Marvel Studios Just Botched Its New Wolverine Story

Marvel Studios just blew it with Wolverine’s new story, at least if the early reactions are anything to go by. Wolverine remains one of the most popular characters Marvel owns, right up there with Spider-Man, and the studio currently has three separate versions of him across film, video game, and animation. Every new Wolverine story is a test of how Marvel handles its most bankable mutant, and for a lot of viewers, the newest one failed that test.

The story in question is Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs, the fifth episode of X-Men ’97 Season 2, which premiered on Wednesday, July 15 on Disney+. It is the animated revival’s first episode devoted to Wolverine, and the complaints piled up almost immediately. Viewers called it a Morph story wearing a Wolverine costume, a filler detour from the season’s Apocalypse arc, and far too quick a fix for the adamantium loss that gave the show one of its most shocking moments.

The episode picks up from the post-credits tease of the previous installment. Logan, still missing his metal skeleton after Magneto ripped the adamantium from his body in the Season 1 finale, reunites his old Team X squad to burn the Weapon X program to the ground. Morph, Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, Maverick, and Garrison Kane all join the mission, only to find the alien Brood infesting the facility and controlling Doctor Cornelius, the scientist who once experimented on them all. By the end, Logan climbs into a bonding tank, gets his adamantium restored, tears through the Brood, and knocks out Omega Red before the whole base goes up in flames.

In theory, that sounds like a dream Wolverine episode. In practice, however, many felt the character got lost in his own spotlight. A Brood infection takes Logan out of the action for a large stretch of the runtime, and the emotional core of the episode belongs to Morph instead. The shapeshifter receives more screen time here than in any previous chapter of the series, wrestling with feelings for Logan that may run deeper than friendship. 

Morph’s material is genuinely strong, and from another perspective it’s refreshing to see him get the spotlight; however, it also means this Wolverine episode doesn’t dig properly into Wolverine’s own head. His fear, rage, and lifelong battle with the animal inside him barely factor in.

The episode’s pacing is even more jarring when you look at Wolverine's comic book background. On the page, Wolverine losing his adamantium fueled years of stories, with Logan forced to fight with bone claws, watch his healing factor sputter, and slowly slide toward something more beast than man. X-Men ’97 wraps all of it up in under half an hour, and the process looks close to painless. 

The time jump between seasons already skipped over most of his struggle, and outside of a few brief moments earlier this season, the show never let audiences feel what the loss cost him. Magneto tearing the metal from Logan’s bones remains one of the boldest swings the series took, and handing it back this quickly, in an episode, softens the impact. 

Many fans also felt left with a bad taste in their mouths by Logan's selfish depiction, arguing that lying and putting everyone in danger just to get his adamantium back was a complete mischaracterization.

None of this makes Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs a disaster, and the horror-flavored action clearly worked for part of the audience. It is a missed opportunity, though, as a Wolverine episode, because it could have done better justice to his story. For Morph fans (if they exist), this episode was one of the best this season.

Marvel Studios' Handling of Wolverine Has Been Generally Decent So Far

Wolverine currently exists in three forms under the Marvel Studios banner, and each one comes with enormous expectations. However, Marvel Studios has generally done well by the character so far. Hugh Jackman’s version is the crown jewel, and the Studio's iteration has been pretty awesome. The actor retired the character after Logan in 2017, then returned for Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024. That film grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, proof that Jackman’s claws still print money 24 years after he first popped them. 

The question now is where he shows up next. Marvel confirmed a wave of returning X-Men film veterans for Avengers: Doomsday, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, and Rebecca Romijn, ahead of its December 18 theatrical release, yet Jackman’s name never appeared on that list. Rumors of a Doomsday appearance and a much larger role in Avengers: Secret Wars, which arrives in December 2027, refuse to die, though Marvel Studios and Disney have not confirmed or commented on any of it. Jackman keeps feeding the fire himself, telling Entertainment Weekly, "I am never saying 'never' ever again," and admitting, "I did mean it when I said 'never,' until the day I changed my mind."

A recast is also coming. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed back in 2024 that another actor will eventually play Wolverine, telling DiscussingFilm it will happen "in a very different style and in a different way."

That new Wolverine is widely expected to arrive through the MCU’s X-Men reboot, which Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier is developing with writers Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo. The film has no release date, and no officially announced cast, and Schreier publicly shut down the flood of online casting rumors earlier this summer. Reports point toward a younger, lesser-known ensemble, and Schreier himself said his take will be recognizably different from the Jackman era. Succeeding Jackman is an uphill battle, and fan acceptance of the new live-action Wolverine will heavily depend on the caliber of the chosen actor.

Beyond live-action, there's also Marvel’s Wolverine, the PlayStation 5 exclusive from Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games, which launches on September 15 after first being revealed back in 2021. The gameplay shown at June’s State of Play presentation drew a strong response, with a brutal, bloody take on Logan and a story that sends him after the cybernetic Reavers, who kidnapped a group of mutants. Jean Grey and Sabretooth both appear, and the game earned a Most Anticipated Game nomination at last December’s Game Awards. Given Insomniac’s track record with the Marvel’s Spider-Man series, expectations for this version of the character are sky-high, and it’ll likely be great.

The only stumble with Wolverine so far is the new X-Men '97 episode. Even so, the series' portrayal of the character has been generally solid. Cal Dodd's voice acting is great and memorable, giving Logan a proper gritty feel. Also, the good news regarding this recent Logan mishap is that the series still has time to course-correct. Four episodes remain in Season 2, with the finale, Survival of the Fittest, set for August 12.