Wolverine lore changes forever as Marvel debuts unbreakable metal better than adamantium

The unbreakable adamantium that Rec Wolverine‘s Bones and Claws has long been considered Marvel’s most powerful metal, but now Logan discovers its devastating equal. X-Men is currently in the early stages of its new ‘From the Ashes’ era, which introduces many new twists to Marvel’s latest lore. Unfortunately, this pits Wolverine against a new villain—one who has a dark response to adamantium.

In Gail Simone, David Marquez, Matt Wilson and Clayton Cowles. Invisible X-Men #3Rogue’s team attempts to train four young mutants who are being pursued by a mysterious enemy. When Wolverine leaves the group, telling Rogue that he is not ready to play mentor to a new class of young mutants, he is accosted by the enemy that has been chasing Rogue’s class – the witch monster Sarah Gaunt, aka The Hag.

Sadly for Wolverine, the hag has a major advantage. Not only is she masked by Wolverine’s enhanced senses, But her nails are coated in a new metal called “Somber Steel” – One that matches up to Wolverine’s adamantium. The metal is of mystical origin, with Gaunt claiming it was made from these “Shattered Blades of Assassins.” However, while it is unbreakable, Somber Steel also has an additional advantage over Logan’s adamantium – it can shape shift, as Gaunt demonstrates when her claws screw through Wolverine’s body.

Marvel debuts Somber Steel thanks to the wild Sarah Gaunt

The mystical metal is made from the reforged weapons of assassins

Although the hag is a mysterious villain so far, fans know that she is an old enemy of Charles Xavier who wants to put the final nail in the coffin of his legacy, targeting his former students to do so. Sarah Gaunt has been chasing the new class of Rogue, but she seems to have a greater plan and understanding of how to fight Xavier’s mutant heroes, even managing to get the hang of Wolverine, which is basically impossible.

It makes sense that the main new threat is magical in nature, since adamantium is not challenging as the premier unbreakable metal. Somber Steel’s otherworldly origin shows why Logan hasn’t encountered it beforeAnd its relatively rare ingredient of murderous weapons makes it something that actually has a chance to stick around in Marvel lore, rather than an overpowered one-hit wonder. The Hag claims that the master can hear the screams of all the victims whose death empowered the somber steel, and it can clearly be attached to existing claws in the same way as adamonium.

Of course, the most shocking ability is taking a direct hit from Wolverine’s adamantium claws without any signs of damage, leading to the Hag Savage Wolverine going down in a gory fight to the last breath. Thankfully, he at least gets to warn Rogue of what’s coming for her team, but even the X-Men will struggle against an immensely powerful magical foe with a better version of Wolverine’s Claw – especially one who apparently knows so Much about them.

After years at the top, Wolverine’s adamantium now has competitors

Mysterium and Gold Adamantium challenge Adamantium’s ‘ultimate metal’ status

Lately, Marvel has been surprisingly willing to shake up the rules that make Adamantium so special. In the previous era of X-MenMarvel introduced Mysterium – a new metal harvested from the core of reality that was incredibly durable and had strange properties, such as being immune to magic and precognitive gifts like Spider-Man’s spider sense, as well as being so durable that even Captain Marvel. Power could not bend it. Iron Man showed the metal with his Mysterium suit, even being able to crush the head of a Sentinel Zero, created using a copy of Wolverine’s adamantium-coated skeleton.

‘From the Ashes’ continued to evolve Marvel’s super-metals, with the latest Wolverine #1 (by Saladin Ahmed and Martín Cóccolo) Introducing a new golden metal from an ancient time. The metal (possibly the mythical metal Adamantine, for which adamantium is named) is awakened by a battle between Wolverine and his old enemy Saber in the wilds of Canada, and reveals the ability to infect and transform adamantium into its own golden form. Not only is this metal dedicated to transmuting All Adamantium on the face of the Earth, but it’s also sentient, with Marvel hinting it will give Wolverine’s adamantium-enhanced enemies a power upgrade when it takes over their metal and possesses their minds.

Apart from Black Panther’s vibranium – an ‘anti-metal’ that fell to Earth like an asteroid – Marvel has rarely challenged the power of adamantium as the ultimate unbreakable material in Marvel lore. However, X-Men’s ‘From the Ashes’ era promises to shake up their status quo in big ways, and it seems that includes debuting multiple challengers to the super-metal. But, for Wolverine To face the challenge of Marvel’s new gold Adamantium or the returning Mysterium, he will first have to survive his battle with Gaunt’s somber style – and so far, it looks like it cannot happen.

Invisible X-Men #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.