Warning: Contains SPOILERS for X-Men #29
Wolverine is known for his incredible regenerative abilities, which are a large part of enabling him to do what he does best. Since Logan’s first appearance, the strength of his healing factor has exponentially grown; with various flashback stories, retcons, and Marvel Comics’ own sliding timescale, this has led to more than a few inconsistencies. However, a brief interaction with his fellow X-Men finally explained Wolverine’s most confusing healing feats.
X-Men #29 – by Gerry Duggan, Joshua Cassara, Marte Gracia, and VC’s Clayton Cowles – finds the mutant squad, desperate for allies against Orchis, seeking the help of Doctor Doom and his Latverian Legion of Mutants. The battle doesn’t exactly go the X-Men’s way, with Wolverine especially taking the brunt of the damage, as usual.
Once the initial conflict is settled, Doom treats the X-Men to his trademark hospitality with a massive feast. Shadowkat is initially hesitant when she sees Wolverine digging into the food, but Logan says, “Don’t, ‘Kat. I need a lotta calories when I heal, and they rolled us.” With that one sentence, Wolverine clears up decades of continuity questions.
Deadpool’s Healing Factor is The Opposite of Wolverine’s, Not The Same
Deadpool and Wolverine seem as though they have the same exact healing factors, but the two abilities are opposites and perfectly suited for each!
Wolverine’s Healing Factor Has Never Made Sense
Wolverine’s healing factor has always been part of his character, but the extent to which he can heal has steadily increased over time, with very little explanation. Initially, it would take Logan days to recover from wounds that the contemporary version would hardly be noticed. Once, a conflict with Lady Deathstrike pushed Wolverine’s healing factor to the point where he was still recovering from these wounds several issues later. These days, Logan would likely have recovered from this fight by the next page.
However, the seeming incongruities of how Wolverine’s healing factor has been depicted are explained by the new context provided by X-Men #29. Logan’s healing rate is fueled by caloric intake.
The knowledge that Wolverine’s healing correlates to how many calories he has eaten instantly clarifies why Logan’s healing has been so inconsistent at various times. After all, despite Logan’s struggles surviving against these earlier attacks, fans have also seen Wolverine survive being disintegrated down to the bone by a nuclear warhead, and other similarly impossible feats of rejuvenation. Even Logan’s frequent habit of getting ridiculously drunk shouldn’t be possible thanks to his healing factor, but X-Men #29’s calorie explanation conveniently allows for the effectiveness of Wolverine’s mutant power to vary from story to story, providing a simple, but effective retcon.
Logan’s Diet Is His Greatest Strength
Wolverine remains one of the X-Men’s most popular icons, even if the exact science behind his healing factor has long been as nebulous as his signature murky history. Most long-running X-franchise characters’ powers have developed significantly since their first appearance, at times with story explanation, and at times simply as a natural progression. X-Men #29’s simple, yet ingenious explanation for what fuels Wolverine’s healing factor retcon conveniently writes away many of the questions that fans might have had about the strength of Logan’s X-Gene. Either way, it seems that Wolverine truly is unkillable – at least so long as he has three square meals a day, minimum.
X-Men #29 is available now from Marvel Comics.
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