The ‘Return of Wolverine‘ is this week and the solicitation only reads that “He’s Back, bub.” That isn’t much to go on. While we’ve gotten a few hints as to what his state of mind will be when he returns and as what his mission will be, creators Charles Soule who wrote the book and Steve McNiven who was in charge of the artwork are opening up a bit as to what to expect.
The former X-Men has once again returned from the dead and once again has suffered massive memory loss. While not everything is gone, he does know that Persephone is his enemy and we’ve already been introduced to her. What is a bit annoying here is that we’ve known Wolverine was alive and briefly held an Infinity Stone but all of that is being brushed over for the time being as we start off an arc that has to once again deal with a past which was forgotten.
‘Return of Wolverine’ is a five-issue run that will let these two creators who killed Logan off four years ago be responsible for bringing him back. Hopefully we’ll learn why he now has red-hot claws, what his ties to Persephone are, why his memories are broken and if they’ll come back, and what he was up to before this. Knowing Soule’s work, this won’t all get answered right here.
First off, Soule talks about Wolverine getting new powers:
“I have a lot of fun with that idea on social media because I think many folks are thinking it’ll work sort of like a Johnny Storm “flame on” idea—it’s won’t. The idea that Wolverine’s claws can heat up in certain situations is tied to his history, and it’s really more of a side effect than a power. It’s not a good thing, generally speaking. I can’t wait until folks see how it really works—it’ll open some new doors for stories down the road, I think. Or not! The claws serve a specific purpose in this story, and that’s why they’re there. Wolverine’s pretty effective regardless, #hotclaws or not! And man, they look cool on the page.”
As to his new enemy who is also a potential enemy to all of human and mutantkind?
“The story has a new villain named Persephone, who’s very interesting, with a power set and goals I don’t think we’ve seen before in the Marvel Universe, at least not used in this particular way. She’s closely tied to Logan’s story and serves as a fascinating antagonist to him. I thought bringing in someone new with unknown abilities and goals would help make this story more about Wolverine; we don’t know what Persephone can do, or why she’s doing it, and so we’re just as in the dark as Logan is at the beginning of the story.”
Soule was asked as to what expectations might be changed here as well. This is a big one since many of the basic story elements are from arcs that have been done to death with Wolverine, so this excitement is a mixed bag as to if people are looking forward to the series or not:
“Well, I’d like to think this isn’t just business as usual for a Wolverine story. As I said, I want to make Logan’s resurrection matter to him—and the readers—as much as his death did. I’m sure fans will have plenty to talk about as the story unfolds, and I can’t wait to have those discussions!”
McNiven was asked about how his artwork was able to be used in the story:
“As always, I’m hoping to deliver a story that connects to the readers in a meaningful way. Wolverine is such an exciting character to draw, and Charles really delivers with some iconic scenes! I really want the reader to feel Logan’s struggle here as he returns to the Marvel Universe.”
This is another stumbling point as technically Logan had already returned and that is currently being brushed over. The artist does talk more about the hot claws though:
“I took Charles’ lead here with the look of Logan’s new powers. Charles has a number of great ideas in this story, and one of the most visually interesting is the new way his claws heat up. I hope readers like what they see!”
Unsurprisingly, there are no actual details here.
Are you looking forward to Wolverine officially returning to the land of the living with his own comic in ‘Return of Wolverine’ #1? Do you think that we’ll get any explanation as to what he’s been up to since returning to life and this issue? Share your thoughts in the comments below, True Believers!
Source: Marvel
