The Versions of Wolverine on 'Earth-616' (Main Marvel Universe)

If you are reading mainstream comics recently, then you may know that there are quite a few Wolverines running around in the main Marvel Universe. Some of these Wolverines are children of the original Earth-616 (Main Marvel Universe) or are alternate versions of Wolverine. This may be daunting for new comic book readers because there's just so many Wolverines. So to clear things up, let's get into the Wolverines that are present within the Main Marvel Universe at the moment. This means that we will not be going into various versions of Wolverine in the Multiverse unless they are present on Earth-616 at the moment.

James Howlett (AKA Logan): 'Earth-616'

It makes sense to start off with the original and most well-known version of Wolverine. It especially makes sense now because he has recently come back to life, though we don't know how, and will likely cause a whole lot of trouble as a result of his resurrection. Many people do know Wolverine's origin, but I am going to give a quick summary of his origin. Essentially, James Howlett was a sickly child who was the son of a wealthy man named John Howlett. However, it is implied that John's wife had an affair with a man named Thomas Logan, who admittedly, looks a lot like Wolverine. He soon found that he had retractable claws that come out of his hands. As a result the people around him freak out, and because of this, his mother went crazy, John Howlett dies, James' half-brother Dog (yes that's his name) gets 3 scars on his face. That is just the first time things went South for him, Wolverine's life just goes more South from here. Discovering, that he has quite the talent for killing people, he became an assassin and soldier in every major war that has happened in the last 200 years. For example, World War II, where he fought alongside Captain America, Namor The Sub-Mariner, and Bucky Barnes (who would later go on to become the winter soldier.

Logan's journey lead him to Japan, where he met a woman named Itsu, whom he married and had a child with (we will get to who this child is later in the post). However, one of the things that Logan always learns when he finds peace is that it doesn't last forever, not for him. And when things end, they end horribly. He eventually gets banished from the village for accidentally stabbing a villager with his claws while trying to fight a villain named Muramasa. When Logan reaches his home, he finds his wife, Itsu, and presumably his child, murdered.

Sometime after the events in Japan he finds himself with the Weapon Plus government group that uses Logan for experiments, where his entire skeleton was covered in adamantium, and indestructible metal. The events that transpired here are also the events that lead to him losing his memory.

Wandering, lost and memory-less, Logan was eventually brought in by Charles Xavier, Headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters , a school for young mutants to learn and be protected from people that want mutants dead. Eventually, Wolverine became a member of the X-Men and even lead the team more than once.

In the 2014 story "Death of Wolverine," Logan loses his healing abilities as a result of a virus from a realm called the Micro-verse. For more info, check out the post I linked below about "Hunt For Wolverine."

Recently, he has been revived, but nobody knows how. However, the X-Men, and many of his friends and former love interests are looking for him as there have been Wolverine sightings all over the world.

I am not giving many reading recommendations for this version of Wolverine because he is the most used character in comic books. He has been a part of almost every superhero team in the Marvel Universe, like the Avengers, X-Force, X-Men and more. However, I do recommend that you read Hunt for Wolverine and the tie-ins if you want to follow the mystery as to how Wolverine is alive, and what the significance of his resurrection is.

James Hudson Junior: 'Earth-1610'

I have actually made a post about this character. If you want to know more about him, then I recommend that you check out my post on James Hudson Junior that I put below. However, I will give a basic overview here.

James Hudson Jr. is the original Wolverine's son from the Ultimate Universe ("Earth-1610"). Essentially, Wolverine from the Ultimate universe had a child with a woman named Magda Lensherr. However, Wolverine felt that he would be an unfit father, and Magda had already died then. So what Wolverine did was take the baby to a friend of his that he served with in the Iraq War named James Hudson and ask him and his wife to raise him.

Like Wolverine, he has a healing factor and three retractable claws that come out of his hands. The only difference is where Wolverine had adamantium grafted onto his skeleton, James Hudson can actually secrete an unknown organic metal from his bone marrow that can cover his skeleton!

