Marvel Reveals How Wolverine Got His Mask

Marvel Comics has revealed the answer to a long-standing question in the Marvel universe: where did Wolverine’s mask come from? How many people were actually asking that question is unclear. Regardless, the first two issues of the relaunched  provide the answer. The issues take place between Wolverine’s first appearance in the pages of The Incredible Hulk and his joining the all-new, all-different X-Men team in Giant-Size X-Men #1. Wolverine had two different masks in those appearances, and X-Men Legends offers an explanation for the change, and for why Wolverine seemed so eager to ditch his old job and take Professor X up on his offer in Giant-Size X-Men #1.

The story takes place in X-Men Legends #1 and X-Men Legends #2, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Dave Wachter. SPOILERS for those issues follow.

The story in begins at the tail end of Wolverine’s fight with the Hulk from his first appearance, revealing for the first time what happened when Wolverine returned to Department H. After a tense conversation with his superior, Wolverine receives his new assignment. He’s to work with Jack O’Diamonds, a.k.a. The Living Diamond (coincidentally, a figure from Cyclops’ past) to infiltrate a Brand Corporation lab and investigate superhuman activity there.

The Brand Corporation is where the Beast worked for a time after leaving Xavier’s School. Upon infiltrating the lab, Wolverine and Jack find themselves face-to-face with an odd group of mutants: Iceman, Angel, Blob, Unus, Polaris, Havok, and Mastermind.

Fans of classic Captain America comics may recognize this group, oddly enough. They were the group of mutants captured by the Secret Empire as part of a plan to coopt mutant energy (see Captain America #175). However, two mutants are missing: Mesmero and Beast.

This issue reveals that Mesmero awoke in the Secret Empire’s clutches and used his mental powers to make Beast free the two of them. Mesmero is still manipulating Beast and using him to breach Brand labs and retrieve a powerful device housed there. To enact his plan, he has Beast put on a strange store-bought costume and go by the moniker Wildlife. The Wildlife mask may look somewhat familiar to Wolverine’s fans.

Ultimately, Wolverine and Jack bump into Mesmero and “Wildlife.” They fight, and Wolverine is left as the last man standing. During the fight, Wolverine’s original mask is ruined and Wildlife’s is torn at the bottom. Wolverine decides to take Wildlife’s damaged mask as his own, and an iconic look is born.

And that’s how Wolverine got his mask, apparently. X-Men Legends #1 and X-Men Legends #2 are on sale now.

• X-Men Legends #2
• JUL220837
• (W) Roy Thomas (A) Dave Wachter (CA) Kaare Andrews
• WOLVERINE…VERSUS THE X-MEN?!
• •  Department H has sent their operative WEAPON X, A.K.A. WOLVERINE, on a mission to retrieve “dangerous individuals” – who just so happen to be mutants known as the X-MEN!
• •  But what sinister forces are moving the mutants against each other, and how does it play into Wolverine’s eventual membership on the team?
• •  At last – X-Men and Marvel legend Roy Thomas reveals a missing link between Wolverine’s appearance in HULK #182 and joining the X-Men in GIANT-SIZE X-MEN!
• RATED T+
• In Shops: Sep 21, 2022
• SRP: $3.99