Wolverine Wednesday #75 – 50th Birthday Celebration Part 2

For me, Wolverine started as a Saturday morning cartoon character. In fact I saw the first X-Men movie before picking up a comic. This just goes to show the strength and popularity of the character, with 2024 his 50th year in comics which coincides with potentially his biggest and best outing on the big screen. Here I am going to walk you through my personal journey with the little guy who made it big across all forms of media. How I came to be a comic reader and collector is a story for another day.

Getting back to those Saturday mornings, why did Wolverine stand out? First of all the costume just leaps off the screen. When he is out of the trademark yellow and blue there wasn’t another cartoon character that looked like him! I mean the hair, the height, the plaid shirt and the cowboy hat combo! It’s easy for a kid who has no knowledge of comics to make a connection to another cartoon classic and say Wolverine is the X-Men’s Raphael. You only have to watch a handful of episodes to pick up on what makes Wolverine, Wolverine. There is his fight with his inner animal, the rivalry with Sabretooth, and the love triangle with Scott and Jean. There is his lone-wolf nature, offset by the sense of family he gets from the team. Finally, there is his attitude of sticking up for the little guy. The episode ‘Cold Vengeance’ has all of this, to me, it was like a character study. I even brought the comic based on the issue at my very first convention. The episode ‘Weapon X, Lies and Videotape’ was another mind-blower. Back in the day, it was a peek into his past before everything had to be a major prequel. To people just watching the cartoon without knowing the mirrors from the comics, it was enough of a look into his mysterious past without giving too much away. Plus I have loved Maverick ever since! Once you have learnt these character traits about “the best there is at what he does” you can pick up a comic still today and most if not all of them feature heavily.

I grew up and left Saturday morning cartoons behind, the X-Men were off my radar until I heard about the film. That struck a nostalgia chord so of course I was going to see it. From there I got bitten and turned to comics! The movies that followed that understated but popular first outing remained largely faithful to the character. There are things they done really well; like keeping that aura of mystery and his fight with the beast within. There were of course things that divided opinion; forcing the love triangle and pushing Wolverine to front and centre in every movie. One thing we can all agree on is how fortunate we are to have Hugh Jackman truly embrace the role. He took the source material seriously and treated the fan base with respect. He showed a passion for wanting to take Wolverine to new levels.

With that in mind here are my Top 5 Wolverine movie moments.

5: Bar Brawl (X-Men)

This scene is Wolverine storytelling 101. All the classic hallmarks of his character are on display for what is the audience’s first in-depth time with him. Anyone who has read my comic reviews will know I always appreciate it when a story starts exactly like this scene. A bar, local yokels and back in a time when Logan could light up a big cigar! It takes place off the back of the explosive cage fight scene. It is a really strong start to the relationship between Logan and Rogue. Seeing the claws come out for the first time, especially with that slow-motion reveal of the middle claw as he has the guy pinned, and then the fluidity of his second hand slicing through the shotgun is just pure joy. This is a kick-ass moment that launched his ear of big screen dominance.

4: Enter X-23 (Logan)

This is kind of a cheat entry as it is a double one. I am counting this along with the first full Logan trailer as one choice and I will explain. Back when the movie came out, in my review I referred to that trailer as an adrenaline shot. It felt like a complete shift in what comic book movies at the time were offering. ( Being soundtracked by Johnny Cash helped)! And then the movie served up something completely different. We got more back story for X-23 and development of Xavier than perhaps audiences were expecting. The movie starts with a violent outburst from Logan then slows right down, building to this moment where X-23 absolutely explodes! Most of that scene is in that trailer which is why they are together here. Seeing X-23 in these violent exchanges hits differently than seeing Logan do it!

3: Wolverine/Sabretooth Go to Wars (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

It is a sad turn of events when the opening credits are the highlights of a lacklustre outing. In my opinion, the movie suffered from telling an origin story that didn’t need to be told. I do however salute the decision to get elements of the Origin mini-series into the movie despite not being that old. The wars through the ages montage over the opening credits takes us from the Origin opening to the beginning of the movie proper. It is such a simple yet effective device to use. The montage does more for storytelling between Logan and Victor than the rest of the movie combined! It is popcorn cinema at its best!

2: Riot at Xavier’s (X2)

Before the MCU, X2 was regarded by many to be the standard bearer of comic book movies. It is the Empire Strikes Back of the X-Franchise that delivered a compelling story with some excellent action sequences. When Stryker’s forces who long rumoured to be a grounded take on Sentinels storm Xavier Mansion they are met head on by Jackman’s pumped-up Wolverine. It is a moment right out of the comics and expands on the story of Wolverine being protective of his newfound family. Re-watching this scene now I feel Jackman had a big say in its inclusion and its final choreography. They pushed the boundaries of the rating as far as they could and Iceman’s reaction sums it all up. This is Wolverine cutting loose long before Logan!

1: The Wolverine in Action (The Wolverine)

Again I have cheated, I couldn’t separate the bullet train sequence and the final battle through the village. I love the visuals of both scenes, they are both very comic-booky in nature. The movie takes the bold decision of adapting the classic first Wolverine mini-series with some exciting additions. The bullet train sequence is recognized as a great X-Cinema moment. I would even say it is a great action movie moment. It is 3 minutes of pulsating actions with great claw choreography. On a personal level I do prefer the battle through the village against the Black Clan before the movie’s climax. Again the comic book visuals shine through, as does a video game vibe of reaching the boss level. The arrows in the back are the icing on the cake, whilst portraying his never give up attitude. Both scenes again push the boundaries of violence before the peaks of Wolverine and it is a solid introduction to the franchise to the always impressive James Mangold.
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I have had a stop-start relationship with video games, my console history reads Sega Mega Drive II, OG Playstation, Nintendo Wii and some PC gaming in between. X-Men Mutant Academy 2 was probably the first time my gaming and comics crossed over. The gameplay was rather basic but I did enjoy unlocking characters and costumes. In fact the loading screens were an early part of my X-Men comics education as they showed various covers. I was always curious about the stories within. Wolverine’s Revenge was a huge moment for my PC gaming, I had to update my graphics and everything! Again I enjoyed unlocking things on there, but once I found the cheat code the gameplay lost some appeal as I wasn’t very good at it! A big draw was the story line however adapting the Weapon X stuff is always a win for me. The early levels were a lot of fun and I liked the portrayal of his senses and berserker rage in the game. As I was getting out of gaming I gave X-Men Legends 2 a bash after picking it up cheap. I since found out that the game has kind of a cult following, so I wish I had given it more attention. What I did play I enjoyed, again though I am just not very good at PC gaming. The appeal of that game is constructing your 4 X-Men team as the adventure expands. Lastly, there was the tie-in game to X-Men Origins: Wolverine which I had on the Wii and yes the game is a thousand times better than the movie. A solid storyline that uses the movie as a frame and then goes on some tangents. I believe the console version of the game had a Sentinel factory level which sounds fun. Obviously, you can’t beat the child-like glee in making his claws pop out by waving the Wii remotes in your hands! Despite not being a gamer that Wolverine game that was announced 2 years(?) ago now did get me excited. I would genuinely like to watch someone play it rather than embarrass myself!