Every Wolverine Costume

Wolverine may have one of the most iconic superhero costumes around, but he’s also known for changing up his wardrobe pretty frequently. He’s gone through a great many costume changes over the decades, in the comics as well as the X-Men cartoons, movies and games. And now, at long last, we’re going to see Hugh Jackman wear a comics-accurate blue and yellow costume in the upcoming Deadpool 3.

To celebrate, let’s take a deep dive into Wolverine’s closet and break down the most significant costumes from the hero’s colorful history. Take a look at our list, then head to the comments to let us know your favorite Wolverine costume over his nearly 50 years of being the best at what he does.

The Original Tiger Stripe Costume

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #181 (1974)

The Look: Even in his first appearance, Wolverine’s costume already resembled the outfit many comic fans would come to love. The basic elements were all there – yellow spandex marked by black tiger stripes, pointy mask and gloves, and seemingly useless shoulder pads.

The main difference in this version is the mask. For some reason, Wolverine’s mask had whiskers. Apparently, wolverines look like cats or something. In any case, it was a good case, but the costume clearly needed some tweaking.

The Classic Tiger Stripe Costume

First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)

The Look: Wolverine’s very next appearance gave us the costume many remember fondly above all others. Most of the design elements from the original Tiger Stripe outfit remained, with the main difference being the loss of the cat whiskers on the mask. The costume was streamlined a great deal over the ensuing years.

The Tiger Stripes were eventually replaced by the Red and Brown costume for most of the ’80s, but it returned with a vengeance in 1992 in the pages of X-Men #5. This costume also appeared in the iconic X-Men: The Animated Series and many of the X-Men games during the ’90s. Though Wolverine has seemingly ditched this costume for good now, its legacy carries on.

Fang

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #107 (1977)

The Look: After defeating the member of the Imperial Guard named Fang, Wolverine took his costume for his own. He only wore it for two issues, though. One can imagine that all those bones and cuffs and collars just weren’t fun to draw. It was artist John Byrne who decided to change it back to the original blue-and-yellow duds. However, as you might have noticed, the brown-and-yellow color scheme from the Fang costume was brought back and applied to the classic design, creating what would be an iconic alternate look for the character.

The Civilian Clothes

The Look: Wolverine hung out with the X-Men for some time before readers got a real glimpse of what he looked like under the mask. As it turns out, Logan’s hair and mutton chops conform well to his pointy mask.

Wolverine is always getting into trouble on his various field trips outside the purview of the X-Men. In most cases, he prefers to ditch the brightly-colored spandex for a more subdued and functional set of clothes. The look changes all the time, but Logan seems to favor leather jackets, blue jeans and tank tops above all else. He is a rugged mountain man, after all.

The Brown Costume

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #139 (1980)

The Look: Through the first five years of Wolverine’s shelf life, readers had grown accustomed to one single costume. So it must have been a shock when he wandered into the Xavier Institute one day sporting a new red and brown ensemble. When questioned about his makeover, Wolverine’s reply boiled down to: “Why the hell not, bub?”.

This costume would endure throughout the ’80s and into the early ’90s. The earliest X-Men videogames featured this costume, as well as the failed TV show Pryde of the X-Men. Logan even returned to this outfit for a time in the pages of Wolverine: Origins. Like the Tiger Stripe gear, this costume seems to have been retired for good, but it still remains one of the most popular Wolverine looks of all time.

Days of Future Past Wolverine

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #141 (1981)

The Look: Even early on, it had been hinted Wolverine was much older than he looked. It wasn’t until the “Days of Future Past” storyline in Uncanny X-Men that readers saw real proof of just how much Logan’s aging was slowed by his healing factor.

Fans of X-Men: The Animated Series may remember this dystopian future storyline from the first season. Decades into the future, most of the X-Men have fallen victim to the Sentinels, and Wolverine is one of the few surviving mutants that make up a resistance cell.

Unlike the cartoon, where Logan retained his familiar costume, in the comics he stuck to a more civilian look. The defining aspect of this look was the wingtips in his hair. He may heal incredibly well, but clearly even Wolverine wasn’t immortal. That thought was hammered home when a Sentinel ended his long life with a well-placed laser blast.

The Black Costume

First Appearance: Wolverine #1 (1988)

The Look: When Wolverine got his own series in 1988, John Buscema put him in stealthy black duds to emphasize his Japanese ninja training. He still wore his brown costume over in Uncanny X-Men, though. The costume was short-lived, and given that we can’t tell what the heck he’s got on his face — is that a netted mask or paint or what? — we’re not complaining.

