Laura Kinney's Wolverine was just elevated to the main X-Men team for the relaunch of the series, essentially replacing her father Logan.
Warning! Spoilers for X-Men #1 below!
Laura Kinney's Wolverine just got a fairly sizable promotion, as the daughter of Logan has been elevated to Marvel's main X-Men team, essentially replacing her father. On Friday, Marvel Comics revealed the new roster for the upcoming X-Men relaunch which will feature a few new surprising faces to the team, including the hero formerly known as X-23.
Laura Kinney was co-created by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and first appeared on the X-Men: Evolution animated series, while making her comic debut in NYX #3. X-23 was created from the DNA of Wolverine as part of a top-secret program and was forced to become an assassin and killer, as she was controlled with a trigger scent that made her go on berserk when she smelled it. With many of the same powers and abilities as her father, Laura would eventually join the X-Men and would eventually become the new Wolverine in Tom Taylor and David Lopez's All-New Wolverine series. X-23 was portrayed in the film Logan by Dafne Keen.
The newer version of Wolverine seemed to be sidelined during the X-Men's move to Krakoa to establish their own mutant paradise but appeared in X-Men #5, where she went inside the Vault alongside fellow mutants Synch and Darwin in an investigation of the Children of the Vault. Wolverine actually spent months inside the Vault, but within time went much faster, as she spent hundreds of years inside. Wolverine lost all memories of being inside the Vault once she was resurrected on Krakoa. Now, with Wolverine back among the X-Men, she'll be heading the next main roster for the team.
Marvel announced the roster for the next X-Men team which features longtime members Jean Grey and Cyclops, as well as Rogue. Polaris ultimately won the online fan vote to join the team, while Sunfire is a surprise pick. Lastly, two heroes who experienced the Vault together, Synch and Wolverine fill out the roster. Sadly, Laura doesn't have any memories of her romance with Synch within the Vault, which is sure to be further explored in X-Men #1. The series will be by Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz.
Honestly, it's refreshing to see Wolverine back in the spotlight after the arc so far in Jonathan Hickman's X-Men was intentionally sidelining her. Now, fans of the character should be thrilled as she was made a main cast member of the X-Men - even ahead of her father, Logan. Her inclusion is more of a reaction to how popular the character is, opposed to an indictment on the original Wolverine - hopefully, she gets to barb her dad about joining the roster over him (although Logan is probably proud of her and completely fine marching to the beat of his own drum). X-Men #1 is in comic stores in July, 2021.
