WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Men #5, by Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva, Marte Gracia, VC’s Clayton Cowles and Tom Muller, on sale now.

With the mutants of the world rally in the new nation-state of Krakoa, this includes at least two different characters to carry the mantle of Wolverine: Logan and his female clone Laura Kinney, better known as X-23. As Xavier and Cyclops assemble a hand-picked strike force to infiltrate the Children of the Vault's protected headquarters from a portal in Ecuador, Laura receives the nod to complete the group in X-Men #5.

When one of the other X-Men compares Laura to Logan, the young mutant confirms that she's still using Wolverine as her codename.  The moment underscores a reaffirmation of Laura's superhero identity, made all the more emotionally poignant by a present Logan vocally approving her taking on his mantle.

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For years, the only name Laura had was X-23, a cold, clinical name assigned by a top secret program that attempted to continue Weapon X's genetic experiments. Laura was the 23rd attempt to create a clone of Wolverine, which led to her to being dubbed X-23 as she is trained to be a savage Logan-esque killer before finding a loving home with the X-Men and mentor and surrogate father figure in Logan. While continuing to use the callsign X-23 moniker to differentiate herself from Logan, the name itself carries all the emotional and physical trauma that Laura endured in her upbringing, leaving her just as emotionally scarred and haunted as Logan at a far younger age than the century-old X-Man.

After Logan died following the epic Death of Wolverine storyline, Laura stepped up to take on the mantle of Wolverine herself and carry on her genetic source material's superhero legacy in All-New Wolverine. To further the association with her namesake and embrace her own superhero career, Laura began wearing a yellow and blue outfit resembling Logan's classic Wolverine costume. However, upon Logan's resurrection, Laura opted to return to her X-23 moniker for a time, despite all the emotional and psychological baggage that it carried. Before Dawn of X, Laura did return to her Wolverine callsign once again as a member of X-Men: Red, with two Wolverines active in the Marvel Universe simultaneously.

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Aware of her troubled past and sensing a kindred spirit in her in more ways than one, Logan has been fiercely defensive of Laura over the years, both watching her time as a student at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and as a teammate on X-Force. With the assembled mutants on Krakoa facing their biggest existential threat to date from the Children of the Vault, Logan's approval underscores a new level of respect and personal growth between the two characters.

Of course, the emotional acceptance of Laura reclaiming her identity as Wolverine is not without its moments of levity. After remarking that Laura has earned the title, Laura asks Xavier and Cyclops why Logan wasn't selected to infiltrate the Vault with the rest of the specialized strike team since possess the same healing factor capable of surviving the temporal ravages inside. After it is revealed that Logan has a different role to play in Krakoa's ongoing survival, Logan notes that Laura has also earned the responsibilities that come from being Wolverine.

Over the years, Logan has acquired many surrogate daughters to look after as they grow and train to become superheroes in their own right, including Kitty Pryde, Rogue and Jubilee. However, none is closer to Logan on a personal level than Laura Kinney due to their shared genetic connection. And with Logan giving Laura his blessing to continue using the mantle of Wolverine, there's a sense of commencement as Laura continues his legacy. However, given the perilous nature of Laura's new mission, she may not be adopting the moniker of Wolverine for long.

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