10 Things Everyone Forgot about Wolverine

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Wolverine first graced the pages of Marvel Comics in 1974; since then, he’s survived several major changes and Marvel events. Logan has been through countless highs and lows, survived retcons, joined new teams, begrudgingly accepted sidekicks, and even established a family. Naturally, this means there are a lot of details for fans to remember, and some of that tends to get forgotten. Some details that have been forgotten are on the smaller side, while others may have been intentionally buried in Marvel’s back catalog.

As a foundational member of the X-Men, Wolverine is one of their most prevalent heroes. Through the years, he’s been pulled into all sorts of Marvel teams, including the Avengers. Wolverine was also at the helm of at least one X-Men movie franchise, and it won’t be the last. In other words, the details of Wolverine are ever-changing.

10

Squirrel Girl Kicked Wolverine’s Butt

Logan Learned the Hard Way Not to Underestimate the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

Given Wolverine’s extensive healing abilities, it’s tempting to assume that Logan can and will survive no matter what. Likewise, it’s easy to assume that he’ll win any fight. However, if there’s one thing Marvel history has proven, it’s never underestimate its characters. When Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were in charge of the Avengers, Wolverine was a natural inclusion to their team.

This was apparently not without awkwardness, as Logan had a history with their babysitter, Doreen, aka Squirrel Girl. The two had a chance to spar a few issues later, and things did not go as expected. Not only did Doreen win the fight, fair and square, but when Wolverine went to attack when her back was turned, Doreen’s Squirrel Army quickly provided backup. Wolverine can kiss that dignity goodbye.

Wolverine’s Whiskers Were Meant to Resemble His Face

When Wolverine first made his appearance, he did so with a mask. In fact, his real face wasn’t seen for quite some time – not until long after Sabretooth’s introduction. As such, the creators had to get a bit more literal with Wolverine’s costume. Not only was Logan’s costume vibrant yellow with hints of blue and black…but it had one other eye-catching feature.

The truth is, during Wolverine’s first few appearances, he had small whiskers on his mask.They were meant to hint at the more animalistic face underneath, leaning heavily with the wolverine design. It didn’t take long for the creative team to ditch that look, and most fans don’t remember their existence. This is one change that was for the better.

8

Wolverine Smells – No, Really

It’s a Problem That Runs in Wolverine’s Family

Over the years, there’s been more than one joke made at Logan’s expense, usually revolving around questions of his hygiene. However, the truth goes much deeper than that. Thanks to his mutation, Wolverine really does have a distinct smell about him. It has even been referred to as a stank, and there’s no amount of showering that can change that.

A fake ad during the 1992 Swimsuit special poked fun at Wolverine’s smell, confirming that the hero does not smell of roses but instead has a muskier scent. Likewise, X-Terminators #4 confirms that the smell runs in the family, with Laura also having a bit of a stink to her, which was lovingly called the “snikt-stank.” Thankfully, neither hero seems to be offended by such comments about their smell. It’s simply a fact of life for them.

7

Logan Is a Polyglot

Wolverine Has Canonically Learned Several Languages

Anybody who assumes Logan isn’t intelligent simply because of his animalistic characteristics is in for a world of hurt. The man is incredibly intelligent, as evidenced by his tactics and ability to handle countless situations. Even by many classical interpretations of intelligence, Logan is high on those metrics. For example, Logan is a polyglot, aka a person who knows several languages.

Wolverine’s linguistic skills have come up a few times over the years. Readers can be certain that Wolverine knows Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Spanish. He is also fluent in Lakota. There’s no doubt that Logan has learned many more languages, though it’s less clear how fluent he is. When Forge addressed this in Wolverine #51, he couldn’t hide how impressed he was, and impressing Forge is no mean feat.

6

Wolverine’s Sensitive Sense of Smell Is More Powerful Than Readers Realize

Wolverine Can Tell Nearly Anyone Apart Based on Scent, Even Famous Shapeshifters

Wolverine is more like his namesake than readers always remember. He is a natural hunter; some could even argue that he is one of the best. As such, his ability to track is incredible. This includes his sense of smell, which is borderline out of this world. Throughout his time in comics, Wolverine has successfully tracked down criminals, finding them regardless of how well-hidden they appear. Recently, Wolverine even tracked a young-man-turned-Wendigo, using only his sense of smell.

