Join me as I read all Ultimate Marvel stories. Today, we continue the saga of the X-Men with Ultimate X-Men #7-12. This story arc features a glimpse into Wolverine’s past. I collected these in the trade paperback Ultimate X-Men vol. 2: Return to Weapon X. You can also read them online with Marvel Unlimited.
Recap
Back in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #1, we saw Sabretooth and other Weapon X agents try to capture Wolverine. Having now found a home among the X-Men, Wolverine decides to find his old captors and put an end to the program. We know Weapon X is part of a government initiative, but in these issues, they are revealed to be a division of S.H.I.E.L.D.
With Wolverine out, Colonel Wraith uses his mutant prisoners: Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Juggernaut, and captures Charles Xavier and the rest of the X-Men. Now prisoners, the X-Men are forced to perform black ops work for Weapon X.
One of their missions includes rescuing Nick Fury, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who has been captured by enemy forces. Fury was involved with Weapon X about a decade ago, and he had an encounter with Wolverine at that time.
Ready to resign, the X-Men accept their fate as Weapon X prisoners, until Wolverine arrives to rescue them with the help of Nick Fury.
Review
I complained that the first issues of Ultimate X-Men were too dark, gritty, and edgy. But Return to Weapon X increases these qualities twofold. Once again, Millar shows us how dark the Ultimate Universe really is. Weapon X is an organization that kidnaps and tortures mutants for military gain. But they are also a division of S.H.I.E.L.D., the world peacekeeping force, and to our eyes, the “good guys”.
Ignore the happy ending in the previous arc, where the X-Men were in good terms with the President of the U.S. The reality is that military forces operate in the background, and these forces will continue their abuse and genocide on mutants.
We even get to see the antagonist, Wraith, succeed in turning one of our heroes into a murderer. Yet, despite all the darkness, there is a ray of hope. The authors don’t just leave us with an image of a dark, cruel world. Instead, Weapon X’s greatest creation, Wolverine, shows us that it’s possible to come back. We learn with this storyline that even though others will do all they can to turn our heroes into monsters, good can prevail.
At this point in reading the Ultimate Universe, I’ve noticed how much influence it has had on the early 2000’s movies (Spider-Man, X-Men, and their sequels). Both Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men have done a great job of placing these characters into a modern context.
Score: 7/10
Return to Weapon X takes some of the bad qualities of its previous issues and amps them up. Despite this, the writing and art were able to immerse me into the story and feel the bleak, hopelessness its characters felt.
About Author