Reading Recommendations:

Ultimate X (2010) - This is where James was first introduced. So if you want to read his origin story, start here.

Ultimate Comics Wolverine - This is the series where James Hudson Jr. takes up the title of Wolverine from his father in the Ultimate Universe.

Secret Wars (2015) - If you want to know how he gets washed up in Earth-616, then you should read this crossover event

X-Men Blue (2017) - This is where we begin seeing JHJ in action in the Earth-616 Universe.

Laura Kinney (AKA Wolverine): 'Earth-616'

Many know Laura from the 2017 movie, Logan as the partial clone/daughter of Wolverine. In the comics, Laura was intended to be a clone of Wolverine, however, the genetic sample they were going to use to make the clone was incomplete. So a scientist named Sarah Kinney used her DNA to fill in the gaps where Wolverine's was. This is why I say she is a partial clone, but really she is kind of a daughter as well because of the fact that she has the genes of two people, which could be seen as her parentage. The only difference is she was not conceived by conventional means.

Wolverine eventually took her in, trained her, and became a father figure to Laura, where her initial objective was to kill him. She has now taken up the mantle of Wolverine after his death.

She has a healing factor like Wolverine, and two retractable claws in her hands, and one in each of her feet.

Reading Recommendations:

X-Force (2008)

All-New, All-Different Wolverine

X-23 (2018)

Daken Akihiro: 'Earth-616'

When I was a kid I absolutely used to love Daken for some reason. He is the son of the Earth-616 Wolverine and his wife Itsu. If you remember earlier in the post, I said that Itsu was found murdered and Wolverine assumed that the baby died as well. Well, it turns out that baby Daken was taken cut out of his mother's womb by a villain named Romulus. The baby was then taken to a wealthy couple's doorstep where he would be raised. He was treated really poorly growing up due to his mixed heritage. Eventually, it was revealed that Daken's adoptive parents didn't really want him. So what did Daken do when he found out? He killed their biological son. Romulus then took Daken in and trained him to be a killer, and told him that Wolverine was his father and that he doesn't want to see what Daken can become. Daken, with the influence of Romulus, would grow to hate his father more and more.

He has the same powers as his father's like that healing factor, and three retractable claws. However, one of the claws comes out from his wrist instead of all three from the top of his hand. He also has the ability to control people's pheromones, meaning that he can change people's emotional states when he wants.

Daken has been a part of the Dark Avengers, a team called the "Woverines," the Dark X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Reading Recommendations:

Dark Avengers

Dark X-Men

Death of Wolverine: Wolverines

Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer

James Howlett (AKA Old Man Logan): 'Earth-807128'

This Wolverine is from the Mark Millar story called Old Man Logan, where an older version of Wolverine that was tricked into killing all of the X-Men lives in a post-apocalyptic United States that super-villains rule. His origin is presumably the same as his Earth-616 counterpart. After the events of Secret Wars in 2015, this version of Wolverine wakes up in Earth-616. The reason I am not going more in depth into this Wolverine's origin is because you have to read it. And you should read it. It's one of my favorite Wolverine stories.

Reading Recommendations:

Old Man Logan by Mark Millar

Old Man Logan: Secret Wars

Old Man Logan (2016)

Gabrielle "Gabby" Kinney (AKA Honey Badger): 'Earth-616'

I have not read much about Gabby, but she goes by the super-hero moniker "Honey Badger." She is a clone of Laura Kinney, the current Wolverine. From what I have heard though, she is a really funny character so I may just check out some of the titles that she's been in.

She has a healing factor, and one retractable claw on her hands.

Reading Recommendations:

All-New, All-Different Wolverine (Gabby's Introduction into Marvel Comics)

Note: I do not own the art, characters, or panels shown in this post. All art, panels, and characters belong to their respective owners.