Mikey Sutton Exclusive: Wolverine's MCU Origin

A little preamble before we get into the fun stuff: about a month ago I was contacted by Mikey Sutton after he'd become aware of my work. He asked if I'd like to have scoops sent my way and my response is self-evident. I'm impressed that Sutton appreciates my content despite criticism, as it's a rare quality in this arena.

I was sent this scoop on Saturday (June 20th), but at the time I was both busy with work and making my way through streaming The Last of Us 2 (which released on Friday). The latter is complete and things have calmed down in general, so I can put the focus required into reporting on it. Buckle-up, because this is fascinating.

Here is the quote from Sutton:

"They [the X-Men] break [Wolverine] out as Weapon X. He tells them to call him Logan because he is not a weapon for anyone. He participates [as part of the group] but doesn't join the team. He strikes a deal with Professor X--I don't know what the stakes are. At the end [of the film] he calls himself Wolverine and apparently there's a profound reason for that, but I don't know what it is yet."

I'll delve into this fully below, but let's go over prior comments related to this. Sutton's original X-Men scoop came out about a month ago and these are the bullet points from it (including added details from later):

• Early title is The Uncanny X-Men
• The X-Men will be introduced slowly before having their own film
• The team will be Cyclops, Jean Grey, Thunderbird, Nightcrawler, Sunfire, Havok, Wolverine, and Storm (similar, but not identical, to the initial Claremont roster--missing Banshee and Colossus, with Havok added)
• The initial story includes Thunderbird's death ala X-Men #96, as well as the battle with Krakoa (Giant-Sized X-Men #1)
• The Xavier-run school for gifted mutants will have a large roster that will send out different formations to deal with the issues at hand (like the X-Men in Hickman's current run)
• In the beginning Wolverine is still known as Weapon X and is in confinement

Not long after Sutton spoke to me on Saturday, he posted the following on his Geekosity page:

After Weapon X is liberated from Department K* by the X-Men, he participates in one of their missions but doesn't join the team, as I reported in an earlier scoop [May, link above]. Logan is still a wanted man. He is considered [Canadian] government property and therefore the country's own Avengers, named Alpha Flight, are sent to hunt him down [the story of X-Men #120-121]. Vindicator. Northstar. Aurora. Puck. Sasquatch. Shaman. Snowbird. But trying to net Wolverine is one thing, a major problem. Unfortunately, there is an incredible one. Alpha Flight are caught in the crossfire as the Hulk is in Canada as well, in full rage mode.
Marvel Studios doesn't think Alpha Flight have the makings of a cinematic franchise; there are too many toys in the box to play with and only enough time [ie, more prominent IP to develop]. But they would like to see them in the Wolverine movie where he fights the Hulk [ala the former's origin in the comics], which I scooped here almost a year ago now [the September link below]. This isn't about old news. Marvel Studios sees the potential of Alpha Flight for Disney+ after appearing in a Wolverine movie. The Canadian setting will be fresh and less expensive to shoot, not to mention that the cast is diverse from the beginning, [including] even Marvel Comics' first openly gay superhero Northstar. They have the potential to have both the explosive action of the Avengers and the social conscience of the X-Men.

*This was Department H originally (1978), but Rob Liefled/Fabian Nicieza retconned (1991) that Department K were the ones responsible for the Weapon X program

Sutton added that Marvel is particularly interested in Sasquatch as a character (I'll go into the roster below). He's since clarified to me that the X-Men film comes first, then the Wolverine film. This idea (Hulk vs Wolverine, something broached by Anthony Russo years ago and been brought up by Mark Ruffalo repeatedly over the last year), is not new from Sutton, who mentioned it in September (he also included Alpha Flight and, in brief, the plot above). No other scooper--not even WGTC--covered this news at that time. Sutton repeated the Alpha Flight elements and bits of the Wolverine info in May (again, with no resonance in the scooper-sphere). However, as we'll see below, the dam has finally burst and people are paying attention.

Many fans are unfamiliar with Alpha Flight as, outside of their initial run in the 80s, the comic has never found its footing. They are as obscure as The Eternals, although the characters from that IP have (arguably) slightly more cache. The Alpha Flight roster mentioned is an interesting one, as Puck was not originally part of the team (cf X-Men #120). Originally Puck was part of Beta Flight (which, along with Gamma Flight, was a training squad of aspirants for the core team). Puck has remained a fairly popular character (in Alpha Flight-terms), and was only absent from the lineup briefly, so adding him isn't a big deal. I wonder if instead of the original Shaman (Michael Twoyoungmen), we'll get his daughter Talisman (Elizabeth) to help spread out the gender diversity (going from five-two to four-three). The team is very Caucasian, however, and while I don't think that always matters, Marvel may think it does, meaning race-swaps (particularly given how obscure the group is) are on the table (Sasquatch would be the easiest, as there's nothing about being white that's core to the character).

