Summary
Warning: Spoilers for Hellverine (2024) #4 ahead!Wolverineis infamous for being “the best there is at what he does” — but even he has his limits. In a rare heart-to-heart withhis recently resurrected son, Wolverine warns him about the one enemy he believes is impossible to defeat, referencing the decades of trauma he has suffered at their hands.
Hellverine (2024)#4 concludes the story of Akihiro’s revival and the conflicting machinations of infernal powers that pit him and Wolverine against Project Hellfire,the clandestine division of the United States Military dedicated to using Hell itself as a weapon of war. In a quiet diner scene, Wolverine expresses his relief at Akihiro’s return — but wants him to stay the hell away from Project Hellfire.
“The U.S. war machine — it ain’t something you can beat,“Wolverine warns. “Those bastards get hold of you again, you’ll become the next Weapon X.”
Hellverine (2024) #4 is from the team of Benjamin Percy, Julius Ohta, and Frank D’Armata.
HELLVERINE Slashes His Way Into a New Ongoing Series Filled With Mayhem & Occultism
Wolverine’s recently-resurrected son, Akihiro, returns as the Hellverine in an all-new ongoing series from Marvel Comics this December.
The Military-Industrial Complex Is the One Foe Wolverine Can’t Beat
If any Marvel character has the right to be wary of the military-industrial complex, it’s Wolverine. Barry Windsor-Smith’sWeapon X (1991)has the privilege of beingone of the most defining Wolverine storylines ever written, with the trauma of being experimented upon and used as a super-weapon informing Wolverine’s character for decades to come.Hellverinedeliberately echoesWeapon X, with the titular character being created using Weapon X technology and demonic ritual to bind the demon Baghra-Ghul to Wolverine inWolverine (2020) #36, before said demon and the mantle of Hellverine are passed down to Akihiro.
The legacy of Weapon X meets demonic possession inWolverine (2020)#36 by Benjamin Percy, Geoffrey Shaw, and Rain Beredo!
Even outside of Weapon X, Wolverine’s story is one of being used and abused by countless military organizations. It pays to remember that when Wolverine first joined the X-Men inGiant-Size X-Men (1975)#1, he had already been recruited by Canada’s Department H program; even decades after his debut, contemporary comics likeWolverine: Blood Hunt(2024) still revolve around attempts to forcibly recruit Wolverine into yet another (vampire) army.The military has sought to use Wolverine as a weapon for the majority of his very long life, and the trauma he has suffered as a result will never fully fade.
Giant-Size X-Men (1975)#1 is by Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Peter Iro, and Glynis Wein.
Wolverine: Blood Hunt (2024)is by Tom Waltz, Juan Jose Ryp, and Guru e-FX.
The Industry of War Is Too Big For Any One Person To Fight
Wolverine may be stronger than most of Marvel’s conventional soldiers and super-weapons, but the military-industrial complex is more than the sum of its tanks and guns; it is a particular expression of human greed and ruthlessness, defined by the willingness to commit any atrocity in the name of victory and profit. The tide of decades, if not centuries, of corporations, governments, and the will to develop greater and greater weapons is a force that no single person, not evenWolverine, can fight against — forcing him to accept the military-industrial complex as the one enemy he can never defeat.
Wolverine
The human mutant Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan) was born James Howlett, blessed with a superhuman healing factor, senses, and physiology. Subjecting himself to experimentation to augment his skeleton and claws with adamantium, Logan is as deadly as he is reckless, impulsive, and short-tempered. Making him the X-Men’s wildest and deadliest member, and one of Marvel Comics' biggest stars. He’s played in Fox and Marvel’s movie franchises by Hugh Jackman.
