While rescuing his former teammate Maverick, the mercenary forces Wolverine to reckon with a question of Krakoa’s true nature.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wolverine #10 by Benjamin Percy, Adam Kubert, Frank Martin & VC’s Cory Petit, on sale now
Despite having been mind-wiped for a good portion of his life and constantly trying to forget the past, Wolverine is a man who is undoubtedly beholden to it. His latest trip through memory lane sees him rescuing an old friend, the mercenary Maverick, from a black-market auction intending to sell him as a programmable weapon. After discovering Maverick wasn’t the only part of his past up for auction, Wolverine and Maverick manage to fight their way out of Madripoor but find themselves in a disagreement about where to go from there in Wolverine #10.
Since Maverick is a depowered mutant Wolverine tries to persuade him to join come to Krakoa, but Maverick is far from willing to join, and his response forces Wolverine to examine Krakoa in an entirely new light.
As Maverick and Wolverine escape from Madripoor and discuss their next steps, Wolverine assumes they would go back to mutantkind’s newly created homeland. When presented with this idea Maverick quickly compares Krakoa and its actions to that of a cult, lacking any interest in becoming part of the ‘family’ Wolverine is so happily part of. Maverick even goes so far as to suggest Wolverine is blinded to Krakoa’s true nature by the fact he so badly wants to be a part of something, a big change from the mercenary Wolverine he knew and used to run around with.
While Wolverine has absolutely been a huge part of Krakoa and stood one of its staunchest defenders, he has also been one of its biggest critics within the X-Men. Wolverine undoubtedly has strong ties to Krakoa, and he has admitted he will do everything in his power to see it succeed, but that lone wolf nature Maverick mentioned has also allowed Wolverine to see the glaring flaws in the seeming utopia that is Krakoa. Wolverine himself previously compared Krakoa to the vampires, noting how Krakoa’s newfound mortality may lead to a lust for power akin to that of the Vampire’s blood lust. While Maverick may be right in that Wolverine is biased towards Krakoa due to the presence of his chosen family, it’s a stretch to say the mutant is completely blind to the nation’s flaws.
Maverick’s comparison of the island to a cult is ringing criticism, and it’s not wrong. Wolverine himself has critiqued certain actions of the nation, such as the Crucible (though he still suggests Maverick undergo this ceremony to regain his powers) and the addition of some former villains to the Quiet Council, the island’s ruling body. Some of the questions that still revolve around Krakoa is just how Xavier and Magneto convinced so many mutants to blindly devote themselves to their cause, considering some of the mutant’s worst enemies (such as Apocalypse) have found themselves in positions of great importance on Krakoa.
This blind loyalty in conjunction with the questionable ceremonies eerily resembles the actions of cults. To top it all off, Charles Xavier has become a mysterious and influential leader promising eternal life and great power, which sound resoundingly lose to real-world cult leaders. While that Maverick’s criticisms of Krakoa echo Wolverine’s own criticisms, it remains to be seen if or how Logan will take action to address them.
About The Author