For a guy that’s famously something of a loner, Wolverine sure does manage to make friends wherever he goes. Not only has he joined almost every team in the Marvel Universe at one time or another, he genuinely manages to form deep bonds with his comrades, despite often being insensitive and anti-social. But maybe that’s his charm?
Over the years, Wolverine has travelled the world many times. Sadly, many of the friends he’s made along the way have since passed away. Some have managed to cheat death and are still alive and kicking, and even get to share a beer after a long day with the good ol' Canucklehead. He may be rough around the edges, when you crack through that tough exterior, he's got a heart of adamantium.
Here’s Wolverine's 15 Comic Book Characters He's Close Friends With.
15. Kitty Pryde
When the second generation of X-Men formed to replace the captured original team, they were all experienced adults. Unlike the first team, who were all kids, Wolverine and the rest didn’t use the X-Mansion as a school for quite some time. But when they encountered Kitty Pryde, that began to change.
While indifferent to begin with, Wolverine became close to Kitty as her effervescent personality wore him down. He became like a father-figure to her. After Kitty was possessed by her older self during Days of Future past, and again by Ogun, Wolverine took to training her in the martial arts in addition to her regular X-Men training.
When Kitty returned to the X-Men after spending time away in Europe as a member of Excalibur she was more mature. Wolverine began to treat her as more of an equal to reflect this and their friendship has grown as a result. The once gruff Canadian now considers Kitty to be family.
14. Black Widow
Logan and Natasha go way back. All the way to the early days of World War 2! As a child, Natasha had been kidnapped as part of a prophesy to train her to be the ultimate instrument of The Hand. Logan was in Madripoor following reports of Hand acivity, and ran into Captain America who was on the trail of Baron Strucker, who had allied himself with the Hand. The two men teamed up and freed Natasha with Logan sustaining heavy injuries during the fight. The young Natasha took to calling Logan “Little Uncle” for a while, and still does from time to time.
Natasha was spared the ravages of time and remains in her prime, despite being well over 70 years old. As such, she and Logan have renewed their friendship as peers. Despite her time as an agent of the KGB, against Logan who worked for the CIA among other agencies, the two have put aside any Cold War differences and are both full-time heroes.
13. Doop
Remember the time that everyone’s favourite mutant teamed up with Wolverine? While Doop may not be the best-known mutant, he’s certainly got a following largely due to his offbeat personality and undefined power-set. Like Squirrel Girl, Doop appears utterly useless but has outclassed some pretty heavy hitters single-handedly.
Their friendship goes back to a two-part team up back in 2003 where they united to deal with the threat of the so-called Pink Man. While the story was utterly tongue in cheek and nonsensical, it did establish the two as getting along despite Doop’s difficulties in communication (he speaks in a weird font referred to as Doop-Speak which requires a decoder).
When Wolverine set up the Jean Grey School following his falling-out with Cyclops, he hired Doop as part of the faculty. While Doop is an utterly inept teacher - indeed his lesson plans are unintelligible and he sleeps through class - he has a secret role as the ultimate protector of the school and students. Given the enormous responsibility he has, it’s clear that Wolverine is aware of Doop’s ultimate power levels. It’s also clear that Wolverine trusts Doop implicitly.
12. Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) has almost as complicated backstory as Wolverine himself. Like Logan, she’s been an under the radar operative, and a major player in The Avengers. They also have ties to much of the superhuman and spy community, so it’s unsurprising that the two have become friends over the years.
After Jessica’s death and rebirth (because, comics) she gave up on her costumed identity, the mantle being taken on by the second Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter. Relying on her skills as a P.I, among other things, she took to partnering with Lindsay McCabe. It was during this time that she became close to Wolverine, and was a supporting character in his original series for the first 16 issues.
While rarely seen for several years, Jessica became prominent after a Skrull impersonating her was killed during the Secret Invasion. When Jessica was freed from captivity, Wolverine was one of The Avengers who accepted her into their ranks and helped her adjust to a very different world to the one she remembered before being kidnapped. Since then, the two have shared many adventures and their friendship remains important to each of them. When Wolverine inevitably returns from the grave, she’ll be sure to welcome him back.
11. Maverick
These two go way back. Way, way back! As part of the clandestine Team X, Wolverine and Maverick (alongside Sabretooth) were a black-ops team during the days of the Cold War. Their most famous mission was also their last as they were dispatched to Berlin sometime in the 1960s to prevent Russian scientists from creating a super-agent (who would become the villain Omega Red).
The mission went south and Omega Red was created anyway and the kidnapped scientist Team X were sent to save, Janice Hollenbeck, was killed in the shoot-out. Wolverine, Sabretooth and Maverick were partially successful as the soviets were denied the Carbonadium synthesiser necessary to stabilize Omega Red’s so-called Death Factor, forcing him into suspended animation for thirty years.
