10 Most Underrated Wolverine Suits, Ranked

Marvel Comics are no strangers to giving their characters closets full of alternate costumes—from the likes of Spider-Man’s black suit to any number of Iron Man’s armors, costume redesigns are a comic book staple. One of the Marvel Universe’s most iconic (and well-dressed) heroes is James Howlett, AKA Wolverine. The adamantium-clawed mutant’s tenure as a Marvel legend has spanned over fifty years, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Due to his mutant healing factor, Wolverine has lived a life longer than most of his peers and teammates —meaning he’s had plenty of time for wardrobe changes over the years. Some alternate Wolverine suits have disappeared as quickly as they were introduced, and others perhaps overstayed their welcome, but there are a number of suits worn by the savage X-Man that simply don’t receive the credit they deserve.

10 Wolverine’s First Look Didn’t Quite Stick

First Appearance Costume

When he was first created to face off against the Incredible Hulk, Wolverine wasn’t much more than another throwaway antagonist for the green-skinned giant. He didn’t have much of a backstory, much of a character motivation, or much characterization at all. What Wolverine did have in his first appearance, however, was a costume that very nearly achieved comic book costume greatness.

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The suit is nearly identical to the one Wolverine would later don when he would join the Uncanny X-Men, save for the different cowl. This minute difference in the mask is what holds this costume back from being as beloved as its later counterpart. More animal-like where the X-men cowl was more streamlined, this classic look for the character is, unfortunately, often forgotten in favor of the character’s later looks, despite its near-perfect design.​​​​​​

9 Stealth Was the Name of the Game With Logan’s Black Suit

Black Stealth Suit

After the success of Frank Miller’s iconic solo Wolverine miniseries, the world’s toughest mutant finally got his own monthly series from superstar writer-artist team Chris Claremont and John Buscema. Expanding on Logan’s backstory and supporting cast, the solo book also provided Wolverine with one of his least-appreciated alternate costumes.

​​​​​​Adorned in a lightweight black uniform and matching gloves, Wolverine’s first solo uniform was heavily focused on stealth and subterfuge, making the vicious mutant even deadlier to his enemies. Perhaps most often recognizable when it is ripped to shreds, this uniform didn’t last long on Logan, but it remains a striking, bold alternate look for the X-Man who had so often previously been depicted wearing bright colors and super-heroic costume flourishes.

8 Losing His Healing Meant Wolverine Had to Armor Up

Ablation Armor

​​​​​​When writer Paul Cornell took on the mutant who’s the best there is at what he does, he shocked readers by making Wolverine killable. Losing his healing factor to the “microverse virus,” Logan must find a new way to battle his fiercest foes without the crutch of being nigh-invincible. This loss of power leads to Wolverine donning the Ablation Armor.

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The Ablation armor served as a means of protecting the now mortal mutant. Featuring an “X” design across his torso, this bold reinvention of the classic mutant’s attire fits perfectly within the confines of a story where nothing is the same for Logan. Another short-lived costume for Wolverine, this armor was a wonderful change of pace from the usual costume designs for the character. Having previously had no need for armor, this suit stands out as a highlight in Wolverine’s wardrobe.

7 Matching Uniforms Made Logan a Team Player

New X-Men Uniform

The X-Men are constantly revamping their look — whether as a collective team or as individuals. Sometimes, each member has their own distinct look, and other times, the team finds themselves matching. Such was the case with Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s team revamp.

Though somewhat controversial with readers, the New X-Men uniforms were a bold new direction for the team visually, something that matched the new direction for the team (and book) creatively. This was an era of darkness for the X-Men, of more mature, more contemporary fears and issues for the X-team. Of course, Logan being Logan, he can never allow himself to fully fall in line, so his wearing of the X-uniform was often more casual — jacket unzipped, hairy chest out, dog tags on display. It’s a great modernization of the iconic hero’s classic look.

6 The Age of Apocalypse Gave Wolverine His Most Savage Look

Age of Apocalypse Costume

Living in an alternate reality where Charles Xavier was killed before he could form the X-Men, this version of Wolverine was more vicious and more savage than his normal counterpart — even going by the name “Weapon X” when he eventually joined Magneto’s team of X-Men.

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One of the most striking things Wolverine’s Age of Apocalypse costume is his missing hand, something that predictably piqued the interest of many readers. Perhaps his “most nineties” look, the Age of Apocalypse storyline saw Logan’s ferocity and beastly-nature at the forefront of his look. An apocalyptic future world ruled by a maniacal villain understandably led readers’ favorite clawed mutant into a much more extreme and often underrated alternate look.

