With X-23 Now Part Of the MCU, Marvel Is Ready to Explore Laura Kinney’s Future Like Never Before

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Following the ending of Deadpool & Wolverine, the hero X-23 – Laura Kinney – is officially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Both her, as played by Dafne Keen, and Hugh Jackman’s Logan from the FOX X-Men movie franchise were pulled into the MCU. This merging of universes generates new potential for Wolverine’s clone to be delved into and expanded upon as a character in entirely new ways.

In an interview with AIPT Comics, Marvel writer Erica Schultz – the same writer behind the new series, Laura Kinney: Wolverine – speaks about the former X-23’s potential as a character and how that potential goes well beyond just delving into her as a clone or a superhero. Laura Kinney: Wolverine seeks to offer the title character a coming-of-age story of sorts.

Kinney is in her twenties in the comics now, as she is also in the MCU, meaning this isn’t a coming-of-age story in the traditional sense, but rather a Bildungsroman that allows the character to grow on a new level.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine Writer Erica Schultz Explores the Former X-23 Character

Laura Kinney Is More Than Just a Clone

Prior to Laura Kinney: Wolverine, Schultz wrote X-23: Deadly Regenesis, a prequel taking place when Laura had just left the island of Utopia. In contrast to her new series examining a Laura in her twenties, Deadly Regenesis brought the character back to being a teenager, still struggling with the guilt of her past as a part of the Facility. As an adult, there are new obstacles ahead of the character that Schultz was eager to tackle. When asked how she approached writing an older, wiser Laura, Schultz said:

The Laura of Deadly Regenesis was still a teen. She had had experiences with breaking out of The Facility and being a part of X-Force with Logan. In the current run of Laura Kinney: Wolverine, Laura is in her early 20s. She’s not a teenager, but she still has a lot to learn. Having been a woman in her early 20s living in New York City, I know I thought I knew everything, too. Laura will be put through her paces here, too. She’s a mutant in a world that hates mutants more than ever. She’s a woman living in the big city. She’s trying to find her place in the world, as we’ve already seen in some issues of NYX, and Laura will have some real struggles.

Schultz is giving Laura the perspective of someone – a woman, specifically – in her early twenties exploring New York City for the first time, which is the equivalent feeling of being a newborn baby entering the world for the first time. No matter how old someone is, New York is a terrifying beast of a city, and now Laura must contend with finding herself whilst trying to find her way in the big city. The learning and exploration process becomes all the harder when the world is not an easy place to be a woman, and especially not a mutant.

Exploring the Ex-X-23 as a Woman and a Mutant

A Different Kind of Character Growth

Laura Kinney: Wolverine isn’t just putting Laura in a position to explore herself, but almost re-explore – or, rather, re-navigate – a world that hates mutants more than ever before. That isn’t to say that it was ever easy to be a mutant in the Marvel Universe, but in the fallout of Krakoa’s demise and the hate campaign orchestrated by Orchis, the world hates mutants more than ever before, making life all the harder for someone like Laura. The other caveat here is that if one were to replace the word “mutant” with “woman,” the same sentiment applies, as Schultz extrapolates further:

Because of Laura’s unique situation, I really appreciate having mostly female and/or non-binary creators on the book. Laura is not only having to find her way as a mutant, but as a woman growing up. The world hates mutants, but the world also can hate on women. It’s important to me to have creatives who are some of the best at what they do, who have felt how Laura is feeling, and can imbue that emotion into the work.

Again, being a woman has seldom – if ever – been easy for any woman living in the world, but some will argue that being a woman is even more difficult in modern times. The series is going to dissect how Laura experiences and internalizes that level of hate on both sides of her identity. It’s difficult to experience hate as a member of two specific demographics. Being an oppressed minority in one of these demographics can be a damning experience in itself, but to be oppressed in two different communities can be extra challenging for some individuals.

How This Unique Experience Separates Laura’s Wolverine from Logan’s

Laura Kinney Confronts Different Challenges

The obstacles that Laura is going to face in this series are not only unique as a female mutant, but unique in relation to the original Wolverine, Logan. It’s natural to compare and contrast Laura with Logan, seeing as the former is a clone of the latter, and even more so now that Laura has adopted the Wolverine codename. However, as Schultz explains, the comparisons truly begin and end with both protruding adamantium claws from their hands, as Laura is nothing like Logan:

Laura is such a complex character, and there are so many facets of her to explore. She’s not just “the female Logan.” She’s her own person. Despite the same power sets, Logan had a relatively normal childhood before manifesting his mutant abilities. Laura never had a normal childhood. She was born in a lab and isolated from others. Her inexperience with social norms and emotional cues would play to “fish out of water” fodder in the past. Currently, Laura has had so many more experiences with relationships (Julian, Warren, and Everett) even dealing with her own clone (Talon). Laura now still has so much to mine, and we’ll see that play out in all its emotional and action-packed glory.

Although they have similar powers, Logan and Laura have different experiences that inform their characters. Logan’s origin story – based on writer Paul Jenkins’ life – inlcuding an upbringing as the wealthy James Howlett. As far as upper-class life goes, Logan experienced a normal childhood. Laura’s upbringing was anything but normal, and even in adulthood, she only experiences a semblance of normalcy due to her mutanthood. Navigating New York is the closest to normalcy that Laura has ever experienced since debuting.

Laura Kinney Will Be Changed Forever by Marvel’s Current Stories

The New Wolverine’s New Path

There have been a handful of series revolving around the Laura Kinney character – both during and after her time as X-23 – but this series promises to be different. Laura Kinney: Wolverine promises to re-contextualize the character for contemporary times, particularly in a timely fashion as her presence onscreen ramps up in the MCU. This series is going to explore the character as a woman and a mutant navigating those identities in unison, as well as how it all separates her from the original Wolverine. Exploring that distinction could prove game-changing in helping fans see her as more than a literal Wolverine clone.

The character is still relatively new, having debuted in 2003, and at 22 years of existence, that practically places her around the same age as Laura is in the comics. Her youth allows the character to grow and learn as writers and readers continue to learn about Laura Kinney. Laura can finally come into her own identity, both contextually and how her readers view her. She’s more than just another Wolverine, and she’s far more than just her past as X-23, and Schultz is determined to provide a new path for the new Wolverine.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.

Source: AIPT Comics

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