Wolverine would eventually be kidnapped by Matsu’o Tsurayaba and The Hand in order to extract his knowledge regarding the Carbonadium Synthesiser. Maverick, along with the X-Men, raided Matsu’o’s compound and retrieved the feral mutant. The two have been occasional allies since then, sometimes sharing a beer during Maverick’s solo series. While Maverick is mostly out of the game these days, he still turns up from time to time to give Logan information gleaned from his various sources.
10. Elektra
Another of Logan’s never-ending stream of gorgeous female friends is the assassin Elektra. After Elektra’s death at the hands of Bullseye, she was resurrected by Stone, a disciple of the enigmatic Stick. Stone sent her to aid Wolverine, who had been regressed to animal form at the time due to the failed attempt to re-bond his skeleton with Adamantium by Genesis. Having had her own metaphysical journey to reclaim her humanity, Elektra re-trained Wolverine to speak and become a man once more. After he began to recover, the two parted ways, but had developed a strong bond.
When Wolverine was captured and brainwashed by The Hand and Hydra, Nick Fury hired Electra to track him and bring him down. Her ties to Hydra, plus her history with Logan, made her the one agent Fury believed could get the job done. She was killed, and resurrected, but this proved to be part of her plan from the beginning and she and Logan tore through thousands of Hand ninjas together. Due to her epic fight skills, Wolverine developed a not-so-subtle crush on Elektra for a while.
9. Jubilee
More of a father/daughter relationship for several years, Wolverine and Jubilee have become more like friends as Jubilee has matured into a young woman.
Jubilee encountered Logan after he had been mortally wounded by The Reavers and left for dead. She scavenged medical supplies for him and kept him alive for quite some time and became something of a sidekick to him as they searched for the missing X-Men, who had been scattered around the world and left amnesiac. After encountering Psylocke, the trio became a formidable fighting force who eventually located another group of X-Men and fought Cameron Hodge and the Genoshian Magistrates.
Later, Jubilee would leave the X-Men and train with the younger team, Generation X. Over the years, the two have spent infrequent time together, but remain close when one need the other. When Jubilee was transformed into a vampire, Logan was immediately there for her and offered her emotional support.
8. Psylocke
While Wolverine was friendly to Betsy when she joined the X-Men, it wasn’t until she went through her transformation into a ninja assassin that the two became close. Logan had likewise been transformed into a living weapon against his will and he helped her to retain her humanity despite her feeling like she would never become whole again.
The two remained close and both served on the X-Men’s Blue Team where their fighting skills complimented each other and were two of the team’s most effective members. When Revanche claimed to be the ‘real’ Psylocke, Wolverine’s senses were fooled and he could not verify which was which.
Despite numerous deaths and rebirths between them, each have come to the other’s aid many times. When Logan was forced to serve Apocalypse as a Horseman, Psylocke was one of the X-Men who helped free him. Despite this, the two do have the occasional difference of opinion. They came into conflict over Wolverine’s torture of Matsu’o, but Wolverine eventually backed off and allowed Psylocke to end Matsu’o’s suffering.
7. Yukio
An occasional thief, thrill seeker, and all-round bad-ass, it’s no surprise that Yukio would become an acquaintance of Wolverine. Originally an assassin in the employ of Wolverine’s enemy Shingen Yashida, Yukio was sent to kill Logan but instead became attracted to him and helped him defeat her former master instead. She then became a friend of not only Wolverine, but his fellow X-Man Storm as well.
After the death of Wolverine’s love, Mariko, he sent his adopted daughter Amiko to live with foster parents. After discovering that Amiko was being mistreated, he asked Yukio to raise her. This showed just how much he trusted and respected Yukio. When Sabretooth targeted Amiko and sent Deathstrike and Omega Red to kill her, Yukio fought them off and ended up in a wheelchair for some time as a result.
Yukio asked Wolverine to kill her to save her the indignity of being so badly wounded, but her refused. She later recovered via unknown means, but was again confined to a wheelchair after battling Hellverine, a demon in Wolverine’s form. Their relationship has been deeply strained, but has generally recovered after a time.
6. Captain Marvel (Danvers)
Logan’s friendship with Carol Danvers pre-dates either of them becoming costumed adventurers. Due to Carol’s government work as an Air Force Colonel, she crossed paths with Logan during his days as a CIA operative including a time he teamed up with Ben Grimm (before Grimm became the Ever Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing).
After joining the X-Men, Logan met Carol several times and the two shared several adventures. She felt betrayed by the X-Men when Rogue joined their ranks, but eventually saw that Rogue was a victim of circumstance and forgave Wolverine for his perceived betrayal.
After being unceremoniously dumped by The Avengers for being drunk on duty, Carol found herself adrift and partnered with Logan for a while. He helped her to regain her sobriety and finally find a new direction in her life. Since then, the two have served on The Avengers together, and sometimes opposed each other, but have remained close when the chips have been down.