Briefly, here are the core Alpha Flight characters (including creators and first appearance):

• James Hudson (Vindicator/Guardian; Claremont/Byrne, 1978) - The acerbic leader who died early in the original Alpha Flight (retconned later); the most conventional character on the roster, his powers are derived from a suit he constructed
• Heather McNeil (Guardian; Claremont/Byrne, 1980) - James' spouse who would take over his leadership role after his death; a very warm, motherly character for an eclectic team; her powers are also via a suit
• Jean-Paul Beaubier (Northstar; Claremont/Byrne, 1979) - Twin brother of Jeanne-Marie, he's probably best known as the first openly gay character in Marvel (1990); he's a mutant with light-related powers (including flight and speed)
• Jeanne-Marie Beaubeir (Aurora; Claremont/Byrne, 1979) - Twin sister to Jean-Paul with a similar power base; she has dissociative identity disorder, meaning she has multiple personalities
• Michael Twoyoungmen (Shaman; Claremont/Byrne, 1979) - A practitioner of magic which focuses on imploring spirits; a very classic, if stereotypical, shaman character
• Anne McKenzie/Narya (Snowbird; Claremont/Byrne, 1979) - Daughter of the goddess Nelvanna and a human; she's a shapeshifter, can fly, has mystical senses, and other attributes
• Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch; Claremont/Byrne, 1979) - Has the Hulk's origin of being transformed during a gamma experiment; he's also a brilliant doctor; I think Marvel will tweak his origin so the parallel's aren't so exact
• Eugene Judd (Puck; Byrne, 1983) - Originally conceived of by Byrne as someone with Batman-like physical fitness who wanted to be a hero, but Bill Mantlo (who took over Alpha Flight after Byrne) changed that to him having a demon imprisoned inside his body; his powers have a mystical basis and give him increased strength, agility, durability, etc; his personality reminds me of Wolverine
• Marrina Smallwood (Marrina; Byrne, 1983) - not included in Sutton's scoop, but the only absent member of the original team in Alpha Flight #1, so I wanted to mention her; she's an alien-hybrid (Plodex); an amphibian who can shape-change, control water, etc; she's had a romantic relationship with Namor (even marrying him), but was killed off pretty early (1988) before being brought back (she's had by far the fewest appearances in the comics among the group)

This is an eclectic group with strong personalities. There's lot's of potential for drama here, but they've simply never connected with comicbook fans (due to a mix of the writing, how weird the characters are, and the niche they fill of being Canadian heroes). The late Jon Schnepp was one of the few people who got excited about the team. I see a lot of potential, but it requires creative people who are up to the task. The group's powers could also make them expensive, depending on how they are done, which would hurt the odds of them hitting Disney+ (I don't want to see CW-effects in a Marvel production).

After the Alpha Flight scoop dropped, Daniel repeated the information (without attribution), which was picked up by others and found its way to Murphy (sourcing it from former GWWer Caleb Williams, who Tweeted it out--certainly via Daniel, as he, like other ex-GWWers, have reported on his Patreon before). Murphy claims he had heard pre-Disney+ (pre-September, 2017, when he was still at MCU Exchange), that Feige was interested in Alpha Flight. Given Murphy's various comments over the years this information, assuming it has solid foundations, came from an agent, since as far as I can recall he's never mentioned having an actual MCU inside source (it's my belief his Endgame/Infinity War scoop came that way as well).

For a long time my theory (eg) was if we ever saw Alpha Flight, it would be in a Captain Marvel context, as after she was re-branded by Kelly Sue DeConnick (2012), they've had an association with her through SWORD. This isn't a particularly interesting way to use them, but Marvel could have made it work. I prefer Sutton's vision as presented here.

