Wolverine Variants from Across the Multiverse

Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and most of Logan's variants from across the Multiverse can claim the same. Across countless worlds, Wolverine stands as an enduring figure, even in apocalyptic futures where his healing factor helped him outlive the X-Men. While some worlds see Wolverine haunted by the lives he couldn't save, other worlds have turned Logan into a ferocious killer. 

Now, let's take a closer look at some of the most iconic and strange versions of Wolverine from across the Multiverse. From the heroic to the horrifying, we'll break down some of Wolverine's most distinctive variants and how they reshaped their worlds.

OLD MAN LOGAN

The villains won in Old Man Logan’s world, and Wolverine played a major role in their victory. Mysterio gave Logan illusions that the X-Men were villains, causing him to butcher most of them. As his enemies turned the world into the nightmarish Wastelands, an aging Logan retreated to a simple life in WOLVERINE (2003) #66 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. 

Old Man Logan jumped back into action after his family was killed to exact his revenge on the villains who ruined his world. Another Old Man Logan variant traveled to the main Marvel Universe, where he joined the X-Men and confronted several foes from his past, starting in OLD MAN LOGAN (2016) #1 by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino.

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST WOLVERINE

After the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly, mutant-hunting Sentinels took over the United States of America and pushed mutants to the edge of extinction. In the dark future of UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #141 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Wolverine was one of the last X-Men standing. This Logan also helped the surviving X-Men send Kate "Kitty" Pryde's consciousness back in time to stop the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from killing Senator Kelly. 

In this future, Colossus threw Wolverine at a Sentinel, killing him with a Sentinel blast that reduced him to a smoldering skeleton. However, this Wolverine was revived to lead a team of Logan variants called the Wolverine Squad, and later warned alternate dimensions about an oncoming Celestial threat.

AGE OF APOCALYPSE

In the AGE OF APOCALYPSE timeline, Professor X was killed before he formed the X-Men, which allowed Apocalypse to conquer the world. Taking the codename Weapon X, Logan joined Magneto's X-Men, but he had left the team by the time he debuted in X-MEN: ALPHA (1995) #1 by Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Roger Cruz, and Steve Epting. 

While saving Jean Grey, Weapon X lost his left hand in a battle with Cyclops, one of Apocalypse's generals. Logan and Jean later helped humans organize a nuclear strike against Apocalypse. Although Logan briefly rejoined the X-Men, he was transformed into Weapon Omega, an Apocalypse-like tyrant who killed millions. Once Jean restored Logan's humanity, he began hunting down the mutants who had served his dark empire.

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE

In the original Ultimate Universe, Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men were reimagined as younger heroes near the start of their heroic careers for ULTIMATE X-MEN (2001) #1 by Mark Millar and Adam Kubert. Like his Marvel Universe counterpart, Ultimate Wolverine fought alongside Nick Fury during World War II before joining the Weapon X Project. After escaping, he joined Magneto's Brotherhood and infiltrated the X-Men to kill Professor X. 

Although he left Cyclops for dead in the Savage Land, Wolverine turned against Magneto and became a true believer in the X-Men. But when Magneto launched his final attack on humankind in ULTIMATUM (2008), Wolverine died while trying to kill the villain, who reduced Logan to a smoldering adamantium skeleton.

WOLVERINE: AGENT OF SHIELD

In a world where Wolverine joined S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of the X-Men, Logan became one of mutantkind's greatest champions for WHAT IF? (1989) #7 by Jim Valentino and Rob Liefeld. After Logan destroyed one of Hydra's Life Model Decoys, Nick Fury invited Logan to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and help stop Hydra and A.I.M. 

Logan became the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. after a clone of Baron von Strucker killed Fury. From that powerful position, he protected mutants by stopping the reactivation of the Sentinel Program and blocking legislation against mutants. Although he never joined the X-Men, this Wolverine made Professor X's dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants a reality. 

JANE HOWLETT

To stop Onslaught from absorbing the power of the Phoenix Force, one world's Jean Grey assembled several Wolverine variants from across the Multiverse in WEAPON X-MEN (2024) #1 by Christos Gage and Yildiray Çinar. One of those variants was Jane Howlett, who was born to a wealthy family in the late 1800s. Thomas Logan, the Howletts' groundskeeper, killed Jane's parents to steal the Howlett fortune, only for Jane to pop her claws for the first time and kill him. 

