Marvel’s Forgotten Wolverine Is Way Deadlier Than Logan
James Logan Howlett is one of the deadliest X-Men characters in Marvel Comics history, but there is a forgotten ‘Wolverine’ who’s much more dangerous.
The version of Wolverine fans are most familiar with is easily one of the deadliest characters in the history of not just the X-Men, but the entirety of Marvel Comics–though Marvel’s forgotten ‘Wolverine’ makes Logan look soft.
James “Logan” Howlett aka Wolverine is a mutant with heightened animalistic senses, a healing factor, and retractable claws that extend from his knuckles. Upon his birth, Logan was a mutant who was seemingly born to be a killer–though one organization thought up a way to make him even more dangerous: Weapon X. Weapon X is a division of the Weapon Plus Program that was dedicated to weaponizing mutants by way of brainwashing, mind-wiping, and conditioning. Logan, however, was a specific case as he proved perfect for one of the program’s experiments. Weapon X had access to adamantium, so in order to improve one of their soldiers exponentially for the further success of the program, the Weapon X scientists merged the unbreakable metal with Wolverine’s skeleton–which included his six retractable claws. This made the already-deadly mutant an unstoppable killing machine, but even with this upgrade, Logan still couldn’t hold a candle to the Wolverine of the Age of Apocalypse timeline.
In X-Men Chronicles #2 by Howard Mackie and Ian Churchill, the X-Men of the Age of Apocalypse timeline have been weakened by the departure of Weapon X (Logan) and Jean Grey. This development was being monitored by the son of Apocalypse, Holocaust, who has a personal vendetta against Magneto (the leader of the X-Men in this world) because Magneto mutilated him beyond physical repair. With two of their strongest soldiers gone, Holocaust decided now was the perfect time to attack the X-Men and get his revenge. In that effort, Holocaust hired an enhanced mutant named Wolverine to bring the X-Men to their knees–and he did so without breaking a sweat.
Age of Apocalypse’s Wolverine has Power Logan Couldn’t Imagine
Wolverine in the Age of Apocalypse isn’t in reference to Logan’s variant, Weapon X, but is a completely different character altogether, and this character is way deadlier than Logan. This Wolverine is a hulking monster whose genes were manipulated by Dark Beast–who, in this timeline, is one of Apocalypse’s top scientists–to make him stronger. While Logan has a healing factor and an unbreakable skeleton, this Wolverine has impenetrable skin and takes practically no damage during battle–making a healing factor not only redundant, but totally unnecessary. Not only that, but Wolverine also has an upgraded version of Logan’s signature weapon as he has curved blades attached to his wrists that make Logan’s claws look pathetic. Moving beyond heightened versions of Logan’s mutant abilities, Wolverine also has the unique power of transforming hordes of people into rage-filled superhumans who follow his every command until they burn themselves out and die.
In essence, the Age of Apocalypse Wolverine has better bladed weapons, has super strength and invulnerability akin to the Juggernaut, and has the power to create his own personal army of superhuman slaves out of random individuals. Despite his amazing power, this Wolverine was only in one issue of a comic that was set in an alternate timeline from the main Marvel Universe, meaning he has all but been forgotten. However, even though his time in Marvel Comics was short-lived, the Age of Apocalypse’s Wolverine still proved to be way deadlier than Logan.
