REVIEW: ‘Ultimate Wolverine #4’ - A Brutal Game Changer For Mutants
- Keith M.
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
If you’re not already reading Ultimate Wolverine, now’s the time to jump in. What Condon and Cappuccio are crafting here is nothing short of remarkable. In a Marvel landscape often saturated with Wolverine-centric content (the character is currently headlining three mainline titles), Ultimate Wolverine boldly distinguishes itself. Yes, the iconography is familiar—but this is a very different game, and the creative team makes that clear with every page. This series is a near-perfect fusion of Wolverine and Winter Soldier mythologies, reimagined through the lens of the Ultimate Universe.
Let me be upfront: even though I’m praising this as a stellar Wolverine story, Logan himself doesn’t appear until halfway through the issue. Instead, we open on what appears to be a lone wolf’s desperate struggle to survive in the wilderness. It's likely a metaphorical retelling—Logan’s own fragmented interpretation of events while sedated and held captive by the Eurasian Republic’s Directorate X. As this wolf stalks the frozen landscape, hunting, surviving, searching, we hear the distant voices of scientists monitoring his condition.
These scenes were easily some of my favorites. The cold, clinical dialogue of the observers like debating protocol, scrambling for control as the Winter Soldier begins to stir, contrasts brilliantly with the raw, visceral violence unfolding on the page. It reads like a found-footage horror film: you’re helpless, reading the rising terror of the observers while the danger unfolds just beyond your reach. All the while, fragments of phrases, possibly Logan’s thoughts or memories, rise to the surface like half-remembered dreams.
Eventually, Wolverine does what Wolverine always does: he breaks free. And in true Logan fashion, it’s brutal. He slaughters nearly everyone in the facility—until he's finally subdued by his handler, Dr. Alonya Prostovich. We’ve seen her before and know her survival depends on keeping the Winter Soldier in check. When sedatives and standard manipulation fail, she resorts to a last-ditch option: telepathy.
This is where things take a wild turn. We get a chilling glimpse into how deeply Directorate X has reshaped the world, and mutantkind in particular. The reason they don’t fear retaliation from mutants or any kind of X-Men analog? Because they’ve already neutralized the major threats. The Omega-level mutants such as Xavier, Magneto, and even Jean Grey, the Phoenix have all been “handled.” Jean, under their control, is revealed as their intended solution to taming Logan. This alone is something you must see for yourselves, as it was quite a shocking moment.
The issue ends with more questions than answers, but it does an excellent job of keeping the momentum going and leaving you hungry for more. Early on, the Ultimate Universe felt sparse in terms of recognizable mutants, but that’s starting to change, even if the fates of these characters are deeply unsettling. Condon and Cappuccio are telling a dark, visceral, and surprisingly layered story. If this is just the beginning, I can't wait to see what they unleash next.
About Ultimate Wolverine #4
Release Date: April 16, 2025
Written by: Chris Condon
Art by: Alessandro Cappuccio
Cover by: Alessandro Cappuccio & Frank Martin
Page Count: 26
Synopsis: THE WINTER SOLDIER THAWS? Wolverine's confrontation with Kitty Pryde and Gambit leaves him disoriented, violent and questioning his Maker's Council overlords… who is "Logan"?
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