Wolverine Is Marvel’s Batman (But They Dropped the Ball With Him in 2025)

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Wolverine is a hugely popular character for Marvel, both in comic books and movies, as demonstrated by the success of the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine. He’s arguably only less popular than Spider-Man and Batman, which highlights how much his popularity has grown. In many ways, Wolverine is Marvel’s equivalent of Batman. Just like Batman appears in many different DC titles and draws fans into the broader DC Universe, Wolverine can do the same for Marvel, acting as a central figure to connect different stories and attract readers.

As a huge Wolverine fan, 2024 was incredible! Marvel really celebrated his 50th anniversary with so much great stuff. We got the epic ‘Sabretooth War’ which wrapped up the Krakoa era of Wolverine, plus the fantastic Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII. They even released two new Wolverine stories written by Chris Claremont – Wolverine: Madripoor Knights and Wolverine: Deep Cut – and an origin story called Life of Wolverine. Then there was the Jonathan Hickman/Greg Capullo miniseries, Wolverine: Revenge. They finished the year strong with a new Wolverine volume and introduced Ultimate Wolverine in Ultimate Universe: One Year In. Honestly, that’s where things started to go downhill. It felt like Marvel dropped the ball with a character who had the potential to be as popular as Batman.

2025 Couldn’t Sustain Wolverine’s 2024 Success

The recent run of Wolverine (Vol. 8) has struggled from the beginning, and things haven’t improved in 2025. While writer Saladin Ahmed clearly loves the character, the stories haven’t been very engaging. It feels like a step backward, and not in a positive way. The book has all the right ingredients – a well-written Wolverine with a distinct voice, plenty of action, and mostly solid art from Martin Coccolo (though you can sometimes tell when he’s rushed) – but it isn’t attracting readers or resonating with longtime Wolverine fans. Even the online Wolverine community is expressing disappointment, which speaks volumes.

Despite a strong beginning, Ultimate Wolverine hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. While it’s a slight improvement over the original Wolverine, it’s unfortunately retreading familiar ground. This version of the character is falling into the same patterns we’ve seen many times before – being manipulated as an assassin, struggling with his conditioning, and ultimately becoming a hero very similar to the one from the main Marvel universe. Writer Chris Condon seems to be avoiding risks, which is frustrating readers. The artwork is excellent, thanks to Alessandro Cappuccio and artists Derek Lins and Domenico Carbone, but many fans are ultimately disappointed with the series.

Despite some challenges, 2024 had some standout Wolverine comics. Deadpool/Wolverine, written by Benjamin Percy with art by Josh Cassara and Robert Gill, was a particularly strong title, delivering a story that felt like a classic from the 90s. Issue #10 of Wolverine (Vol. 8) featured a remarkably intense and brutal fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth. While Spider-Man/Wolverine wasn’t flawless, it was generally well-received, with memorable moments brought to life by Kaare Andrews’ distinctive art style. Marvel is planning more Wolverine series for 2025, but the current two main titles are the main area needing improvement.

Wolverine had a fantastic 2024, celebrating his 50th anniversary with a successful series of comics that proved his potential as a top-tier character, similar to Batman. The numerous titles performed well and kept fans engaged all year. Unfortunately, 2025 saw a significant drop in interest. Marvel needs to revitalize the character to regain momentum and challenge Batman’s consistently high sales.

Wolverine’s Problems Have Solutions

Being a Wolverine fan was fantastic in 2024, and many expected 2025 to continue that success. However, while Marvel published a good number of Wolverine comics, most didn’t live up to the high quality we saw the previous year. Looking ahead to 2026, I’m worried. Marvel has a character in Wolverine who could be as popular as Batman, but they aren’t following the formula that makes Batman successful – consistently releasing multiple high-quality series and special issues with top writers and artists to attract and keep readers.

Marvel should prioritize making Wolverine a flagship character, similar to how other major heroes are handled, allowing top writers to work on his stories, both in ongoing series and limited runs. Chip Zdarsky’s Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon, which sets up the upcoming Armageddon event, is a good start – it features high-profile creative talent on a crucial Wolverine title. There’s been talk of Phillip Kennedy Johnson wanting to write Wolverine, and Marvel should absolutely let him. To revitalize the character, Marvel needs to empower its best writers to explore new and innovative directions for Logan. Past runs like Wolverine (Vol. 8) and Ultimate Wolverine suffered from predictable storylines. It’s time to take risks and push Wolverine back to the forefront.

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2026-01-15 17:18