Today I’m going to talk about an age old favorite; Wolverine. Logan. James Howlett. The timeless, grumpy bad ass of the entire Marvel universe. WARNING Spoilers for Wolverine #6, X-Force #13, and parts of the rest of “X of Swords” ahead.
I’m reading the X of Swords saga as it comes out, and recently read Wolverine #6 (part 3) and X-Force #13 (part 4). The Wolverine title introduces a character named Solem, who has adamantium skin. In the overarching story, they are both sent to retrieve the Muramasa Blade, and end up running into one another in Hell.
But this particular introduction got me thinking. When I was a kid, I collected those Fleer Ultra X-Men cards (1994). One of my favorite sets was “Wolverine’s Greatest Battles”. So I started doing some research. Wolverine has had many epic battles with the likes of: Sabretooth, Cyber, Omega Red, Hulk, the Thing, Spider-Man, Silver Samurai, the Hellfire Club, Cable, Sauron, the Punisher, Lord Shingen, Lady Deathstrike, Venom, and even Deadpool. All of these entities have been established in the Marvel universe since at least the early to mid-90s. It might be time for a new arch-nemesis… bub.
Enter Solem. He was imprisoned in Arrako for a century for killing War’s husband. He’s resourceful; once released to go find the Muramasa blade, he made his way to to the Oracle of Arrako, and eventually into Hell where he meets Wolverine. Together they formulate a plan to retrieve the Muramasa blade. Of note, there were two Muramasa blades. Wolverine gets captured by a demon in the ensuing fight. Solem makes a deal with Wolverine to free him, so they can fight later on. However, it’s not revealed what that deal is.
Outside of these two issues, there hasn’t been much mention of Solem. However, there is a panel in Part 12 or 13 that shows War and her Husband (a blue skinned individual), holding a baby Summoner (Apocalypse’s grandson).
On a separate but slightly related note, on October 19th a video from the Czech Republic’s “Falcon and Winter Soldier” set showing gray uniformed military members changing the guard outside of a compound. A post on ComicBook.com suggested this may be related to the Thunderbolts, but I think it’s more likely related to Omega Red.
I’m interested to see what Jonathon Hickman does with Solem, and how he might be worked into Hickman’s expansion on the canon of Apocalypse’s history. I’m also excited to see if all these Omega Red rumors are true! What do you think? Let me know in the comments!