Despite the rather high quality of the work itself, the Marvel Comics event “Death of Wolverine” has often been criticized for not having any real weight. One of the biggest reasons for this critique is Marvel’s decision to bring Logan back four years later, which honestly should not come to anyone’s surprise seeing as how no one is ever really dead in comic books. But another facet that really declaws “Death of Wolverine” is the decision to spackle the hole left behind after Logan made his exit with myriad replacements.

Almost as soon as Wolverine “died,” Marvel wrapped readers up in a security blanket knitted from Wolverines by Wolverines. Laura Kinney slid right into taking up her clone dad’s moniker, and thankfully, it worked really well. Meanwhile, Old Man Logan (from the depressing world of the Wastelands created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven) made his way into the primary Marvel Universe (Earth-616), after Secret Wars.

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This, more or less, allowed for the X-Men books to have their own Wolverine to play with, while the former X-23 ran her own solo missions in her own title, which definitely spreads around the love within the comics successfully.

But Wait, There’s More!

Of course, two Wolverines just wasn’t enough for Marvel. More clones of Logan would be revealed to exist in All-New Wolverine (we love Honey Badger, and so should you), giving us enough clawed mutants to fill the starting lineup of a basketball team (the Westchester Wolverines does have a nice ring to it). And putting the proverbial icing on the cake, the son of Wolverine from the Ultimate Marvel Universe (Earth- 1610), Jimmy Hudson was absorbed by the primary Marvel timeline without any memory of his past, now giving the hypothetical Wolverine basketball team another alternate (aaaand the sports jokes are spent).

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Now, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the character of Jimmy Hudson, but thus far his inclusion in the Earth-616 has seemed fairly unnecessary, which is unfortunate. The five issues limited series Ultimate X by Jeph Loeb and Art Adams did a stellar job of making Jimmy a likable character. The series took a hero who, in virtually every other incarnation has had their childhood robbed, and gave them the Spider-Man treatment. And while Jimmy is different in terms of demeanor from his dad, his powers and their surprising manifestation are very much in tune with the original Wolverine’s origin. Jimmy was basically playing the role of Peter Parker, but if Pete was Wolverine... sort of.

What’s A Boy To Do?

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Now that Jimmy Hudson is part of the crowded-by-Wolverines landscape of Earth-616, a lot of the things that made him special have been stripped away. While the other two prominent Wolverines are leading strong, compelling titles (Old Man Logan is a great comic about loss and regret, and All-New Wolverine is always fantastic and proves that Laura Kinney deserves to bear her father’s moniker and costume), Jimmy is left to play second fiddle to the time-displaced original five X-Men in X-Men: Blue. Series writer Cullen Bunn obviously has an affinity for Jimmy, which is great, but it seems like he doesn’t quite know what to do with him.

There may be some grand plan with Marvel’s upcoming “fresh start” that might involve Jimmy; we know he'll be getting an actual costume and codename soon, after all. Hopefully that won't be a prelude to simply relaunching The Ultimate Universe and tossing him back in his original yard like a lost Frisbee. As awesome as it would be to bring back a new Marvel Universe where anything goes (and goes too far sometimes; e.g. Ultimatum), Jimmy is in the here and now, and should remain.

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No one is arguing that there aren't enough Wolverines in the 616. We think it’s pretty safe to say that Marvel could benefit from a lighter adamantium-laced load. But how that is done makes all the difference in the world. Massive events do matter, but what matters more is the road taken that leads to those events. Marvel might have a chance to give us a really fascinating arc for Jimmy, one that would circumvent expectations and do something that is rarely done: Have a character, who isn’t a cosmic being, transcend not just two, but three established time lines.

With the O.G. Wolverine clawing his way back from the grave, it’s pretty safe to assume that the only other Wolverine who is safe is Laura Kinney, as Marvel already announced a new X-23 title starring her. As for the fates of Old Man Logan and Jimmy, it’s anybody’s guess. But what if these two grew closer together, and developed a father and son relationship that both characters so desperately miss? While Old Man Logan isn’t the man who sired Jimmy, he’s still an older Wolverine, one who could certainly pass along some sage advice (don’t lay down on railroad tracks would be lesson 1).

RELATED: Wolverine’s Back – So Is Marvel Planning to Kill Old Man Logan?

If Marvel sends Old Man Logan back to his own world, or what’s left of it, it makes sense to have Jimmy tag along. Yes, we understand that sounds cruel. If we like Jimmy so much, why send him back to a horrible realm? Well, Jimmy could actually find some true conflict and meet real struggle in the Wastelands. He could continue to develop into something the more closely resemble the man his father was (a murderous jerk, by the way), while still maintaining his kind-hearted nature.

Putting a character like Jimmy Hudson into terrible situations is a great way to achieve this. Watching him struggle makes us what to root for him more and more, and at the end of the day, that’s all we really want: a character who can make us stand up and cheer. From a writing standpoint, there isn’t anything cheap or reductive about making characters suffer if it’s with purpose. If that purpose is to clear the Wolverine roster while giving an underutilized character something to do, it’s completely valid and could produce some intriguing comics.