Summary
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Annihilation 2099 #1!Wolverine’s healing factor is nigh-unbeatable, as the X-Men hero can recover from practically any injury impossibly quickly - at least, that’s what fans thought, before theHulkproved otherwise. Wolverine and the Hulk have had their fair number of memorable battles, but their latest one is easily the most impactful, especially when consideringWolverine’s healing factor weaknesses, as Marvel Comics ties it into Hulk’s gamma lore.
InAnnihilation 2099#1 “The Last Nova” by Steve Orlando and Ibraim Roberson, it’s revealed that in the future of this alternate reality within the Marvel Comics multiverse,Wolverine became Nova, and he did so under decidedly unique circumstances. Logan was a part of an experimental procedure that imbued his very cells with the Nova Force. This was done as a last-ditch effort to create ‘Super Nova Soldiers’ to battle bug-like invaders from another dimension, and Wolverine’s healing factor made him the perfect candidate.
While the Nova Corps’s reasons for turning Wolverine into an ultra-powerful version of Nova was to fight interdimensional space bugs, Logan’s reasons were initially a bit less altruistic. Logan signed up for this experimentation because he quite literally had nothing to lose, and his body suffered immense injury from a previous fight against ‘the Hulks’, which was indicated by Wolverine’s missing arm, as well as other injuries that simply wouldn’t heal. The reason his injuries wouldn’t heal is summed up by Wolverine himself when he says, “Mighta been the gamma, the third, weird kind… but the wounds just wouldn’t mend”.
Can Adamantium Cut the Hulk’s Skin? Marvel Already Gave Fans a Definitive Answer
Hulk is a being of immense strength whose power source is of supernatural origin and who gets stronger the madder he gets. So, can adamantium cut him?
Hulk’s Gamma is the Perfect Anti-Healing Factor Weapon Against Wolverine
Despite not seeing this fight on-panel, or witnessing first-hand the apparently brutal ruthlessness of ‘the Hulks’, Wolverine’s latest conflict against the Jade Giant (or, at least, alternate versions of him) is perhaps his most significant, as it reveals the Hulk’s gamma works as an anti-healing factor weapon. Granted, it seems Wolverine ran into a mutated or otherwise alternate version of Hulk’s gamma when fighting the Hulks, but based on what fans know about Hulk’s gamma lore, it all comes from the same place.
As revealed inThe Immortal Hulk, gamma has supernatural qualities that are tied directly to the Below-Place, a hellish underworld accessed only by gamma-mutates, and ruled over by the One Below All (secretly the One Above All). Therefore, given that gamma is backed up by the most powerful entity in any Marvel Universe, it’s safe to assume that it has the potential to become something that would act as a ‘kryptonite’ to Wolverine’s healing factor, and fans are seeing the result of that right now.
Hulk Being Responsible for Wolverine’s Greatest Upgrade is Absolutely Perfect
Even though Hulk’s gamma evidently became something of a ‘kryptonite’ for Wolverine’s healing factor, that fact made Logan’s Nova upgrade possible. Wolverine would never have signed up to be experimented on by the Nova Corps if not for the Hulks. That means the Hulk is directly responsible for Wolverine’s greatest upgrade, and that’s absolutely perfect. As most fans know, Wolverine was introduced in anIncredible Hulkcomic, before he ever became an X-Men hero. Therefore, this new evolution in Wolverine’s character is the perfect callback to his first appearance, which is an awesome detail that makes this story even better.
While this new addition to Wolverine’s personal lore in regard to his healing factor was only established in the 2099 reality of the Marvel multiverse, it’s very possible that the same is true in Earth-616, even if Wolverine (or Hulk) doesn’t even know it. However, with this comic, fans certainly know it, as it was just revealed thatWolverine’s healing factor kryptonite is tied toHulk’s gamma.
