Warning: this is a Sequel Series to the 2013 Wolverine comic - the ending of that series is a key plot point in this one. Late Arrival Spoilers for the 2013 series are unmarked on this page.
Set in the shared Marvel Universe, it's a direct sequel to the previous Wolverine series, also written by Cornell. By the end of that series, Logan had lost his Healing Factor and was defeated (and scarred) by his old enemy Sabretooth.
Shaken by those events, he's abandoned the X-Men and taken up a very different role, working with a team of superpowered enforcers for crime lord the Offer. But this is Wolverine. He's a superhero. He can't really have become a supervillain, can he?
The series was accompanied by one annual, with a standalone story and a different creative team (written by Elliott Kalan, with art by Jonathan Marks and color art by Jose Villarrubia).
The first issue was released February 5, 2014. The final issue (#12) was released August 27, 2014.
The series was followed by Death of Wolverine, and the last five issues count down to that event (starting at "Three Months to Die") on covers and title pages.
Wolverine (2014) contains examples of the following tropes:
- Affably Evil: The Offer is a friendly, conversational crime lord who doesn't relish cruelty and seems to want to be a good boss for his crew. He'll still have an infiltrator executed, of course, but he won't take any obvious pleasure in it, and he'll try not to upset his other employees with the way it's handled.
- Almost Dead Guy: After Sabretooth murders The Offer, he lives just long enough to explain his logic to Pinch and provide a little advice.
- Alternate Landmark History: In the Marvel Universe, the Japanese island of Itsukushima (aka Miyajima) isn't just a major tourist attraction and the location of the Itsukushima Shrine. It's also the location of the secret Temple of Death on Holiday, an Eldritch Location which is both on the island and outside the physical universe.
- Big Bad: Sabretooth casts a shadow over the whole series. At the beginning, Wolverine's just been beaten by Sabretooth, who's becoming one of the world's major crime lords. The Offer, who seeks to grow his own organisation as Sabretooth's expense, observes that Sabretooth's still obsessed by Wolverine, despite his victory, and hopes to use this to manipulate him. All of which leads into Sabretooth's role as Arc Villain for the final arc - and a rematch with Wolverine.
- Body Horror: Pinch's powers allow her to reshape objects so that they extrude thin spikes. She uses them to impale Sabretooth, leaving him suspended and skewered by long spikes she manifests from the floor. Wolverine then points out that they've caught the shapeshifter Mystique, a decoy, rather than Sabretooth himself - and Pinch demonstrates that her powers can also reshape Mystique's malleable flesh and bone into spikes, turning her own powers against her and impaling her brain.
- Boom, Headshot!: In the first issue, Monkton, a Daily Bugle reporter, pretends to be one of Sabretooth's representatives so that he can con the Offer's organisation and meet Wolverine. Once he's exposed, the Offer initially tries to keep Wolverine out of the way while he's executed. Wolverine's response is to shoot Monkton in the head himself.
- Charm Person: The Offer, an Affably Evil crime Lord, doesn't have 'charm', as such, but his powers do let him understand what will be the most compelling offer for anyone he interacts with, and he uses it to navigate conversations in a friendly way. He doesn't attempt to hide his abilities.The Offer: It's not magic, Mr. Monkton. It's not hypnosis. The guy I'm talking to stays in control. I just always know what'll most engage him.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Pinch mentions that she has a daughter, who she'll return to once she's made enough money from her life of crime. A few issues later Sabretooth reveals that he's holding her daughter hostage.
- Wolverine gets a tattoo of a rose, partly in memory of Rose, who he accidentally killed many decades earlier. Death herself later brings Rose's spirit back to speak with him, and Wolverine's able to use the tattoo to show that she's not been forgotten.
- Continuity Nod:
- Death Seeker: Several characters wonder whether Wolverine is now seeking death rather than facing age and mortality.
- In flashbacks, Kitty accuses Wolverine of actively seeking death after he loses his powers. This proves to be a Berserk Button for Wolverine, who pops his claws and threatens her.Kitty Pryde: You want it all to be over, to go out in a blaze of glory?!
