by Benjamin Percy and Juan José Ryp. This started the “Last Mutant Standing” arc during “Fall of X.” Logan is hunting down the three remaining clones of himself, and he needs Hulk’s help to fight a Logan-cloned Wendigo. This was a call-back to their original clash, which also included the Wendigo, and it was perfect timing as it had been almost 50 years since they first fought in comics.

8) Elektra (Wolverine Vol. 2 #102)

In Wolverine Vol. 2, Logan was struggling. This was during the era when Wolverine had gone feral, and he chose to remain disconnected from the X-Men and everyone else he knew. In Wolverine Vol. 2 #102 by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert, Logan was fighting to regain his control and had helped a young criminal turn his life around before facing a gunman. It was Elektra who showed up to save his life. The next few issues saw them working together as Elektra tried to help Logan regain control, knowing full well what an out-of-control animal looks like. The issue where she showed up is widely considered Hama’s best work on Wolverine, and bringing in Elektra was a stroke of genius.

7) Rogue (Uncanny X-Men #173)

The X-Men movies had Wolverine take a special interest in helping Rogue as she tried to find her place in the world. While this wasn’t the same relationship they shared in the comics, the two X-Men heroes did have a bond, and it was shown best in Uncanny X-Men #173 (1983) by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith. This was the second part of a two-part story titled “To Have and Have Not,” the story where Logan planned to marry Mariko Yashida, only to have it turned on its head. With most of the X-Men poisoned, Rogue and Wolverine teamed up to fight the Silver Samurai and Viper. Wolverine had never trusted Rogue after what she did to Carol Danvers, but this was the issue where he finally accepted her as an official X-Men member.

6) Spider-Man (Spider-Man Versus Wolverine)

Spider-Man and Wolverine seem like the most unlikely partners in any team-up storyline, but they have ended up as one of the best that Marvel Comics has ever introduced. Spider-Man’s optimism and save-everyone mantra contrast with Wolverine’s grim outlook on life and his violent nature. Their first major team-up came in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1 (1987) by Jim Owsley and Mark Bright. Peter heads to Berlin with Ned Leeds to cover some KGB killings. Wolverine is there to protect his old friend Charlemagne, who the KGB is hunting. It is a dark storyline, as Spider-Man stops Wolverine from mercy killing Charlemagne, but then Spidey accidentally kills her himself. This was also the storyline where Ned Leeds is killed, which sets up the Hobgoblin retcons down the line.

5) Deadpool (Wolverine Annual #1)

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most successful movies since Avengers: Endgame, but the team-ups between Logan and Wade Wilson are not as prevalent in Marvel Comics. However, when they do team up, it is almost always a fun read. The best of these came in Wolverine Annual #1 (1995) by Christopher Golden and Ben Herrera. Logan still hated Deadpool here, and it was Maverick who convinced him to save Wade from scientists who had abducted him and were torturing him to hopefully harvest a Legacy Virus cure. When they were together, they beat the bad guys before Deadpool disappeared. This was before Deadpool’s fourth-wall breaking, but it was still a great team-up and showed how fun they could be together.

4) Nick Fury Jr. (“Hunting Season”)

Wolverine has a long history with the original Nick Fury, going back to World War II, but the best team-up story in Marvel Comics for Wolverine and Nick Fury came with the younger version, Nick Fury Jr., in Wolverine Vol. 5 #1-4, titled “Hunting Season,” by Paul Cornell and Alan Davis. Logan answers a hostage call, and it ends up being a Microverse invasion, with Nick Fury Jr. as his only backup. While Logan and Nick Fury have plenty of friction, Nick Jr. is willing and able to work with him to get the job done. This stripped Wolverine of his healing factor mid-story, adding a lot of tension to the battle.

3) Kitty Pryde (Kitty Pryde and Wolverine)

One of the best friendships in the X-Men is the one between Wolverine and Kitty Pryde. Wolverine was the oldest member of the X-Men for most of their run, and Kitty was the youngest member of the team in the 1980s, which made Logan fight hard to protect her. This led to their six-issue miniseries, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (1984-1985) by Chris Claremont and Al Milgrom. They fight yakuza boss Shigematsu and the demonic ninja Ogun, who brainwashes Kitty into a ninja assassin that Logan has to deprogram. This was the series that Kitty chose to become Shadowcat, and it was the role that turned her into more of an adult hero.

2) Captain America (Uncanny X-Men #268)

In Uncanny X-Men #268 (1990) by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, Wolverine ended up teaming with two heroes he had a long history with, Captain America and Black Widow. This was a great issue because it flipped from 1990 Madripoor to 1941 Madripoor. It was in Madripoor during World War II that Wolverine and Captain America met for the first time and fought Baron Strucker and HYDRA to rescue the Black Widow. This contrasted with the X-Men and Black Widow battling the Hand and HYDRA in present-day Madripoor. This team-up is also notable because it was Jim Lee’s debut as the regular artist on the title.

1) Spider-Man (Astonishing Spider-Man And Wolverine)

The best Wolverine team-up story ever told was with Spider-Man. In the miniseries Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine (2010-2011) by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert, the two heroes end up thrown across time, from the dinosaur extinction event to a far-future Earth where they had to fight Doom the Living Planet. However, what really made this connect with readers was when they ended up trapped in the 18th century and realized they might never leave. They settled down, and Spider-Man even fell in love with a woman named Sara Bailey. When the Minutemen showed up and sent them back to the right time, it was an ending that left Spider-Man and Wolverine contemplating their lives. It was a perfect story.

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