Marvel's Wolverine Will Officially Feature a Character…

Spoilers ahead for Ultimate Wolverine.

Marvel’s Wolverine is poised to feature its fair share of recognizable faces from the comics. Some of these figures have only leaked for Marvel’s Wolverine, but others were officially confirmed via its State of Play trailer. While plenty of attention has understandably been placed on Mystique, as she’s a fan favorite character thanks to both her big screen appearances and memorable comic moments like in Jason Aaron’s "Get Mystique" arc, it’s also worth talking about Omega Red. While a bigger bad like Sabretooth can certainly be expected, as Omega Red seems more like the equivalent to Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Mr. Negative than a Doc Ock-level threat, he’ll surely give Logan quite the fight in the game. This is something he’ll no longer be able to do in the Ultimate comics universe, though, as he was permanently killed by Wolverine in Ultimate Wolverine's 10th issue.

Omega Red first appeared in 1992, and was a serial killer before the KGB experimented on him in the hopes of creating a Russian Captain America. However, these experiments left him with coils in his arms that constantly poison him, forcing him to drain the life force of those around him just to stay alive.

Why Omega Red Dying is Actually a Big Deal For Once

Marvel's Wolverine Who is Omega Red_comic-3

For those who haven’t been following Marvel comics’ Ultimate universe re-launch, the best way to summarize it is that it’s a world created by The Maker, a twisted, alternate version of Reed Richards. Following multiple defeats at the hands of characters like Tony Stark, The Maker sought to create a universe without superheroes, going as far as to prevent the radioactive spider from biting Peter Parker when he was a child. The Maker is able to maintain power thanks to a council of twisted heroes and villains from each continent, with one member of this all-powerful council being none other than Omega Red.

As expected, the universe pushes back on a world with no heroes, and characters eventually end up fulfilling their expected roles (sometimes younger in the case of Tony Stark, and sometimes older in the case of Peter Parker). The alternate version of Wolverine doubles as The Winter Soldier, and though he was created to serve Omega Red and the other czars in the Russian portion of the Maker’s council, he eventually escapes their control and ends up rebelling against them. In the latest issue of this run, Logan and Omega Red do battle like they did so many times on Earth-616 (the main Marvel timeline). However, Logan has an ace up his sleeve in the form of The Muramasa Blade, a weapon that cancels out all healing factors. Naturally, when it’s used to decapitate Omega Red, it can safely be assumed readers will never see him again in the Ultimate universe, barring a potential flashback.

To be clear, Omega Red has died and been resurrected numerous times in Marvel comics, joining practically every character — from Elektra to Logan himself — in that regard. It’s been especially common for Omega Red in particular to constantly die and be reanimated in the mainline comics, which is what makes this latest death so significant. Sure, he will likely keep being killed and brought back ad nauseam in the 616 X-Men books, as no popular character stays dead for long in a realm of “endless” stories. However, the Ultimate Marvel universe is special because it is finite. Major deaths are designed to stick, and Jonathan Hickman has had a clear plan in place for the universe’s big moments. Perhaps the Ultimate storyline will be extended for years through new writers and artists due to its popularity, but even if that happens, it certainly looks like Omega Red has finally been killed off for good in the Ultimate books.

While Omega Red is best known for being a villain who constantly battles characters like Wolverine, he can also shine in an anti-hero role, with his spot on the Krakoa-era X-Force team proving as much.

Omega Red’s Big Comic Sendoff Makes His Marvel’s Wolverine Role More Important

Naturally, for anyone who struggles to keep up with the developments of Earth 616 due to the sheer number of characters and books to follow, the Ultimate universe has been a godsend. With only a handful of books that work in unison to tell one connected story, there will undoubtedly be some people who are currently reading everything Ultimate Marvel and nothing else. That type of reader could find themselves missing Omega Red as the months go on, as the life-force-draining Mutant has always shined due to his cool character design and brutal fighting style. Since Ultimate comics readers will seemingly never see more of him, and it’s only a matter of time before the 616 version ends up temporarily dead for the zillionth time, Omega Red’s Marvel’s Wolverine role instantly becomes a bit more meaningful.

Insomniac has some interesting options available to it when it explores Omega Red, because as of now, fans only know that he will be clash with Logan at some point since they’re seen fighting in the violent Marvel’s Wolverine trailer. Making Omega Red a recurring boss fight throughout Marvel’s Wolverine could be neat, as he could expand his lineup of attacks with each battle. Every time players think he’s dead, Insomniac could have him show back up out of nowhere like a Resident Evil boss, which would prove hugely entertaining. Alternatively, a more sympathetic take on Omega Red that drops his serial killer history and highlights his regret when draining those around him of life could be a bold spin on the character. A less villainous take could see him eventually joining the X-Force in Insomniac’s X-Men game, letting him drop some humorous lines here and there like in the Krakoa-era comics.

No matter what Insomniac Games does with him, though, Omega Red getting a lasting comic book death after decades of fakeouts adds some extra importance to his presence in Marvel’s Wolverine. Fans of the character will be hoping he comes out of his video game encounter with Logan alive so they get to see more of him in the studio's future Marvel project, as the only other places they could expect to see him are in future seasons of X-Men 97 or a potential MCU appearance. If he ends up dying in the game right after his unfortunate demise in the Ultimate comics, Omega Red fans could be in for a quiet few years. On the bright side, unless Logan pulls out a mystical sword to properly finish the job, there’s a precedent for Insomniac to revive Omega Red whenever it sees fit.

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