When it comes to healing factors, Wolverine‘s may be more famous than Thor‘s, but the God of Thunder’s just might be a little better. Both Avengers benefit from a healing factor that allows them to recover from almost any wound or damage, despite one being a mutant and the other a god. While both characters’ healing has limits, Wolverine has been able to pass his healing onto other individuals through blood transfusions. However, the blood of Thor and his fellow Asgardians was able to cure a mutant virus that threatened to consume the entire universe.
In Exiles #20-23 by writer Judd Winick and artist Jim Calafiore, the Exiles continue their mission to repair the multiverse and arrive at a world whose mutant population is being ravaged by the Legacy Virus. As the virus continues to wipe out thousands, the New Mutants’ Warlock attempts to save his teammate, Cypher. He tries to use his Phalanx abilities to merge with his friend in the hope that it will cancel out the virus, but this plan backfires as the merger mutates the virus into something completely different. This new virus is no longer limited to mutants but remains highly contagious to all lifeforms, transforming some into technological zombie-like entities while others dubbed “Vi-Locks” maintain their intelligence and strength. By the time the Exiles arrive, the Vi-Locks have infected much of the Earth’s population, which includes many notable superhumans. The Exiles’ mission is to obtain a sample of Cypher’s DNA that can be used to synthesize a cure.
After their efforts fail and leave Exiles leader Blink infected, the Exiles learn that they must now destroy this Earth to protect this universe and other worlds from falling to the Vi-Locks. While the Avengers prepare to fly a ship packed with nuclear weapons on a suicide mission to destroy their base and the planet itself, the Exiles’ Morph has a better idea. He recruits the X-Men’s Rachel Summers to use her telepathy to send out a distress call. Fortunately, the call is answered and in the eleventh hour, Thor and his fellow Asgardians appear, ready to help. The mission is called off at the last minute as the Asgardian blood is mixed with an earlier healing serum to not only cure the virus, but to eventually restore its hosts to their previous states.
Besides his adamantium-laced skeleton and expendable claws, Wolverine is best known for his healing factor, which has allowed him to become one of Marvel’s best and most relentless heroes. Logan has healed from almost anything ranging from wounds to even regenerating his body from a drop of blood. One could argue that Wolverine’s healing factor is better than Thor’s, who can heal but has limits on regenerating severed body parts. But Logan’s blood has never been used to save an entire world from a zombie infection.
Thor and his Asgardian family’s absence has been noted in multiple worlds the Exiles have visited, but Morph bankeson the hope that their nobility and generosity remains consistent in any universe, especially when it came to answering a call. The Avengers and Exiles celebrate alongside their new friends as this victory not only saves the planet but helps the Exiles complete their mission. When one of the Exiles returns to this Earth some time later, they find that most of the Vi-Locks have been cured and the world is rebuilding itself altogether in the aftermath. While Thor couldn’t be more different than Wolverine, this instance proves his healing factor may not be as dramatic but its definitely worthy of his legend.