Patch

First Appearance: Wolverine #4 (1989)

The Look: Many of Wolverine’s excursions take him overseas to the tiny island nation of Madripoor. Logan has spent so much time here, that he created an entirely new identity for himself – a one-eyed bartender named Patch. Using this alias, he has been able to stick his nose in places he might otherwise not have been. After all, who would ever believe that Wolverine is in need of an eye patch? That’s crazy talk.

Weapon X

First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents #72 (1991)

The Look: The ’90s were the first decade to really delve into the origins and mysteries of Wolverine’s life. In “Weapon X”, readers finally saw the horrific procedure that bonded the adamantium to Wolverine’s bones. While acting as Weapon X’s lab rat, Wolverine was hooked up to a series of ghastly tubes and forced to wear a VR helmet that kept his berserker rage in check.

Though his body hair was shaved for the procedure, his healing factor caused it to grow back with a vengeance within hours. All in all, Wolverine has rarely looked more savage or primal.

The X-Men Training Uniform

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #275 (1991)

The Look: Over the years, there have been some attempts by the costume designers at the Xavier Institute to create a unified style for the various X-Men’s uniforms. One result of this was the familiar blue and gold training uniform in 1991. Everyone from Wolverine Psylocke to Gambit wore this costume for a brief time.

It wasn’t to last, though some characters like Forge and Banshee would retain the costume for several years after. This costume also inspired the look of original creation Morph in X-Men: The Animated Series.

Team X

First Appearance: X-Men #5 (1992)

The Look: The curtain continued to slowly fall back on Wolverine’s life. Numerous stories in the ’90s focused on Wolverine’s tenure in Team X. This black ops group performed a variety of covert government missions. Accordingly, their uniforms consisted of a lot of black leather and artillery.

In the comics, Team X was comprised of Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, Silver Fox, and a handful of others. This team also appears in X-Men Origins: Wolverine with a modified lineup. In the movie, however, Stryker seems content to allow the team to wear whatever the heck they please.

Age of Apocalypse

First Appearance: X-Men: Alpha (1995)

The Look: When Xavier’s son, Legion, traveled back in time and accidentally killed his father, reality as the X-Men knew it was drastically rewritten.

In the new so-called “Age of Apocalypse”, Apocalypse ruled North America and only Magneto’s X-Men stood in his way of total world domination.

Logan was mostly a free agent in this reality. He called himself Weapon X rather than Wolverine, and wore a red and blue variation on the Tiger Stripe costume. The most significant change, however, was his missing left hand. Thanks to a run in with Cyclops, Logan’s hand was blasted away. That didn’t mean the claws were gone, as at least one unlucky villain later discovered.

Savage Wolverine

First Appearance: Wolverine Vol. 2 #100 (1996)

The Look: After Magneto forcibly removed the adamantium from Wolverine’s bones, readers and Wolverine alike were shocked to discover he had bone claws underneath.

Over the next two years’ worth of comics Wolverine’s healing factor went into overdrive without the metal to compensate for. Wolverine found himself in real danger of reverting to a savage, mindless beast.

And eventually those fears came true. For a time, Wolverine mutated into something more beast than man. His voice deepened. He grew hair in places where there was no hair before. His nose disappeared. After 120 years, Logan seemingly hit puberty all over again. His costume was a crude mix of the tattered Tiger Stripe gear and whatever he happened to have lying around the closet.

Eventually his mind and body were healed, but it would be several more years before he got his adamantium groove back again.

The Movie Suit

First Appearance: X-Men (2000)

The Look: When it came time to finally bring the X-Men into the realm of live action (sorry, Generation X doesn’t count), Brian Singer and friends decided to forgo spandex in favor of functional, form-fitting black leather. The new uniforms were largely identical, though each sported a few design elements unique to the wearer. Wolverine’s signature tiger stripes were subtly interwoven into the outfit.

It wasn’t necessarily that faithful to the comic look, but moviegoers seemed to eat it up anyway. And even if they disapproved, Wolverine spent enough time out of costume that everyone could be happy.

X-Men Evolution

First Appearance: X-Men: Evolution TV series (2000)

The Look: For the most part, the various X-Men cartoons have simply borrowed whatever costumes were in vogue in the comics at the time. X-Men Evolution bucked the trend by designing entirely new costumes for most of the characters.

Wolverine’s new look was clearly based on the classic Red and Brown look. The basic design scheme was similar, but the colors changed to orange and black. Reflecting the recent X-Men movie, certain aspects of the costume were modified to appear more functional and less outlandish. Wolverine was even graced with a matching motorcycle helmet for those long bike rides.

New X-Men’s Black Leather

First Appearance: New X-Men #114 (2001)

The Look: As is the case with most blockbuster comic book movies, the X-Men comics began taking cues from the X-Men movie. The mutants finally ditched the flashy spandex for slightly less flashy black leather.