5 X-Force Made Logan the Leader of a Black Ops Squad

X-Force Uniform

After the intense events of the X-Men event, Messiah Complex, Scott Summers enlists Wolverine to reform X-Force as a covert-ops squad of killers willing to do whatever it takes to keep mutant-kind safe. Matching the dark tone of the new team, Logan donned a black and gray version of his classic X-Men suit.

Together with characters like X-23, Warpath, and Wolfsbane, Logan led X-Force on a number of deadly missions — in many cases, blurring the lines between hero and villain. The black and gray suit was a perfect alternate look for Wolverine in this era, serving as a visual reminder of how far off the path of righteousness this black-ops X-team had strayed.

4 Logan’s Patch Disguise Remains a Classic Look Today

Patch Guise

First appearing in Marvel Comics Presents #9, Logan’s undercover disguise, Patch, was most heavily featured in his first monthly solo book. During his time in the crime-ridden city of Madripoor, Logan adopted the Patch persona to protect his identity and the identities of his fellow X-Men back home.

Disregarded by some as “silly,” this alternate identity for the ferocious Wolverine is a breath of fresh air from the often intense and somber looks the character is more known for. This “James Bond-esque” look for the character harkens back to a more classic era of espionage and disguise. Plus, his interactions with Joe Fixit—an alternate personality of Bruce Banner’s Hulk—are absolutely incredible.

3 Weapon X Turned Logan From a Man Into a Killing Machine

Weapon X Outfit

Finally providing readers with an in-depth look at the mysterious backstory of Wolverine, the Weapon X storyline from Marvel Comics Presents is considered one of Wolverine’s best solo stories, and it gave Logan his most terrifying look yet. Covered by nothing but underwear, computer hardware and loose wiring, this look for Logan became instantly iconic.

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Though not as talked about by fans as it perhaps deserves to be, Logan’s Weapon X look opens the imagination of fans to the horrors that he would have experienced in his early days as a mutant science experiment. Logan is often at his visual best when his savagery and animalistic nature is on full display, and this dehumanizing attire is the perfect version of a Wolverine let loose.

2 Days of Future Past Showed Wolverine (Finally) Aging

Dystopian Future Logan Outfit

While readers at the time hadn’t fully seen the extent of Wolverine’s iconic healing factor, there were hints that he had led a longer life than anybody was fully aware of. Days of Future Past was the first time X-fans got to see the full power of the grizzled mutant’s healing abilities. Set in a dystopian future where mutants are hunted and enslaved, Wolverine teams up with a number of mutants young and old to fight back against the nefarious Sentinels.

​​​​​Sporting gray streaks in his iconic wing-tipped hair and a more casual brown jacket, this look for Logan has become synonymous with the iconic storyline it hails from. Simple but effective, this look is one of Logan’s best, but least discussed. It is often brushed aside in favor of another aging Wolverine look—his western-inspired Old Man Logan appearance—a look that, while excellent, doesn’t carry the impact that Days of Future Past‘s look for Logan holds.

1 Logan’s Brown & Yellow Uniform Is Better Than the Blue

Brown & Yellow Costume

Though this suit gets a lot of play in a myriad of X-books, it arguably doesn’t get enough. This color scheme for the indestructible mutant is his very best, and the more “natural” earth tones match his animalistic nature far better than the color-coordinated look of his blue and yellow X-Men uniforms.

The brown and yellow suit gives Wolverine a more distinct, iconic look, and it deserves to be talked about in the same sentence as any of his most beloved looks. John Byrne’s design would reverberate throughout the character’s future for decades to come, and this look for the character has yet to be matched, let alone surpassed.

Wolverine

Wolverine first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #180, where he battled the Jade Giant to a standstill, before joining Marvel’s X-Men in 1975. Since then, the short-tempered berserker with unbreakable claws has proven himself as one of Marvel’s most popular characters. The mutant hero was also the backbone of the X-Men film franchise, which ran from 2000 to 2020, and critics consider his solo film, Logan, one of the best superhero movies ever made.

Known as an unstoppable tank who can cut through anything, Wolverine isn’t technically one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes but he’s one of the deadliest characters on their roster. Even villains like Magneto and the Juggernaut have learned to be wary of Wolverine’s claws.