Wolverine has been popular for many Marvel fans all over the world and with very good reason. Not only does he have one of the greatest backstories in the medium, but his abilities also make him quite iconic. His classic regeneration and adamantium claws really do a lot to make the character appealing to the point of him having multiple incarnations. One of the more memorable versions is his Ultimate variant and while he isn't quite the same, he has things that make him distinctly Wolverine.
With that in mind, here are the 5 things that are different from the character and 5 things that remind fans that he is indeed the same Wolverine.
10 Difference: Ultimate Wolverine Is Taller And Younger
Funny enough, the Ultimate universe Wolverine is actually taller than his more common counterpart. Although this doesn't really mean much, it does make it interesting to think about, especially when a lot of the Ultimate universe characters are fairly similar.
For example, Ultimate Wolverine is actually in his 80s and is around 5'9. Meanwhile, the Wolverine from 616 is around 5'3 at most and is over 100 years old. Being one of the oldest mutants to ever live.
9 Same: Still Incredibly Grumpy
This is Wolverine after all, and he wouldn't be much of one if he wasn't a bit grouchy. This is true for any version of the character but beneath all of that grumpiness, he is always doing the best he can for everyone that he's loved. No matter which version of Wolverine, so long as it's not the evil ones anyways, he always tries his hardest to do the best he can. That being said, he still can be a bit rough around the edges and can be quite tactless at times.
8 Difference: Ultimate Wolverine Is One Of The First Mutants
Interestingly enough, Wolverine is actually considered the first mutant in his universe or at least one of the first few that have been directly found. During his time in the Weapon X program where he was constantly tested, they discovered his healing factor and how it functioned. Thus Wolverine was given the codename of "Mutant 0" in order to codify him. Thus establishing the term of Mutant as the Ultimate universe knows it.
7 Same: Crush On Redheads
Wolverine seems to have a thing for redheads. That seems to apply for virtually every version of the character as fans know it. Jean Grey is the most notable example as she seems to be the character that Wolverine has always been pining for. Meanwhile, the case is also true for the Ultimate version and many of the love interests that he's had were always redheads. There was even a time when he had a thing for Mary Jane although that was when he was in Spider-Man's body which was pretty weird.
6 Difference: Adamantium Isn't Nearly As Strong In The Ultimate Universe
This is one of the most crucial aspects of the character. In the standard 616 universes of Marvel, every single bone that is in Wolverine's body was coated in Adamantium. This allowed him to become virtually indestructible and almost impossible to kill as a result. Meanwhile, the adamantium that coats the Ultimate Wolverine is not nearly as durable as his 616 counterparts. Wolverine even ended up getting torn in half by his universe's Hulk at one point.
5 Same: They Are Tragic Characters
Wolverine has had a hard life. As a result of his long life, he has seen a lot of things, from wars to the worst of humanity. If one was to have even an ounce of Wolverine's life, they would know that he is the definition of tragic.
Nonetheless, it seems like regardless of the good the character has done, there will always be someone close to him that would virtually die if they were ever involved with him. But all of this only made him stronger as a result.
4 Difference: Ultimate Wolverine Was Once Part Of The Brotherhood
In the Ultimate universe, Wolverine was actually not part of the X-Men, or at least at the beginning. Although in the main comics, Wolverine was part of the Alpha Flight team and later switched over to the X-Men, in the Ultimate Universe, the Wolverine was a part of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Not only that, but this version of the character, in particular, was also Magneto's personal assassin.
3 Same: They Have Lots Of Children
When you have a long life span like Wolverine, it is only fair that someone would get around. In the mainline of comics, Wolverine had a whole slew of lovers with each of them either dying or something tragic happening. This resulted in Wolverine having a ton of children like Daken, and Laura if one considers clones. Ultimate Wolverine is the same thing as he ended up having children including one in particular that succeeded him when he died.
2 Difference: Healing Factors
Wolverine's healing factor is one of his most iconic abilities as a character. Known for his seemingly unkillable body, this ability is incredibly inconsistent. However, it has allowed the feral character to survive things when a huge variety of superheroes couldn't.
In the Ultimate universe, Wolverine's healing ability was heavily nerfed. Making this Wolverine far more killable on top of having an Adamantium skeleton that is not nearly as strong. Thus explaining why he hasn't been able to survive the things his 616 version had.
1 Same: Berserker Rage
Finally, one of the personality traits that make every Wolverine who they are, is their inner animalistic rage. As a result of Wolverine's mutation as well as tragic past, he has quite the temper. This has resulted in a variety of unfortunate enemies getting killed.
Of course, all of this gets amplified once Wolverine gets into a full-powered rage, which allows him to boost everything he can do. It is kind of a traumatic side effect to everything the character has been through, as Wolverine essentially becomes a feral animal and goes completely wild at the cost of having tunnel vision.