Wolverine Goes Full Animal in R-Rated Attack, As New Era Abandons His Humanity

Wolverine isn’t just a guy with claws and a healing factor. He’s an animalistic hero who is barely a mutant at all. There are plenty of reasons for a man with an anger problem to be a frenzied fighter, considering his traumatic backstory and just how many times Marvel has tried to kill him – but this new era of Wolverine is pulling no punches.

Right out the gate, Wolverine shows his mettle, which goes beyond the metal of his adamantium skeleton. In Wolverine #1, by the new team of Saladin Ahmed, Martín Cóccolo, and Bryan Valenza, Cyber is the renamed version of an old Wolverine villain seeking to hunt Logan and put him down like some wild and rabid animal. But when they face off, Wolverine does a lot more than just win the battle. After Logan beats Cyber, he remarks that while Cyber’s skin may be adamantium, his insides aren’t, and he proceeds to pummel the villain into a pulp. Not only that, but he gouges out one of his eyes in a gruesome display to show that this new Wolverine has completely abandoned his humanity.

Wolverine Is More Animal Than Human Now

Wolverine Trades His Title For a Wolflike Mythos

Wolverine has always been something of an anti-hero, considering how he has no qualms about killing, like some other heroes. And while this newest issue isn’t the first of Wolverine’s blood-soaked rides, it’s one of the first times that Wolverine has taken the next step in his evolution. He’s always been a predator, but in this battle sequence, there is a stark lack of humanity. And the battle isn’t the only way this is seen.

It seems like Wolverine is making his transition from a hero with a likeness to an animal most fans don’t really know anything about to a hero of wolf-like symbolism. Logan is seen running with the wolves, completely accepted by them unlike the humans and the mutants who didn’t accept him, and he later remarks that he’s defending his pack in battle. Wolverine has fully embraced his animal side, but he’s graduated from just the Wolverine, into the symbol of a much more menacing wild animal.

This Isn’t Wolverine’s First Run at Losing His Humanity

Wolverine Got a Horrific Redesign in X-Men

This isn’t even Wolverine’s most gruesome look, considering he had an animalistic redesign that got rid of his human nose. In X-Men #25 by Fabian Nicieza, Andy Kubert, and Matt Ryan, Magneto pulled all of the adamantium out of Wolverine’s skeleton, which revealed that the Weapon X program had only halted his mutation. What came out was a fully mutant Wolverine that turned into a Hulk-like animal with bone claws and a gigantic body.

But neither this version nor Old Man Logan or any of the other versions of Wolverine can compete with this newest Wolverine. While he hasn’t transformed physically into any animal version of himself, it’s the inside that is slowly changing. His humanity is disappearing with every kill and every rage he goes into. The former Wolverine was a rabid animal – this Wolverine is a skilled predator, completely intelligent even within his bloodlust.

Wolverine Tapped Into His Animal Instinct As Vampire Lord

Wolverine Continues To Get Darker and Grittier

There’s also a version of Wolverine that was briefly turned into a vampire lord, where his animal instincts and his hunt for blood were only heightened. This, again, is another example of an outside factor bringing out the innate instinct within Logan. While all these versions of Wolverine might seem scary, the scariest part of his character is that he had this animal instinct and this desire to hunt within him all along.

It seems through all these story arcs that Marvel has always meant Wolverine to be its darkest, wildest character. It’s no secret that Wolverine loves to kill. But his most recent brutalization of Cyber shows that he’s completing his evolution into a being who has finally and completely lost his humanity. Wolverine can come back to the side of heroes only so many times until he’s lost in rage forever.

Is Wolverine Still a Hero?

Or Is He More Animal Than Man?

In the case of Wolverine #1, he does more than go to the dark side – he plays with his food, as he allows Cyber to escape, bleeding in the snow, a meal to be caught at a later date. Wolverine loves the hunt and the chase. Again, Wolverine isn’t just an unintelligent animal who loves to kill. He’s a predator, and the worst thing a villain could do is escape from Wolverine – it only means he will be hunting you later.

In the end, Wolverine decides to help a wounded Nightcrawler, showing an aspect of his wolf-side that resembles humanity. After all, animals are not monsters. Even though he officially quit the X-Men, Wolverine has a pack, and he will always protect his friends, no matter what. The way in which he protects his friends, however, is something so brutal and so dark that, in the end, Wolverine might not look like a hero anymore.