As comic book characters go, Wolverine is one of the most popular. From his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #180 over 40 years ago, He’s been one of Marvel’s biggest heroes and that’s a status that extends far from the page. Wolverine is also a beloved character in other adaptations as well, with fans loving Hugh Jackman’s live action Wolverine. But while fans love Wolverine in comics and in live action, where he really gets to shine is in animation. The beloved X-Man has a wealth of animated appearances at the tip of his claws, much to fan delight.
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Of course, when a character has lots of appearances in any media, there are some that are going to be better than others and that is certainly the case with Wolverine. Be it across television or movies, each version of Wolverine brings a little something different to the character, but while some are outstanding others are more forgettable. Here’s every animated appearance of Wolverine, ranked.
15) The Super Hero Squad Show
Debuting in 2009, The Super Hero Squad Show was based on Hasbro’s Marvel Super Hero Squad action figure line and saw the Avengers, X-Men, and other Marvel characters fighting to stop villains from essentially trying to rule the world (it’s what villains do.) Definitely a series meant for kids, all of the characters are adorable in their chibi forms, including Wolverine. That said, the kid-friendly nature of the show sort of creates a bit of dissonance when it comes to Wolverine, as the typically dark and violent character is nice and somewhat cheerful in the series. It’s a little jarring for more mature audiences familiar with the character, especially since he has his claws out at least once each episode.
14) LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload
We love a good LEGO animated situation and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload is a good time. The animated series sees the Avengers having to deal with Loki, who shows up when they’re transporting captured villains and frees them. As you can imagine, absolute mayhem ensues. The series is fun, funny, and just a good time overall. Wolverine is in particular a highlight, this time part of the Avengers and almost gleefully helping take villains down. The only reason it’s not higher up on this list is that there are some truly fantastic animated versions of Wolverine — and, honestly, he’s not that big of a focus in this series.
13) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Another series made largely for the kid audience, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is simply a classic. It follows Peter Parker and, in this series, he solves crimes alongside his friends Bobby Drake and Angelica Jones. The series also features a lot of guest appearances from other Marvel characters, including Wolverine. The series is pretty goofy and has some highly entertaining moments — including one which sees Wolverine brawling with Juggernaut at an X-Men reunion that results in Wolverine’s claws destroying cakes.
12) Pryde of the X-Men
Probably the best-known initial appearance of Wolverine in animated form, X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men is also from the ‘80s and follows Kitty Pryde/Shadow Cat as she’s recruited by the X-Men and starts her training, though the team soon finds themselves dealing with the threat of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. This portrayal of Wolverine is largely on par with his Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends appearance, delivering some great fight sequences but he also has a weird accent so, while classic, it’s kind of a mixed bag.
11) LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red
Another animated LEGO adventure, the story sees the heroes dealing with the disappearance of Red Guardian, which leads them to discover that The Collector has been collecting superhero LEGOS, prompting the Avengers to recruit Wolverine for help. The adventure reflects the look of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of character design, which is pretty cool to see. As for Wolverine, while there’s some great comic homages in LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red, he doesn’t really get all that much to do in the project, which lands this portrayal lower on the list.
10) Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
Ever wonder what a reality show take on superheroes might be? Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. is probably as close as we’ve gotten thus far. It sees Hulk and other gamma-powered heroes participating in a reality series to improve public opinion about them and, along the way, the heroes end up meeting up with Wolverine while he’s on vacation in Canada. But don’t be fooled; despite Wolverine being on vacay, he’s not exactly welcoming. This portrayal is kind of a grump and is temperamental which is sometimes a nice thing to see.
9) Marvel DISK Wars: The Avengers
Imagine Marvel superheroes as Pokémon and you more or less get Marvel DISK Wars: The Avengers. It’s a surprisingly entertaining premise, actually, and features a lot of characters from the wide Marvel Universe — including Wolverine. His appearance is brief but is solid with the hero being one of the smarter, if not more skeptical, heroes in the series. He also gets to defeat Sabretooth here and it’s pretty great.
