Ultimate Wolverine
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Wolverine (James Howlett, referred to as Logan) is a fictional character, a mutant in the Ultimate Marvel continuity and member of the Ultimate X-Men. A reboot of writer Len Wein's and penciler John Romita, Sr's Marvel Universe original Wolverine, he was created by writer Mark Millar and penciler Adam Kubert. He first appeared in Ultimate X-Men #1.
Character History
Early Life
Wolverine suffers from amnesia; as a result, not much is known about his early life, and what is known is both suspect and unverifiable. It is believed that, at one point, Wolverine had a wife and child, but they were supposedly murdered by Sabretooth. As both Wolverine's and Sabretooth's memories have been tampered with in the past (most infamously by the Weapon X Project), this claim is highly suspect; however, Wolverine does own a wedding ring that serves as the only link to his past. In the Ultimate X-Men story arc "Date Night", Sabretooth claimed that Wolverine was, in fact, his father. Whether or not this is true has yet to be seen.Captain America recognized Wolverine as James Howlett, a paratrooper he made several jumps with during World War II. They called him "Lucky Jim" because he always survived, no matter how gravely he was injured. Thus, it has been speculated that Wolverine's healing factor also greatly retards his aging (as it does in Marvel's main continuity, Earth-616). Dum-Dum Dugan also recognized him as Jim although how he knows him has not yet been specified.
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Joining the X-Men
Around 18 months before the "Tomorrow People" arc, Wolverine joined Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, and eventually became Magneto's elite assassin.For one of his missions, Logan (as he had come to be known) was assigned to infiltrate the X-Men and assassinate Professor Xavier. He was accepted into their ranks, and quickly seduced Jean Grey in order to further entrench himself within the team. However, Wolverine accidentally fell in love with Jean, and was devastated when she left him upon discovering his connection to the Brotherhood. Because of this, Wolverine eventually betrayed Magneto, abandoning his initial mission and truly joining the X-Men.
Unfortunately, by this time, Jean had begun a relationship with Cyclops, leading to a deep rift growing between the two men. Their rivalry came to a head when Xavier sent the two of them on a mission to the Savage Land, hoping to end their enmity. However, the reverse occurred: Wolverine allowed Cyclops to fall to his death, believing he would then be able to continue his relationship with Jean.
Miraculously, Cyclops survived, and returned, revealing Wolverine's hand in his disappearance. Cyclops blasted Wolverine to the ground, and then shocked everyone by offering to let him remain on the team (his only chance of redemption).
This experience had a profound effect upon Logan. He realized how badly he had betrayed his friends, and ceased his antisocial, ruthless ways, and even developed a deep and abiding sense of responsiblity. He also displayed a protective side for the younger X-Men, especially Rogue, and even eventually formed a bond of friendship - or at least mutual respect - with Cyclops.
Weapon X
Seeking answers to Wolverine's past (and to liberate imprisoned mutant test subjects), the team traveled to the site of the Weapon X Project. There they encountered a man named John Wraith - and Sabretooth. Sabretooth burned the files on Wolverine - and thus destroyed the only record of his past - in front of his eyes, leading up to the first match-up between the two in the Ultimate continuity (their battles in the normal continuity are legendary). At first, Sabretooth appeared to be winning, until Wolverine scored a dirty hit (slashing Sabretooth in the groin). The battle culminated with Sabretooth's plunge off of a cliff, and the complete dismantlement of the Weapon X Project.-->However, Wolverine's nemesis was far from destroyed, and Sabretooth returned as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, replacing Wolverine at Magneto's side. After a fierce battle, Sabretooth began to taunt Wolverine, saying that he could never be killed, could recover from any injury, and would always return to haunt Wolverine - to which Wolverine responded by decapitating him on the spot.
Wolverine later began a half-hearted relationship with Storm, which he quickly ended. However, they both still harbored feelings for one another, and on a future "date", the couple were attacked by a revived Sabretooth (sporting a nice little scar around his neck).
Sabretooth begins to explain how he managed to survive thanks to a few little threads Wolverine neglected to cut, but was rendered comatose for several months. He engages Wolverine in a brief encounter, until Storm separates the two, inadvertently allowing Sabretooth to take her hostage.
Sabretooth says he didn't come to fight, and reveals that, since his resurrection, his original memories have begun to return, and he has become able to determine which memories are fake, as well. He also makes the claim that Wolverine is his biological father. (Whether this is true remains to be seen; in the Marvel-616 continuity there was speculation that Sabretooth was Wolverine's father, which was later disproved.)
