7 Ways Marvel Actually Improved Wolverine, Ranked

Wolverine is honestly one of the luckiest characters in the history of comics. He first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #181, attacking Hulk and Wendigo at the behest of the Canadian government. He was the type of character who seemed destined to be a D-lister forever but co-creator Len Wein was about to write one of the most important books in Marvel history – Giant-Size X-Men #1 – and he brought the ol’Canucklehead with him. This was the big break the character needed and since then, he’s become one of the most popular superheroes ever. A lot of work has been put into Logan over the years and it’s all paid off.

Wolvie had a meteoric rise to stardom, but it wasn’t guaranteed that he would always stay on top. Creators have had done a lot with the character and some of these things have helped him improve immensely. Marvel improved Wolverine in these seven ways, allowing him to stay at the top of the charts.

7) Martial Arts Mastery

The X-Men has some amazing fighters, but even among this number Wolverine is something special. He’s easily one of the most skilled members of the team and has mastered multiple martial arts. The character’s stories have been vastly improved by this mastery. Not just because it’s made him a better fighter, but because of the amount of “martial arts stories” that we’ve gotten. Wolverine vs ninjas is one of the old standards of his adventures and we’ve seen him vie with numerous mystical martial arts characters over the years, his connection to these arts an integral part of these stories.

6) Rivalry With Sabretooth

Wolverine was massively popular in the late ’70s and early ’80s, but there was something missing. Any character who wants a chance at solo stardom needs to have his own villains and he didn’t have any. All of that would change with “Mutant Massacre”, when he would have his first fight with Sabretooth, who was previously a D-list villain. Since then, their rivalry has become one of the most intense in Marvel history. Wolverine and Sabretooth’s fights are the stuff of legend, and showed that the ol’Canucklehead could have his own villains. Since then, the floodgates have opened, with Wolvie having one of the most underrated rogues galleries ever.

5) Weapon X

Wolverine was the ultimate man of mystery for years and this was part of his charm. However, you can’t keep a character a mystery forever, so in 1991 Marvel published “Weapon X”, a 12-part story that ran through Marvel Comics Presents #72-84. It revealed where his adamantium skeleton came from and would lead to so many stories over the years. The Weapon X program became fertile ground, birthing new characters and concepts for various comics. It was the perfect addition to the ol’Canucklehead’s history.

4) Joining the Avengers

New Avengers was massively popular, an all-new Avengers team that brought new characters into the fold, including Wolverine. For years, Logan had been one of the most popular heroes around, but he was basically pigeonholed into the X-Men side of things. He would make cameo appearances elsewhere, but being an X-Man held him back in stature in the Marvel Universe. Joining the Avengers changed all of that. He was able to hang out with the most important heroes and this made him seem more important. He was already popular with readers, but making him an Avenger made him more important in-universe, which has led to some amazing stories.

3) Becoming Leader of X-Force

X-Force was first introduced as a vehicle for Cable and helped make him into one of the most popular mutants of the ’90s. The team went through a lot of changes in the decade of extreme and even more in the ’00s when it became the X-Statix before fading away. However, the Decimation of the mutant race would bring them back as a black ops superhero team, this time under the control of Wolverine. It was the first time that he led his own team and it was awesome. It showed that he grown into a leader after years of being the troublemaker, a move that increased his statue in the mutant community in new ways.

2) Started His Own X-Men School

Leading X-Force was only the beginning for Mama Howlett’s little boy. X-Men: Schism would see Logan and Cyclops clash over using young mutants as soldiers, with Logan taking half the extant mutant race back to Westchester. They re-built the X-Mansion and rechristened it the Jean Grey School for Mutants. Wolverine was the school’s headmaster and the field leader of their team and it went way better than anyone would have expected. Readers already knew he was a good leader from X-Force and this was the perfect next step in his growth, showing how much he’s changed since the old days.

1) Strengthening His Healing Factor

This one is going to controversial, because there’s an argument that can be made that Wolverine’s healing factor is too powerful and it’s robbed his stories of stakes. However, amping up his healing factor has allowed the character to have battles with ever more powerful and formidable heroes and villains, which has played a big role in making him better. Logan’s healing factor has allowed him to survive everything and that’s very important, since bloody fights are an important part of the character. His increased healing factor has allowed him to stand with the most powerful heroes against the worst threats in a way he couldn’t before, which helped raise his stature.

How do you think Wolverine has improved? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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