When she inherited her family's money, Jane became an adventurer and went on missions like hunting a Wendigo with Ulysses Bloodstone. After joining the team of alternate reality Wolverines, Jane helped neutralize Onslaught's threat before returning to her homeworld.

ZOMBIE WOLVERINE

Despite his healing factor, Wolverine became one of the first Marvel Zombies in ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR (2003) #22 by Mark Millar and Greg Land. When Logan was bitten by zombified Captain America and Hawkeye, the zombie virus overloaded his healing factor and gave him an endless hunger for flesh. Zombie Wolverine was one of the heroes who successfully attacked and ate the Silver Surfer and Galactus, which gave him part of their cosmic power. 

After traveling around the universe, Zombie Wolverine returned to Earth, where he was transported to another dimension. This undead Logan joined the Weapon X-Men and was ultimately sent to a reality of plant-based lifeforms he could not harm.

WOLVERINE NOIR

In the hard-boiled world of Marvel Noir, Wolverine was Captain Jim Logan: a private detective, bootlegger, and experienced fighter with swords and claw weapons. Starting in WOLVERINE NOIR (2009) #1 by Stuart Moore and C.P. Smith, Logan worked for Mariko Yashida before confronting Victor Creed and his old flame, Rose O'Hara. 

After starting a shipping business with that world's Puck, Logan was implicated in the apparent death of Jean Grey, one of the young sociopathic X-Men assembled by radical psychologist Charles Xavier. Once his name was cleared, Logan helped Cyclops and the Angel steal the Gem of Cyttorak for the secret agency O*N*E* before he was arrested and sent to Genosha Bay Prison.

WOLVERINE: LORD OF THE VAMPIRES

After Storm became a vampire, Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men were also transformed in WHAT IF? (1989) #24 by Roy Thomas, R.J.M. Lofficier, and Tom Morgan. Although Dracula's bite transformed Logan, Wolverine did not fall under his thrall. Instead, he killed Dracula to become the new Lord of the Vampires. 

With his army of vampire mutants, Wolverine had the Juggernaut kill Doctor Strange, whose knowledge of the Montessi Formula could have led to the eradication of vampires. Despite his body's death, Doctor Strange's astral form persisted and recruited the Punisher to protect the mystical secrets of his Sanctum Sanctorum. When Wolverine saw the Punisher slay vampire Kitty Pryde, a remorseful Logan wiped out the vampires by reciting the Montessi Formula himself.

GOVERNOR GENERAL JAMES HOWLETT

In a reality modeled after the start of the 20th century, Governor General James Howlett oversaw the Dominion of Canada and was one of his world's greatest heroes. Howlett's partner, Hercules, gave him adamantine metal, an unbreakable Olympian creation that was eventually bonded to his bones. 

After a journey to Tartarus, Howlett was captured by the Savior, a murderous variant of Professor X, in ASTONISHING X-MEN (2004) #44 by Greg Pak and Mike McKone. General Howlett escaped with the Marvel Universe's Cyclops and joined a Multiversal X-Men team for several reality-hopping adventures that eventually saw him reunited with Hercules.

NOVA 2099

In the alternate reality of 2099, Wolverine survived far into the future and became the last member of the Nova Corps. After losing his arm in a battle with a vicious band of Hulks, Wolverine briefly assembled a new team of X-Men in TIMESTORM 2009/2099: X-MEN (2009) #1 by Brian Reed and Frazer Irving. 

To restore his lost healing factor, Wolverine underwent an experimental Nova Corps procedure that implanted the Nova Force into every cell in his body, as detailed in ANNIHILATION 2099 (2024) #1 by Steve Orlando and Ibraim Roberson. With his arm and healing factor restored. Wolverine took on the Exo-Parasites that wiped out the Nova Corps, then traveled around the galaxy to face threats like the Knull Set, worshippers of a dead symbiote god.

OLD MAN PHOENIX

In a dimension ruled by King Thor after Loki wiped out humanity, Wolverine bonded with the Phoenix Force to become Old Man Phoenix. To stop that future from coming to pass, Old Man Phoenix traveled to the main Marvel Universe. He posed as his younger self to start gathering and redistributing the Infinity Stones in MARVEL LEGACY (2017) #1 by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic. 

Back in his reality, Old Man Phoenix teamed up with Thor to battle Doctor Doom, who had become a planet-sized threat. Although he was briefly killed by a Mystique variant and the Multiversal Masters of Evil, Old Man Phoenix was revived and played a crucial role in helping the Multiversal Avengers stop Mephisto and his army of variants.

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