Deadpool & Wolverine Brings Logan's First Marvel Comic Book Battle To Life

Spoilers for "Deadpool & Wolverine" to follow.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" features plenty of old faces from the 20th Century Fox "X-Men" films; not just Logan (Hugh Jackman) himself, but his old enemies like Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, and Pyro. What about cameos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though? You're in luck, the movie includes one of the most requested Avengers/X-Men crossovers... but since this is a Deadpool movie, it doesn't go quite the way fans may have hoped.

While Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is traveling the multiverse, looking for a Wolverine to save his own world, he meets a Wolverine who once fought the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). The Hulk, in turn, punches Deadpool into a nearby wall.

What Marvel Comics fans know (but Marvel movie fans may not) is that Wolverine debuted in the "Incredible Hulk" series. Before he was an X-Man, he was fighting the Green Goliath. Wolverine's co-creator, the late Len Wein, repurposed Logan when he penned "Giant-Size X-Men" #1. That book introduced a new generation of X-Men and writer Chris Claremont made them into the Marvel Universe's chief stars — Wolverine especially.

Wolverine vs. the Hulk remains one of the most frequent hero vs. hero match-ups in Marvel Comics. Both characters are berserkers with souls split between humanity and animalistic fury. Plus, there's some irony to putting Marvel's largest hero up against its smallest. Among thousands of Marvel comics, here are some of Wolverine and the Hulk's most memorable fights.

Wolverine's debut, and his first fight with Hulk, was in "Incredible Hulk" issues #180-181 (written by Wein, drawn by Herb Trimpe). The issue features the Hulk crossing the border over from the U.S. into Canada. When the Canadian government learns the Hulk is in their country, they activate "Weapon X." Hulk initially spars with his old foe Wendigo (yes, named for the cannibalistic spirit in Algonquian myths — Marvel's Wendigo looks more like a humanoid, tailed polar bear than the deer monster the creature is often drawn as). 

Wolverine only shows up in the very last panel of the issue. Wein, aping Stan Lee's famous second person narration style, writes: "Well, know you what... er, who Weapon X is, faithful one. He's a raging powerhouse who's bound to knock you back on your emerald posterior!"

The cover for "Incredible Hulk" #181 (by Trimpe, John Romita Sr. and Gaspar Saladino) puts Hulk and Wolverine's battle front and center while Wendigo runs towards them in the background. It's as if the cover itself has forgotten about that villain when Hulk has a shiny new opponent. In the issue itself, the two briefly "team up" against Wendigo after their initial scuffle, laying the monster low. Once they do, Wolverine (a sh*t stirrer from the beginning) turns back on the Hulk. Karma bites when Wolverine, distracted by the sound of a scream at the Wendigo reawakening, is sucker-punched by the Hulk. "Little Man tried to trick Hulk — but Hulk was smarter — Hulk was stronger — and that is why Hulk won!"

The fight is revisited in "What If?" #31, "What if Wolverine Killed the Hulk?" This outcome puts Logan on a darker path; he's recruited by Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants instead of the X-Men.

I know, I know, "Don't judge a book by its cover." But if there's any comic that makes me question that old wisdom, it's "Incredible Hulk" #340, "Vicious Circle." Part of writer Peter David's long run on "The Incredible Hulk," the issue and its cover was penciled by Todd McFarlane. Like many of his 1990s comic artist superstar peers, McFarlane lives for the money shots. Since that's what most comic covers need to be, he's right at home drawing them. His "Hulk" cover shows a snarling Wolverine brandishing his claws, with the Hulk's own bellowing face mirrored back on the adamantium. Comics may not have sound, but when you look at that cover, you can hear the two exchanging roars. It's an unforgettable image of superhero action.

In the actual issue, Wolverine isn't nearly as bloodthirsty as that cover suggests. The two run into each other during a Dallas snowstorm. The Hulk recognizes Wolverine and wants to go another round. Logan initially tries to not fight the Hulk, saying being an X-Men has taught him "when to walk away," but the Hulk is insistent. Wolverine scores a knock-out by stabbing Hulk in the chest, but dismisses himself as the loser because, "[The Hulk] made what I am stronger than what I think I am."

That, and the Hulk then gets back up even angrier. Hulk 2, Wolverine 0.

Here's some important context to Bruce Banner MCU fans may not know; he was already mentally unwell before he became the Hulk. He had a horrific childhood (his abusive father killed his mother in front of him, as Ang Lee's 2003 "Hulk" movie showed) and the main Hulk personality is the personification of that abused little boy. Banner also has other alters and thus other Hulk forms.