5. Deadpool
In many ways, Deadpool owes his life to Wolverine as his own healing factor was derived from Wolverine’s own. Had the Weapon X scientists not been able to cull Wolverine’s cells and implant them in Wade, he would have died of cancer years ago.
Truthfully, it’s a one-sided friendship as Logan doesn’t really see Wade as a close friend, but he does respect Wade’s skills. He also has something of a soft spot for wade as he knows he could have ended up as mentally deranged as Wade is and has something of a “there but for the grace of god” attitude to him. When Wolverine assembled a team of the best fighters he knew, Wade was one of the people he called. This time as comrades certainly helped the two to forge a closer bond.
While Wolverine generally tolerates Wade’s craziness, he has shown a softer side to Wade with the two of them getting wasted at Deadpool’s bachelor party. When Wolverine died, Wade teamed up with Captain America to prevent Wolverine’s DNA from being cloned as they didn’t want Wolverine’s memory being tainted by a living weapon walking around with his face.
4. Spider-Man
Like Deadpool, Wolverine and Spider-Man generally only tolerated each other for quite some time. When they teamed up, it was usually due to circumstance but neither really approved of the other’s methods. Over time, this changed. When Spider-Man was asked to join the Avengers by Captain America, he found himself unable to say no to the living legend. Wolverine joined soon after, making the two teammates at long last.
Despite several disputes, including Wolverine stabbing Spider-Man during a training exercise, and Spider-Man throwing Wolverine out of a forty-story window at Stark Tower for being disrespectful, the two generally worked well together. After the first Civil War and Cap’s death, Logan and Peter finally began to become friends. Logan sought out Peter to comfort him, although Peter called him full of **** for Wolverine’s b.s version of events.
Eventually, after spending time together on the run from authorities, the two finally relaxed in each other’s company and Wolverine was one of the few people Spider-Man trusted with his identity after he had erased the world’s knowledge of it.
3. Captain America
As previously mentioned, Logan’s relationship with Cap goes back to the days of World War 2. Due to numerous retcons, it has been shown that the two interacted several times during this era and Logan got to know Steve, and Bucky, quite well. Despite this, in their first few interactions in the modern era, the two appeared to share no history and were even antagonistic to the other.
While shared adventures between the X-Men and The Avengers were rare, the two fought beside each other from time to time. It wasn’t until Logan joined The New Avengers that the two truly became friends. Logan often slept in Avengers tower, and Steve learned to tolerate Logan’s often off-putting personal habits.
As more of their shared history became apparent, the two became closer. With Logan’s memory restored after House of M, he softened slightly and was more likely to engage in social situations, having finally found some peace with aspects of his life. Fighting side by side with Cap also gave Logan some credibility as a hero, not just a fighter, which seemed to be something the fierce warrior needed.
2. Colossus
Joining the X-Men at the same time, Logan and Peter weren’t fast friends. Logan was often deliberately rude to those around him but Peter’s good-nature was impossible for Logan to dislike and they grew closer due to their many shared experiences. Over the years, they faced many enemies together and Logan and Peter always had each other’s backs.
Their friendship was almost destroyed however when Peter, grieving the loss of his family, left the X-Men and joined Magneto’s Acolytes. In the subsequent mission against Magneto, Wolverine suffered his greatest physical wound, the forced removal of his Adamantium skeleton by Magneto. Although he survived, he was traumatised for several years. When Peter re-joined the X-Men, Logan was verbally abusive towards him and was notably bitter towards his former friend. Eventually, the two managed to put it behind them and once again bonded as both were still grieving the loss of Peter’s sister Illyana.
1. Nightcrawler
Easily Wolverine’s best friendship is with Kurt Wagner, the amazing Nightcrawler! Both joined the X-Men as part of the second generation assembled by Professor Xavier to rescue the original team who were imprisoned by the sentient island Krakoa. Despite Logan initially calling Kurt “Misfit” and mocking Kurt’s appearance, Logan began to see that they were two sides of the same coin. Kurt looked like a monster, but had the soul of a man. Logan looked like a man, but repressed a monster.
Logan, ever the grumpy loner, found himself warming to Kurt and began to enjoy training with Kurt in their free time as Kurt proved one of the few people able to evade him as he used his senses to track him through the grounds of the estate. He also remarked that Kurt was one of the few people who could ever make him laugh. He then dropped the “Misfit” nickname and referred to Kurt as “Elf”, showing that he genuinely liked him.
Despite many years passing, the two have always remained friends, even when of different teams. When Kurt appeared to die, Logan almost broke at the loss of his best friend. When Kurt returned from heaven, the two shared an epic drinking session and walked out of the bar arm in arm as brothers.
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