Wolverine is the best there is at what he does. That has been his role as one of Marvel’s most popular characters for years now. After his debut in The Incredible Hulk #181, Wolverine’s rise was meteoric, quickly becoming the most talked-about character in Uncanny X-Men, the comic industry’s biggest book at the time. From there, he would star in miniseries, his own ongoing, multiple team books, and guest appearances in hundreds of comics.
As his popularity rose, Wolverine was refined into a much better character. Decades of development and change have made this possible, and he’s more than just the surly berserker he once was.
10 His Role As Leader Of X-Force Was His Beginning Down A Road Of Character Development
For years, Wolverine was one of the premier X-Men, but he didn’t seem like the leader type. He became a great team player as the years went by, and the Utopia era saw him finally get a chance to shine. Cyclops reinstated X-Force as the covert arm of the X-Men and put Wolverine in charge. He was perfect for this role, which presaged big things for him.
Wolverine showed the world that he was more than just a bruiser on the battlefield as leader of X-Force. Seeing him that way changed the opinion of many fans about him and led him down a road that would take him to even more significant leadership opportunities.
9 Giving Him His Own Series Allowed Him To Get Fleshed Out LIke Never Before
Marvel couldn’t help but notice that Wolverine was the most popular X-Men, so they decided to give him more spotlight. His first four-issue miniseries, by writer Chris Claremont and artist Frank Miller, was a huge hit and led to an ongoing, by Claremont and artist John Buscema.
Over the years, talent like Larry Hama, Marc Silvestri, Adam Kubert, Ed Rucka, Darick Robertson, Mark Millar, John Romita Jr., Benjamin Percy, and so many more would flesh out the ol’ canucklehead, with Hama’s multi-year run redefining the character forever. Finally, Wolverine was the first X-Man to get his own book, and it paid off brilliantly, making him into a more well-rounded character than ever before.
8 His Friendships With His Fellow X-Men Proved He Was More Than Anyone Thought He Was
When Wolverine first joined the X-Men, he was the surly troublemaker, as liable to sass Cyclops and ran off to do his own thing as follow orders in battle. He was the team’s resident bad boy, but like any soldier, he grew close to the people he fought alongside. His relationships with Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, and Kitty Pryde became legendary and are a cornerstone of the X-Men.
Wolverine’s friendships with his fellow X-Men revealed the man underneath the animal, who cared deeply for everyone around him. It allowed readers to see a softer side of him, which paid off in the years to come.
7 Old Man Logan Gave Readers The Best Alternate Universe Wolverine
Wolverine and alternate universes have gone very well together, from multiple issues of What If… to The Age Of Apocalypse. However, it wouldn’t be until writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven’s Old Man Logan that fans would get the ultimate alternate universe Wolverine. Taking a page from the film Unforgiven, it starred a pacifist Wolverine doing one last job to save his family from the Hulk Gang.
The story not only built a fantastic alternate universe for Marvel creators to play in, but also a fan favorite alternate Wolverine. It’s one of the saddest Wolverine comics, as well, and would lead to an ongoing series that told some of the best Wolverine stories of the twenty-first century.
6 He Got To Lead The X-Men
The Utopia era of the X-Men brought many changes to the team, especially after the book Schism, by writer Jason Aaron and artists Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuña, Alan Davis, and Adam Kubert. After an ideological disagreement between Cyclops and Wolverine turns violent, he leaves the island with about half of the remaining mutants and rebuilds the X-Mansion, starting the Jean Grey School.
Wolverine has always been one of the most important X-Men, but he proved he had what it took to not only lead the team but also also run the school. It was the next step in his growth as a hero and one that had been long overdue.
5 Giving Him Sabretooth As An Arch-Nemesis Took Him To The Next Level
An important step for any character towards stardom is getting their own arch-enemy. That’s the difference between a solo star and a character who will always be on a team. Wolverine was already the big star of the X-Men, so the next step was giving him a nemesis, and Sabretooth fit nicely. The two have had some brutal battles over the years, cementing their enmity.
Sabretooth and Wolverine have become an iconic rivalry, up there with Captain America and Red Skull and Spider-Man and Green Goblin. Of course, Wolverine still would have been popular without Sabretooth, but his feud with his fellow feral mutant took him to the next level.
4 Making Him Friends With Spider-Man Created An Amazing Odd Couple
Wolverine has a lot of allies outside the X-Men. He’s worked with just about every major hero in the Marvel Universe, although many of those relationships were pretty adversarial. His time in the Avengers brought him closer to heroes he was rarely around, including Spider-Man. He and Spider-Man were complete opposites as heroes, even coming to blows occasionally.
However, working together saw the two become friends. Wolverine and Spider-Man became a great odd couple, as entertaining as they come. It also showed that he had grown as a character, becoming a less antagonistic hero.
3 Making Laura Kinney Wolverine Showed Readers A Different Kind Of Wolverine
Logan’s death wasn’t the death of Wolverine, regardless of what the book that killed him was called. Several candidates took over for him, and his daughter Laura was the victor. She acted as Wolverine for several years, proving that she deserved the title to all the naysayers. Laura would lose the mantle when Logan came back, but has since taken it up again, with her and her father sharing the name.
Marvel took a chance making Laura Wolverine; she was popular, but there were more popular choices than her. Nevertheless, her time as Wolverine showed readers a Wolverine they’d never seen before, and it’s a special time in Wolverine history.
2 The Bone Claw Era Of Wolverine Showed That He Could Be A Hero Without Being Invincible
Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton and healing factor made him invincible, but all of that changed with X-Men #25, by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert. Magneto ripped the adamantium out of him, and it was revealed in Wolverine #75, by writer Larry Hama and artist Adam Kubert, that his claws had been bone the whole time. This kicked off a new era of Wolverine.
The character’s bone claw era is full of great stories, as Wolverine has to deal with being weak and vulnerable for the first time in years. Marvel took a huge chance nerfing him like this, but he remained one of the publisher’s most popular characters regardless, spending half a decade without the vaunted metal.
1 Putting Him On The Avengers Dropped Him Into The Middle Of The Team’s Most Prosperous Era
Wolverine has been on every major team in the Marvel Universe, but it took over thirty years from his debut before joining the Avengers. He was easily more popular than any single Avenger for years by this point, and was already a Marvel A-lister. However, joining the Avengers is always the next level for any Marvel hero, so putting him there showed how big he actually was.
The Avengers books in the mid-00s when he joined the team were the most significant Marvel books being published, putting him smack dab in the middle of the event books of the time. It also helped cement his place as the most essential mutant in the Marvel Universe and put him in front of fans who otherwise wouldn’t read X-Men books.
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