Of all Marvel's X-Men characters, the most popular is, without a doubt, Wolverine. With an accelerated healing factor, Logan has lived far beyond a typical human lifespan, a trait and history that has been touched upon in numerous adaptations, including the Fox films that starred Hugh Jackman in the role. Here's a quick overview of Wolverine's differing ages in the comic books and movies and what that may mean for future versions of the character.
How Old Is Wolverine in the Marvel Universe?
The comic book version of Wolverine was born James Howlett in the late 1880s to John and Elizabeth Howlett on their vast estate in northern Alberta, Canada. It's later revealed James is actually the illegitimate son of the Howletts' groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Fired by his employers, a drunken Thomas kills John before James reveals his mutant bone claws for the first time and kills his biological father. Shocked by the bloody turn of events, Elizabeth commits suicide while James runs into the Canadian wilderness with his childhood friend Rose.
He assumes the name Logan as he grows up in the Yukon and becomes embroiled in many important historical events, including fighting in both World Wars, alongside Captain America and Black Widow. Years later, Logan is experimented on by the Weapon X program, giving him his indestructible adamantium-laced skeleton and claws, but at the expense of his memories. Long afterward, Wolverine joins the X-Men at Professor Xavier's request to help save his captured team from Krakoa. Assuming Wolverine was born about 1888, this would make him approximately 130 years old at the time.
How Old Is Wolverine in the Movies?
Jackman's cinematic Wolverine is even older than his comic book counterpart. The prologue of X-Men Origins: Wolverine reveals him to have been born in 1832. He discovers his mutant powers in 1845 after he kills Thomas Logan. Alongside his half-brother Victor Creed, who eventually becomes the villainous Sabretooth, Logan fights in the American Civil War, both World Wars and Vietnam. In the interim, Logan is glimpsed in 1962, during X-Men: First Class, at the age of 130. In the final days of the Vietnam War, Logan and Victor are recruited by William Stryker as part of his black-ops unit, Team X, before Logan quits due to the team's disregard for human life.
Before linking up with Weapon X to gain his adamantium-laced skeleton and claws, Logan is possessed by a version of himself from an alternate future in 1973 to change history during the events of Days of Future Past. His body is 141 years old at the time. In the original timeline, Logan joined Weapon X six years after quitting Team X. However, in the altered time seen in Apocalypse, he enters Weapon X in 1983 before he is freed by Jean Grey at age 151. Wolverine first meets the X-Men officially in 2000, at the ripe age of 167.
How Old Is Wolverine in Logan?
Before the revisions to reality and the timeline caused by Days of the Future Past, Wolverine returned to Weapon X in X-Men United in 2003, making him 171. Wolverine would later face off against Magneto and Dark Phoenix during The Last Stand in 2006, at the age of 174. Haunted by the death of Jean Grey, Wolverine temporarily leaves the X-Men before returning to Japan in 2014's The Wolverine at 182 years old.
The apocalyptic future of Days of Future Past is set in 2023, making Wolverine 191 as he finally shows signs of his advanced age with gray streaks in his hair. After changing history in 1973, this timeline is altered, but an epilogue shows Wolverine still serving as an instructor alongside the X-Men, his graying hair still visible. Given its tangential status to the rest of the X-Men films, it is unclear what part of Wolverine's past is still applicable in Logan, but -- given the film's release in 2017 -- it can be assumed that Wolverine is approximately 185 years old if his original cinematic birthdate still holds.