22 Years Ago, Marvel Created The Perfect Wolverine Replacement

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It’s been 22 years since Marvel tried to create a new character to fill the role of Wolverine. Wolverine first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #181, sent by Canada to capture the Hulk after he entered the country. He quickly became a member of the X-Men and one of Marvel’s most beloved heroes. Like many popular characters, Marvel often creates successors to its established icons – Miles Morales, Kamala Khan, and Riri Williams are recent examples. But Wolverine’s potential replacement actually debuted before any of them.

Marvel Comics first introduced X-23, a teenage character who would later become well-known as Laura Kinney, in the third issue of its comic book series NYX on February 1, 2004. Though NYX wasn’t a widely popular title, it proved to be an ideal starting point for this new character connected to Wolverine’s story.

Marvel Comics Introduced Wolverine’s Replacement With X-23

NYX was a comic book series that ran in 2003, created by Joe Quesada and Joshua Middleton. It told the story of teenage mutant runaways living on the streets of New York City—the ‘NY’ in the title stands for New York, and the ‘X’ refers to District X within the Marvel Comics universe. The first issue introduces Kiden Nixon, a teenage mutant who becomes homeless after her police officer father is killed, and her connection with Cameron Palmer, a teacher who attempts to guide her.

The group first encountered X-23 in the third issue, discovering her in a room that suggested she’d killed a man using her extendable claws. They later met a fourth young mutant named Tatiana. Soon, they were fighting for their lives, pursued by a local crime boss—the same man responsible for Kiden’s father’s death—who was particularly interested in capturing X-23, as he had been exploiting her.

Nearly ten months separated the release of NYX issues #5 and #6. During that time, X-23 attempted to kill Wolverine, convinced he was the source of her past suffering. This confrontation ultimately led her to align with the mutant community, find a place to belong with the X-Men, and leave her life on the streets behind.

Marvel recently revived the NYX series in 2024, featuring well-known characters like Kamala Khan. However, this new version was toned down compared to the original. The 2003 series remains a standout story about the struggles of teenage mutants facing prejudice and danger. It was an ideal setting to introduce a complex character like Laura Kinney, also known as X-23, and explore her troubled past.

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2026-02-02 02:40