- This is revisited near the end of the series, when Wolverine actually meets Death. She dismisses the idea that he's seeking her; he's just afraid of her.
- In flashbacks, Kitty accuses Wolverine of actively seeking death after he loses his powers. This proves to be a Berserk Button for Wolverine, who pops his claws and threatens her.
- Dead Person Conversation:
- Death calls up the ghost of Rose, who Wolverine accidentally killed a century ago, so that they can speak one more time.
- When Wolverine's speaking with Death, Fuel - who Wolverine didn't know was dead - manifests without Death's assistance, explaining that Sabretooth killed him and is now holding Pinch hostage.
- Eldritch Location: The Japanese island of Itsukushima (aka Miyajima) is a real place, home to the Shinto shrine of the same name. Historically, for religious reasons, no births or deaths were allowed on the island. However, the Marvel Universe version of the isle is also home to the secret Temple of Death on Holiday, which is a Bigger on the Inside mystic location that's both outside the universe and rooted on the island.
- Evil Doppelgänger: The AI sphere's defence mechanism is to reach into an Alternate Universe and bring through a different variant of the problem person (or, sometimes, many of them). Which generally means variants that are diametrically opposed to the current one.
- Thor finds himself in combat with a Nazi version of himself.
- Wolverine finds himself fighting the Fallen Hero he's only pretending to be, as the AI sphere accurately analyses him. The AI's description of how the two variants differ is enough to expose him as The Mole to his teammates.
- Fallen Hero: Wolverine's lost his Healing Factor, lost his direction and moral certainty, and started working for an Affably Evil crimelord. His old allies are appalled by what he's become. And, yes, he's actually The Mole, infiltrating the bad guys for S.H.I.E.L.D., but he acknowledges that there's some level of truth in there - losing his powers left him shaken and uncertain.
- Foreshadowing: A flashback shows Wolverine training with the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, practicing with a handgun now that he's lost his powers. Natasha gets him to use one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Life Model Decoys (LMDs), an extremely convincing copy of herself, as a target. This sets up The Reveal that reporter Monkton, who Wolverine executes in the first issue, was actually another LMD, and it was all part of a Thanatos Gambit to strengthen Wolverine's cover.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The series tends to use this when Sabretooth kills someone.
- Fuel's death is only shown in half-seen silhouette. It's made clear that Sabretooth tears his throat out with his teeth, though.
- Sabretooth's attack on the Offer is mostly just outside the panel, with the visible parts of both characters shown in silhouette (and silhouetted viscera torn free), and the Offer's fatal injuries aren't clearly shown afterwards.
- Heel–Face Turn: At the very end of the series, after realising that he's the most villainous of his alternate versions, Lost Boy mentions that he's choosing a new direction for his life. He also gets the last two words of his I FIGHT EVIL WITH EVIL tattoo covered up.
- Idiosyncratic Cover Art: The last five covers tease the Death of Wolverine event, which is not directly linked to the story. The first, with a “Three Months To Die" caption, shows Wolverine's gloved fist with all three claws extended. Each subsequent issue repeats the image but updates the caption countdown to death, with claws shattering one by one and the white background steadily replaced by bloody red. The final issue has Wolverine's fist stripped down to Adamantium bones, with the background almost black.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Pinch's powers allow her to shape nearby malleable materials into long, sharp spikes, which sometimes go all the way through enemies's bodies. During the final arc, she turns this on Sabretooth (actually a disguised Mystique), who's skewered and held aloft, with spikes at various angles protruding from their body.
- Internal Monologue: "His Own Skin" serves as A Day in the Spotlight for Wolverine's girlfriend Pinch, and is narrated from her perspective. The series briefly returns to Pinch's monologue near the end of "The Madripoor Job", when she realises that Wolverine is The Mole.
- Internal Reveal: During "The Madripoor Job", Pinch, Lost Boy and Fuel realise that Wolverine's undercover, not truly one of them. Pinch already has suspicions, but when the other-dimensional AI sphere summons an Evil Doppelgänger version of Wolverine from an Alternate Universe, it becomes clear that the Wolverine they know is still the 'good' one.