Wolverine is later contacted by Nick Fury, who is concerned that the Hulk may have survived S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt to execute him (via nuclear detonation, which Hank Pym may have purposely scrambled). Fury assigns Wolverine to find the Hulk, who S.H.I.E.L.D. believes may be in Tibet, and eliminate him.
Wolverine tracks down the Hulk in Tibet, and greets him, saying, "Hello, Bruce." (Bruce Banner's identity was made public during the trial of the Hulk.) The Hulk asks Wolverine if he would like some cocoa before a fight breaks out. After a vicious exchange, the Hulk gains the upper hand and procedes to rip Wolverine in half.
Wolverine survives, and begins the long climb up a mountainside to retrieve his legs.
In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, Wolverine appears as an early boss while playing as Venom because the symbiote threw his bike through a wall. After a brief fight, Wolverine is defeated by the more powerful Venom.
[According to] Brian Michael Bendis, the events of the video game are canonical, and take place between issues #36 and #46 of Ultimate Spider-Man; however, how these relate to Ultimate X-Men's numbering is uncertain.
Powers and abilities
Wolverine has animalistic senses and reflexes (he has been known to track a person by scent alone, like a wolf) and three, foot-long claws that extend between the knuckles of each hand. However, Wolverine's most beneficial mutation is his greatly enhanced healing, which allows him to survive and recover from nearly any wound imaginable. This, combined with his Adamantium-plated skeleton and bestial ferocity make him into one of the greatest fighters in the Ultimate Universe.Adamantium
Of note is the controversy surrounding the durability of Adamantium in the Ultimate Universe. In the Earth-616 continuity, which is the mainstream Marvel Universe, Adamantium is practically indestructible to all forms of damage. A sufficient amount is capable of withstanding nuclear strikes without sustaining damage. Adamantium's durability in the Ultimate Marvel Universe is called into question in Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk #1 when, during a battle between the two, the Hulk rips Wolverine's body in half despite Wolverine's bones being infused with Adamantium. Marvel Comics has not provided any canonical explanation for the incident. However, in the Ultimate X-Men story arc The Tomorrow People, Colonel Wraith refers to Adamantium as being "semi-indestructible".
Age
Wolverine's healing factor greatly retards his aging; thus, his exact age is a matter of great debate. However, it is known that he was a paratrooper in WWII, alongside Captain America.Also of note is the exact point at which he ceased physically aging. Adam Kubert originally had depicted Wolverine in his early-to-mid twenties, to tie in with the rest of the X-Men being teenagers. However, following artists have drawn Wolverine as being in his teens, twenties, thirties, and even almost middle aged (his main-continuity counterpart is often depicted as such). It is also mentioned in the Ultimate X-Men comics that Wolverine's Xiphoid process has not yet ossified (and as such represents a weakness) - if this is the case then he must have been younger than 30 when his skeleton was bonded with Adamantium.
Wolverine's hair has also changed with the artists, from a less extreme version of the classic "fork", to a complete grunge no-forking-whatsoever style, and everything in between.
Differences from It is interesting to note that, in transferring to the Ultimate Universe, many inversions have been made regarding the ever-strained relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth. For example, in the Ultimate continuity, Sabretooth stated that Wolverine is his father, although this may have been simply to distract him and/or goad him into violence. This is an inversion of [Chris Claremont's] original intention for the Sabretooth character as Wolverine's father, a possiblity that was suggested in the comics, then later disproved. An extension of this inversion is that, in the original continuity, Wolverine never defeated Sabretooth until after Claremont's run, whereas, in the Ultimate continuity, Wolverine has never lost a bout to Sabretooth; however, this is consistent with the idea of the father being the "Victor".
Another inversion is that, in the Ultimate continuity, Wolverine served for a time as Magneto's elite assassin. In the normal continuity, Sabretooth operated as a mercenary and, later, an assassin-for-hire. Furthermore, though neither had any connection to Magneto in the original continuity, only Sabretooth was ever a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants; in the Ultimate continuity, Wolverine was a highly-celebrated member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy long before Sabretooth.
There are a few differences between the two incarnations physically. The Earth-616 version stands 5'3" while the Wolverine of the UMU is somewhat taller at 5'9". Ultimate Wolverine doesn't possess the same thick, compact, muscular build of the Earth-616 version. However, as with the age issue, some artists have drawn Ultimate Wolverine to be virtually identical to his mainstream counterpart in virtually every way including age, hair style, facial hair, and physical build.
External links
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