Wolverine's Best Fastball Specials

Wolverine may be the best there is at what he does, but he's always done a little bit better with some help from his friends. While Logan alone is one of the most dangerous mutants in the Marvel Universe, it was with Colossus, one of his oldest friends in the X-Men, that he created one of his most famous attacks: the fastball special, in which Colossus or another super strong hero throws Wolverine at an enemy with all of their might. Despite its simplicity, the fastball special perfectly captures the teamwork that defines the X-Men and plays a significant role in mutant lore.  

To celebrate Wolverine's 50th anniversary, let's take a closer look at Wolverine's greatest fastball specials. Whether they're with Colossus or another one of the X-Men or Avengers, these fastball specials show why Wolverine is one of Marvel's most fearsome fighters and how this deceptively simple tag-team move evolved into an iconic attack.

THE FIRST FASTBALL SPECIAL

Wolverine and Colossus performed the fastball special for the first time in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #100 by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. Shortly after Wolverine and Colossus joined the X-Men, they faced Stephen Lang and his X-Sentinels, a squad of mutant-hunting Sentinels modeled after the original X-Men team. 

After quietly developing the fastball special during their first training sessions in the Danger Room, Logan asked Colossus to execute the attack against a robotic duplicate of Angel. While the immediate results of that maneuver were not shown, Wolverine and Colossus helped defeat the X-Sentinels, and they quickly added the fastball special and attacks like it to their regular rotation.

FASTBALL IN THE SAVAGE LAND

Even though Wolverine's skeleton is covered in unbreakable adamantium metal that makes him weigh about 300 lbs., Colossus hurtles him toward enemies at over 200 miles per hour in every fastball special. Colossus and Wolverine proved just how powerful that attack was while battling dinosaurs in the Savage Land in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #114 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. 

As the X-Men wandered among the prehistoric creatures, Banshee was captured by a pterodactyl. Despite the intense disapproval of Cyclops, Colossus threw Wolverine at the Savage Land creature, who immediately dropped Banshee. As Wolverine’s razor-sharp claws tore through its leathery skin, he climbed onto the beast and rode it as it glided to its demise.

THE DARK PHOENIX SAGA

After Wolverine and Colossus developed the fastball special, they started testing variations of the move, like the reverse fastball special they used in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #137 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. In the final moments of the iconic "Dark Phoenix Saga," the X-Men fought the Shi'ar Imperial Guard on the Moon to save Jean Grey, who had just destroyed a planet as the Dark Phoenix. 

When Jean began transforming into the Dark Phoenix again, Wolverine used the Moon's reduced gravity to throw Colossus at their teammate. Although the move was successful, Colossus pulled his punch at the last second, and Jean ultimately sacrificed her life to stop the Dark Phoenix from retaking control.

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

In the dark alternate reality of "Days of Future Past," Sentinels took over the United States and captured or killed most of the country's mutants and other superhumans. Wolverine and Colossus were two of the few X-Men who survived into this apocalyptic future, where Logan continued his heroic work with the Canadian Resistance Army. 

After the two old friends reunited on the battlefield in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #141 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Colossus threw Wolverine at a Sentinel for the first time in years. Although this attack successfully took down a Sentinel, Colossus and Wolverine's next fastball special sent Logan directly into a Sentinel's energy blast, which reduced him to a smoldering adamantium skeleton.

BEAST'S FASTBALL SPECIAL 

While Colossus and Wolverine developed the fastball special together, Logan has performed the move with several other teammates in the X-Men and Avengers. Although Wolverine and Beast spent most of the recent Krakoan Era as bitter rivals, these two veteran mutants were close enough to perform a fastball special together in X-MEN (1991) #1 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee. 

The duo executed the move when the X-Men battled Magneto and the Acolytes, a group of his most dedicated followers. With one arm, Beast hurled Logan towards Delgado, a mutant with the power to increase his size and mass. Wolverine briefly knocked out the hulking mutant even though his ally Chrome made his skin ultra-dense.

