Fatal Attractions, Wolverine, and the “Death” of Jean Grey
In another wink at ’90s X-Men comics, “Tolerance is Extinction Part Two” splits the team into two divisions: the Blue Team, headed by Cyclops, and the Gold Team, lead by Storm. This was the approach the franchise took with the launch of the much-vaunted X-Men #1 in 1991, scripted by Chris Claremont and drawn by Jim Lee. The new X-Men book featured the Blue Team, full of favorites such as Wolverine and Cyclops, while Storm and Jean Grey held down the Gold Team in the ongoing Uncanny X-Men.
X-Men ’97 ups the stakes by splitting the heroes in three. Professor X and the Blue Team goes to the asteroid base Avalon to confront Magneto, while the Gold Team tries to sever Bastion’s connection to the Sentinels. However, Rogue and Sunspot leave the group entirely, joining Magneto and fighting against their former allies.
As chaotic as Rogue and Sunspots’ betrayals are, the Blue Team’s mission leads to a confrontation between Wolverine and Magneto, in which Logan loses his adamantium skeleton.
In the comics, Wolverine’s loss resulted in a major status quo change for the character. After all, Fatal Attractions, the crossover event in which Magneto tore out Wolverine’s adamantium, marked not only the 25th issue of the relaunched X-Men series and the hit X-Force, but also the 30th anniversary for Marvel’s Merry Mutants. Fatal Attractions re-established Magneto as the team’s big bad, which he did by striking down the most popular character.
For Wolverine, Fatal Attractions revealed that his claws were indeed part of his mutant power. Up until that point (give or take a couple inconsistencies in early issues), Wolverine’s claws were understood to be part of the adamantium skeleton grafted into his body by the shady government program Weapon X. His only true mutant powers were his heightened senses and healing factor.
When the de-metaled Wolverine first popped his bone claws, fans realized that there was more to the hairy runt. Over the next few years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, it grew worse. Turns out, the adamantium kept Logan’s healing factor in check, allowing it to expend most of its energy on keeping the metal from poisoning him. Without the metal in his body, the healing factor went wild, turning Wolverine into a more feral creature.