In a tragic twist, Wolverine‘s son Akihiro has revealed that he’s abandoning his hero codename for a far darker title. While Akihiro began life as a villain, twisted and bitter after being turned against Wolverine by his enemies, recent years have seen him finally accept his father and fight as a heroic member of X-Factor. Sadly, as the mutant nation of Krakoa falls and mutantkind is plunged into a dark new era, Akihiro is undergoing a similarly disastrous transformation.

In a preview of Hellverine #2, Marvel makes it official that Akihiro is no longer going by his heroic ‘Fang’ codename. Having been possessed by the demonic Bagra-ghul, Akihiro has been brought back from death but with very little of his conscious mind remaining. Now, with a warped fusion of his father and Ghost Rider’s powers, Akihiro is forced to hunt evil on instinct, once again becoming a mindless weapon for someone else to point and fire.

The narration of the issue explicitly states that Akihiro is “no longer Fang,” cuing fans that the era of his hard-won hero name is over. Akihiro is now the Hellverine, having been possessed by a demon that once transformed his father into a similar form, and wants to rekindle the immense power it possessed at the time.

Akihiro Has Officially Become the Hellverine

The Bagra-ghul Has Stolen His Heroic Identity as Fang

During the end of X-Men‘s 2019-2024 Krakoan Era, Akihiro became one of the first casualties of the Sabretooth War. It was a tragic end for a hero who had only just begun to find himself, especially because it came just after mutants lost their combined ability to resurrect their fallen allies. Now, he’s become a fiery demon, as Hellverine #1 shockingly revealed that underneath the Hellverine’s fire is a confused, sewn-together Akihiro who can barely remember the life he used to have.

Fans first met the Hellverine in Wolverine #36​​​​​​​ (Benjamin Percy and Geoff Shaw), in which Logan and the Ghost Rider fought to defeat the Bagra-ghul. The Bagra-ghul was created by Mephisto when Marvel’s devil tired of normal suffering and wanted to create a new horror that would see murder as an art form. The Bagra-ghul ended up possessing Wolverine, turning him into a dark equivalent to the Ghost Rider. While Logan was eventually freed from demonic possession, the Bagra-ghul has somehow become entangled with Akihiro, transforming him into the Hellverine form taken by his father.

While this twist is a dark power upgrade for Akihiro, it’s also a heart-breaking new era for the young hero. Marvel confirming that Akihiro is “no longer Fang” indicates that the Hellverine isn’t a detour in Akihiro’s hero’s journey, but an entirely new direction that has stripped him of his past accomplishments and progress. Even if Logan can purge Akihiro of the Bagra-ghul, it’s unlikely he’ll reclaim his former name and everything it meant to him.

Akihiro’s Life Has Always Been Defined by His Codename

From Daken to Wolverine to Fang, Wolverine’s Son Fought His Way to Heroism

The son of Wolverine and Itsu, Akihiro was presumed dead when the Winter Soldier assassinated his mother. However, unbeknownst to Wolverine, Akihiro survived, with his young life orchestrated by the villain Romulus. Raised in secret, Akihiro was abused as Daken (“mongrel”), and it was under this name that he eventually confronted his father. Failing to kill Wolverine, Daken later joined Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers, taking the codename and costume of Wolverine to mock his father, and subsequently got his own Marvel title (and a new costume) in Dark Wolverine. Eventually, after Akihiro threatened to slaughter the children of Xavier’s school, Wolverine was forced to kill his son, injuring Akihiro and then drowning him in a puddle of dirty water.

Akihiro was later resurrected using Celestial technology, becoming a new Horseman of Death. Eventually purged of this immense, corrupting power, Akihiro reappraised his life and began establishing relationships with Wolverine’s other children, joining them on Krakoa and forging an improved relationship with his father. Now a hero, Akihiro earned the codename ‘Fang’ – bestowed on him by a member of the alien Lupak species, who reserve the name for their greatest warriors. Given the prior Fang’s connection to Wolverine, it was the perfect heroic identity for Akihiro, who was reunited with his family and ready to strike out on his own while still embracing Logan’s legacy and example.

Akihiro’s name has changed again and again, defining not just his identity but his purpose in the Marvel Universe. Becoming ‘Fang’ was Akihiro reaching a place of true heroism where his honor and altruism were recognized by an entire civilization. That’s what makes it so tragic that the Bagra-ghul has stripped away his identity as Fang, reinventing him once more as the Hellverine – a creature of pure instinct, suffering for the ‘sins’ of his father.

Not only has Akihiro been stripped of the humanity and dignity he spent so long reclaiming, but his suffering is arguably his father’s fault. Both the Bagra-ghul and Sabretooth only attacked Akihiro because of his link to Wolverine – a high price to pay for a father who was never there for him until he became a threat.

The Hellverine Is Sabretooth’s Perfect Revenge

Wolverine’s Nemesis Killed His Son, Dooming Him to Something Worse Than Death

Akihiro’s death happened in Wolverine #41, and it came at the hands of Wolverine’s nemesis Sabretooth, who had assembled a multiversal army to make Logan suffer like never before. The ‘Sabreteeth’ killed several people under Wolverine’s charge, including his protégé Quentin Quire. Not only did Sabretooth kill Akihiro, but he used his body parts to spell out a grisly “Happy Birthday” message – a reference to Sabretooth’s obsession with hurting Wolverine every year on his birthday. Thankfully, Wolverine eventually beat Sabretooth’s army, and ultimately diced his nemesis into pieces, finally killing off the villain who has dogged his steps for decades.

While Akihiro’s death was a tragedy, Wolverine was at least able to draw a line under Sabretooth’s repeated attacks on his family… or so it seemed. Akihiro’s return as a dangerous demonic force means that Sabretooth’s dark deeds live on, still causing suffering to Wolverine, his son, and any innocents caught in the middle of the Hellverine’s hunt for evil. It’s typical of Sabretooth to somehow still be hurting Logan from beyond the grave, though it does give Wolverine the chance to save his son rather than just avenging him.

Even if Wolverine can save his son from the Bagra-ghul, it’s clear that Akihiro’s days as Fang are over. That codename represented a time in his life when he was surrounded by friends and family, doing good work and finally making his own choices. Those days are over, and while Wolverine may be able to save his son from the Hellverine’s fire, he can’t bring back what that fire burned away.

Hellverine #2 is coming June 26 from Marvel Comics.