The unofficial face of the X-men, Wolverine a.k.a Logan, is to meet his demise in a four issue mini-series titled Death of Wolverine.
“That’s impossible” we hear you cry, “He can heal himself” you state. Alas this is going to be one of the main factors in his departure from the Marvel Universe. During the mini-series it explains how Wolverine has lost his superhuman healing factor and that Logan is pretty much the last mutant alive.
As well as losing his healing factor and essentially being all alone, he has taken a vow of nonviolence, whether this is because he knows he cannot heal himself or because some sort of awful war saw all other mutants die and he has had enough of violence we do not know.
The biggest question then is, how is our hero going to go? Well without his healing factor he could be killed in many violent and brutal ways, but that doesn’t go hand in hand with Logan’s recent vow of nonviolence. The only clue we get is from Editor Mike Marts who says: “He finally comes up against an adversary he cannot win against, he cannot fight.”
While this makes it more ambiguous than it already is, fans can still make an educated guess with Marts also saying: “He’s reflecting on his own life as he’s reflecting on his own death, we wanted to have the reader do that at the same time.”
This may be the time we see a more sentimental and gentle side to Wolverine and in essence make him more human.
But still the question needs to be asked, what/who is this adversary he cannot fight?
A more powerful mutant? A fatal/infected wound? A terminal illness? Or the adversary that all people cannot beat, time?
Whatever way that they have decided to end Wolverine’s 40 year career in the Marvel Universe, he is sure to be greatly missed and as put by Marts “A world without Wolverine. That affects not only his team-mates, but the Marvel Universe at large.”
Death of Wolverine is released in stores on September 3, with the final issue being released on September 24.
You can see Wolverine and the rest of the X-men in X-men:Days of Future Past, which hits theaters on May 22.