The team was decked out in a series of leather duds adorned with bright yellow X-logos. The goal was to make the logo every bit as iconographic as the Nike Swoosh.

Wolverine, ever the fashion trend-setter, chose to rock the shirtless look underneath his leather jacket. As many readers pointed out at the time, he wouldn’t have looked out of place at a biker bar in the red-light district. That actually sounds like the premise for an awesome story…

In any case, this look remained for several years. It eventually made its way into the realm of gaming with X2: Wolverine’s Revenge.

Ultimate Wolverine

First Appearance: Ultimate X-Men #1 (2001)

The Look: As the new millennium dawned marvel realized it needed to try something different to draw in new comic readers put off by the convoluted history of its characters. Thus, the Ultimate Universe was born. The Ultimate books strove to offer modern, accessible, and continuity-free takes on its popular heroes.

Naturally, the X-Men were among the first to receive this treatment. And, of course, Wolverine was among them. This version of Wolverine was even meaner and more blood-thirsty than before.

Visually, he bore a stronger resemblance to the cinematic version. He was taller, less hairy, and generally sexier. He even sported a soul patch for a while. His costume bore a slight resemblance to the classic red and Brown, but with a muted color scheme and no pointy mask.

The Unified Costume

The Look: By the time X2: X-Men United rolled out, Marvel decided to try something unique. They chose to create a unified look for Wolverine in all his non-Hollywood incarnations. Whether in the comics, the games, or TV, Wolverine was ordered to wear the same costume.

This outfit furthered the shift towards realism. It was essentially nothing more than a T-shirt and pants combo, with the black shirt showing off a few yellow tiger stripes. This look was sometimes combined with the black leather gear in the pages of New X-Men. This costume eventually fell by the wayside in most media, but it remained in the pages of Ultimate X-Men until that particular version of Wolverine met his end.

Astonishing Wolverine

First Appearance: Astonishing X-Men #1 (2004)

The Look: In 2004, the black leather movement finally fell out of favor in the X-Men offices. With the debut of Astonishing X-Men, the popular mutants received yet another visual makeover. The spandex returned, though to a certain extent function remained as important as form.

Wolverine’s Astonishing duds hearkened back to his Tiger Stripe apparel. However, some of the more exaggerated aspects of that costume were toned down. Wolverine became one of the last Marvel heroes to finally stop wearing his underwear outside his pants. This look proved immediately popular, blending the best of the old with the new. The costume remains today in the core X-Men books with little modification. It has also appeared as an alternate look in several games and as Wolverine’s main look in the TV series Wolverine and the X-Men.

Zombie Wolverine

First Appearance: Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 (2005)

The Look: Superhero comics are far and away the most dominant force in the comics industry. Coming in at a distant second would probably be zombie comics. So Marvel stumbled across a recipe for success when they combined the two a few years back.

In the Marvel Zombies version of earth, all of the planet’s heroes and villains have been infected by a zombie virus. With nearly every last human consumed for food, they’re forced to resort to increasingly desperate measure for food.

Despite his healing factor, Wolverine is as vulnerable to the zombie plague as anyone else. To make matters worse, his healing factor no longer functions at all.

When Wolverine’s arm was blasted away, his metal bones clanged to he ground, and he remained an amputee ever after. It’s a gruesome life, but even zombies have to eat.

The X-Force Suit

First Appearance: X-Force #1 (2008)

The Look: X-Force has always existed as a more hardcore and militaristic alternative to the X-Men. These days, the current squad exists under direct command of Cyclops, who dispatches them to combat any and all threats to the mutant race that are deemed too dirty for the regular X-men to handle.

X-Force values stealth above all else, so their costumes are all stealthy variations on familiar looks. Wolverine’s suit is largely based on his Red and Brown outfit, but the color scheme is a dark black and gray. Lending a bit of menace to the ensemble are the red eye lenses. This costume suits its purpose so well that Wolverine has even taken to wearing it when he goes off the grid completely.

The X-Force outfit is also be one of several unlockable costumes in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine game.

Old Man Logan

First Appearance: Wolverine #67 (2008)

The Look: “Days of Future Past” was the first X-Men story to offer a glimpse of Wolverine as he might appear far into the future. Many alternates takes have followed over the years, with the most current being Old Man Logan.

In this storyline, Wolverine is eking out a life as a simple farmer in a future where the worlds heroes have been wiped out. His hair is short and his body is grizzled from centuries of hard living.

This Wolverine has made a solemn vow to never pop his claws again, a promise which is all too difficult to keep. He bears more than a passing resemblance to Clint Eastwood, which is unsurprising given how many similarities this story shares with the movie Unforgiven.

