Wolverine blossomed into a phenomenon in the ’80s, and the ’90s were his victory lap. The character was suddenly in front of millions of eyes, and Marvel still decided to drop a massive change on him in the comics, taking away his adamantium from 1993 to the very end of 1999. The character was still wildly successful heading into the ’00s, and for a lot of us old Wolverine fans, this is the decade when he truly took his place at the top of the Marvel Universe. He was already one of the bestselling characters of all time, but in the ’00s he joined the A-list of the greater superhero community like he never had before, with some of the best creators of the decade working on the character.
The ’00s were yet another decade of Wolverine dominance, and honestly the last one (mostly because Marvel marginalized mutants starting in the first decade of the 21st century). There are plenty of standout moments, but some are taller than the others. These are the five greatest Wolverine moments of the ’00s, and they gave us some amazing stories.
5) The Introduction of Laura Kinney
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Laura Kinney is as much a Wolverine as anyone, and she made her debut in NYX (Vol. 1) #3. There are a lot of bad things that can be said about her child sex worker by way of Weapon X origin, but you can’t deny how important she’s become to the history of the character. She took up the mantle of her father (and beat him when she showed up in Uncanny X-Men after this series), and has become one of the most popular legacy Marvel heroes of the 21st century. She wasn’t perfect back then, but there were some pretty great stories starring the character.
4) The Marvel Knights Wolverine Series Debut
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Wolverine (Vol. 2) was successful for years, but the Marvel Knights line was the home to the more risque Marvel books, and Wolverine fit there. This led to the debut of Wolverine (Vol. 3) #1, from Greg Rucka and Darick Robertson. This book kicked off with a grittier version of Logan and was a hit right away. Wolverine (Vol. 3) would become the home to the best Wolverine stories of the ’00s. Creators like Mark Millar, John Romita Jr, Klaus Janson, Steve McNiven, Daniel Way, Jeph Loeb, Adam Kubert, Howard Chaykin, Jason Aaron, Simone Bianchi, Ron Garney, and many more all told stories in the book, giving readers the best from the best there is at what he does.
3) “Old Man Logan”
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“Old Man Logan” has become a Marvel legend, a story that has gotten so big it’s become a part of the greater pop culture. The story ran through Wolverine (Vol. 3) #66-72 and Wolverine: Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1, by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, and took readers to a future where the villains teamed up and won, killing most of the heroes. Logan has become a pacifist farmer with a family, and a debt to the Hulk. He takes a job with Hawkeye to make some money, and goes on an amazing road trip through the darkest future in years. This story took readers on a bloody ride, with gorgeous art from McNiven and perfect world-building from Millar. It’s one of the best of the decade, and a story that every fan of the character loves.
2) Wolverine Becomes Leader of X-Force
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The ’00s saw Wolverine take a more important place in the Marvel Universe, and he was wildly popular in team books (I think at his height in the ’00s he was in six different team books). However, he was always just the muscle or the second in command. All of that changed with X-Force (Vol. 3). This new version of the team was meant to be Cyclops’s hit squad, out to protect the final 198 mutants in the world. Wolverine led them on missions to end threats before they got too dangerous, battling against Bastion and the Purifiers, as well as Apocalypse and other villains. It was the first time he led a team, and it felt right, leading to some amazing team books in the coming decade.
1) Wolverine Joining the Avengers
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The Avengers entered the ’00s in a good place, but that soon ended. This led to Marvel trying to figure out a way to take the team work again, and at a writer’s conference, Mark Millar said to copy the Justice League model, like the publisher had when they first created Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and bring in the most popular characters. Spider-Man and Wolverine were brought onto to the team, with Logan joining in New Avengers (Vol. 1) #5, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch. This was a huge step forward for the mutant. In Captain America Annual #10, Cap told him he’d never be an Avenger, but not only did he join the team, but he became one of the most important members. Logan finally became an Avenger, the biggest development for the character in years.
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