Tangled Up in Blue & Yellow: A Study of Wolverine's Costume by Michael S. Katz

Wolverine debuted in 1974 on the very last page of Incredible Hulk 180, and was the special guest star of issue 181. When the Hulk landed in Quebec, the Royal Canadian Air Force Tracking Installation got on the horn and called in their secret weapon: Weapon X. His costume was described by the author as “gaudily-garbed” – bright yellow with blue gloves, shoulders and boots. He had tiger stripes on his shoulders and torso, and delineated whiskers on his mask. I doubt that anyone at the time knew what a wolverine was, let alone what they looked like, but Wolverine probably looked more like a yellow tiger. Wolverine was described as a five foot five mutant with “natural-born speed, strength and savagery.”

There is a rumor that he was originally supposed to be an evolved animal, an experiment of the High Evolutionary (from the third Guardians of the Galaxy feature film), but the creators have always disputed that. Hulk writer Len Wein later was put on the X-Men book, and brought Wolverine onto the team. Not a lot was done with the character, though, and later writer Chris Claremont considered getting rid of him. But artist John Byrne, a Canadian himself, stuck up for the scrappy Canuck character. The character grew in popularity, in part due to his developing a “berserker rage” that led to him actually killing enemies, becoming an anti-hero and catching on with 1980s fans of that breed of character, including the Punisher, Watchmen, Elektra, Frank Miller’s version of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, and more. The brooding loner with a mysterious past grew in popularity until he became not only the most popular X-man, but one of the most popular Marvel characters.

Along the way John Byrne gave Wolvie a new costume, this one brown and tan (or gold, depending on your point of view). The newer costume was more subdued and more realistic (at least, for a gaudily-garbed character). Still people, never forgot the original yellow, and this was the costume that saw its way into animated television series and video games.

When the first X-men movie was announced, fans of the character wondered what version of the costume they would see. There was disappointment when the team showed up in bland black leathers in 2000. Wolvie, played by Hugh Jackman, remarked on even those costumes being extravagant (“You actually go outside in these things?”). The reply from Cyclops just about broke the fourth wall: “Well, what would you prefer? Yellow spandex?” Yes, that’s what the audience wanted to see. But these were the early days of successful superhero movies, and the producers played it safe.

From 2000 to 2011 Hugh Jackman never donned a costume, instead showing up in leathers and t-shirts. In 2013 The Wolverine was released on home video. It contained a deleted scene where someone handed Wolvie a box containing a mask and gloves that looked similar to his brown and tan costume. So close, but director James Mangold said that a full costume had never actually been created, let alone considered. Indeed, he thought Wolverine was the least likely of all superheroes to “put on a trademarked outfit, particularly canary yellow, and kind of prance around doing good deeds.”

Hugh Jackman also lamented not being able to give the fans what they wanted. But next came Wolverine in 2017, and the hero wore no costume at all. That was to be Jackman’s last portrayal of the character, and the fans had to hope that a future actor might don a more comic-reminiscent suit somewhere down the line.

But when Ryan Reynolds came calling with an invite to participate in Deadpool 3, Jackman took him up on his offer. Reynolds released a photo from the movie set with Jackman wearing a yellow costume reminiscent of Wolvie’s original duds (albeit without a mask). Odds are that we won’t know what the full costume looks like until the movie is released in May of 2024, unless a spoiler gets out, but let’s hope that Jackman dons the large ears with which us Wolverine fans are all familiar.

As for myself, I became a victim of oversaturation of the character and his popularity with me fell by the wayside. He’s still probably my favorite X-Man, but then, I stopped reading those particular books over a decade ago. Still, other favorites of mine have been on the big and small screen in comic accurate costumes, each time giving me a nostalgic thrill, so I am looking forward to seeing what the Wolverine looks like in 2024. Michael S. Katz Strider Nolan Media, Inc. www.stridernolan.com