Warning: Contains SPOILERS for What If… Venom #2! Wolverine is no stranger to the Venom symbiote in Marvel Comics canon, as he’s worn it more than a few times himself, across a number of different storylines – and now, he’s doing so again. Only this time, there’s an air of insidiousness to his overall appearance. The look itself is relatively the same – it is a classic ‘Venomized Wolverine’, after all – but the energy it gives is downright terrifying, and the storyline surrounding this new look may explain why.
In a preview for What If… Venom #2 by Jeremy Holt and Tadam Gyadu, Sabretooth is carrying a secure package on his back as he walks into a bar where Wolverine is having a drink. Victor Creed has stolen a symbiote, and he intends to sell it to the highest bidder. However, when Logan hears word of Sabretooth’s villainous actions, he decides to step in and take him down.
Throughout their fight, Sabretooth taunts Wolverine. Victor says that Logan has gone soft after joining his ‘cult’, the X-Men. He says that anyone willing to get their hands dirty for free – meaning superheroes – are suckers, and that Wolverine isn’t the warrior he once was when Victor first met him in the Weapon Plus Program. During his incessant taunts, Sabretooth is soundly defeating Wolverine, pummeling him into the ground before taking his leave. And it’s at that moment that Wolverine accidentally sliced open Sabretooth’s pack, and unleashed the Venom symbiote.
Bonding with Venom While Fighting Sabretooth is the Scariest Thing Wolverine Could Do
Sabretooth has always brought out the worst in Wolverine in every way imaginable. Sabretooth is a living, breathing reminder of the vicious animal Wolverine could be if he just let go of his moral code. Indeed, Sabretooth actively tries to remind Wolverine of this every year on Logan’s birthday by either attacking him outright, or murdering someone close to him, and thereby initiating conflict.
No matter what, anytime Wolverine and Sabretooth are around each other, it’s almost guaranteed that Wolverine will lose control and accept the vicious animal that he has raging inside of him – and the fight in this preview is no exception. Right as Sabretooth is beating Wolverine to a pulp while calling him weak and soft, Wolverine lashes out at him in unthinking rage, and a moment later, Logan is engulfed by a symbiote – a being that heightens feelings of hatred and aggression to a cosmic degree.
Marvel Comics May Have Given Life to the Deadliest Venom in History
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and now he’s pissed off with a symbiote!
It wouldn’t be surprising if the very next panel after the end of the preview is a Venomized Wolverine (as featured on the cover) brutally killing Sabretooth, ripping him to pieces. At that point, the Venomized Wolverine would fly into a berserker rage and wouldn’t be able to stop. Taken to the streets, this hellish monster Wolverine would become would slash innocents to bits, consuming their heads for sustenance, and never slowing down given his mutation and symbiote enhancements. Of course, that’s just a theory based on what was shown in the preview, but it seems more than likely.
Not only does Wolverine look more sinister as Venom on the cover of this preview than he’s ever seen wearing the symbiote, but the fight with Sabretooth right before he bonds with Venom implies the resulting symbiosis will not be pretty. In other words, Wolverine’s new Venom form is absolutely horrifying, and only time will tell exactly how brutal he’ll prove to be.
What If… Venom #2 by Marvel Comics is available March 13, 2024.
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