Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, but sometimes that unfortunately means taking lives. And it hits a little harder when that life belongs to one of his closest friends on the X-Men. Wolverine is one of the newest additions to the Ultimate Universe, except this isn’t the Logan fans have come to know and love. Ultimate Wolverine is closer to his Weapon X days than the hero fighting as an Avenger and X-Man. Wolverine is being used as the ultimate weapon by members of The Maker’s council, and he’s already being pitted against his loved ones. WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Ultimate Wolverine #1. Continue reading at your own risk!
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Ultimate Wolverine #1 comes from the creative team of Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Cory Petit. We begin in the Eurasian Republic, ruled by the triad of Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red. They’ve started a secret government division called Directorate X to exploit mutants, which on the surface looks like another form of the Weapon Plus program. A group called the Opposition is living up to their name by interfering with Directorate X, causing Ultimate Wolverine to be sent in to take them out.
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After dropping from the sky like a missile, Wolverine begins infiltrating what appears to be a church turned into a headquarters for the Opposition. Wolverine makes quick work of the guards before heading inside, where he’s met by two familiar faces: the mother/son duo of Mystique and Nightcrawler.
Ultimate Wolverine kills his best friend Nightcrawler
We jump from the present to the past to get a little history of Ultimate Wolverine’s backstory. It’s revealed that Wolverine was the only survivor of an attack on an Opposition compound, making him an attractive candidate for the Rasputins and Omega Red. Wolverine even survived a point-blank gunshot to the head. He’s the perfect candidate for Dr. Prostovich’s skeletal enhancement, aka the Adamantium bonding process.
Nightcrawler immediately recognizes Wolverine, even though he has a full face mask covering his head. Nightcrawler hides and begins reciting a prayer as Wolverine mows down his attackers in the Opposition. He’s then confronted by Colossus, who appears out of nowhere wielding a massive machine gun. The only problem is Wolverine has a heightened sense of smell, and realizes that’s not Colossus. It’s Mystique in disguise. They fight for a few seconds and then Wolverine slices Mystique’s throat, killing her.
Nightcrawler attempts to reason with his old friend, telling Wolverine that he remembers him and this ruthless killing machine isn’t his true self. Kurt Wagner may be a priest, but that doesn’t mean he’s anti-violence to protect himself. Nightcrawler springs into action, BAMF’ing across the room while he sprays Wolverine with gunfire. Again, Wolverine uses his nose to sniff out Nighcrawler, impaling him with his Adamantium claws after a teleportation.
“If you’re in there, my friend, I pray you have the strength….,” Nightcrawler tells Logan. “I’m sorry we weren’t quick enough… We came back… we came back for y-you… We would always… come back… for…” Those are Nightcrawler’s last words as he passes away while slumped against a wall. What this means is Nightcrawler and the other members of the Opposition returned to their compound after the attack from Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red’s forces. But there were no survivors except for Wolverine, who they took with them.
Wolverine and Nightcrawler’s friendship is one of the best things about the X-Men
The first issue of Ultimate Wolverine starts by having a mind-controlled Wolverine brutally slay Nightcrawler. Their friendship is one of the defining aspects of the X-Men franchise because of how different they are. Nightcrawler is a religious man, and we know Wolverine is never considered that. Wolverine has a history of killing, and yet Nightcrawler ignores that to love his friend the way he is.
Fans got to see their dynamic at work on X-Men ’97, most notably how they worked so great together when they protected Rogue from Bastion’s Sentinel sleeper agents. Their differences are what brings them together, and we’ve seen it play out on the small screen as well as in the comics.
Unfortunately, that won’t happen in Ultimate Wolverine or in the Ultimate Universe. Nightcrawler is dead, and Wolverine will continue to be used as a weapon of mass destruction against his former friends.
