15 Years, 15 Kills : The Best of Wolverine 

Marvel Comics’ Wolverine is the best he is at what he does, and what he does, isn’t very nice. With six claws coated in adamantium and a regenerative healing factor, everyone’s favourite unstoppable killing machine is usually accompanied in comic panels and film scenes by lots of blood and a trail of bodies. But after so much of it, it’s difficult to really surprise audiences anymore. Despite this, comic books and films continue to shock and amaze us with the character.

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It’s not just because Wolverine’s kills are usually awesome, but because of the people he ends up ripping apart. He doesn’t always have a choice in the matter, which is part of the reason why he has so many fans — he’s a tragic character who can’t seem to escape the animal he was born to be. There were those who tried to support him and still ended up hurt. Whenever that happens, it continues to astonish us. Here are just 15 of Wolverine’s most shocking kills.

The second instalment in the “X-men” franchise was notable because many felt that Hugh Jackman better understood the role of Wolverine in comparison to his initial performance in the first film. The film had been building up to the fight between him and Stryker’s henchwoman, Yuriko Oyama, (AKA Lady Deathstrike), and when Logan finally reached the Weapon X facility, ambushed by Stryker and Yuriko, the film did not disappoint.

At first, for those who aren’t familiar with the character, you might have thought that Wolverine would be able to cut her down with ease. However, she was much more agile and had more claws. Also, when Logan finally gets his claws in, she revealed something else: she can heal just as quickly as he can. They spill a lot of each other’s blood but it seems to go nowhere, that is, until Logan finally beats by using the equipment in the room to inject her with a of adamantium. Stryker was wrong in thinking she was just as good Wolverine; Logan proved he is one of a kind.

The “Old Man Logan” story arc takes place in a future where supervillains run the United States. It’s an interesting story for fans of Wolverine and one full of blood from the first few panels. You see Wolverine world-weary and unleashed upon his enemies, which, in this story, includes every supervillain still alive. The world in “Old Man Logan” is full of monstrous, hideous creature and people that seem to have been written and drawn in such a way that you wouldn’t feel so bad seeing Logan tear his way through them.

One such character is the Red Skull, whose donned Captain America’s costume and now wields his shield, after Cap’s harrowing defeat at the hands of his arch-nemesis 50 years ago. In comes Logan, enraged after having so many different things happen to him throughout the story arc, and looking to rid the land of its tyrannical maniacs. He fights the Red Skull and has him pinned, when the Red Skull mocks him, telling Logan that he doesn’t have the guts to finish the job. Never has anyone been so wrong before, because Logan takes Cap’s shield and smashes it into the ground, right through the Red Skull’s neck.

In the character’s second standalone film,  “The Wolverine” tried its best to focus more on Logan as a man, rather than a cold mutant who fights everything and everyone. It starts with him living in the wilds of Yukon, Canada, trying to escape a past that refuses to stop haunting him. He’s soon taken to Japan by Yukio, to meet a soldier he once saved back in World War II by the name of Yashida. What the old man wants is for Logan to surrender his healing factor so Yashida can use it to prolong his own life. While Logan refuses, he soon finds himself losing his healing factor anyway.

Following a series of conflicts within Yashida’s family, Logan finds himself battling Yashida’s son, Shingen, just after he, shockingly, successfully pulls a robotic, mutation-hindering device off of his still-beating heart. Once again, Logan is unleashed upon his would-be executioner. After a short, very one-sided fight between claws and samurai swords, Shingen, at the brink of defeat asks the mutant, “what kind of monster are you?” to which Logan, embracing the animal he is, in perfectly theatrical fashion, coldly replies, “the Wolverine.”

No one liked this Wade Wilson. Not even the version of Wade Wilson who appeared in “Deadpool,” which is why the moment he meets his end at the hands of Wolverine is “X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s” saving grace. Wade Wilson, as depicted in this film, is a smart-mouthed mercenary for hire with no real character development and nothing that really links him to his comic book counterpart other than the fact that he uses dual swords and resembles Ryan Reynolds in terms of behavior.

After being surgically infused with a collection of mutant powers, courtesy of William Stryker, Wade Wilson is tasked via computer with killing Wolverine, a job he might have accomplished had it not been for the timely arrival of Logan’s half-brother and fellow mutant, Sabretooth. What follows is an admittedly fantastic action sequence wherein Wilson takes on both Logan and Victor at the same time, only to falter by deciding to fire an optic blast at them, which Logan uses to heat up his claws, before separating Wilson’s head from his shoulders.

Comic books are able to convey incredible stories, in such a way that characters are oftentimes given a depth rarely seen through any other medium. In no relationship is this better exhibited than that of arch-rivals, Wolverine and Sabretooth. They have a horrible past, most of which can be attributed to Sabretooth being the more animalistic one out of the two and using that feral nature to rip Logan’s life apart. The assault and murder of Logan’s beloved Silver Fox on his birthday, for example, is just one reason why Sabretooth is a vile villain.

