Action Movies

Comic books fans have known the man known as Wolverine since his introduction to Marvel comics in October of 1974. His history has evolved in numerous comic books and series since that time. Most of the public didn’t come to know Wolverine until he was played by Hugh Jackman in the 2000 X-Men action movie. Not only was Hugh Jackman’s hunk status cemented, but Wolverine entered a new phase of fame.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Movie
Now this gruff hero stars in his own movie, which recounts his history from childhood to the point when he joins the X-Men. If you can’t wait to see how this brave anti-hero became the man/beast he is today, check out this quick review of his origins as told by comic books.

The Birth of Wolverine

Wolverine is born in the late 19th century on a Canadian estate and known as James Howlett. (We know, a Canadian superhero!) He is the son of the estate owners, but befriends the groundskeeper Thomas Logan. In mid-childhood, Thomas Logan kills his father and James discovers that Logan is actually his father.

Logan and Silver Fox
Following this revelation of his true birth, he takes the name Logan and runs away to live with the Blackfoot Indians. He falls in love with Silver Fox, but her tragic death drives him away again to seek out those who killed her. He’s not yet Wolverine, but he’s not exactly human at the moment, either.

Wolverine the War Hero
By this point, he’s discovered his natural healing abilities and longevity, but not yet his true mutant ability – the bone claws. Although it appeared in the first three X-Men movies that Wolverine was different from the other mutants because he was made rather than born, he was in fact born a mutant and later enhanced. But we’re not up to that part yet.

First Wolverine becomes a war hero in several American wars, including the Civil War, WWI, and WWII. Following WWII, he joins the CIA.

Wolverine and Sabretooth Together Again

Wolverine joins a black ops unit of the CIA known as Team X. It’s there that he unites with Sabretooth, although he doesn’t recall his past run-ins with the double-crossing villain due to memory tampering. It’s during this stage of his life that Wolverine learns he is a mutant with bone claws. He also regains some of his memories, and more importantly, his conscience. He can no longer work in black ops or with other, less moral, mutants like Sabretooth.

Wolverine in Weapon X
Wolverine joins a Canadian intelligence service, but he’s not there for long before he’s kidnapped by Weapon X. After being studied, it’s determined that his healing abilities and claws could make him into a powerful weapon, but he could be improved. William Stryker offers him the chance to wipe his memories again and have the indestructible metal alloy Adamantium adhered to his skeleton. This will make Wolverine nearly indestructible, unless his vital organs are removed or gravely injured.

Unfortunately for Weapon X, they don’t heed the old adage about not building a weapon you can’t control (if it’s not an adage it should be.) Wolverine is more than they can contain and escapes. Due to the trauma he underwent to become indestructible, he’s now wild and out of control.

Wolverine Returns to the Intelligence Service
Wolverine is found by two kind people who nurture him back to sanity. He then returns to the Canadian Intelligence service. He’s now officially Wolverine, but also known as Logan. His well-developed conscience once again leads him astray however. After rescuing a nun held under siege, he sets out to kill those who tortured her. It’s vengeance and deserved, but not entirely ethical.

Wolverine and the X-Men

Finally, Wolverine becomes the hero we know and love when he’s recruited by Professor X to join the X-Men. His history continues beyond there, but it’s unclear whether the movie will include the elements of his origins that take place after the first three X-Men movies. The movie is only two hours, and you’ve got to figure there’s at least an hour of fighting. That doesn’t leave much time for the rest of the story to continue past this point.

There’s no guarantee that all of this will make it into the movie. The filmmakers are keeping a pretty tight lid on the plotline they chose for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It’s being produced by Marvel comics, however, so we can expect that they won’t take too many liberties with his well-documented comic book history. They will, however, show Logan without his shirt quite a bit, which I’m sure the women in the audience will appreciate. There’s also an Origins comic book series devoted to Wolverine, but it doesn’t appear that much of that series made it into the movie.

It’s not quite the inside scoop, but this should give you some idea of what to expect from the first X-Men Origins movie. With luck, the other superheroes will follow with their own movies, or we’ll just get more Wolverine sequels. We think we could all live with either option.