Laura Kinney aka Wolverine is about to jump into an all-new X-Men series, NYX, where she and a team of mutant heroes will take to the streets of New York to fight for their very right to exist in a world that hates them. With the Fall of X era coming to an end, the stage has been set for this epic new chapter in Laura Kinney’s X-Men history, and fans get a sneak peek into exactly how epic it’s going to be with the release of new variant covers featuring Wolverine being an absolute badass.

In a release from Marvel, the publisher gave fans a first-look at three variant covers for NYX #1 (written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, illustrated by Francesco Mortarino). Each one features Laura Kinney as she adapts to her post-Krakoa life in New York City.

The first variant cover is a full-body image of Wolverine brandishing her claws, an ‘x’ sliced into the wall behind her, with blood splattered around it. The second features Laura jumping into a horde of enemies, claws drawn, screaming a battle cry that will fuel her assured rampage. The third is a bit humorous compared to the other two, as it shows a paranoid Wolverine peeking through window blinds, seemingly looking out for an enemy she does not want to catch her off guard.

Laura Kinney’s Wolverine is Returning to Her Debut Series in a BIG Way

Laura Kinney was introduced as X-23 in NYX #3 by Joe Quesada and Joshua Middleton

Laura Kinney being featured so prominently in the upcoming NYX #1 ahead of the new series perfectly honors her legacy in Marvel Comics, considering NYX is quite literally where she got her start. Laura was introduced as X-23 in the original 1999 series as an underage prostitute in New York City. She was discovered by another mutant after killing the man who paid to spend the night with her, thus beginning her journey from abused child to valiant hero.

Laura Kinney being portrayed as a powerful, vicious, and even funny character on these covers not only honors her legacy by calling back to her origin, but it allows her to reshape her own story. Laura was scared and abused in the original NYX. She had to be saved from a living nightmare by other mutants with the power to do so. Now, Laura Kinney is returning to the NYX series, not as X-23, but as Wolverine. And this time, she’s the one who’ll be doing the saving, something that’s made abundantly clear with these variant covers.

Laura Kinney’s Latest Feat Proves She Can Handle Anything

Wolverine #47 by Benjamin Percy, Victor LaValle, and Cory Smith

Laura’s most recent conflict was against an entire Orchis ship filled with Sabretooth variants from across the multiverse. These are the same variants that defeated Logan and killed Akihiro only a few issues earlier, and Laura was even at more of a disadvantage, as she was being held prisoner. Yet even with the odds stacked against her, Wolverine kills multiple cyborg Sabretooths and the female Sabretooth variant, all before aiming a legion of Stark Sentinels at the ship itself. Laura surpassed two previous ‘Wolverines’ with this feat alone, meaning she’s more than ready for anything NYX will throw at her.

Even without hard proof that Laura Kinney’s Wolverine is more than ready for her upcoming NYX storyline, these variant covers give that impression perfectly, as they depict this X-Men hero reclaiming her own personal story by taking the fight for mutants to the streets of New York – the same streets where she so desperately once needed a hero herself.

NYX #1 by Marvel Comics is available July 27, 2024.

Source: Marvel