Wolverine’s Shocking Death: Why Marvel Fans Still Mourn the Mutant Icon’s Bizarre Exit

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Over the past half century, Wolverine has undeniably emerged as one of Marvel’s most beloved characters, so it came as quite a shock when they announced the “The Death of Wolverine” series in recent years. In the 2010s, Marvel adopted a strategy to refresh their roster by either retiring or reimagining their most iconic figures. Alongside Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, and many others, Wolverine found himself on the list of characters facing change.

While this approach has been met with criticism, I believe it was a clever move. Swapping classic roles for new characters brought fresh perspectives and stories that kept readers engaged. “The Death of Wolverine” unfolded, and Laura Kinney stepped into the mantle as the new Wolverine. This transformation sparked great anticipation among fans, who hoped to see Laura rise as the leading Wolverine. However, things didn’t quite turn out that way. Instead, a different story unfolded.

Stepping into the role of a film critic, I’d say: Instead of casting Laura as Wolverine in the main X-Men comics, Marvel opted for a refugee from an alternate Wolverine narrative — Old Man Logan. They introduced a morally twisted Sabretooth in Uncanny Avengers. Even their version of Wolverine’s son, Jimmy, hails from the Ultimate Universe. It was a chance for Marvel to experiment and introduce fresh perspectives, but instead they made a string of choices that felt more like playing it safe.

Marvel Never Trusted Laura as Wolverine

Wolverine has been a central figure in remarkable tales and top-selling comics, ultimately becoming something of a cultural symbol. It’s surprising to consider that even after Wolverine’s death, he was so significant within the Marvel Universe that his role needed to be filled by another character. Marvel chose to do this, but the success of their replacements in the 2010s is debatable – characters like Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales could potentially be cited as examples, but Miles never fully replaced Spider-Man. However, the attempts with Laura were particularly unsuccessful, mainly because it seemed like Marvel wasn’t genuinely committed to making her the true Wolverine of the Marvel Universe. If the mantle of Wolverine was considered crucial enough to maintain after Logan’s demise, then why wasn’t Laura featured as the main Wolverine in prominent X-Men titles such as “Extraordinary X-Men” or its successor “X-Men Gold”? Why didn’t Laura join an Avengers team? It rarely felt like Marvel was aiming to establish Laura as the genuine Wolverine of the Marvel Universe, as she was seldom present where Wolverine should have been. Laura was a member of the cast in “All-New X-Men”, but this series isn’t typically considered a premier X-Men title, and even then, Laura wasn’t part of its sequel “X-Men Blue”, instead replaced by Jimmy Hudson from the old Ultimate Universe.

To set the record straight, let me make it clear that I’m a big fan of “Old Man Logan,” which was published from 2016 to 2018. The collaboration between Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino was outstanding, and Ed Brisson’s continuation was generally good. However, placing Old Man Logan in the main X-Men team was a significant misstep. Some might argue that it was part of his character development, but it denied readers the opportunity to truly understand Laura as Wolverine. While Laura did receive some exposure, there was an overall sense that Marvel lacked confidence in her character.

That said, Laura managed to survive despite Marvel’s apparent doubts about her potential. The uproar from fans over her demotion back to X-23 eventually led to her regaining the Wolverine mantle, sharing it with Logan. Since then, she’s had several solo series and even had a chance to be the Wolverine of the Krakoa Era X-Men… for a brief twelve issues in a run that wasn’t particularly well-received, and the writer seemed uninterested in researching whether she had an adamantium skeleton or not.

In contrast to her contemporaries Miles and Kamala, Laura hasn’t received the same level of acclaim within the Marvel Universe.

Marvel Has Always Made Laura a Second Rate Wolverine

After the demise of Wolverine, two books were released with the intention of establishing Laura as his successor – “The Logan Legacy” and “Wolverines”. Nevertheless, Laura didn’t receive her own Wolverine series until Old Man Logan had one. Consequently, Laura failed to win over Wolverine fans due to Marvel introducing another Logan character for those fans. Readers of Avengers comics never got the opportunity to witness Laura as the Uncanny Avengers’ Wolverine. In essence, she had minimal presence in significant Marvel events. As a result, there was no compelling reason for readers from various Marvel circles to give Laura a chance, since she didn’t have much exposure anywhere they could notice her.

Some people believe that Wolverine’s demise in Marvel comics was an attempt to isolate mutants, as the X-Men were being sidelined during the mid 2010s when they couldn’t be used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The loss of the most beloved X-Man could certainly diminish the X-Men’s popularity. However, whether or not Wolverine’s death was motivated by this intention, it’s clear that Marvel never intended for Laura to become the primary Wolverine.

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2025-05-04 05:39