Wolverine can be a tough guy to get along with. He’s grumpy, volatile, and has more issues than National Geographic. But then again, if you had experienced his traumatic upbringing, fought in countless wars, been brainwashed and conditioned into being a perfect mauling machine you might not exactly be a ray of sunshine either. However, despite his hardened exterior, Logan has made quite a few friends in the century or so he’s been fighting the good fight. From fellow war vets to surrogate children, there is no shortage of characters in Marvel Comics who consider the ol’ canucklehead a close friend and ally. Unfortunately for Wolverine, though, the number of people populating the other side of that coin are just as abundant. And a lot of them are fellow heroes and even his own teammates.
There are quite a few elements which can sour a relationship with Wolverine. There might be a long lost love interest involved, or an old blood feud that never got squashed, or just a simple clash of personalities, but the bottom line is not everyone is a big fan of Wolverine, and often times, that disdain is reciprocated. Logan isn’t a man to feign chumminess. If he doesn’t like a certain character, them, along with everyone surrounding them, will soon know it. Sometimes Wolverine dislikes someone for simply being obnoxious and will threaten to skewer them at every turn. But in the case of some of his Avengers alum, it has to be all in jest. Right?
20 RESPECTS: CAPTAIN AMERICA
After a bit of retconning, it turned out Wolverine is one the first superheroes to see Captain America’s heroism with their own two eyes. Logan fought alongside Steve Rogers as far back as the year 1941. These two might have the longest history together in term of chronology with Marvel Comics.
As someone who witnessed the literal embodiment of the notion of truth and justice, Wolverine seems to have nothing but respect for Cap. Now, it’s not to say these two men haven’t been on opposite sides of a fight, but even when they are out for each other’s blood, they still maintain a sense of mutual respect.
19 CAN'T STAND: NAMOR
Namor is a tough dude to get along with. When he isn’t being a maniac obsessed with ending all life on dry land, he is more often than not a smug jerk. However, a guy with his power is someone who is always good to have on your side. When he’s actually fighting on the side of heroism as a member of the Avengers, he’s one of the heaviest hitters on the team.
However, it still isn’t without his critics. Wolverine, for example, has never been a fan of the guy. Perhaps Logan’s keen senses detect the immense ego of Sub-Mariner, or maybe two bullheaded guys just shouldn’t be around each other for too long.
18 RESPECTS: DAREDEVIL
When it comes to dealing with inherent guilt and having similar villains, there is plenty of friendship building material to mine between Wolverine and Daredevil. Logan is racked with guilt from the dozens he’s ended over the last century and a half, while Matt Murdock feels the burden of guilt on his shoulders because… well, he’s catholic.
These two emo heroes are great for having mini-pity parties before dolling out justice (or vengeance) in there more frequently collaborated pastime: kicking the tar out of The Hand. While these men do have different morality barometers, they find common ground. Daredevil has a ton of faith in the Almighty, while Wolverine simply trusts his healing factor.
17 CAN'T STAND: QUICKSILVER
Quicksilver has had a pretty spotty track record with members of the X-Men over the course of the last 50 plus years in every version of the Marvel Universe. While he has pretty much been seen as a standup hero for the majority of his time in Earth-616 (with the exception of first being introduced as a villain, and that whole “House of M” business, of course), his Ultimate Universe counterpart is a bit more divisive.
Given Wolverine’s history with the Lehnsherr clan on Earth-1610 (is Logan Wanda’s dad or something?), it only makes sense for him to find Quicksilver less than desirable. With the speedster’s odd relationship with his sister and his outright obnoxious demeanor, it’s hard to blame Wolverine.
16 RESPECTS: BEAST
Some relationships between superheroes is closely akin to that of a pair of squabbling siblings. While they may bust one another’s chops and get into scraps from time to time, at the end of the day they still love each other. The bond between Wolverine and Hank McCoy is very much like this.
These two are on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of personal interests and intelligence, but they find a middle ground in their own repressed animalistic tendencies. In fact, one might say Logan enjoys pulling the Beast out of Hank from time to time. Being teammates for as long as they have has certainly helped in crafting their bond.