HERE COMES TOMORROW 

The legacy of the fastball special has survived long into other future timelines around the Multiverse, even in worlds where mutants have been pushed to the brink of extinction. In a future where the bacterial Sublime possessed Beast and tried to replace all life with his genetically engineered creations, Wolverine was one of the last X-Men standing in NEW X-MEN (2001) #153 by Grant Morrison and Marc Silvestri. 

In the ensuing battle, Tito Bohusk—the birdlike grandson of former Xavier Institute students Beak and Angel Salvadore—got to fulfill a lifelong dream of executing a fastball special by dropping Wolverine into the middle of Sublime's Nightcrawler-esque Crawler forces. 

THE RETURN OF COLOSSUS

Although Colossus died to cure a mutant plague called the Legacy Virus, he was revived and abducted by Ord, an alien from the war-loving planet Breakworld. After enduring months of torture, Colossus got rescued by the X-Men, who were investigating the creation of a substance that could depower mutants. 

Following Colossus' heartfelt reunion with his old friends, Ord tried to escape in a spaceship in ASTONISHING X-MEN (2004) #6 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. Unwilling to let his captor go free, Colossus threw Wolverine towards the ship with his full strength. Even though the spacecraft was already soaring high above the Earth, this iconic fastball special successfully sent Logan into its cockpit. 

SHE-HULK'S FASTBALL SPECIAL 

Since Wolverine entered the Marvel Universe by jumping into a fight between the Hulk and Wendigo, Logan has always been tied to the Hulks. So, when She-Hulk tried to capture a Wendigo for S.H.I.E.L.D., Wolverine showed up to help her out in SHE-HULK (2005) #16 by Dan Slott and Rick Burchett. 

After She-Hulk lured Wendigo to a decoy campsite, the cannibalistic creature ripped through She-Hulk's midsection. As her healing factor quickly knitted her back together, she responded by hurling Wolverine towards Wendigo in a fastball special. Wolverine left a gaping hole in the Wendigo and ripped out its still-beating heart on his claws. While this didn't kill the Wendigo, it subdued him enough to be taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Hulkbuster unit.

CAPTAIN MARVEL'S FASTBALL SPECIAL 

Before Carol Danvers was Captain Marvel, she enjoyed a friendship with Logan during their time as spies. Then, while Carol operated as Ms. Marvel, she reunited with Logan in the New Avengers. 

After Black Widow (Yelena Belova) developed the numerous powers of the Super-Adaptoid, she attacked the New Avengers in NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL (2006) #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel. In the middle of the battle, Carol threw Logan at Yelena in an "Avengers-style" fastball special from mid-air. Wolverine knocked Yelena out of the air, freed Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) from her grasp, and rolled safely into a web net that Spider-Man quickly assembled. 

STORM'S FASTBALL SPECIAL 

Although they served together on the X-Men for most of their adult lives, Storm and Wolverine didn't perform a fastball special together until HERC (2010) #7 by Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak, and June Brigman. During the SPIDER-ISLAND event, Hercules and many of New York's other residents temporarily received Spider-Man-like powers before transforming into arachnid monsters. Under the influence of the Spider-Queen, Hercules attacked the X-Men when they showed up to help. 

As Hercules fended off their initial attacks, Storm summoned winds to lift Wolverine into the air before hurling him towards the demigod. When Storm mentioned that she had always wanted to do that, Logan told her everyone could do the fastball special sometime.

THE SCREWBALL SPECIAL

After mutants built a paradise on the island nation of Krakoa, Nimrod and the leaders of the mutant-hating group Orchis burned it down and sent most of the world's mutants to parts unknown. To avenge the nation where the fastball special had become a celebrated pillar of mutant teamwork, Wolverine and Colossus teamed up to fight back against Orchis in FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X (2024) #1 by Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck. 

The heroes developed a lethal new version of the fastball special called the screwball special. Instead of throwing Wolverine like a projectile, the screwball special saw Colossus hurl his opponent onto a bloodthirsty Logan's claws. Wolverine and Colossus have both killed in the past, and this lethal attack shows how dangerous the fastball special can be when the X-Men fight for their survival.

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