Wolverine has long been one of Marvel's most popular characters. Taking his place in the pantheon of Marvel's greatest heroes, Wolverine has made a huge impact on events around him. He's the total package when it comes to being a superhero, using his skills and abilities to help save the day more times than he can count. Wolverine has been alive a long time and he's learned a thing or two.
While his life can be pretty horrible, he's done his best to do the right thing and his decisions have often born this out. Conversely, Wolverine can be pretty set in his ways and that means some of the decisions he's made have been wrong.
10 Wolverine Was Right: Splitting The X-Men After His Feud With Cyclops Was Better For Young Mutants
X-Men: Schism saw Wolverine and Cyclops finally came to blows over ideology after Cyclops ordered a teenage mutant to do whatever it took to end an attack by Hellfire Club soldiers and she ended up killing. Wolverine didn't want children killing but Cyclops thought it would be necessary for their survival. Wolverine ended up taking half of the remaining mutants in the world and rebuilding the school.
Wolverine and the other X-Men did a great job of teaching young mutants to use their powers and giving them a normal environment to grow up in. It was better than Utopia, where they had a target painted on them.
9 Wolverine Wasn't Right: Ratting Out Cyclops To The Avengers Made Things Worse In Avengers Vs. X-Men
After Schism, Wolverine was generally unhappy with Cyclops, and that made things a lot worse when the Phoenix's return was discovered. Wolverine immediately started badmouthing Cyclops to Captain America. While he wasn't completely wrong, that badmouthing was the catalyst that caused the conflict in Avengers Vs. X-Men.
While Wolverine's concerns about Cyclops proved correct, Cyclops's original plan was to let Hope Summers get the Phoenix Force. The only reason it didn't happen that way was because of the Avengers' involvement, spurred on by Wolverine.
8 Wolverine Was Right: Agreeing To Reform X-Force Saved Mutantkind From Many Enemies
With mutants at their lowest ebb, Cyclops asked Wolverine to do what he did best: kill. Wolverine agreed and gathered a group of like-minded mutants, who he had already worked with against enemy forces during Messiah Complex. Wolverine's X-Force did the dirty work of keeping Utopia safe by attacking threats before they could endanger mutants.
Wolverine proved adept at this kind of work, using his black ops experience to plan out missions. He also finally proved that he was a good leader, one who understood how to let his team do what they did best, readying him for the next phase of his superheroic career.
7 Wolverine Wasn't Right: Keeping The Second Incarnation Of X-Force Secret Led To Complications With The X-Men And Avengers
While Wolverine's X-Force was very good at what they did, Cyclops would disband the group after having some qualms with their bloodier methods. Wolverine, Psylocke, and Archangel thought this was a bad idea and so they kept the team going, bringing in Deadpool, Fantomex, and eventually Deathlok. They decided to keep things secret, which wasn't the best idea.
The team killed a young clone of Apocalypse, which would lead to Archangel becoming the new Apocalypse. When the X-Men found out, they were angry at Wolverine, their trust in him broken. Later, the Avengers would learn he killed his own son on an X-Force mission, putting a wedge in the team when they needed unity the most.
6 Wolverine Was Right: Making Friends With Spider-Man Was A Great Decision
Wolverine has teamed up with a lot of people, some of who he liked more than others. One of the heroes he wasn't crazy about was Spider-Man and the feeling was mutual, as their personalities clashed. Over time, the two heroes would have to work together more, especially as Avengers, and at one point they would be forced together on a time travel caper.
This brought the two of them closer than ever and they became the best of friends. While they would still needle each other, they got along much better than in the past. Spider-Man even took up a position at Wolverine's school after Logan died in honor of his friend.
5 Wolverine Wasn't Right: Leaping In To Fight Magneto Almost Killed Him In X-Men #25
X-Men #25 saw a group of X-Men heading to Avalon to deal with Magneto, who had detonated a massive EMP that crippled the Earth. Wolverine, being Wolverine, leaped into the fray and actually almost took Magneto out with his first strike. Instead of quickly following up with a kill shot, he took a second to gloat. That mistake would almost be his last.
Magneto ripped out his adamantium skeleton, which is the worst non-fatal injury he ever suffered. It almost killed him, overtaxing his healing factor, and took away one of his greatest advantages over his foes. It would also lead to him leaving the X-Men for a time because he felt he was a liability to the team.
4 Wolverine Was Right: Accepting Iron Man's Invitation To The Avengers Completely Changed The Way He Was Perceived
Outside of the X-Men, Wolverine was perceived as a gruff loner who was just as liable to fight his fellow heroes as he was villains. All of that changed when Iron Man invited him to join the New Avengers. Wolverine's accepting the invitation and working with the greatest heroes in the Marvel Universe put him into a new class of hero and everyone's perception of him became vastly different.
Wolverine would prove to be an amazing Avenger, working with the team better than anyone expected and melding his way of doing things with the teams. He wasn't the first X-Man to join the team but he was the best.
3 Wolverine Wasn't Right: Killing Daken Wasn't Something He Had To Do At The Time
Wolverine and his son Daken had a tumultuous relationship, one that would culminate in Daken gathering a new Brotherhood of Mutants to battle Wolverine's X-Force. Stealing the resurrected Apocalypse clone, Daken's entire purpose was to use the boy to lure his father into a trap that would kill the mutant. Wolverine and X-Force defeated Daken's team and Wolverine ended up drowning his son.
Daken's forces were already beat and Wolverine could have stopped before Daken was dead but he didn't, holding his head underwater until he died. This decision would come back to haunt him and while Daken would forgive his father after his Krakoan resurrection, the scars from this decision have never gone away.
2 Wolverine Was Right: Joining The X-Men Was The Best Decision He Ever Made
Wolverine has been on a lot of teams over the years but the X-Men are his home. The team gave Wolverine something he had been missing for years: a family. While things were contentious at first, Wolverine would prove to gel well with his fellow mutants and working with them brought the man to the fore, eclipsing his more animalistic side.
Wolverine had been a fighter for years but the X-Men made him a hero, a man to be respected. All of the great things he's done in the intervening years have been because of his membership with the team.
1 Wolverine Was Wrong: Killing Hank Pym In Age Of Ultron Made Things Worse
In Age Of Ultron, the mad android struck and nearly destroyed all life on the planet, with only a ragtag group of Avengers to stop him. They'd decide the best thing to do would be to send Wolverine and Invisible Woman back in time to stop Hank Pym from building Ultron. Wolverine did the Wolverine thing and killed him, which resulted in a terrible new timeline, one the two of them had to go back in time again to prevent.
Wolverine's methods are efficient but they aren't always the best. He eventually came up with a better method of stopping Ultron, so even he knew he made a mistake the first time.