By [ad_1]
Secret Wars briefly introduced a pacifist Monk Wolverine — who couldn’t bring his various multiversal counterparts to calm their rage.
In almost any situation, Wolverine is quick to deploy lethal moves or his berserker rage. He’s done his best to control this side of himself over the course of his time with the X-Men, but there’s always been a question if Logan could ever truly quell his rage. It turns out that in at least one reality, he did — but that it couldn’t help others.
One variant of Wolverine was revealed in Secret Wars to have fully overcome the character’s traditional love of violence and mayhem to become Monk Wolverine. But sadly, no other variant — even when confronted by this possibility — seemed even tempted to put aside their berserker impulses, suggesting it’s next to impossible for any Wolverine to overcome this side of their personality.
Secret Wars: Battleworld was an anthology series set during the massive events of Secret Wars. Each story focused on a different corner of Battle-World, the patchwork reality created and controlled by Doctor Doom. The various realities cobbled together allowed for multiple incarnations of multiple characters to exist alongside each other and even confront one another at times. One of the most distinct examples of this occurred in the story “A Thousand Cuts” by Ivan Brandon, Aaron Conley, and Ryan Browne. A surviving Mojo caught attention by pitting various forces against one another for the enjoyment of others, with one of his most popular streams being a free-for-all between various variants of Wolverine.
Numerous incarnations of the character — some from previous stories and other unique incarnations of the character — quickly went to war with one another in a massive and brutal battle. But there was one Wolverine who was different: Monk Wolverine. Hailing from the previously unseen Earth-15093, this variant of Logan was able to do what almost no other had done before — find inner peace. He’d learned to control the trademark temper that had largely defined multiple incarnations of Wolverine. When a battle between other Logans interrupts his meditation, he doesn’t respond in anger. He asks if he can help, and literally walks off a brutal stabbing by one of his variants while openly forgiving the transgression.
Monk Wolverine attempted to convince his other variants that they need not fight, but couldn’t stop them from trying to attack him and start a fight. Despite all their attempts — and even a rallying cry from the other Wolverines to join the massive brawl — Monk Wolverine refused to raise claws against the other variants of Logan. The story ends with Monk Wolverine meditating and embracing the peace at his core, despite the numerous terrifying and ruthless variants of himself that quickly surrounded him with murderous intent. On the one hand, it’s promising to know that at least in one Marvel Universe, Wolverine was able to truly find peace. Other storylines — like What If…? #111’s Brother Xavier — introduced versions of Wolverine who eventually found peace after a bloody and grisly life of violence.
But Monk Wolverine appears to be an even calmer one, a Logan in his prime who learned to never give into his rage — or had overcome it, similar to the Zenpool version of Deadpool from AXIS. But there’s also a great deal of tragedy that comes with the event. His encounter with his other variants showed that even a peaceful Wolverine couldn’t calm any of the other versions of him. Wolverine has often been defined by his rage, and has tried to learn how to control it multiple times over the years to no avail. It’s heartening to know that it’s possible, but the fact that none of the other Wolverine copies even seem tempted to renounce violence speaks to how innately violence comes to the long-time X-Man, despite whatever efforts he’s made to embrace the peaceful teachings of others.
About The Author
[ad_2]
