Is Wolverine Really the Best Member of the X-Men?

You better not badmouth my favorite hero

So, for all of my posts this week, I wanted to try something a bit different. My wife and I were talking the other day and she told me that I should argue a point that I don't necessarily agree with. All five posts this week will be topics given to me that I have expressed a dislike for to, either my wife or everyone who reads my blog, but I have to give the opposite view. I have to explain why these things are actually true, or that they at least have some good qualities. This is going to be a weird, but also very fun, and maybe even a bit difficult, but I'm up to the task.

Topic sentence number four from my wife, "having Wolverine's powers wouldn't be all that great". This is incredibly tough for me. I'm a huge X-Men fan and my favorite superhero, by an incredibly wide margin, is Wolverine. He has the coolest suit, attitude and, quite frankly, the best powers. At least, that's the way that I see it. This topic has been brought up a few times just in casual conversation in my home, but I have never had to argue against Wolverine. This will be tougher than yesterday's topic, but I'm going to do my absolute best.

Here it goes.

We all know that Wolverine has an adamantium skeleton and claws. The claws come out when Wolverine is angry, frightened, or a big fight is about to happen. He also has the ability to regenerate. This means, if he is stabbed, shot, basically maimed in any way, his body will heal it self. Adamantium is the strongest metal in the world, even more so than vibranium, which Captain America's shield is made of. The fact that Wolverine can regenerate makes it pretty much impossible for him to die. He has lived through wars, gunshot wounds, stab wounds, sword fights, fights with other mutants, everything that has come his way, he has survived. Those powers sound so kick ass to me, but I do see why some people may not like them, and why they aren't all they are cracked up to be.

First off, when Wolverine gets his adamantium skeleton, it is blindingly painful. They replace his bones with metal. That would not be a good time at all. To be a guinea pig for some insane scientist or war general, that would stink. To be given a new skeletal structure, against your will, would be very hard to deal with. Then, this makes his claws turn to metal. His claws were originally bone protrusions, but when his skeleton was replaced, that made the claws adamantium as well. It had to have been painful enough when the claws were made of bone. Imagine how hurtful that would be. One minute you are cool and calm, then BAM! bone claws come shooting out of your hand. Now, imagine that happening with metal claws. That would hurt like a son of a bitch. I bet he'd, if he couldn't regenerate, have to get stiches all the time. Also, metal shooting out of your hands is flat out insane. That would also be very hard to cope with as well.

The biggest, possibly most brutal part of Wolverine's existence is the fact that he can regenerate and never die. Sure, it would be nice to have a wound heal on its own, but you still have to deal with the pain of getting brutally injured. At least with Deadpool, he can just laugh it off. Wolverine, he deals with the pain. That is a bummer. I can't imagine having to fight in wars, fight ninjas, fight mutants, fight bad guys and be a test subject in a lab. Just think of all the horrific injuries that he has suffered through. I've never been shot or stabbed or even really been in a legit fight, but I bet all those things hurt. I have broken bones before, and that hurt like hell. I don't even want to think about what a stab wound or a gunshot would feel like. Wolverine has had to endure all of these things, and he always comes back at full health.

Which leads me to what may be the hardest thing that Wolverine has to deal with. He can never die. Think about that for a second. Wolverine has to see all his family, friends, lovers and well wishers die. He lives through all of it because he is a mutant and because he has a metal skeletal system that can heal itself. When Jean Grey dies in "X-Men 3", spoiler alert, I felt the anguish and pain that Wolverine felt, but he had to move on. He has to have lost all of his family by now. That's a bummer. In fact, I think his only "sibling" is Sabertooth, and he became a bad guy that Wolverine has to fight. Wolverine cannot, and probably doesn't want, to make long term friendships or find a lifelong partner because his life will never end. He let himself get too close to Jean Grey, and he paid the price when she went nuts and eventually perished. This has the be the worst thing for Wolverine. In my mind it sounds great to live forever, but I never think about all the people that I would see pass away. When I sit back and think about it, it's a total bring down. Wolverine did not choose to have this power, it was given to him, which makes it even worse. This is why he is a loner. This is why he is so gruff and doesn't particularly like working with a team. This is why he barely says anything. He does not want anyone to get to close to him and he doesn't want to get too close to anyone. Living forever sure sounds great, but it definitely is not.

Look, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Wolverine, but my wife has a good point. It would be kind of a drag to be Wolverine. He has a very solitude life and he doesn't let people in. That would be very disheartening to live that way. Wolverine is still, and will always be, my favorite superhero, but there is a definite downside to his powers and they aren't as great as I may think they are. You win again wife.

Ty with a little help from his wife

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. If he can't be Wolverine, his next favorite X-Man is Dazzler. He may not live forever, but his tweets will. You should follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.