When X-Men ‘97’s penultimate episode adapted Fatal Attractions, it set up the adventures of feral Wolverine.
This article contains spoilers forX-Men 97episode 9.
The more important discovery took longer to unfold, and struck at the heart of Wolverine as a character.
Over the years, writer Chris Claremont and his collaborators leavened Wolverines bestial side with a haunted nobility.
That came to the fore with the firstWolverineminiseries from 1982, written by Claremont and penciled byFrank Miller.
In light of that tension,Wolverine#75 found Logan at his most tragic.
But after a near-death experience withDeadpool, Wolverines healing factor came back with a vengeance.
But then the truth came out: Wolverine was becoming feral.
In fact, his face even became more animalistic, with his nose disappearing and his teeth sharpening.
For many fans at the time, the feral Wolverine era was a low point for the character.
Turning Wolverine into an actual beast seemed like one more desperate gimmick.
Re-reading the issues now, however, its clear that writerLarry Hamaunderstood the character stakes involved in Wolverines change.
Its not just that Wolverine wasnt the tough guy he once was.
But the greater relief belonged to Logan himself, happy to be free once again of his worst aspects.
It would still take two more years, however, for Wolverine to get his Adamantium back.
But that is a big if.
But what he does isnt very nice.
X-Men 97 is now streaming on Disney+.
