Ultimate Wolverine #1

History

The series was developed after editor Wil Moss approached writer Chris Condon — best known for the noir Western series That Texas Blood — to helm the title; Condon has described jumping at the opportunity and immediately conceiving of a Wolverine fused with the Winter Soldier mythology. Condon and artist Alessandro Cappuccio, who had collaborated on Marvel's Moon Knight, were paired again here, giving the book a visual continuity with that series' gritty, expressionistic style. A prelude story by the same creative team appeared in the anthology one-shot Ultimate Universe: One Year In (December 11, 2024), where the Ultimate Wolverine concept was first unveiled to readers before the ongoing series launched on January 15, 2025. The book was originally solicited as a 12-issue limited series before continuing as an ongoing title.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Premiere issue of the Ultimate Wolverine ongoing series, written by Chris Condon with art by Alessandro Cappuccio, colors by Bryan Valenza, letters by VC's Cory Petit, and editing by Wilson Moss; released January 15, 2025 with a cover date of March 2025.
• Logan (the Ultimate Universe's Wolverine) made his true character debut — before this issue — in the anthology one-shot Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 (December 11, 2024); issue #1 is the series premiere, not the character's absolute first appearance.
• First full appearances of the Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160) versions of Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) and Mystique (Raven Darkhölme), both depicted as members of The Opposition, a mutant liberation group fighting the Maker's Council.
• Nightcrawler is killed in this debut issue — sent to his death by the very weapon he once fought alongside — making his first appearance in this continuity also his last.
• Logan is presented as a composite character: a mutant captured by the Eurasian Republic's secret science division Directorate X, subjected to an adamantium bone-bonding procedure, memory-wiped, and redeployed as the 'Winter Soldier' under the command of Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), Magik (Illyana Rasputina), and Omega Red (Arkady Rossovich).
• Dr. Alonya Prostovich — the head of Directorate X who oversees Logan's transformation and continued conditioning — is introduced in this issue and appears to be an original character created for the series with no direct Earth-616 counterpart.
• Logan does not speak a single word in issue #1; his silence and the mask he wears throughout are deliberate design choices described by Condon as reflecting his status as a feral, weaponized animal rather than a man.
• The first six issues of the series were later collected in the trade paperback The Winter Soldier!, published September 2025.

Cast · 8 characters

Full credits

Variants (18)