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Wolverine has had many clones over the years but those made from his ‘daughter’ might be even more powerful.
From the moment he set foot in the Marvel Universe, Wolverine has enthralled fans with his grim and gritty methods and unstoppable nature, the latter of which has long made him a target for those who would exploit his powers for their own gain. Most famously, those nefarious forces have come in the form of top secret programs such as Weapon Plus, or the Facility that followed it. While the Facility led to the creation of Laura Kinney as an heir to Logan’s bloody legacy, it was the efforts of Alchemax that gave rise to Laura’s own clones, whose own tragic story seems to have faded into obscurity.
Shortly after trading the mantle of X-23 for that of Wolverine following Logan’s then apparent death, Laura Kinney carried on her father’s heroic work in Paris where she encountered a superpowered assassin with eerily familiar skills. Once the killer was unmasked following their abrupt suicide in 2015’s All-New Wolverine #1 by Tom Taylor, David Lopez, and David Navarrot, it became clear that the assailant was none other than a clone of Laura herself.
She discovered the clone she had confronted was only one of 10 created in secret by Alchemax, all with significant changes compared to the original. Unlike Laura, these clones, known as the Sisters, lacked her healing factor and claws, as well as the inability to sense pain at the expense of their lifespans. This revelation, on top of the fact that six of the Sisters had been killed under Alchemax’s watch, led the survivors to turn against their creators, something which Laura could more than relate to.
Understanding how little time the Sisters had left, Laura turned to every ally she could think of to save them, from Doctor Strange to Janet Van Dyne. Thanks to the Wasp’s intervention, Zelda was indeed saved from the Alchemax nanites that had been implanted in her brain, though she couldn’t be saved from the damage done when Alchemax forces caught up to them. With only two Sisters left — the young Gabby and stalwart Bellona — Laura hatched a plan to infiltrate Alchemax and bring an end to the horrors they had wrought. For everything they had been through, Gabby and Bellona both set their sights set on taking the lives of those who had orchestrated their fates, yet Gabby’s innate desire to be good was greater than any bloodlust she felt at the time. While she let her creator live, albeit in fear of what she might do if she was ever sought out again, Bellona’s only desire was to see her sister go free. To that end, she bargained her own life away.
While Gabby would go on to follow along in Laura’s footsteps before coming to find a new home on Krakoa, Bellona found herself at the mercy of Kimura, Laura’s own former handler at the Facility. Under Kimura’s command, Bellona framed her sister for a brutal slaughter, leading Laura to end up as an enemy of the state until the truth finally surfaced during a confrontation between S.H.I.E.L.D. forces and Kimura’s own. Once the dust settled, Bellona owned up to everything she had done, surrendering to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody for the crimes she had committed. Of course, that was all before the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. during 2017’s Secret Empire, leaving her fate as of now just as much of a mystery as her origin was when Bellona first appeared over half a decade ago.
Bellona’s undying dedication to her fellow Sisters has always been the foremost aspect of her character, even when that same dedication drove her to commit horrific acts of violence. Like Laura and Logan before her, Bellona knows all to well what it’s like to become a pawn in someone else’s game, let alone the most brutal one on the board, so it’s hard to imagine she would find herself in that position again, should she resurface.
Then again, it’s hard to imagine that she would have escaped from the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D. and not sought out what little family she has left. Whatever the case may be, there is no doubt that Bellona will make a comeback at some point in the future. Here’s hoping that she is on the same side as Laura and Gabby whenever she does.
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