WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wolverine #8 by Benjamin Percy, Adam Kubert, Antonio Fabela, Viktor Bogdanovic, Matthew Wilson & VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
Wolverine's mysterious history has been revealed over the years to tie him to other figures from across the Marvel Universe. This includes a number of dangerous fighters and soldiers who've hidden in the cracks all around the world. Now, one of his most notable has returned and has a unique role to play within the current X-Men corner of the universe.
In Wolverine #8, Maverick has once again ended up in Wolverine's crosshairs, but what role does the former Weapon X agent have in the current Marvel Universe?
Maverick is a dangerous and deadly mercenary, with a deep connection to Wolverine. Decades ago, he worked alongside the Weapon X Program's covert operations force, Team X, alongside Wolverine and Sabretooth. On top of having the natural mutation to absorb kinetic blows and discharge them as concussive blasts of energy. His time with Weapon X also resulted in him receiving a minor healing factor. After serving with the group for a time, Maverick went back to solo work.
He reentered Wolverine's life years later, asking the then-X-Men for help bringing down Sabretooth. Maverick went through a series of challenges over the years, including overcoming the Legacy Virus, being forced back into the Weapon X Program as Agent Zero, and even losing his powers as a result of "Decimation". He's recently fought alongside Wolverine to bring down Strikeforce X, and was one of the men who helped bring Doctor Doom to justice in the latter's most recent series.
Maverick remains a wild card, even in the days of idealism that Krakoa has afforded. Instead of joining his fellow mutants on the island nation, Maverick has instead turned back to mercenary work. He's even started up his own commando team, referred to as the Mercs. Composed of skilled military drop-outs from across the world, Maverick seems to be operating on a completely monetary basis. The Mercs were even responsible for a number of attacks on Xavier owned businesses, providing work for the mysterious mutant-hating organization known as XENO. But this wasn't done out of any specific malice for Krakoa, just to complete a mission he'd been assigned. His latest work has seen him working for the Legacy House, a black market auction house that deals in superhero and supervillain memorabilia.
The Mercs are already established as a dangerous group, with Beast even seeing the potential of hiring them on for future missions as a mercenary force for X-Force. But it also raises some serious potential complications going forward. Since Maverick is a mutant, the United States is considering him a Krakoan citizen, meaning Krakoa has a responsibility to deal with his actions. This all sets up Maverick to take on a very interesting role in the future of Krakoa as a genuine wild card in a time of otherwise impressive unity.
Maverick could become a serious international complication for the X-Men, with the Mercs dragging Krakoa into problems they didn't expect. He could also prove to be a crucial ally, with his black ops elements giving him and the Mercs a certain amount of autonomy that would allow Beast to make harsher decisions without affixing blame to the X-Men. It honestly makes Maverick into one of the biggest unknowns within the X-Men, and sets up Wolverine's old Team X ally to take a more important role going forward.