- Intrepid Reporter: Monkton is a Daily Bugle reporter who's pretending to be Sabretooth's representative so that he can meet Wolverine and the Offer. It goes badly for him. Which is all part of a Thanatos Gambit plan, as he's really a S.H.I.E.L.D. LMD - a Ridiculously Human Robot - and his execution strengthen's Wolverine's cover as a Fallen Hero.
- Killed Off for Real: Fuel and the Offer are both killed by Sabretooth. As of 2022, they haven't been resurrected.
- Latex Perfection: The heavy-set bald guy who's eavesdropping on Wolverine and friends in Madripoor's Princess Bar is actually Faiza Hussain, of MI13, in an extremely convincing disguise. She's even wearing her hijab under the latex mask.
- Mama Bear: In the annual, a married couple find a baby, the vampire Jubilee's adoptive son Shogo, surrounded by wolves in the forest. They think they're rescuing him, not realising that the wolf pack is Wolverine's old 'family', who have accepted Shogo and Jubilee. An enraged Jubilee, fangs and claws manifested, leads the wolves in pursuit of her son and the terrified humans.
- The Mole: Wolverine is playing the part of a Fallen Hero, and there's a little truth in that, but he's mostly under cover on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., trying to infiltrate the Offer's organisation and get to Sabretooth. All of which also makes him a Love-Interest Traitor for Pinch, who is genuinely loyal to the Offer.
- Mundane Utility:
- Tattooist Pablo always knows which tattoo is best for his customers, as his power lightly touches their mind to inform his decision. It doesn't uncover secrets, but it's implied to be some sort of telepathy - and sometimes he just gets a 'feel' for their motives and history.
- The Offer, whose power allows him to see what will appeal to and engage anyone he bargains with, mentions that it also makes him great at choosing presents.
- Out of Focus:
- Mystique, Lord Deathstrike and the Silver Samurai are Sabretooth's lieutenants - and are all formidable villains in their own right. But they don't play any major part in the story. Mystique at least gets to meet Wolverine when she's acting as a distraction, whereas the other two remain The Unfought, and are last seen clashing with some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents during the grand finale.
- Fuel gets far less attention than Lost Boy and Pinch, the other two members of Wolverine's squad. He's not with the others during downtime episode "His Own Skin”, and gets killed not long afterwards.
- Shout-Out: Wolverine asks the Lost Boy where he got the name from, and he replies that it came from an 'ancient' movie. When Wolverine assumes that was Peter Pan, Lost Boy corrects him - it was The Lost Boys.
- Super-Empowering: Fuel's abilities let him boost others. If they have powers of their own, he can supercharge those powers, but he can also accelerate people - it's a long way short of actual Super-Speed, but those he boosts can move and react four times faster than normal.
- Tattooed Crook: Lost Boy is a small-time supervillain, part of the Offer's crew, and has "I FIGHT EVIL WITH EVIL" tattooed in large letters across his torso. As he's bare-chested under his open hoodie, it's usually on display.
- Thanatos Gambit: 'Monkton' is a S.H.I.E.L.D. Life Model Decoy (LMD), a Ridiculously Human Robot. His failed attempt to masquerade as Sabretooth's representative and subsequent execution by Wolverine is all part of the plan to reinforce Wolverine's Fallen Hero cover and prevent him being spotted as The Mole.
- The Unfought: Two of Sabretooth's lieutenants are Lord Deathstrike and the Silver Samurai, notable villains in their own right. However, they're largely Out of Focus, and Wolverine never confronts them, or even interacts with them. They reappear for a single page in the penultimate issue, when Sabretooth sends them onto the streets of New York as a distraction for S.H.I.E.L.D..
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Lost Boy tends to wear a hoodie, unzipped, over his bare chest. It's a good way to show off the huge tattoo across his torso.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: A few characters from the first arc later vanish without trace.
- The Reflex is a ninja from Sabretooth's faction of The Hand, who's apparently important enough to be the focus of the team's first rescue mission. He plays no part in the rest of the series, though.
- Marcy is Mission Control for the Offer, and Heavy is his security. Neither reappears after the first arc, and nothing's said about their fate after the Offer's death.
