Chris Claremont on his version of Wolverine’s origin
The comic creator version of “I know you are, but what am I.”
Popverse has a new piece from George Marston saying that Chris Claremont has his own untold origin for Wolverine.
"As the writer of Origin and I have sort of agreed over the century, [Paul Jenkins] has his version, I have mine. I'm right," Claremont quips in an X-Men writers panel at Terrificon 2026, going on to explain that, while he did put forth his thoughts on the story to Marvel, he was never asked to write Wolverine: Origin.
This kind of mild creator beef has a long, rich history in comics. I love that fellow writer on the panel, Fabian Nicieza, was quoted as expressing his support for Claremont by refusing to read Jenkins’ Wolverine: Origin. This begs the question about where ownership for these characters lies. Is it Marvel as the parent company, or Chris Claremont as the writer who made him famous?
At this point, Jenkins’ version is the canonical Wolverine origin story. It's the one that made its way into film, TV, and even other comics. It doesn’t matter what Claremont’s version would have been. It's all just some playground game, the comics creator version of "I know you are, but what am I."
Until Marvel lets Claremont write his own version.