Charles Soule Discusses Wolverine's Return and His New Powers

One of the things Wolverine was best known for was his healing factor that allowed him to defy death on a regular basis. But four years ago, in the aptly titled Death of Wolverine, Charles Soule and Steve McNiven ensured that death finally came for the X-Man in the form of a boiling vat of Adamantium that covered his body and cut off his oxygen.

This was by no means the end of Wolverine's adventures in the Marvel Universe, though -- or of Soule's chronicling of the iconic character's exploits. In the current Hunt for Wolverine event Soule and his collaborator's are unpacking the mystery of their title character's recent resurrection. That sets the stage for September's Return of Wolverine, where Soule reunites with McNiven to bring his Logan trilogy to a close.

When Wolverine returns he'll be a changed man in a number of way. Most of the ways have yet to be revealed, but readers do know that his claws will have the ability to become super-hot. CBR spoke with Soule about said claws, the familiar and new faces Logan will encounter in Return of Wolverine, and concluding his trilogy of stories.

CBR: Four years ago, you and Steve McNiven collaborated on Death of Wolverine, the storyline that finally laid your titular character low. After that you wrote or were involved with quite a few stories about Logan's legacy and the aftermath of his death. So have you written more stories about what Wolverine meant to the Marvel Universe and other people than you have stories with him as a living, breathing character? What is it about his legacy that made it so interesting to write about?

EXCLUSIVE: Steve McNiven and Jay Leisten's art for Return of Wolverine #1

Charles Soule: I think you're right - in some ways, the stories I've told about Logan have been focused on what he means to the MU than what he specifically does in any given book. Even Old Man Logan's role in Astonishing X-Men was that way, to a degree.

It's funny that my time with the character has revolved around massive, life-changing (or life-ending) events for him, but I wouldn't trade it. Doing these stories means I spend a ton of time thinking about the most basic elements of Wolverine, his building blocks as a character, and then trying to say something new about him, or present those elements in an elegant way.

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You and your collaborators are currently setting the stage for Logan's September return in the Hunt for Wolverine event, which wraps up in the August one-shot, Dead Ends. I know the Hunt for Wolverine event is designed to be modular, but how integral is the Dead Ends one-shot in terms of setting up Return of Wolverine? Will there be extra connective tissue for people who read that book? And can you come into Return of Wolverinehaving not read anything else?

I consider Death of Wolverine (DoW), Hunt for Wolverine (HfW) and Return of Wolverine (RoW) to be a trilogy, full-stop. While I didn't know I'd be doing the latter two projects when I wrote Death of Wolverine, I used it as the basic building block for everything that comes after. The decisions Logan makes in RoW become more interesting when viewed through the lens of DoW, and HfW gives you a good sense of the backdrop to the RoW story.

Return is lean and mean, and while I do get into some of the background questions people have, it's designed to tell a story, not be a huge exposition dump.

So, I'd say it like this - if you can only read one thing, read Return. if you can read two things, read Death and Return. Three, read Return, Death and Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends. But really, you'll have the most full experience if you read everything. It's like all the Marvel movies leading up to Avengers: Infinity War. Did you have to see them all to understand Infinity War? No. Was it more fun if you did? I'd say so. The Wolverine stuff is the same way.

From what you hinted at in other interviews, it sounds like Wolverine's return will have a profound physical impact on him, but will it effect his psyche as well?

It absolutely will. I didn't want to write a story for Wolverine where he comes back and it's business as usual. Dying and returning (in that uniquely comic book-y cycle) should change characters, and it absolutely hits Logan hard, in a number of ways. Most of that will be clear in the first five pages, but not all.

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One of the physical effects we know of was mentioned by you in past interviews -- the fact that Wolverine's claws can become very hot, which has sparked some interesting discussion in the fan community. Can you comment or elaborate more on the hot claws phenomenon?

Yes, #HotClaws! It's been fun to see the reaction of the fans to that idea - that Logan's claws might, under certain circumstances, get incredibly hot, a la metal on a blacksmith's forge. Some people can't wait to see how they come into the story, and others think it's the dumbest idea ever (which I get). I mean, Logan's claws can already cut through anything... why do they need to do this too? I guess we'll all find out together.

The "new" claws aren't a big part of the story, and they're related to the overall theme for the book... but we'll see what folks think. I, for one, embrace the #HotClaws lifestyle.

Is this a story entirely from Logan's perspective? Or will we experience it and his return through multiple points of view?

I'd say it's 93% Logan's POV, but we get a few others here and there. We cut away to some of the X-Men a bit, and we see some events from the perspective of Persephone, the new antagonist of the story. She's something else.

What else can you tell us about the X-Men and the other familiar faces in Return?

EXCLUSIVE: Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten and Laura Martin's art for Return of Wolverine #1

If you've been reading the Hunt, you'll get some ideas as to who might show up in Return. Kitty Pryde's in it, for example, and Storm. That's not all, though - the whole story is full of nods to Logan's history and legacy, good and bad.

What's it like reuniting with artist Steve McNiven for this story? The preview art I've seen suggests that both you and he are really enjoying the chance to tell this tale.

Absolutely right. I was just on the phone with him last week talking through some of the story points, and he's just a blast to work with. I've been really lucky to be able to tell a number of big stories with Steve, and this is no exception. He's been adjusting his style a little for this book, channeling a Barry Windsor-Smith vibe, and it's incredibly intense and detailed. The pages just vibrate with intensity. I hope they release an inks-only version of this book at some point.

Finally, can you leave us with some hints and teases about the tone, action, and genres of Return of Wolverine?

It's an action book built around a mystery, almost a horror feel. Wolverine's return to the land of the living is not easy. In fact, the first chapter is titled "Hell."