Sometimes old dogs can learn new tricks -- or gain new powers.
After being dead for four years, the man they call Logan has returned from the grave. How and why he's back has yet to be answered, but when he returns to his career as a superhero, he'll be sporting a new power. As previously announced, Charles Soule and Steve McNiven's five-issue series Return of Wolverine will give Wolverine what can only be descried as "fire claws."
That's right, when the man who's the best there is at what he does pops his Adamantium-laced claws, they will now have a tendency to heat up. As you'd expect, with any change to a long-running, beloved character, there are some who are wary of making changes that are unwarranted by the story being told. Many of us lived through the '90s, which saw characters getting extreme makeovers for the hell of it, and now some fans are understandably scarred. Rest assured, the odds are really good that this is not a change that was decided on lightly. There is a plan.
RELATED: Marvel Officially Announces Wolverine’s New Series, Creative Team
Charles Soule has been the architect of Wolverine's corner of the Marvel Universe since 2014, so it's more than fair that fans give him the chance to tell his story. He put together the storyline that got us on this course in the first place with Death of Wolverine, and even after the character's demise, Soule continued to deal with the ramifications in Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy, Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program, and Wolverines.
Marvel seems to trust Soule with long-form storytelling, as evidenced by his work with the Inhumans in several different titles that culminated in Inhumans vs. X-Men, as well as his body of work on Daredevil. He has also been allowed to create several popular comic book series based in the Star Wars universe, which is impressive given Lucasfilms' love of micro-management. It'ss clear that Soule is someone that we can put our trust in to tell the story about Wolverine's life, death and rebirth.
RELATED: Marvel Just Quietly Announced Wolverine’s New Series
As the writer himself explained, "If you come back from the dead, it should mean something." Giving Wolverine red-hot claws doesn't exactly make him any more awesome, intimidating or effective than he already is, but this new power will certainly "mean something" in the context of this story. Together with Death of Wolverine and Hunt for Wolverine, Marvel is billing Return of Wolverine as the third part of a trilogy, and there's a reason for that.
Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Simply%20Bringing%20Wolverine%20Back%20to%20Basics%20Would%20Be%2C%20Well%20Boring']
During the lead-up to his death, Wolverine had been completely broken down until there was nothing left. He had lost his ability to heal, the very thing that made him such an effective killer, and it forced him reexamine his life. The Ancient Egyptians believed that after death, the gods would weigh the heart to determine whether a person was good or bad. As we saw in 2017's Logan, and in Charles Soule's own story, no one's heart weighs heavier than Wolverine's.
After all the mistakes, all the accomplishments, and all the deaths, the least he could do was go out doing one last good deed. In Death of Wolverine, he ensured that no one else would be turned into the killing machine he turned out to be. At the end of it all, he was smothered by the very Adamantium that allowed him to commit so much violence and pain, but also do some good in the world. It was a good death; a peaceful death.
RELATED: Weapon Lost ‘Explains’ How Wolverine Can be In Multiple Comics at Once
Now, Wolverine's alive again, seemingly back to normal (albeit with superheated claws), and for him to return, there has to be a good reason. Hunt for Wolverine tries to reflect on the meaningfulness of Logan's return without actually attempting to get into the head of the man himself. We see how his friends and rivals react to the news, about what it could mean for the future, but it's hard to say what Wolverine thinks about all this. And that's been done on purpose.
Now Return of Wolverine promises to reflect on Logan's return, from the perspective of the man himself. After deconstructing him, Soule is building him back up again to a point where he is perhaps stronger than he has ever been before. Maybe a man with a healing factor, indestructible metal claws, and a new ability to light those claws on fire is overdoing it, but that seems to be the point. Marvel isn't bringing Wolverine back to basics, it's tipping the scales in the opposite direction.
After being broken down as far as he was, there's no way to build him back up the same way. It only makes sense to bring him back better and stronger than he ever has been before. Logan has been given a second chance, a new lease on life. No longer is he the mutant murderer in the dark. In fact, he might actually be a shining beacon of light for once. Now the question is, what will he do with this new opportunity, and his new powers?
RELATED: Marvel Reveals Secret Hunt For Wolverine Title
Giving Wolverine super hot claws sounds ridiculous, but the odds are good that it's not simply Soule's way of "[Making] him feel new and fresh" without some long-term plan in place. We've already done new and fresh without cause or reason back in the '90s, and frankly, we never want to have to go there again. Whatever happens in Return of Wolverine will undoubtably lead into the next Wolverine ongoing series. Whether that series is led by Soule or not doesn't really matter, because we should feel confident that there's a plan is place.
New and fresh isn't always a bad thing. This new power exists for a reason, whether it lasts for five issues or five years. As long as Marvel and Soule continue to take that reason seriously, the character, and his claws, will be in good hands.