The Winter Soldier Secretly Helped Create WOLVERINE

On the list of dark and disturbing superhero origins, Wolverine‘s is certainly up there. Captured by sinister government agents of for his extraordinary healing abilities and bone claws, Wolverine underwent massive experimentation and trauma in the organization’s goal in turning him into a living weapon.

Wolverine eventually escapes their clutches, although, remembering almost nothing of his past thanks to their brainwashing. However, when all of those repressed and locked away memories come rushing back in Wolverine: Origins and Endings, Logan remembers that someone helped in his escape from the government facility: Bucky, the Winter Soldier, and former sidekick to Captain America.

The government agents who experimented on Wolverine were part of the Weapon X Program, which sought to experiment on mutants and their abilities in order to turn them into deadly tools for their own purposes. In Logan’s case, this resulted in the program encasing his entire skeleton with molten adamantium, one of the strongest metals in the Marvel Universe. Thanks to his healing factor that makes him near unkillable, Wolverine was able to survive the process, which made him stronger, deadlier, and more fearsome. Had Bucky not aided in his release, Wolverine would have most likely remained a living government weapon, thanks to the trauma and intensive brainwashing that was meant to keep him in line.

In Wolverine: Origins and Endings, Logan remembers Bucky’s hand in his release and sets out to find him, having several questions about his past. Logan wants to know why Bucky released him, and why Bucky was even at the Weapon X program to begin with. It should be noted that Bucky himself was kidnapped and brainwashed as well by the Russian government, and also trained to be a living weapon as the Winter Solider. Unfortunately, the reason why Winter Solider chose to release Wolverine remains ambiguous, as an even bigger reveal overshadows it. Once Logan finds Bucky, Bucky assumes Wolverine is seeking revenge against him. This is because Winter Soldier was tasked with killing Wolverine’s wife and unborn son, with their murders being what drew Wolverine out into the open allowing Weapon X to apprehend and experiment on him in the first place.

While the specific reason for why Bucky chose to then later release Wolverine is still a mystery, there’s potentially a couple of options. Perhaps, Bucky’s government handlers wanted to end their relationship with Weapon X, and wanted to see it fail. Or, perhaps, this was an example of Bucky resisting his Winter Soldier programming in some small way by freeing the man he had once grievously wronged, regardless of him being under orders or not. In any case, Bucky is a crucial piece in the origins of Wolverine. If Bucky hadn’t done what he did (the murders and release of Logan regardless of the reason), Logan would have never found his way to the X-Men and become the hero he is now. Furthermore, it’s some great poetic symmetry to have one character who resisted their brainwashing into a living weapon being aided by another in a likewise position, both of whom eventually become some of the Marvel Universe’s greatest superheroes.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
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Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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