Marvel Settles a Major Inconsistency About Wolverine’s Healing Factor

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Wolverine #43!Wolverine’s healing factor is perhaps his most useful and impressive mutant power. Sure, his claws are deadly and his heightened senses are great, but it’s his healing factor that allows him to pick a fight with literally anyone (indeed, Wolverine debuted battling the Hulk). And now, one specific aspect of this god-tier power has just been cleared up – one that’s been a bit inconsistent throughout Marvel Comics history.

In a preview shared by AIPT Comics for Wolverine #43 by Victor LaValle, Benjamin Percy, and Geoff Shaw, readers are taken back in time to the era where Wolverine and Sabretooth actually worked together as members of a Weapon X hit squad known as Team X. This is especially startling given that Sabretooth and an army of his multiversal variants have waged war on Wolverine and the X-Men in the present day during the already blood-soaked Marvel Comics event: Sabretooth War.

During the flashback sequence, Wolverine and Sabretooth are preparing to make a jump out of a plane during a Team X mission. This small portion of the mission is all fans get, but it’s enough to trigger Sabretooth’s nostalgia – and that’s straight from his lips. In a narration box, Sabretooth says, “Nostalgia is one hell of a drug. I’m immune to every narcotic there is, except maybe that one”. This quote is an interesting look into the more relatable side of Sabretooth’s mind, but it’s also incredibly telling about the nature of his healing factor – and, by extension, Wolverine’s.

Sabretooth Confirms His & Wolverine’s Healing Factor Is Immune to Narcotics

Settling a major inconsistency that’s notably seen in Wolverine Vol. 2 #154 by Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson

Sabretooth’s comments in this preview effectively clear up a major inconsistency in Marvel Comics lore, one that’s seen in Wolverine #154. In that issue, Wolverine is attacked by Deadpool. After some back-and-forth hacking and slashing, their fight ends with Deadpool shooting Wolverine with a barrage of tranquilizers that are enough to “drop a T-Rex”. In this Wolverine comic, tranquilizers do – in fact – work to take him down, with his healing factor doing nothing to save him.

Skip ahead five volumes to the upcoming Wolverine #43, and suddenly, that method of incapacitating Wolverine (and seemingly anyone with a similar healing factor like Sabretooth) doesn’t work. Given the more up-to-date nature of the current Wolverine run, it seems like Sabretooth’s confirmation is something of a minor retcon, which more so acts to set the record straight about what their healing factors can protect them from – and narcotics (including tranquilizers) is one of them.

Wolverine’s ‘No Narcotics’ Revelation Teases the Bloody End of Sabretooth War

If Wolverine is going to stop Sabretooth, he’s going to have to kill him!

Sabretooth War is already one of the most violent and bloody events in Marvel Comics history, and this new confirmation just ensured that it will end as violently as it began. Going into Sabretooth War, narcotics were fair game in taking down someone like Wolverine or Sabretooth, meaning Logan could have defeated Creed through non-lethal means. However, as if to avoid that possibility entirely, this upcoming Wolverine issue confirms that tranquilizers won’t work the way they did in Wolverine #154. So, if Wolverine wants to stop Sabretooth, he’s going to have to kill him.

Regardless of what this could mean for the duration of the Sabretooth War, this moment is truly significant in Marvel Comics history. The exact nature of Wolverine’s healing factor is seemingly always in flux, but now, the record has been set straight in regard to narcotics and tranquilizers, settling a major inconsistency about Wolverine’s healing factor.

Wolverine #43 by Marvel Comics is available February 14, 2024.

Source: AIPT Comics