Despite this, he’s been shown to have a much softer side, including caring for his mother and ensuring that she’s well cared for. It’s this humanization that madehis death was as shocking as it was. Killing him wasn’t easy, though. While Sabretooth was reduced to an almost primal state, Logan had to make use of the Muramasa blade which renders healing factors dysfunctional. It was a great moment of reflection for Logan and a touch poetic when, after finally slaying his foe, he thought about what it would be like if he too was ever reduced to such a state of being.

Continuing his pursuit of a mysterious figure named Romulus following the execution of Sabretooth, Logan encounters his long-time foe, Omega Red, within a Russian prison. For those who aren’t familiar with this particular comic book villain, Omega Red is a mutant who underwent a number of modifications courtesy of the Soviets during the 1960s. They, however, could not control the monster they created, so they left him in suspended animation until they could figure out how to leash this wild dog.

He wasn’t entirely at fault for his instability, either. After all, the carbonadium implants, while acting as his primary weapons, were actually poisoning his body. Thus he became a life-force absorbing villain out of necessity. Wolverine finally puts an end to his rampages and struggle with the help of the Muramasa blade. Initially, Logan leaves Omega Red defeated but alive, knowing full well that the villain would heal himself using the life forces of the prisoners around them. Omega Red, however, decides to chase Logan, who finally resolves to shoving the Muramasa blade through his heart.

9. Yakuza Thugs On A Bullet Train (The Wolverine)

Not being just one kill but a bunch of them, the fight that takes place throughout Tokyo in 2013’s “The Wolverine” sees Logan take on a group of Yakuza thugs. While this would all be a piece of cake on a good day, what makes this fight so high-paced is the fact that, at this point in the film, Logan’s healing factor is being mysteriously hindered. If the stakes weren’t high enough, he also has to rescue Mariko (grand-daughter of the recently deceased Yashida) from those thugs. Also, he’s doing all this while fighting on a bullet train.

If you’re not familiar with bullet trains, know that they’re fast. Really fast. As in literally tearing across the tracks at 200mph levels of fast. After dispatching three of the thugs by throwing them out of the speeding train, he leads the last to his death while on top of it, having to use his claws to cling to its roof, fight the thug and simultaneously look out for passing structures above.

This particular action sequence is entertaining for so many reasons. The first one being that it’s Logan’s origin story so, when put into context, it’s actually quite tragic. This makes his subsequent rampage through the Weapon X facility all the more satisfying, as the viewer is rooting for Wolverine to avenge himself of the atrocities he’s been subjected to. It all started because Logan was able to overhear Stryker talking while fully submerged in a tank of water behind a thick pane of glass. This leads to him dramatically bursting out of the water with a furious roar, claws extended, enraged at the betrayal. If ever anyone asks what qualities really makes the character of Wolverine so feral, they need only see this fight.

After tearing IVs and sensor cords out of his body while he stands up, soldiers start are raining bullets down on his now indestructible body. This sends him into a blind rage where his only objective is to escape and kill anyone that gets in his way, which, evidently, is a majority of unfortunate Weapon X employees. If not for his thunderous roars, blood splatter against the floor and walls accompanied by the panicked shrieks of the soldiers would be all you’d hear.

After saving Yashida’s life in 1945 from the Nagasaki atomic explosion, Logan was invited to his estate for a radical proposal. As mentioned earlier, the aging Yashida asked Logan to transfer his healing factor to him. This would render him a mortal man, which Yashida described as being a blessing for one who’s lived so long. Unfortunately for Yashida, Logan wasn’t biting and walked out. However, Logan seemed to start losing his regenerative powers anyway.

With the help of Yukio, Logan soon finds out that his weakened healing factor is being mechanically diminished. After ripping the device from his body, and restoring his healing factor, he sets off to rescue Yashida’s daughter from the man’s misguided former bodyguard. After barely making it through a town populated by ninjas, Logan finds not just the bodyguard, but also a colossal mechanical Silver Samurai. It’s revealed, after yet another lengthy battle, that the figure within the samurai is none other than Yashida, who faked his death and is trying to forcefully extract Logan’s healing factor. He almost succeeds too, but his daughter saves the day by stabbing Yashida’s exposed head with Logan’s broken adamantium claws, allowing Logan to escape from Yashida’s clutches and finally say one final farewell to the old soldier. By throwing him off a cliff, that is.

6. His First Kill (Thomas Logan in X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

Wolverine didn’t always go by the name of Logan. He was born James Howlett, back in the 1840s, to John and Elizabeth Howlett, the rich owners of a large estate. James is sick in bed one night, accompanied by his father, and friend of the family, Victor. A commotion is heard and John rushes down to tend to it. It’s Thomas Logan, the former groundskeeper. A shot is heard and young James runs from his bedroom to see his father shot and dying on the floor in the foyer.

