The famous origin story of Captain America made Steve Rogers into one of America’s greatest heroes. But once the MCU fully embraces the history of Wolverine, Deadpool, and dozens of other mutants, the truth will need to come out. Steve Rogers may be a hero, but decades of mutant horrors were committed in the name of creating ‘the next Captain America.’
Captain America’s Secret Connection To Wolverine Changed History
Wolverine & Captain America: Weapon Plus (2019) by Ethan Sacks, Diogenes Neves
This dramatic canon rewrite is dropped in the pages of Wolverine & Captain America: Weapon Plus, starting by literally sending Wolverine crashing into Captain America’s backyard with an army of super-soldiers in hot pursuit. Not super-soldiers like a new Captain America, but ones created and deployed by the shadowy ‘Weapon Plus’ program which created Deadpool, X-23, and countless other living weapons through brutal scientific experimentation.
The shocking reveal that these super-soldiers are literally made in Steve Rogers’ image is only the beginning, as Wolverine reveals a message he carries for Steve, and Steve alone. A message that has cost X-Force member Fantomex his life, having used his skills as “Weapon XIII” to expose the most secret origins and alliances within Weapon Plus. Secrets which now relate not only to his and Logan’s transformation into living weapons, but Captain America’s, as well.
In official Marvel canon, it was New X-Men #145 by Grant Morrison and Chris Bachalo that established Steve Rogers as “Weapon I.” He was technically created by “Project Rebirth” as opposed to Weapon Plus, but as the first and most successful example of a super-soldier, Steve became the standard, which all subsequent Weapon Plus experimentation strove to live up to.
But after his investigations, Fantomex draws a far more direct line between Steve Rogers and the parade of dead test subjects through the decades which followed:
“It’s all connected, Captain. the patriots that forged you, the monsters that violated Logan, and my own “Dr. Frankensteins”… They are the same… Science requires trial and error, necessitating a human cost for every advancement. With the right indoctrination, you needn’t catch new stock… They’ll volunteer. Decades of death and destruction can be traced back to you, Captain. You did what you do best… Inspired them.”
Revealing that “Rebirth” and Weapon Plus were not separate government programs divided by decades, but concurrent projects working in tandem, benefitting from each other’s successes, the dark truth is finally confirmed. Without Captain America, there would be no Wolverine.
Captain America Helped Transform Logan Into The Tortured Wolverine
The Legacy of Steve Rogers Recruited Countless Volunteers & Test Subjects For Decades
It would be a simplification to simply state that “Captain America created Wolverine” indirectly. But as much as Steve Rogers might hate to accept it, that statement is more correct than not. The motivations which drove Steve Rogers to undergo experimentation and become ‘Weapon I’ were explicitly noble, and remain as heroic as ever. But there is no longer any way to ignore or deny that Steve’s success created decades of harm, death, and villainy within the US government. Specifically towards mutants.
That is the modern reality which the MCU will be unable to overlook or distract from, if the X-Men joining the MCU also means the full mutant history of Wolverine, Deadpool, X-23, or the ‘Weapon Plus’ program are adapted faithfully. It may have been excusable for Logan or Wade Wilson to volunteer for government experimentation in the X-Men movies, and never mention they were walking in Steve Rogers’ footsteps. After all, they legally couldn’t.
But once they share a reality and history in the MCU, there is no way to pretend Wolverine, Deadpool, and countless other mutants aren’t literal successors to Captain America‘s legacy.
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- Alias
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Steve Rogers, John Walker, Sam Wilson
- Created By
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Joe Simon, Jack Kirby
- Franchise
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Marvel
- Race
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Human
- First Appearance
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Captain America Comics
- Alliance
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Avengers, Invaders, S.H.I.E.L.D., U.S. Army
Initially debuting in 1940, Captain America is the patriotically themed superhero who has shared the title with only a few individuals. Beginning with Steve Rogers, Captain America’s birth resulted from a frail man taking part in an experimental U.S. Army super-soldier trial, which imbued him with super-human abilities. The character is often depicted wielding a nigh unbreakable and aerodynamic shield made of vibranium that they use to defend and attack their foes.
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- NAME
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James “Logan” Howlett
- Alias
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James “Logan” Howlett
- Created By
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Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Romita Sr.
- POWERS
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Retractible claws and Adamantium skeleton. Superhuman senses, stamina, and strength. Healing factor and longevity.
- Franchise
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X-Men, Marvel
- Age
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197 (in the MCU)
The human mutant Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan) was born James Howlett, blessed with a superhuman healing factor, senses, and physiology. Subjecting himself to experimentation to augment his skeleton and claws with adamantium, Logan is as deadly as he is reckless, impulsive, and short-tempered. Making him the X-Men’s wildest and deadliest member, and one of Marvel Comics’ biggest stars. He’s played in Fox and Marvel’s movie franchises by Hugh Jackman.