Coming full circle, let's go back to the Wolverine scoop and the broader idea of the early X-Men and what to expect. It goes without saying that I like these ideas a great deal--the Len Wein/Chris Claremont days of the X-Men are the most iconic and worthy of adapting. Given that Hickman has 'fixed' Krakoa in his current run with the comic, its a much more doable story for an X-Men film and adding the Hulk to Wolverine's struggles with Alpha Flight is an inspired idea. While my earlier guess at what version of the X-Men we'll get is different (cf), Sutton's team is very appealing. In addition, I love John Byrne's run on Alpha Flight and hope to see some of it adapted. The idea of having Wolverine appear and then not join the X-Men, dealing with being chased by Alpha Flight on his own afterwards, is excellent (oddly reflecting his desire in X-Men #120-121). Wolverine is bigger than the X-Men (as an IP), giving Marvel the option for him to have his own stories without them. This approach adds weight to his origin and his later choice to join the X-Men--it also fleshes out his background in a way that Fox never attempted. I've never liked how bloated Wolverine's origin has become, specifically the elements added in 2001-02's Origin (Quesada, Jenkins, and James). The original idea for him made much more sense and I hope Marvel sticks with that--the fact that Fox went the other way makes that a strong possibility. All in all, to sum up, the entire idea is very appealing.

My thoughts on specific elements included in the scoops:

• There's a broad assumption across the Marvel theorist/scooper-sphere that the Weapon X program will tie into all the other super soldier programs that began with Captain America--this fits that model. Will the MCU be able to resist adding an American angle to it, or can they keep Department K purely Canadian?
• I'm curious what reasoning will be given for the Wolverine nickname. I can't recall the explanation within the comics and while wolverine populations are highest in Canada, they are not unique to the country, ranging across similar environments around the world (so its presumably a reference to their characteristics or symbolism)
• I'm curious what they'll do with the name Logan, as the James Howlett moniker was added much later (2001-02) and never made much sense to me
• I wonder if Hulk reverting to his bestial nature is a function of whatever Wanda does in her series? It seems a bit redundant, since Banner has just gone through a full character arc where he doesn't have to do that anymore, but the story itself would be a fun one
• The death of Thunderbird would add a lot of pathos to the group, as well as add humility and caution in Xavier. I'm a big fan of Thunderbird--he's an inspired character from the era and represents something almost completely absent from American entertainment (Native Americans)
• I'm unsure what the slow-burn introduction of this iteration of X-Men would be like--it's easy to see Storm introduced in Black Panther 2, but it's less clear where the other characters could debut (one could see Rogue in Captain Marvel 2, but she isn't part of this group)

Let's go into the qualms/concerns I have about the scoop. I mentioned back in May (link above) that I have a hard time believing Marvel's team composition will be six men and two women, particularly from an IP stuffed with iconic female characters (Polaris is available in the era being adapted and there's nothing preventing Kitty Pryde from appearing, even if she's not officially part of the team; gender swapping Sunfire would also be easy, as he's an obscure character and thus unattached to merchandising concerns). The group does hit the diversity quotient, but I think gender split matters as well. In addition, I'd imagine some hesitation in doing the Thunderbird story since they'd be killing off the first Native American character introduced into the MCU. A final note that could support the scoop (something I mentioned awhile ago): the Russos' have made three straight billion dollar films for Marvel (Civil War 1.15, Infinity War 2.04, and Endgame 2.79)--if they want to do something, I think they are can write their own ticket (although their interest seems more about Wolverine than the X-Men, given the public statements that I've seen).

If we get a Disney+ version of Alpha Flight I'd want to see Vindicator's death adapted (Alpha Flight #12) because of its drama and impact (as well as for the battle between Omega Flight and Alpha Flight). Would Marvel provide the budget for that kind of altercation? I have no idea, but there's no harm in hoping. Most of Byrne's other stories were highly personal and small scale, which make them easy to adapt.

As for the X-Men, there's so much to play with in terms of stories from Claremont. Here are a few favourites elements (in no particular order):

• The Phoenix Force (leading eventually to Dark Phoenix)
• The Sentinels
• The Starjammers
• Magneto (and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants)
• The Shi'ar
• The Savage Land
• Days of Future Past (Rachel Summers)
• The Marauders
• The Morlocks
• The Brood

It's a rich history and I have no idea where Marvel would want to take things (they tend to think in terms of trilogies, so presumably that would be the focus). I want to see an interesting version of Magneto that's distinct from the Fox approach; I'd love to see the Savage Land along with the crazy space stuff, but also some of the smaller, more intimate stories. There's a lot to choose from and Hickman has shown the light of where the group can go (bypassing, I hope, the many goofy twists and turns the IP went through in the 90s-00s). There are also things from Claremont that I'd want avoided, especially endless 'fall of the mutants' storylines which cluttered the end of his run.

But I'm slipping off into the wilds of speculation and with the X-Men that could go on and on. Going back to the scoop at hand: I hope it turns out to be true, even if some of the details change (roster tweaking or what have you). I like the idea of Wolverine's origin following its earliest iteration and the approach reflected here is an interesting twist on the past.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)