7 Wolverine Facts You Won’t Believe Are True

Wolverine is one of the most iconic and beloved superheroes of all time. Starting as a simple one-shot Hulk antagonist in 1974, Wolverine’s cool powers, costume, and attitude ultimately turned him into a key member of the X-Men. Today, Wolverine is a pillar of Marvel Comics and one of their most profitable heroes. While Wolverine may often view himself as a mere brute, he has one of the most detailed and complicated histories of any superhero, thanks to his superhuman longevity and numerous bouts of amnesia. With a hero with such a confusing history, it’s understandable that there are facts about the X-Man that even the most die-hard fans wouldn’t believe were true.

With a character subject to as many retellings and retcons as Wolverine, it’s unsurprising that there would be plenty of facts that have gone over the heads of most fans. These are the most bizarre details about everyone’s favorite X-Man.

7) Wolverine Once Had All the Avengers’ Powers

In addition to the X-Men, Wolverine has been a longtime Avenger. And in New Avengers #5-6, Wolverine possessed all his teammates’ abilities. When the all-powerful mystical entity Agomotto attacked the Avengers to retrieve the Eye of Agomotto artifact from the hero and Sorcerer Supreme Brother Voodoo, the sorcerer challenged the entity to a trial by combat. It was decided that Wolverine would be the Avengers’ champion, and Brother Voodoo cast a spell so that Wolverine might have a chance against Agomotto. The sorcerer’s spell caused Wolverine to absorb the powers and skills of Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Thing, Luke Cage, Daimon Helstrom, Jessica Jones, Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, and Doctor Strange. Even with these powers ultimately Wolverine failed to beat Agomotto; yet, even so, this was one of his strongest forms.

6) Wolverine Killed Almost All of His Kids

As a hero who has lived for over a hundred years and has had numerous lovers, Wolverine unsurprisingly has sired a lot of children. The villain Daken and the heroic clone/daughter X-23 are his most well-known kids, but the X-Man has plenty of other children. Many of these offspring, including Groundhawk, Shadowstalker, Cannon Foot, Saw Fist, and Fire Knives, were manipulated by Daken into joining forces and becoming the vicious mercenary team the Mongrels. When the Mongrels tried to kill their father, Wolverine cut them all down before realizing that they were his children. Years later, Wolverine would also kill Daken to stop his reign of terror. Aside from an infant named Erista, Wolverine has killed every one of his biological children.

5) Wolverine Once Had Superheated Claws

As if having claws made of indestructible metal wasn’t enough, there was a time when Wolverine learned that he could turn up the heat. In the Return of Wolverine series, the X-Man was resurrected by the villain Persephone; the process caused Wolverine’s healing factor and rage to reach levels so extreme that the excess energy went to his claws. So, when Wolverine became overwhelmed with animalistic fury (as he often does), his claws glowed white-hot and reached temperatures of 2000 degrees in seconds. With this power boost, not only could Wolverine slice through anything, but also set things and people on fire with a prick. Given how overpowered this ability is, writers quickly brushed it under the rug and Wolverine, at least his claws, has cooled down.

4) Black Widow Was Wolverine’s Student

Wolverine has lived for over a hundred and fifty years, and in that time, he helped train one of the world’s deadliest assassins and greatest Avengers: Black Widow. In 1937, under the orders of the villain Romulus, Wolverine learned espionage skills from a spy named Taras Romanov. In exchange, Wolverine gave combat lessons to Taras’s ward, a young girl named Natalia Romanov, who would grow up to be Black Widow. As a final test and to make Natalia a stone-cold killer, Taras ordered Natalia to kill Wolverine. However, Natalia couldn’t go through with it, and instead, Wolverine killed Taras. The reveal that Wolverine helped train one of the most iconic Avengers is mind-boggling.

3) Wolverine Invented Beer

Wolverine has been responsible for numerous impactful events in human history, but this was perhaps his greatest and most unexpected achievement. When Wolverine and Spider-Man were caught in a mysterious portal, they found themselves transported back to the Stone Age. Wolverine’s claws soon lead to him being revered as a god by the locals, and he helps them develop beer to quench his thirst. When Spider-Man and Wolverine return to the present, the X-Man’s past machinations inadvertently lead to the apocalypse. And while most of Wolverine’s alterations to the past were successfully undone to fix the timeline, it’s revealed that his contribution to the invention of beer remained intact. So, Wolverine has himself to thank for his favorite beverage.

2) Wolverine Originally Had Clawed Gloves

Wolverine’s adamantium bone claws are among the most iconic superpowers of all time, but that wasn’t the original intent of his creators. When Wolverine first debuted in 1974 as a Hulk adversary, writer Len Wein had it be that the hero’s claws weren’t part of his body, but instead attachments on his gloves. However, when Wolverine returned as a member of the X-Men, writer Chris Claremont wanted to make his status as a mutant more visually clear. It wouldn’t be until X-Men #98 in 1976 that it was revealed that Wolverine’s claws come from his body, and not his gloves. Nowadays, Wolverine’s adamantium bones and claws are an integral part of his character and lore, and it’s crazy to think that they started as a fashion accessory.

1) Wolverine Was Almost a Very Different Type of Mutant

When Wolverine made his debut in The Incredible Hulk #180, the hero’s backstory wasn’t very developed. All that was known was that he was some form of mutant. When coming up with a potential origin for Wolverine, X-Men writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum initially wanted to take the idea of Wolverine being a mutant in a very different direction. Their first notion was that Wolverine was originally just that, a wolverine. The concept involved the X-Man starting as a regular wolverine, until he was mutated into a humanoid by the villain the High Evolutionary. As one can imagine, this idea wasn’t given much weight and was quickly scrapped, but it’s still hilarious to think about.

What do you think? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!

7 Spider-Man Facts You Won’t Believe Are True