15 CAN'T STAND: DAKEN
Being related to Wolverine sucks for just about every member of his strange, fractured family of illegitimate children, dead relatives, and clones. Wolverine’s son, Daken is no exception. Temporarily taking on his father’s mantle, and classic brown and tan outfit, Daken became a thorn in Logan’s side. The former Dark Avenger harbors some serous daddy issues that extend beyond “he never played catch with me in the backyard.”
Sadly, the struggle between Wolverine and Daken eventually led to one of the most brutal deaths in comic books. The brutality wasn’t because of it being gory or done in a creative manner. It was simply emotionally destructive. Of course, filicide is never cheery under any circumstance.
14 RESPECTS: HERCULES
Wolverine and Hercules have had quite an interesting relationship in comic books. In the primary Marvel Universe (Earth-616) they have been known to be drinking buddies and often air out dirty laundry over a few dozen pints (it take a lot for either of these guys to get a buzz) before getting into a bar room brawl.
But in the alternate universe in which X-Treme X-Men takes place, these two are a bit more than just boozy pals. In fact, their closeness gained quite a bit of attention when the two shared a kiss as a narration laments the love and admiration these two men share.
13 CAN'T STAND: IRON MAN
Tony Stark is a lot of things, but rough around the edges is not one of them. Of course, the same cannot be said for Wolverine, who is the embodiment of the rugged anti-hero archetype. Despite being teammates in the past, these two have no shortages of disagreement in their long comic histories.
While their skirmishes are often the result of misunderstandings (or possible one the millions of times Logan has been brainwashed by a group of villains), a lot of their differences can be chalked up to conflicting personalities. Wolverine’s reluctance is often a foil to Iron Man’s egotism, and vice versa.
12 RESPECTS: HAVOK
The fact both Wolverine and Havok share a certain level of disdain for Scott Summers must be a huge factor in why they often get along so well. It’s like Dodgers and Red Sox fans hating the Yankees. There is something poetic about their unholy union that is impossible to deny.
But outside of kind of hating Cyclops, Alex Summers and Logan have a unique bond that was exemplified in the miniseries Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown in which the titular pair basically go on a vacation together. If that doesn’t scream bromance, we don’t know what does. Of course, they do wind up fighting one another (spoiler: brainwashing is involved) but not before some bar hopping and cigar chomping.
11 CAN'T STAND: SPIDER-MAN
Spider-Man and Wolverine are see together so often one might assume they are best buddies, but if we’ve learned anything during Brian Michael Bendis’ run on both Ultimate Spider-Man and The new Avengers, it’s that these two guys are perfect for generating hilariously awkward conversations broken up by uncomfortable silences.
Now, Spider-Man doesn’t necessarily hate Wolverine, but he is aware of his more violent tendencies in any fictional universe. Wolverine, on the other hand, probably hasn’t given him a clawed response to all of Webhead’s snarky comments because at the end of the day, they both want to do the right thing… except for that super weird body swap thing they had going on. Pretty sure Wolverine just wanted to be gross.
10 RESPECTS: STORM
Wolverine’s list of lovers is almost as long as his list of enemies, but few have been as prominent over the years as the mutant goddess (and brief Avenger), Storm. The romance between these two have had their ups and downs, but there is something truly wonderful when they have tender moments together.
It’s easy to look at someone like Storm and wonder why she would slum it with a hairy shlub like Logan, but there is an undeniable chemistry between them -- it often feels like a Beauty and the Beast situation. To say Wolverine simply gets along with Storm would be the understatement of the century. Logan is absolutely smitten with her.
9 CAN'T STAND: SABRETOOTH
Thankfully these two have never been Avengers at the same time, because if this was ever the case, they would probably go at each other’s throats more than they would spend time avenging. Victor Creed, better known as Sabretooth, has been the thorn in Wolverine’s side for decades (in real world chronology; in comic time, it’s been nearly a century).
Logan doesn’t get along with Victor the way water doesn’t get along with oil. These guys have so much unresolved animosity towards one another, it was almost a miracle that the older version of Wolverine, Old Man Logan, worked so closely with Sabretooth in the recent Weapon X series.
8 RESPECTS: HAWKEYE
Clint Barton and Logan have been pals for quite some time. Their mutual propensity for dying all the time is certainly an area where their lives intersect, but then again, the same could be said for the vast majority of superheroes. However, one of the more memorable collaborations between these two on again, off again members of The Avengers is also the grimmest.
