Wolverine’s Worst Movie Plot Hole is Still A Black Mark on His Fox Legacy

Every superhero fan knows that it’s rare for any movie to adapt a character perfectly, often forced to weaken, modify, or simply ignore a superpower or weakness for the sake of conflict or drama. But even a character as beloved as Wolverine, with his iconic healing factor and immortality, can be defeated by plot holes or confused writing. And that’s exactly how one of Hugh Jackman’s best Wolverine movies ended up with a plot so broken, it still make zero sense over a decade later.

The Wolverine Completely Misunderstood Logan’s X-Gene Mutation

Marvel Fans Know His Healing Factor & Weapon X Are Unrelated

It goes without saying that the X-Men movies produced by 20th Century Fox are notorious for playing fast and loose with comic canon, superpowers, character backstories, and even ignoring the fact that famous X-Men characters are related to one another. But in the grand scheme of things, James Mangold’s The Wolverine earned praise and respect for bringing not only accuracy to Logan, but a story written with dignity and class. So it’s meant as no insult to say that for as much as Mangold got exactly right, one crucial aspect of the plot is tragically wrong, as it’s presented in the finished film.

As a reminder, The Wolverine sees Logan brought to Japan to the bedside of an obscenely wealthy man suffering from a fatal form or cancer. Two bombshells are dropped: that the man is actually Ichirō Yashida, whom Logan saved from death during World War II, and that he wishes to repay that act by giving Wolverine the mortality that has escaped him. At which point, the conversation leads to this exchange:

Yashida: “To offer you something no one else can. A gift to equal the life you gave to me…. I can end your eternity. Make you mortal.”

Logan: “What they… what they did to me, what I am, that can’t be undone.”

Yashida: “Yashida Industries can do anything. We have reason to believe that your ability to heal can be passed.”

It is at this point that knowledgeable fans of Wolverine, the X-Men, Marvel Comics, or simply the character’s previous appearances on the big screen are likely to get confused. And even more likely to wonder what Logan means when he says that “what they did to me can’t be undone,” since the heightened healing and longevity behind his immortality is thanks to the X-gene mutation he was born with. There is not only no “they” to refer to, but no “what” that was done to him.

Removing Wolverine’s Healing Factor Makes No Sense in The Movie

The Writing Mistake Ruins An Otherwise Outstanding Logan Story

The true motivations and machinations of Yashida take the movie in an unbelievable direction soon after, as the tycoon’s brutal plan to steal Logan’s healing factor for himself is its own form of outrageous. And considering the movie ultimately asks audiences to believes that Logan’s naturally advanced healing factor can be… extracted from his claw bones(?!), we shouldn’t be surprised to find another shockingly obvious oversight.

But what makes the confusion over Logan’s immortality and the adamantium bonding process it made possible so much worse is that he, himself, takes part in the error. Assuming Logan’s healing factor and immortality were “done to him” as part of the Weapon X Program is a simple mistake, which seems to have been made by the filmmakers. But to have Logan be the one to make the error takes this from ‘weak logic’ to ‘an actual fiction-breaking oversight.’

There may still be a chance for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine to address this error, given the reality-breaking films he may soon appear in, but until then, fans can continue to plug their ears as the hero breaks his own canon, and enjoy the rest of The Wolverine in peace.