Warning: Spoilers for Wolverine #1!Wolverine has had many loves, but his new Marvel series makes the case that his biggest love isn’t Jean Grey, and it’s not Storm – but in fact, the fellow mutant hero he can always count on is none other than Nightcrawler. Logan has had plenty of romances at Marvel over the years, but his friendship with Kurt Wagner is perhaps his deepest emotional bond in his history.
Wolverine #1 – Written by Saladin Ahmed, with art by Martin Coccolo – Makes the case that Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s connection runs deeper than any of the romantic entanglements Logan has been a part of. Over the years. As it turns out, Nightcrawler loves Wolverine enough to find Wolverine when he’s lost, in more ways than one.
When Wolverine needs guidance, it’s Nightcrawler who comes to his rescue, as any true love would. Their love is beyond romance and, in many ways, resonates more strongly than anything Logan has with Storm or Jean Grey.
Nightcrawler loves Wolverine enough to track him down when no one else will
Wolverine #1 – Written by Saladin Ahmed; Art by Martin Coccolo, Brian Valenza and VC’s Corey Petit
Wolverine left the island of Krakoa shortly before his fall began through the 2023 Hellfire Gala, or rather the Orchis invasion of it. What was once a paradise for the X-Men and mutant society becomes a personal hell for him, thanks to his feud with Beast. It didn’t help that from the outside looking in, he watched Charles Xavier’s dream gradually die away during the Orchis rivalry, especially as Professor X helped Orchis by betraying the X-Men. After that, Wolverine was hellbent on killing Xavier, further lowering his morale. It would lead to him deciding to leave the X-Men altogether.
in Wolverine #1…Mr. Wagner explains his mission statement: “I’m here to save [Wolverine] of himself.”
Wolverine #1 picks up sometime after the events of X-Men #1, where Wolverine told Cyclops he was leaving the team. In search of a new goal, Wolverine has found a pack of wolves to call his own. That changes when Saber – Wolverine’s former commanding officer – strolls into the woods ready to torment his former student. Not only does Saber kill a group of mountaineers there in the Canadian Northern Territories, where Wolverine has taken up residence, but Saber kills Wolverine’s pack.
That’s when Nightcrawler enters the picture, determined to look for his friend, and hopefully convince him to return to the X-Men, just as Kurt’s sister Rogue is building her own team in Invisible X-Men. Nightcrawler monologues about how much he cares for friends like Wolverine, especially in the way that he’s isolated himself away from not only the other mutants, but the rest of society. This is the moment in Wolverine #1 What Mr. Wagner explains His mission statement: “I’m here to save [Wolverine] of himself.”
The mutual love between Nightcrawler and Wolverine emphasizes their decades-long bond
Wolverine #1 – Available now from Marvel Comics
A declaration like that is usually reserved for one lover to another, and the idea is not exactly wrong. The love between Nightcrawler and Wolverine is not romantic, but it is as strong as a romance between Logan and Jean Grey, or his feelings for Storm. Nightcrawler is not alone in his feelings, as evident by Wolverine being surprised that he didn’t immediately recognize Kurt’s scent when they finally do cross paths. Recognizing a smell could be considered an act of intimacy if it was between Logan and one of his partners, but clearly, the love for his best friend resonates just as strongly.
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Speaking of Nightcrawler’s scent, it’s a testament to their love that Wolverine’s unrelenting blind rage can be calmed just by smelling Nightcrawler. He doesn’t recognize it right away because he’s so blinded by anger after finding his killed pack, but when he takes a moment to smell Nightcrawler’s teleportation residue, it’s enough to stop him in his tracks. Few, not even lovers, have been able to calm down Wolverine when he’s on a rampage like this, but Kurt can. Based on his mere presence alone without saying much of a word.
The understated friendship between Wolverine and Nightcrawler, explored in more detail
Their dynamic has been a staple through the years
The friendship between Wolverine and Nightcrawler is not a new development, as it has been flourishing for decades at this point. As Nightcrawler actually mentioned in passing Wolverine #1, both he and Wolverine were introduced to the team at the same time, as both were acclaimed to the roster in Giant-sized X-Men #1. Naturally, it makes sense for Their friendship quickly blossomed on the team among the newest recruits, and it has endured through triumph and tragedy ever since.
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One prime example of their friendship comes in Invisible X-Men #524, after the death of Kurt Wagner. Logan was among the first to find Kurt’s dead body, and he looked visibly shaken at the sight of his “Elf.” He looks even more broken up later in the issue. He fights through his rage to deliver an embarrassing eulogy, in which Logan praises Kurt for never treating him. “Like a damned animal,” but instead, “Kurt was the only guy who ever looked me in the eye like a person, and talked to me like one, and treated me like one.”
Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s friendship is essential to X-Men because it resonates with readers
Name a more iconic duo
It is most interesting to think about such a monologue in the context of his past loves. It’s undeniable that, respectively, Storm and Jean Gray loved him in different ways, but even they saw him as a monster in ways that Kurt refused to see Logan as. As two men accused of being or looking monstrous, Wolverine and Nightcrawler shared an understanding that no other member of the X-Men could relate to.And so the love became a beautiful friendship.
The second in the duo Wolverine #1 is another testament to the kind of rare empathy and humanity that Nightcrawler is able to draw out of Wolverine.
moreover, Wolverine: Weapon X #16 picks up on Nightcrawler’s death, and this is where Wolverine’s love for Kurt shines the brightest. Archangel delivers Logan his best friend’s dying wish: donate a $20,000 grand piano to a mountaintop in Venezuela to give to a church. Because of bad weather, Wolverine goes out of his way to spend eight days dragging the piano up the mountain, refusing to let Kurt’s last request go unheeded. Remember, this is the same Wolverine who doesn’t share Kurt’s religious beliefs, but that doesn’t stop him from fulfilling the will.
Despite the lengths he has to go, Wolverine shows little hesitation in going to those lengths for the sake of the love they share. It’s unlikely that Wolverine would be so willing to do something like this for any of his lovers, but he would for Nightcrawler, someone willing to dredge through the snowy mountains of Canada to save his friend from himself. The second in the duo Wolverine #1 is another testament to the kind of rare empathy and humanity that Nightcrawler is able to pull out of Wolverine What others – even Logan’s romantic partners – struggle to.
Wolverine #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.