Wolverine becomes the Maker’s mind-controlled Winter Soldier in the latest Ultimate Universe ongoing title

So far, one of Marvel’s most popular heroes has been missing from the new Ultimate Universe, but now, the new Ultimate Wolverine will finally make his debut in his own title starting in 2025. And unlike the mainstream Marvel Universe where he’s a hero, in the new Ultimate Universe, Wolverine is still a relentless, remorseless killing machine under the name of  another popular Marvel character: the Winter Soldier.

Announced during Marvel’s Next Big Thing panel at New York Comic Con, Ultimate Wolverine will be an ongoing series by writer Chris Condon, known for his Image Comics creator owned title That Texas Blood, and artist Alessandro Cappuccio, who is the artist on the opening arc of the just-launched Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu title. 

In the Ultimate Wolverine series, Logan (apparently under the codename the Winter Soldier) is the ultimate weapon of the Maker, the villain who engineered the history of the new Ultimate Universe to enthrone himself as its ruler, and who is currently trapped in a stasis field as Tony Stark and the Ultimates assemble a plan to defeat him once and for all.

Here’s a gallery of covers for Ultimate Wolverine #1, including the main cover by series artist Alessandro Cappuccio, as well as variant covers by Steve Skroce and Gleb Melnikov, along with Cappuccio’s design for Ultimate Wolverine:

“The maker’s ultimate weapon! In order to maintain control of their corner of the Maker’s world, three members of his council – Magik, Colossus and Omega Red – deploy their most lethal asset: The Winter Soldier! But WHO is the weapon behind the mask?” asks Marvel’s official announcement of Ultimate Wolverine #1. “True to the character’s origin as a government weapon, Ultimate Wolverine is an unwilling agent of the Maker, the secret creator of this corrupt universe. Mindwiped and used as an assassin, he’s still the best there is at what he does… even if he’s not in control of who he does it to.”

“When Wil Moss called me and asked me if I wanted to take on this title, I jumped at the chance and immediately had an idea of what to do with it,” says series writer Chris Condon. “I’m bringing my essence of storytelling from That Texas Blood to the Marvel Universe with Wolverine, looking back at what came before and bringing us something new. You might notice that there’s a Red Star on his costume and you might wonder why. If you look at that mask, there’s a muzzle on him and that’s because he’s wild”

Ultimate Wolverine #1 goes on sale January 15.

Stay up to date on all the new X-Men comics Marvel has planned for release.