Traumatized by the sight, James enters a frenzy — what you’d recognize later as one of his infamous berserker rages — wherein he discovers his bestial mutant claws only seconds before using them to impale Thomas Logan. Right before succumbing to his wounds, the murderer reveals the truth to the boy: John Howlett was not James’ father. The deaths of both men who called themselves his father adds tragedy causes the young, frightened boy to strike out on his own to one day become the ferocious Wolverine.

Fans of the comics will recognize the name Daken as belonging to the son of Wolverine. First appearing in 2007, Daken was revealed as the son of Logan and his beloved Itsu, whom he had a relationship with in the 1940s, whilst training in Japan. After Logan disappeared and Daken’s mother was murdered, Daken found himself spurned by those meant to raise him. With hatred and a coldness festering inside him, the mysterious Romulus lied and told him that it was Logan who murdered Itsu.

For decades, Daken had trained and prepared himself to face his father and exact an unjust vengeance for his mother’s demise. Eventually, that moment arrived and Logan found himself face to face with his misguided son. In the end, after a prolonged fight involving a lot of dismemberment, Wolverine had to end the path of death and destruction Daken had left behind by ending the life of his son completely, holding him down to drown him in water.

After a dramatic escape from the cruel confines of the Weapon X facility, Logan finds himself welcomed on a humble farm owned by a generous couple who do what they can to help him, a complete stranger. They offer him food, a place to sleep, and forgiveness for a broken sink. After so much death and loss, Logan seems to finally be in a place where he can just rest for a moment and be around people who seem genuinely decent.

Unfortunately, that momentary peace is cut short by Stryker’s hit squad, led by the ruthless Agent Zero, who murders the elderly couple in cold blood before attempting to kill Logan. Unfortunately for Zero, he underestimated his target. After a fast-paced pursuit, he ends up wounded and broken, stuck in the seat of a crashed helicopter. He might have walked away (figuratively, anyway) were it not for his big mouth. Using his new metal claws, Logan ignites a trail of fuel and walks away as the helicopter explodes behind him.

One of Wolverine’s most shocking kills out of any major film release comes at the end of 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” where after the war between the X-Men and the Brotherhood is over and done with, the last real fight begins. The dark phoenix has arisen and is destroying everything on Alcatraz Island, both living and not. The only one who stands a chance at stopping her is Wolverine, whose healing factor allows him to approach her, albeit painfully.

With every step he takes, Phoenix threatens to disintegrate him, but he marches forward anyway, calling her name and hoping that Jean would take control again. Finally he reaches her and the cold, demon-like Phoenix asks him, “You would die for them?” to which he tells her, professing his deep love for her, that she is the only one he’d die for. For a moment, Jean returns, begging to be saved from this nightmare, but there’s only one way Wolverine can do it. In a scene relatively faithful to the comics, Logan stabs her and holds her in his arms as she dies. It’s a memorable and touching scene where we can really see where Logan’s pain is coming from.

A fight between the Hulk and Wolverine is nothing new (it’s even the story behind Wolverine’s first appearance), but that doesn’t mean th. In the “Old Man Logan” story arc, the Hulk has become even more monstrous, and Bruce Banner has become nothing short of sociopathic. The Hulk and his brood run ‘Hulkland’, a part of the United States that was formerly California. As landlord, Banner enforces his rule with his children, mothered by his first cousin, She-Hulk.

Feeling bored and in need of a real fight, Banner orders the brutal murder of Logan’s family, sending Logan on a spree upon which he slaughters the Hulk’s entire family before facing Bruce Banner himself. The Hulk is far more grotesque now and after a brief but destructive battle, the Hulk breaks and devours Logan. Satisfied, the Hulk returns to ruling before a short conversation with his only remaining child leads him to the realisation that Wolverine has a regenerative healing factor and that the indigestion he feels is really his impending doom. Suddenly, Logan, renewed and furious, slashes his way out from inside the Hulk’s body, in a spectacular way of symbolizing his rebirth as a new Wolverine.

What ended up being Wolverine’s last kill also offered some long-awaited justice. Those who haven’t read the comics should know that Dr. Abraham Cornelius was a genius and one of the leading scientists behind the Weapon X projects. Having created Wolverine, there’s a fantastic touch of irony here and one that make the events of “Death of Wolverine” that much more beautiful.

In this story, Logan has been infected by a virus which has removed his healing factor, the news of which has led a number of past foes to try their hand at finally defeating him in return for a bounty. Hearing of his, Logan resolves to search for the man who did it: Dr. Abraham Cornelius. He finds him too. Cornelius is in the middle of trying to restore Project Weapon X and collect all the adamantium he can.

Logan won’t allow this and rampages through the facility, destroying it and the adamantium tanks, inadvertently getting himself doused in the liquid metal in the process. As it solidifies, Logan finds Cornelius bleeding out from a wound received during the facility’s destruction. In one final act of reflection and revenge, Logan ends the doctor’s life just before succumbing to his own death by suffocation.

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