During the story arc “Old Man Logan,” Clint recruits Logan to travel across the fractured wastelands of America. Despite Wolverine’s reluctance, these two still show a level of admiration for one another despite them both being downtrodden, old men.
7 CAN'T STAND: MAGNETO
When one of the biggest villains you have to battle on a regular basis controls metal, and you happen to be a hero with a skeleton coated in adamantium, things often don’t go well. Magneto is a character who could essentially destroy Wolverine with his power, and on many occasions has come close to doing so.
Needless to say, this make Logan a rather leery when Erik Lehnsherr is around, even when he’s fighting on the same side as Wolverine. In case there was any doubt regarding the utter disdain Wolverine harbors for the onetime Astonishing Avenger Magneto, just check out a little X-Men story called “Fatal Attractions.” It’s not pretty.
6 RESPECTS: BLACK WIDOW
Admiring one’s craft is a noble thing to do, especially when you’re in the same field. Black Widow and Wolverine are highly trained assassins who are not afraid to get their hands dirty. But they weren’t always like this. In some timelines, Logan has been portrayed as an influence on young Natasha, who even referred to hit as “Little Uncle,” which isn’t at all creepy.
Regardless of some inappropriate behavior, Wolverine has always has a soft spot for Black Widow, but knows that when the chips are down, she’s a great alley to have one your side. Game recognizes game.
5 CAN'T STAND: DEADPOOL
Yes, Deadpool has been a member of The Avengers. No, we can’t believe it. The relationship between Wolverine and Wade Wilson is a tumultuous one. From hacking one another apart like holiday hams to whatever that ridiculous battle in the third act of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was trying to convey, whenever these two aren’t working together things get messy.
However, when they are on the same side, Wolverine still can’t stand Deadpool’s constant barrage of bad jokes and corny one liners. If you had a nickel for every time Wolverine uttered the phrase, “shut up, Wade,” in any give comic starring these two, you’d have enough money to buy every copy of X-Men Origins and smash them with a hammer.
4 RESPECTS: ROGUE
Wolverine has a knack for somehow adopting surrogate daughters. From Kitty Pryde to Jubilee, there is no shortage of young women who look up to Logan as a strange sort of parental guardian figure. One of the earliest examples of this dynamic was with Rogue, who made quite the impact on Wolverine early on.
Rogue once took a fatal shot in order to protect Wolverine’s love, Mariko. In return, Logan offered her his healing ability. It was a tender moment that solidified their friendship. Of course, over the years, their relationship changed, as it often does, and Wolverine actually was briefly romantically involved with Rogue.
3 CAN'T STAND: QUINTEN QUIRE
Wolverine has had no shortages of bratty kids running the halls of Xavier’s School for Higher Learning, but few have been as trying and obnoxious as Quinten Quire, also known as Kid Omega. From kicking off a revolt in New X-Men to just being an insubordinate twerp in the pages of Wolverine and the X-Men, Quinten has pushed Wolverine to the limits of his patience.
Despite seeing the vast potential in Quinten, Logan makes no bones about how he feels toward the kid. Kid Omega is ridiculously powerful, but is too arrogant and foolish to truly wield his abilities with any sort of laser focus. Wolverine tried like crazy to mold the rebellious teen into someone noble, but punk kids will be punk kids.
2 RESPECTS: NICK FURY
With all the yellow spandex and bezerker rage Wolverine is known for, it’s easy to overlook the fact he is a military man. Logan has fought in several wars and served his native country of Canada with pride. It’s no wonder he gets along with another patriot, Nick Fury, so well.
While these two may not always see eye to eye… or eye to eyes rather, they are both strategic in their missions the way only teammates from a similar background can be. Fury has gone so far as to put Wolverine in the game from time to time, which Logan often revels in.
1 CAN'T STAND: HULK
Oh, how Wolverine and Hulk hate each other? Let us count the way. Wolverine has quite a bit of ill will toward Bruce Banner’s big, green alter ego, and rightfully so. When Wolverine first appeared way back in 1974, he was actually introduced as an Incredible Hulk villain, and things only got worse from there.
These two have had knockdown, drag out fights in just about every version of the Marvel Universe. In fact, we can’t recall a timeline in which they didn’t hate each other. Their relationship, however, doesn’t seem to get worse than the one they had in the Wastelands of Old Man Logan’s home where Wolverine was under Banner’s big, green thumb.