Ultimate Wolverine joined Ultimate X-Men on the mutant side of the new Ultimate Universe. Ultimate X-Men is horror manga X-Men, and fans were wondering when they’d get a more classic kind of X-Men book. That’s what Ultimate Wolverine seems like and readers got their first glimpse of more traditional X-Men in Ultimate Wolverine #5. Ultimate Wolverine #5 also showcased a battle between Wolverine and Ultimate Sabretooth, which showed flashbacks to their shared past, each of them wearing an X emblem on their jackets. Ultimate Wolverine #6 is the next step, as the Opposition bring in the unconscious Wolverine and begin to break the Winter Soldier programming placed in his mind by the Eurasian Republic, with the help of One. One is better known on Earth-616 as Legion, and he’s only the first of many classic X-Men introduced by Ultimate Wolverine #6.
Readers have been getting glimpses of Ultimate Wolverine’s past since the very first issue, when he’s sent in to kill Nightcrawler and Mystique. Both of them knew Logan, and were shocked to see him ripping through them and their allies. Fans knew they were going to get to see more of this as the book went on, and more of Wolverine’s 616 allies are revealed to have survived. Ultimate X-Men #6 shows off even more X-Men, including several characters who Wolverine knew very well on Earth-616 that could be a problem in the future.
The Rise of Opposition X
Ultimate Wolverine #6 mostly took place in Wolverine’s mind, as One helped him defeat the Eurasian mental programming, as well as his own demons. He awakened in an Opposition base, and the full page spread introduced multiple 616 X-Men. We already met Gambit, Sabretooth, Kitty Pryde, Black Widow, Artie, and Leech. There are several big surprises, one of whom readers have already learned about. That’s Red Guardian, played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by David Harbour, and his appearance with the Opposition is actually pretty scary. It was revealed in prior issues that Alexei was an agent of the Eurasian Republic, so he may be a sleeper agent feeding information on the Opposition to the Republic. It’ll be interesting to see how writer Chris Condon uses this in the future. Red Guardian is a character whose best days were behind him before his MCU debut, and this new version could bring readers another version of the character that is quite different from both the MCU and 616 versions. Seeing Beast, Forge, and Abigail Brand is also pretty interesting in a variety of ways.
RELATED: Marvel Finally Introduces Its Ultimate Sabretooth (& He’s Nothing Like Wolverine)
Wolverine in the 616 was friends with both Forge and Beast. Wolverine and Forge met at some point in the past; Forge was first introduced as a Vietnam vet and he had met Wolverine back then. Wolverine and Beast were on the X-Men together, with Beast transforming into a more villainous version of the character in the Krakoa Era. That wasn’t the only time Beast was a bad guy, as The Age of Apocalypse version of Beast was a monster as well. Will this version of the character go in darker directions? Beast has proven that when situations get bad, he loses much of his morality and becomes a master pragmatist. Finally, there’s Abigail Brand. On Earth-616, Brand was the head of S.W.O.R.D., an organization that protected the Earth from extraterrestrial threats and was later transformed into the Krakoan space agency. Brand and Beast developed a romantic relationship after meeting in Astonishing X-Men, and she later ended up working with Orchis against Krakoa. Brand was never much of a mutant, and grew up in space with her alien father and human mother. Seeing her with the Opposition is interesting, because much like Beast and Red Guardian, she could become more of a sinister character. Even Forge has went bad before, being driven insane while trying to figure out how to bring mutants back after Scarlet Witch’s de-powering of the mutant race.
The Opposition Might Have Problems in the Future
The Maker created Earth-6160 to be a world where he always won, creating a government that would ruthlessly hold power for him. We’ve already seen the war against the Maker’s forces begin in The Ultimates, and it looks like Ultimate Wolverine is opening up a front against the Eurasian Republic, the Maker’s mutant allies. However, looking at the people introduced in the Opposition, the Opposition could be yet another system the Maker is using against every one.
The four new members of the Opposition are all characters that have gone to some very dark places on Earth-616. Red Guardian is almost certainly a sleeper agent. Beast and Forge have both went evil in situations where things were at their worst. Abigail Brand never really liked mutants, and betrayed them in the past. Even One, the Legion of Earth-6160, is a former villain. The Opposition may have some major problems in the future.
Ultimate Wolverine #6 is on sale now.
The post This Ultimate Wolverine Reunion May Be a Huge Problem appeared first on ComicBook.com.
