One of Marvel’s most Iconic & nearly indestructible characters is set to get a full taste of the very thing that has made him a Fan Favorite. In the next few months we will see Wolverine in more pain and contemplate death far more than he ever has. With the lost of his healing factor, the very thing that makes him so hard to kill. Wolverine is now a target who can be killed and plenty of enemies who would love to pull the trigger.
In a recent interview with CBR writer Paul Cornell & artist Ryan Stegman talk about how the lost of his healing factor due to an alien virus will make wolverine sensitive to the issue of death. The very thing that has made him almost immortal is gone and the journey till the end of that immortality will be called “Wolverine: 3 months to Die”. Starting with Wolverine #8 the story will have implications all over the marvel universe since Wolverine does appear in multiple series.
CBR News: Mike, Axel, “Wolverine” seems to have been heading toward this direction for a while, but what got the ball rolling to this point of “3 Months to Die?”
Mike Marts: The set-up was brilliant, I thought — taking away Logan’s healing factor, the one thing that makes him so special and sets him apart from every single other mutant, and has almost made this character immortal. You strip that away, and a lot of people think, “Marvel’s taking a huge risk doing this. It’s the one element that defines this character.” We decided to be brave, and push it to the limit, and see what we can get out of this. Stripping away the healing factor is going to open up Logan to a huge arena of pain.
The healing factor has been off the board for a while now, and now Marvel’s coming out and saying this leads to what looks like a major character death — was this always the plan for the outcome of the story, or did it evolve over time?
Axel Alonso: Obviously, the title of this story arc is ripe with implication. [Laughs]
Marts: And we’re not messing around with the title. “3 Months to Die.” We are going to fully explore Wolverine’s mortality, what that means to him, what that means to the X-Men, what it means to the Marvel Universe — and we’re not going to be shy. We’re not going to be nervous about what storylines we might decide to pursue here.
Alonso: This is not a bull$#!^ title.
It seems like a concept like this might get thrown around at Marvel every so often — it feels like a natural thing to pursue, but there might have been hesitation in the past to pull the trigger. What makes now the right time, and long-term story that Paul Cornell’s been telling the right approach?
Marts: Around the time that Axel and I started working together a bunch of years ago, this same type of scenario popped up in regards to Wolverine’s origin. There was a bunch of us in the room talking about, “Should this story be told, should this story not be told?” Why shouldn’t it be told? Readers deserve to know. Readers deserve to get the best stories possible from the characters that they love. I think the same type of approach is being taken by this storyline.
Certainly, it’s been a conversation in the hallways for years. Should we pursue this direction? Should we tell this story? Should we push Wolverine to the limit? Yes. Why not? Let’s do it. Let’s roll the dice and take chances, that’s what Marvel’s about.
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Check out some Previews of Wolverine #4 – 7 and #8 below “3 months to die”