Symbiote Wolverine

First Seen: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (2008)

The Look: With New York City being overrun by symbiotes, Wolverine and Spider-Man team up to take them down. Of course, Wolverine winds up getting infected by not one, not two, but three symbiotes at the same time, turning him into a spiky Venom with Adamantium claws — yikes! As Spider-Man, the player must battle Wolverine until he’s beaten into submission and the symbiotes release their hold.

Wolverine’s Movie Origins

First Appearance: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

The Look: Wolverine’s origin movie focused on the character before he became an X-Man, hence the civilian clothing. White tank top, dirty jeans, military dog tags, and two biceps were all he needed to take on William Stryker, Sabertooth, and some guy who was reportedly supposed to be Deadpool.

The Wolverine

First Appearance: The Wolverine (2013)

The Look: This movie took place in a post-X-Men trilogy world, so again, no costume. Even though photos of a fully realized Wolverine costume — pointy ears and all — were later revealed to have been created during production, the movie makers decided to keep Wolverine in civilian clothes. Over the course of the film, he wore a black suit, his signature white tank, and sometimes just no shirt at all. Given that actor Hugh Jackman appears to be more ab-tacular than ever in The Wolverine, this look is by far the most visceral and intimidating of his on-screen appearances.

The Live-Action Brown Costume

First Appearance: The Wolverine (2013)

The Look: While The Wolverine mainly features Hugh Jackman’s hero in civilian clothes and fancy suits, there is a deleted scene featuring a costume that noids much more directly to the character’s comic book roots. Wolverine is given a gift with a brown and yellow costume clearly inspired by the classic Uncanny X-Men comics. Sadly, we never actually see Jackman don that particular costume.

Age of Ultron

First Appearance: Age of Ultron #1 (2013)

The Look: The Age of Ultron comic saw Wolverine of the future traveling back in time to stop the big evil robot from ever taking over the world. When fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, this of course calls for a costume change. Here he’s donned a mostly black outfit with two slices of yellow over the shoulders. It also has a mask that he never really put on, which gave it a hoodie-like appearance from behind.

The Ablation Armor

First Appearance: Wolverine #1 (2013)

The Look: While this costume for Wolverine looks pretty cool with the big X dividing up the predominantly yellow suit, it marks a dark time in his superhero career. He contracted a virus that burnt out his healing factor, leaving him powerless and mortal. Before, he could take a beating and get right back up, but now his costume is a much-needed piece of armor to help protect his now-vulnerable body. Using his claws is no longer an option either, because of germs and the whole bleeding thing, so he’s actually using wrist-braces mounted with three claws on the back. He even carries a gun for extra protection — it’s that serious y’all.

The Days of Future Past Movie

First Appearance: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

The Look: See the yellow and blue on his arms? Yup, that’s the closest we’ve come to getting Wolverine’s actual comic book costume on screen (so far). In the apocalyptic future where Sentinels have all but eliminated mutant-kind, the X-Men look more like a futuristic biker gang than anything else, but the black armor looks good on Wolverine. He’s even got some white hair on the sides of his head, which is a nice nod to the look of his character in the comic book from which this movie is adapted.

Hugh Jackman’s Old Man Logan

First Appearance: Logan (2017)

The Look: Logan features what was believed at the time to be Jackman’s final appearance as Wolverine. Fittingly, the film draws heavily from comics like Old Man Logan to present a much more grizzled Wolverine finally feeling the ravages of old age. There’s no spandex or black leather to be found here, just business suits and the classic tank top look.

Wolverine’s Krakoa Costume

First Appearance: House of X #1 (2019)

The Look: Many of the X-Men were given fresh visual overhauls thanks to 2019’s House of X, a series that wound up dramatically reshaping the mutant status quo in the Marvel Universe. Wolverine was no exception. This new suit combines the basic shape and design of Wolverine’s X-Force costume with the color palate of his classic brown costume.

Deadpool 3’s Wolverine

First Appearance: Deadpool 3 (2024)

The Look: The Fox X-Men movies may have never quite gotten around to giving Jackman’s Wolverine a fully comics-accurate costume, but that’s where the MCU comes in. Jackman is reprising his role once again for the third Deadpool movie, and star Ryan Reynolds posted a photo of Jackman wearing a very comic book-y costume. This suit is basically modeled after Wolverine’s Astonishing X-Men costume, with color-coordinated sleeves for good measure. Whether Logan wears this costume throughout the film or it’s treated as a one-off gag remains to be seen.

Note: this article was originally published in April 2009 and updated on July 10, 2023 with the latest news about Deadpool 3.

Follow Jesse and Joshua on Twitter @jschedeen and  @JoshuaYehl.