Warning: Spoilers for X-Men #8!
In Marvel Comics, Laura Kinney aka Wolverine, and fellow X-Men member, Synch, were once involved in a centuries-long love affair that was essentially erased after an unfortunate series of events took away one of their memories, and now Marvel’s just made that relationship way weirder than it needs to be. Taking a few years to warm up to one another is realistic enough, but taking over two centuries to make the first move is a totally different story.
Made weird in X-Men #8, by Gerry Duggan and Javier Pina, this issue sees the newly elected X-Men team consisting of Wolverine, Synch, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Polaris, and Captain Krakoa aka Cyclops, as they are tasked with taking down the villain known as M.O.D.O.K. as he ruthlessly terrorizes a cruise ship at sea. Dropping in on the ship from the air, Wolverine and Synch are paired up on this mission, giving them a chance to have some alone time as they beat up A.I.M. agents on their hunt for M.O.D.O.K.
Fighting off other crazed crew members that have been drugged against their will, Laura and Synch talk telepathically as they continue their beatdowns. And after Synch, referencing the pair’s mission and romantic relationship during their centuries-long stint in a time dilated place called The Vault, decides that he doesn’t want Wolverine to “have this burden” of dumping “five hundred years of hard road” on her shoulders, Wolverine asks one question that effectively turns their entire romantic dynamic into something a bit more creepy.
Asking, “How long did it take for me to warm up to you?” Wolverine is told by Synch that it was, “A couple of…years…couple of hundred years,” to which Wolverine cheekily replies, “Broke me down that fast?” no doubt referencing her stringent and standoffish nature. But what makes things super creepy for these X-Men members is Synch’s response when he says, “Hell, it was 217 years before our first kiss, but who was counting?” Talk about an awkward centuries-in-the-making first date!
Resurrected after being killed just before exiting The Vault, Wolverine remembers next to nothing about her and Synch’s time together. And even under “normal” circumstances, a two hundred year lead-up for a first kiss is wildly weird in a sense that not only were the two trapped in a hostile world, on the run together, living in close proximity, and saving each others’ lives on a daily basis, but Synch being a good guy and Laura clearly being indifferent to the idea for so long adds a weird element to their potential rekindled romance that might just be better off left alone.
So while it’d be great to see these two find each other romantically again, starting to become an item after spending centuries together calls into question what their true feelings for one another really are, especially considering that in the real world, there would never be enough time for this relationship to organically develop in the first place. Wolverine and Synch might make a good team, but the real question is whether they would still make a good couple as well.