8) Black Panther
The animated Black Panther series is pretty short and isn’t particularly action-packed as compared to some other series, but it still features some solid Marvel characters — and that includes Wolverine. He shows up along with some of the other X-Men in support of T’Challa when he has to deal with opposition to him taking the Wakandan throne following the death of his father and a coup courtesy of Klaw and more. While Wolverine isn’t a big part of this story, it’s still a solid portrayal, largely because of how he show sup to support not only T’Challa, but Storm.
7) Anime
Four anime series based on Marvel characters — X-Men, Iron Man, Wolverine, and Blade — this anime take on the heroes featured Wolverine in each of the four series. Wolverine’s series specifically took on the character’s history in Japan, making for an interesting version of his solo comic series. It’s that approach to the character that puts it here on our list, but this version is also just very visually appealing. This one is unique but well done.
6) Ultimate Spider-Man
A series that centers around a new hero version of the webslinger, Ultimate Spider-Man gives viewers what might be one of the best versions of Wolverine in terms of dialogue and memorable lines. There’s also a particularly great moment where Peter and Logan end up swapping bodies that is just classic. Notably, that’s why this entry is here on the list as well as separate from Hulk: Agents of S.M.A.S.H.; while technically the two series are in the same continuity, this version of Wolverine is just better.
5) Hulk Vs. Wolverine
Let’s just be honest: I like this version of Wolverine which is why it cracks the top five. Hulk vs. Wolverine is exactly what you think it is: Wolverine and the Hulk fight after our guy Logan discovers that Hulk has gone full angry and destroyed a town. Oh, and they end up having to deal with Weapon X. Not only do we get epic fights in this one, but there’s solid dialogue. After all, is there really anything more classic than “I’m the best there is at what I do, but I do isn’t very nice”? I think not. Bonus points considering that the whole thing ends without us ever learning who won.
4) X-Men: Evolution
X-Men: Evolution took the approach of the X-Men being high schoolers, but don’t worry; we don’t get teenager Logan. Wolverine is the lone adult here which is certainly interesting and that’s a big part of what makes this overall portrayal one of the top animated versions of the character. The series itself is also just good. The real weakness for this one, which is what keeps it out of the top three despite the quality of everything overall, is that with the age difference between the characters, we miss out on some of the classic relationships Marvel fans are used to when it comes to Wolverine. This one sticks pretty solidly to comic book stories for Wolverine, however, which is just great.
3) The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
This one is actually a sort of two for one since we got two different versions of Wolverine in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series. The first was a flashback of sorts where we got to see the hero in World War II as James Howlett during his time as a member of the Howling Commandos with Captain America. We then later get him as X-Man Wolverine working alongside other heroes to serve as Avengers. It’s the fact that we get both versions of the character in this series that makes it so outstanding. It’s not often we get to see different sides of Wolverine and this is just honestly great to see and was very well done.
2) Wolverine and the X-Men
When it comes to exploring Wolverine’s history as well as his relationships with the rest of the X-Men, it simply does not get better than Wolverine and the X-Men. The series sees Logan leading the team in the aftermath of disaster and also gives viewers a look into his history. It’s a great balance of character exploration and story and this adaptation is very comics accurate in a lot of ways, making this one a well-rounded favorite. It would be the best one yet if it weren’t for our number one pick.
1) X-Men: The Animated Series (and X-Men: ’97)
There’s just no other version of Wolverine that could be number one on this list. The iconic ‘90s X-Men: The Animated Series delivered to fans a near perfect take on Wolverine. We got fantastic adaptations of some of the best stories in comics, some incredible visuals thanks to designs that were based on the comics directly, and Wolverine is just everything comics fans could possibly want. What makes this one even better is that when the series came back as X-Men: ’97, things didn’t miss a beat. This Wolverine is human even as he’s a hero, making him wonderfully relatable and the series explores him (and, honestly, the rest of the characters) pitch perfectly. This one is the best at what it does and what it does is get the characters right.
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