One of those personalities is Joe Fixit, a Las Vegas based muscleman who prefers the gray-skinned Hulk form (that one transforms not with anger but rather the rising of the moon — wait, why isn't it the green Hulk who transforms this way?). In "Wolverine" #7 (by Chris Claremont and John Buscema), he is sent to the island Madripoor to investigate a client's business interests. Too bad for Joe, Wolverine is in Madripoor too (going by the name "Patch"). In "Wolverine" #8, Logan/Patch manipulates Mr. Fixit into helping him cripple the operation of local mob boss General Coy — the same mob boss who Joe was sent to investigate.

Joe, who has enough of a moral code to avoid outright criminality, isn't upset that he worked against slavers and drug kingpins, but he still sucker punches "Patch" for tricking him. Logan gets the last laugh by tricking Joe on an eastbound flight to Los Angeles. Instead of enjoying the whole flight as himself, he rides into the sunrise and turns back into Bruce Banner.

"Ultimate Marvel" was a 2000s era reboot that took the classic Marvel characters and relaunched them in a new continuity for the new millennium. "Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk" was part of that reboot. Written by Damon Lindelof of "Lost" and drawn by Leinil Francis Yu, the mini-series ran six issues between 2005 and 2009 (there were severe delays).

The "Ultimate" universe is a way nastier place than classic Marvel. Most of its superheroes are more abrasive, neurotic, or violent than usual (except for Spider-Man and Thor). "Ultimate" Hulk is the personification of Banner's sexually frustrated Id, while "Ultimate" Wolverine is a near sociopath without the classic one's heroic spirit. So, no surprise, this fight is one of the bloodiest Hulk vs Wolverine battles.

The first issue opens with the Hulk ripping Wolverine in half at the waist. The previous "Deadpool" movies have gotten that bloody (Juggernaut pulls the same move on Wade in "Deadpool 2") but will the MCU? Stay tuned. 

After that, the story flashes back to explain how this fight broke out. In "Ultimates 2" (Ultimates being the name for this world's Avengers), Banner was sentenced to death via nuclear bomb... but he survived and returned for the series' climax. "Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk" fills in what he was up to: traveling the world and learning (through much trial and error) to control his other self, while Wolverine accepted an offer from Nick Fury to track Banner and kill him.

2017's "Logan" is kind of an adaptation of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's "Old Man Logan." Both stories follow an older Wolverine in a future where the X-Men are gone and take cues from Western films. ("Logan" is "Shane," while Millar and McNiven's comic is "Unforgiven.") The movie is more down-to-earth (and better) than the comic. "Old Man Logan" is a "Mad Max" style apocalypse world with artifacts from the Marvel Universe's age of heroes littering the landscape.

What sends Wolverine off on his last adventure? His family live on a small California farm and he needs money because their rent is overdue. Who are their landlords? "The Hulk gang" — Bruce Banner's incestuously-born offspring, sired from him raping his cousin Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, the only "woman who could take him." (Yeaaaaaaah, see what I mean about "Logan" being better?)

Logan returns home to find the Hulk Gang killed his family while he was gone for simple funsies. The last issue is him going on a William Munny style vengeance quest, killing the Hulk gang one-by-one until he reunites with their father. The Hulk devours Logan... who then regenerates and claws his way out of the Hulk's stomach.

Wolverine and the Hulk have fought on screen before — the small screen that is, in Marvel cartoons. The 2009 short film "Hulk vs Wolverine" combines their original fight with Barry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X," the 1991 comic that revealed Logan's horrific origin. The film initially has the same set-up as "Incredible Hulk" #181; the Hulk is sighted in Canada, so Wolverine's superiors send him to sniff it out. Then agents of Weapon X show up and abduct both of the two anti-heroes, turning the movie into a prison escape.

The movie features the definitive voices of both leads: Steve Blum as Wolverine and Fred Tatasciore as the Hulk. Due to its R-rating, it's also allowed to be more bloody than most superhero cartoons can get away with. The cherry-on-top is Deadpool, voiced by Nolan North (most famous as Nathan Drake from "Uncharted"). This Deadpool is a straight-up villain, working alongside Sabretooth, Omega Red, and Lady Deathstrike, but he's still got his sense of humor.

Christopher Yost (who wrote "Hulk Vs Wolverine") penned a sequel in his short-lived X-Men cartoon, "Wolverine and the X-Men." (The movie and show have different animation styles, but share some voice actors and, per Yost, a continuity.) Episode 7 (titled, get this, "Wolverine vs the Hulk") features Nick Fury recruiting Wolverine into again going after the Hulk. Logan only says yes because Fury blackmails him by threatening to leak the X-Men's true identities to the public. The episode includes Wendigo, reimagined as a SHIELD experiment who got out of control — that's the real reason Fury wanted the situation hushed up.

"Hulk Vs Wolverine" is a gem of short and one of the many reasons I wish Marvel would focus more on animation. One wonders if a live-action Wolverine and Hulk fight can live up to it.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is now playing in theaters.