It’s worth noting that Wolverine can do more than track with this sensitive sense of smell—he can also tell people apart. Now, that may not sound fancy on the surface, but given the rise of shapeshifters, it’s an incredible ability to have. Wolverine can even tell Mystique apart from the person she’s mimicking despite her near-perfect ability to do so.

5

Wolverine’s Claws First Debuted As Gear

Logan’s Claws Were Originally Intended to Be Gloves

Readers are used to the concept of retconning Wolveine’s claws, as it’s happened more than once during his history. However, most readers may not realize that the retconning began much earlier.When Wolverine first appeared, he still had his adamantium claws, but they weren’t part of his skeletal structure or attached to him at all.

That’s right. Those bulky blue gloves weren’t just for appearances. Originally, Wolverine’s claws were only part of his gloves and not part of his body. The good news is that even this version of the claws was retractable, so at least he didn’t have to remove the gloves to put the claws away. Later, the claws would become part of Logan before facing further changes down the road.

4

Family Matters Are Difficult for Wolverine

Logan Has a Surprisingly Complicated Family History

Akihiro (Daken)

Laura (X-23, Wolverine)

Gabby (Scout)

Avery Connor

It’s only natural that Marvel would make several attempts to capitalize on Wolverine’s popularity. As such, his family has grown quite a lot over the years and in very complicated ways. Logan’s family reaches far back into pre-history and then goes far into the future, making his family tree a bit challenging to track. Given Logan’s long life, it makes sense that he potentially has many children out there.

One confirmed child is Akihiro, also known as Daken. While he has abilities similar to his father, he chooses a different path in life. Then there are the clones created by Sarah Kinney, the most iconic of which is Laura, aka X-23 or Wolverine. She’s one of the only clones to survive, though Gabby was later cloned from Laura’s DNA, further complicating things. While Laura is technically an altered clone of Logan, the hero has always made it clear he sees her as a daughter.

3

Wolverine Was Originally a Hulk Villain

Logan’s First Appearance Was as a Villain

Wolverine has been a hero in the eyes of the public for so long that it’s easy to forget he was originally designed to be a villain. Even his first few appearances were meant to be nothing more than antagonistic. Perhaps this explains Logan’s brooding; he’s simply going back to his roots.

Logan, aka Wolverine, was first introduced in The Incredible Hulk #180 as the Hullk’s enemy. It all begins after a series of unfortunate events for Banner. Alone and lost, he found himself following the sound of a human voice. This leads him into a trap and, thus, into a battle with a Wendigo. As if that wasn’t frustrating enough, the battle gets more complicated when Wolverine enters the fray. The battle continues into the next issue.

Wolverine is Even Harder to Kill Than Some Villains Realized

There’s no denying that Wolverine is famous for his healing factor. It’s gotten him into plenty of trouble over the years, but it also has its advantages, such as letting him survive the impossible. Interestingly, Logan’s regeneration abilities shift and flex depending on the timeline and other mitigating factors.

During the events of X-Men Annual #11, Wolverine’s regeneration is truly put to the test. A character named Horde attacks and imprisons the X-Men, and things would have gone horribly wrong if not for the presence of a M’Kraan Crystal. As things go from bad to worse, Wolverine is impaled on a spear before having his heart ripped out. It should have been the end, but a drop of blood on the crystal is enough to kickstart Wolverine’s regeneration process, bringing him back from the dead.

1

Wolverine Was Almost The Badger

The Badger Just Doesn’t Have the Same Impact As Wolverine

It’s not unheard of for creators to debate the names of new heroes. This is true even for the likes of Wolverine, who almost had a very different name. Writer Len Wein and artist John Romita Sr. were in the process of creating Logan’s character when they began the debate about his name – and the animal personality he’d be infused with. Naturally, this was a hefty decision, as it would influence much of his character.

There was a brief period when the creators seriously debated about calling Logan “The Badger” instead of the Wolverine. Despite how it looks, the badger would have been a decent fit, as these creatures are shockingly aggressive for their size. Ultimately, they went with Wolverine, feeling like it better fit the overall feeling they were going for.

“}]] Wolverine has been a beloved character in Marvel since 1974, going through so many changes that even his fans have forgotten some of the details.  Read More