Wolverine has become one of the most popular superheroes of all time since his debut in 1974’s The Incredible Hulk #181. Over the years, readers have shown that they can’t get enough of the ol’Canucklehead, and he’s appeared in numerous team books, ongoing series, miniseries, and one-shots. He’s guest-starred and co-starred, fighting with and alongside some of the greatest heroes and villains in comics. He’s had every kind of crossover you can think of, even jumping to other universes. Logan appears in so many comics that he’s somewhat ubiquitous in the comic industry, and his haters are constantly complaining about all of his appearances.
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However, that hasn’t stopped anyone from creating rip-off versions of the character. Numerous other publishers have ripped off various aspects of the clawed mutant, and even Marvel themselves have gotten in on ripping their own creation off. Some Wolverine rip-offs have gone further than others, though, and these five have all gotten popular in their own right.
5) Omega Red
Wolverine has faced many dangerous foes, but few of them are as deadly as Omega Red. Most people would have picked someone like Sabretooth, but Red is even more of a Wolverine rip-off then Victor Creed. Both of them were mutants who were experimented on by their government, each of their mutant powers affecting their childhoods and setting them on their paths, each of them had a nigh indestructible metal put into their body, both were manipulated by the people who created them, and both of them are tough as nails fighters, old cold warriors still trying to change the world in their disparate ways. They’ve even put Arkady on a Wolverine-esque path of redemption. Omega Red has always been an inverse of Wolverine, it’s just gotten easier to see as time went on.
4) Laura Kinney/Wolverine II
Marvel has created numerous versions of Wolverine over the decades, all in hopes to recreate the fan-favorite’s character popularity. In the early ’00s, the publisher decided to create a new version of the hero for the 21st century. Laura Kinney was a complete re-do on the concept of the character. She started out as a mysterious, violent young woman, created to be a weapon. She had to come to terms with her past, find her family, and learn to control the beast that she was created to be. If you look at the history of Laura, you will see a lot of things that echo Wolverine’s own development years before. She’s since earned the right to use the name “Wolverine”, putting the finishing touches on her journey as a character and becoming a hero on the level of her father.
3) Daken
After the success of copying Wolverine with Laura, Marvel decided to try it again later in the ’00s. This time, though, instead of creating a heroic new version of Wolverine, they made a villainous one in Daken. Akihiro was the son of Logan and his slain Japanese wife Itsu. He was raised by Logan’s enemy Romulus to be a weapon against his father, and was used an assassin by numerous powerful men and women as part of his training. For years, he was the evil Wolverine, trying to fight against the demons of his past and losing, one of which was his own father. It was an interesting modification on the formula, and while it led to him eventually becoming a hero, it was a more circuitous route than Logan or Laura took.
2) Ripclaw
Writer/artist Marc Silvestri drew Wolverine in both Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine (Vol. 2), becoming a superstar in the process. He rode that success to the bank, leaving Marvel to help found Image Comics and creating CyberForce. CyberForce used a lot of X-Men copycats and Ripclaw was the requisite Wolverine of the team, a wild clawed fighter. The Native American warrior became kind of popular throughout the ’90s, even getting his own solo books. He’s one of Silvestri’s most recognizable characters, and while he’s not as popular as he used to be, he still had his share of success.
1) Lobo
Writer/artist Keith Giffen was truly one of the greats. He got his big break on Legion of Superheroes, and that led to him becoming one of the standard bearers for post-Crisis DC. Giffen was known for his sense of humor and he created several characters meant to lampoon other aspects of superhero comics, so Wolverine’s popularity was something he decided to poke fun at with Lobo. The Czarnian bastiche played off everything that made Wolverine popular — he was a gruff, violent loner who liked to smoke, drink, and fight. Lobo was known for his wild adventures, taking the ideas behind Wolverine and pushing them past parody. In the process, he became massively popular over the years, and is about to make his big screen debut in 2026, played by the perfect person: Jason Momoa.
Who are your favorite Wolverine rip-offs? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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