Wolverine’s Story Takes Some Surprising Turns in Ultimate Wolverine #3 (Review)

Ultimate Wolverine has been one amazing ride so far. The new Ultimate Universe is taking the basics of Marvel’s greatest characters and shaking them up, and Ultimate Wolverine may be one of the most interesting. The first two issues of Ultimate Wolverine have laid out the basics of this new version of Wolverine. On Earth-6160, Logan was captured at some point by the forces of the Eurasian Alliance and transformed into their Winter Soldier. Readers have gotten to see him tear through Mystique and Nightcrawler, as well as Eurasian soldiers in a combat test, building more and more of the background of Wolverine and his relationship with the Eurasian Alliance and the mutant Opposition. Ultimate Wolverine #3 introduces three familiar characters, and gives readers more of the great action and storytelling this book is becoming known for.

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The story begins in snowy Smolensk, with a mysterious person in a huge jacket waiting outside of a cabin. A vehicle pulls up and a man and woman get out. Soon, the three of them are revealed — the woman from the cabin is Natasha Romanov, and the other two are Gambit and Kitty Pryde. The three of them talk about Natasha joining their fight against the Eurasian Alliance. Natasha wants to fight, but Gambit only needs a driver. Natasha agrees, but all is not well. In the sewers under Smolensk, Wolverine leads a group of Eurasian soldiers forward, hunting for something… or someone.

The issue flashes back to a Eurasian briefing, letting the readers know that the Alliance has targeted Gambit and Kitty, and links them to the disappearance of Natasha Romanova. In the present, Wolverine leads the troops towards a tunnel with glowing purple chess pieces, and throws one of the soldiers at them. It explodes, which alerts Gambit, Kitty, Natasha, and their friends. Gambit sort of recognizes Wolverine, but underestimates him and how much damage he can do. As they rush to leave, Wolverine tears through the door and savagely attacks the Opposition troops, all while Natasha tries to start the truck. Gambit jumps into battle against Wolverine, and is able to slow him down long enough to escape, believing he felled the mutant. However, Wolverine survives and is able to catch up to the truck and get into it. He’s met by Kitty Pryde guarding a group of children and she recognizes him immediately. She phases through his first attack and then puts her phased hands into his head, while asking him to remember. This leads to some of his memories coming back, knocking him down, and allowing Kitty to kick him out of the truck. As the truck drives off, Logan lays in the snow, the words, “Logan, why don’t you remember me”, ringing through his head.

Ultimate Wolverine has taken a cue from older Wolverine stories by giving the reader glimpses of Wolverine’s past but keeping the whole of it opaque. Chris Condon is writing the book very cryptically, playing out the clues to Wolverine’s past with each issue while also giving readers an idea of what mutants are doing the outside of Hi No Kuni in Ultimate X-Men. This issue does more of that, setting Gambit up as a leader of the Opposition, one responsible for the death of Mikhail Rasputin. He’s in a relationship with Kitty Pryde, something that never would have happened in the 616 Universe. Meanwhile, there’s the debut of Natasha Romanova. The issue establishes her as the Black Widow of the 6160, which means that her joining the Opposition can easily be a ploy, despite the fact that she talks about wanting to fight the Alliance. Readers also get more glimpses of Wolverine’s past, revealing some surprising things — Wolverine battling a Sentinel, kissing someone who looks like Kitty Pryde, and a close-up of Pryde’s face looking rather angry — along with scenes from his time with Alliance. This adds even more mystery to his past, and tantalizes readers that much more, because it begs the question — is Kitty actually a spy? And if she was, what does that mean for Wolverine, who she wants to remember her?

Visual storytelling is an important of Ultimate Wolverine, and Alessandro Cappuccio and Bryan Valenza are the key to that. The art captures the quiet dread of Wolverine as he moves through the sewers, a quiet killing machine that is completely unnerving. The fights scenes in the book are as exciting and powerful as ever; while this issue isn’t as bloody as what came before, it’s still got the kind of violence that readers have come to expect. Cappuccio is one of the foremost action pencilers of modern Marvel, ad every fight scene is this book is fluid and great to look at. The character acting is on point. This helps make Condon’s cryptic script that much better because so much of the issue is silent, the only way to know what’s going on in Wolverine’s head is his face, and the last two panels tell an entire story. The look on Kitty’s face in Wolverine’s memory is another example of this, throwing question after question into readers’ head. Ultimate Wolverine lives and dies by the mysteries at its center, and Cappuccio and Valenza are a key part in giving the book that feeling.

Ultimate Wolverine #3 is yet another stellar issue of this series. There’s so much going on under the surface of this book that every panel seems pregnant with meaning. This is the type of comic where you comb each page looking for something that you might have missed. Bringing in Gambit, Kitty Pryde, and Black Widow is an excellent choice, as all of three of them have a history with Wolverine. Is Black Widow a spy? Is Kitty Pryde? Was Wolverine always a spy, working with Kitty? This issue gives readers some answers, and then drops even more questions into their lap. Every issue of Ultimate Wolverine makes the story more interesting and tantalizing than the last, and this issue is no different.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Published by Marvel Comics

On: March 26, 2025

Written by Chris Condon

Art by Alessandro Cappuccio

Colors by Bryan Valenza

Letters by Cory Petit