Wolverine Was Almost a Real Animal, Not a Mutant — But Marvel Quickly Scrapped the Idea

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As a seasoned gamer with decades of comic book lore under my belt, I can’t help but appreciate the fascinating journey of Wolverine from a mere weapon to the iconic mutant we all know and love today. The fact that his origin was almost completely different, with plans to make him an actual wolverine instead of a human, is simply mind-blowing!

Wolverine ranks high as a beloved character within the Marvel universe, particularly amongst those possessing mutant abilities. His origins and abilities are widely recognized, and his beast-like characteristics align flawlessly with his name, appearance, and skill set.

Back in 1974, I found myself introduced as Wolverine in ‘Incredible Hulk’ #181, a creation of the brilliant minds: Len Wein, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. Initially, though, I wasn’t intended to be a mutant. Instead, they had another plan for my origins.

During his initial appearance, the Canadian authorities referred to Wolverine as “Weapon X”, but this was merely a codename for him at that time.

When Len Wein was tasked with forming a fresh global team of X-Men, he opted to incorporate Wolverine. Later, in ‘Giant-Size X-Men’ #1, Wein launched the team but had to step aside due to his new position as Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief. From there, Chris Claremont took over the series and continued to flesh out Wolverine’s persona.

In the 98th issue of ‘X-Men’, Claremont, Cockrum, and artist Sam Grainger disclosed an intriguing detail about Wolverine: his claws were not just part of his costume, but were actually embedded in his body, revealing a fundamental aspect of his mutant abilities. What made this revelation even more surprising was the suggestion that Wolverine might not be a mutant at all, a theory that left fans puzzled.

Originally, Dave Cockrum intended Wolverine to be a mutated wolverine instead of a human. In an interview with Peter Sanderson for ‘X-Men Companio’, he revealed that he and Len Wein brainstormed this idea, aiming to make Wolverine resemble one of High Evolutionary’s New Men.

Back in 1996, during an interview with ‘Wizard Magazine’, Cockrum revealed that Stan Lee turned down the concept, finding it distasteful. We had envisioned a character within the storyline to ponder over Wolverine’s true nature, suggesting he might be more mutated beast than human. Regrettably, this intriguing idea didn’t see full fruition.

Cockrum frequently referred to “we” when discussing the idea, but it was actually Chris Claremont, along with Len Wein, who developed it. Wein found this association uncomfortable and spoke out against the concept later in his life, preferring to distance himself from it.

When John Byrne became part of the comic, the concept of Wolverine as a human who had been transformed from a mutated wolverine was initially considered. However, Byrne mentioned that the original origin story for Wolverine involved him being a mutant wolverine who had been turned into a human by the High Evolutionary. This idea was eventually abandoned because it resembled a previously told tale in ‘Spider-Woman’.

In ‘Marvel Spotlight’ #32, which was published approximately a year after ‘X-Men’ #98, the idea for Wolverine by Cockrum and Claremont was relatively fresh. It appears that they were requested to abandon their initial concept. The comic book series took some time to establish that Wolverine was a mutant. This aspect of his character wasn’t explicitly confirmed until ‘X-Men’ #101, where he was directly referred to as a mutant for the first time.

Intriguingly, a part of Wolverine’s past was nearly revisited in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ As Director Shawn Levy mentioned, among the Wolverines encountered in different realms, one variant that Deadpool encounters would have been an animal version of Wolverine.

Number six and seven was an actual Wolverine. We really, really wanted an actual Wolverine, the animal, and then he would maul Deadpool. But, we came up with that idea too late to do a convincing digital  wolverine, so that one is in my back pocket should I need one for a sequel.

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2024-10-27 13:44