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“Language is not merely a set of unrelated sounds, clauses, rules, and meanings; it is a totally coherent system bound to context and behavior.” — Kenneth L. Pike

The web has accents. So should our design systems.

Design Systems as Living Languages

Design systems aren’t component libraries—they’re living languages. Tokens are phonemes, components are words, patterns are phrases, layouts are sentences. The conversations we build with users become the stories our products tell.

But here’s what we’ve forgotten: the more fluently a language is spoken, the more accents it can support without losing meaning. English in Scotland differs from English in Sydney, yet both are unmistakably English. The language adapts to context while preserving core meaning. This couldn’t be more obvious to me, a Brazilian Portuguese speaker, who learned English with an American accent, and lives in Sydney.

Our design systems must work the same way. Rigid adherence to visual rules creates brittle systems that break under contextual pressure. Fluent systems bend without breaking.

Consistency becomes a prison

The promise of design systems was simple: consistent components would accelerate development and unify experiences. But as systems matured and products grew more complex, that promise has become a prison. Teams file “exception” requests by the hundreds. Products launch with workarounds instead of system components. Designers spend more time defending consistency than solving user problems.

Our design systems must learn to speak dialects.

A design dialect is a systematic adaptation of a design system that maintains core principles while developing new patterns for specific contexts. Unlike one-off customizations or brand themes, dialects preserve the system’s essential grammar while expanding its vocabulary to serve different users, environments, or constraints.

When Perfect Consistency Fails

At Booking.com, I learned this lesson the hard way. We A/B-tested everything—color, copy, button shapes, even logo colors. As a professional with a graphic design education and experience building brand style guides, I found this shocking. While everyone fell in love with Airbnb’s pristine design system, Booking grew into a giant without ever considering visual consistency.  

The chaos taught me something profound: consistency isn’t ROI; solved problems are.

At Shopify. Polaris () was our crown jewel—a mature design language perfect for merchants on laptops. As a product team, we were expected to adopt Polaris as-is. Then my fulfillment team hit an “Oh, Ship!” moment, as we faced the challenge of building an app for warehouse pickers using our interface on shared, battered Android scanners in dim aisles, wearing thick gloves, scanning dozens of items per minute, many with limited levels of English understanding.

Task completion with standard Polaris: 0%.

Every component that worked beautifully for merchants failed completely for pickers. White backgrounds created glare. 44px tap targets were invisible to gloved fingers. Sentence-case labels took too long to parse. Multi-step flows confused non-native speakers.

We faced a choice: abandon Polaris entirely, or teach it to speak warehouse.

The Birth of a Dialect

We chose evolution over revolution. Working within Polaris’s core principles—clarity, efficiency, consistency—we developed what we now call a design dialect:

Constraint	Fluent Move	Rationale
Glare & low light	Dark surfaces + light text	Reduce glare on low-DPI screens
Gloves & haste	90px tap targets (~2cm)	Accommodate thick gloves
Multilingual	Single-task screens, plain language	Reduce cognitive load

Result: Task completion jumped from 0% to 100%. Onboarding time dropped from three weeks to one shift.

This wasn’t customization or theming—this was a dialect: a systematic adaptation that maintained Polaris’s core grammar while developing new vocabulary for a specific context. Polaris hadn’t failed; it had learned to speak warehouse.

The Flexibility Framework

At Atlassian, working on the Jira platform—itself a system within the larger Atlassian system—I pushed for formalizing this insight. With dozens of products sharing a design language across different codebases, we needed systematic flexibility so we built directly into our ways of working. The old model—exception requests and special approvals—was failing at scale.

We developed the Flexibility Framework to help designers define how flexible they wanted their components to be:

Tier	Action	Ownership
Consistent	Adopt unchanged	Platform locks design + code
Opinionated	Adapt within bounds	Platform provides smart defaults, products customize
Flexible	Extend freely	Platform defines behavior, products own presentation

During a navigation redesign, we tiered every element. Logo and global search stayed Consistent. Breadcrumbs and contextual actions became Flexible. Product teams could immediately see where innovation was welcome and where consistency mattered.

The Decision Ladder

Flexibility needs boundaries. We created a simple ladder for evaluating when rules should bend:

Good: Ship with existing system components. Fast, consistent, proven.

Better: Stretch a component slightly. Document the change. Contribute improvements back to the system for all to use.

Best: Prototype the ideal experience first. If user testing validates the benefit, update the system to support it.

The key question: “Which option lets users succeed fastest?”

Rules are tools, not relics.

Unity Beats Uniformity

Gmail, Drive, and Maps are unmistakably Google—yet each speaks with its own accent. They achieve unity through shared principles, not cloned components. One extra week of debate over button color costs roughly $30K in engineer time.

Unity is a brand outcome; fluency is a user outcome. When the two clash, side with the user.

Governance Without Gates

How do you maintain coherence while enabling dialects? Treat your system like a living vocabulary:

Document every deviation – e.g., dialects/warehouse.md with before/after screenshots and rationale.

Promote shared patterns – when three teams adopt a dialect independently, review it for core inclusion.

Deprecate with context – retire old idioms via flags and migration notes, never a big-bang purge.

A living dictionary scales better than a frozen rulebook.

Start Small: Your First Dialect

Ready to introduce dialects? Start with one broken experience:

This week: Find one user flow where perfect consistency blocks task completion. Could be mobile users struggling with desktop-sized components, or accessibility needs your standard patterns don’t address.

Document the context: What makes standard patterns fail here? Environmental constraints? User capabilities? Task urgency?

Design one systematic change: Focus on behavior over aesthetics. If gloves are the problem, bigger targets aren’t “”breaking the system””—they’re serving the user. Earn the variations and make them intentional.

Test and measure: Does the change improve task completion? Time to productivity? User satisfaction?

Show the savings: If that dialect frees even half a sprint, fluency has paid for itself.

Beyond the Component Library

We’re not managing design systems anymore—we’re cultivating design languages. Languages that grow with their speakers. Languages that develop accents without losing meaning. Languages that serve human needs over aesthetic ideals.

The warehouse workers who went from 0% to 100% task completion didn’t care that our buttons broke the style guide. They cared that the buttons finally worked.

Your users feel the same way. Give your system permission to speak their language.

Today’s web is not always an amiable place. Sites greet you with a popover that demands assent to their cookie policy, and leave you with Taboola ads promising “One Weird Trick!” to cure your ailments. Social media sites are tuned for engagement, and few things are more engaging than a fight. Today it seems that people want to quarrel; I have seen flame wars among birders.  

These tensions are often at odds with a site’s goals. If we are providing support and advice to customers, we don’t want those customers to wrangle with each other. If we offer news about the latest research, we want readers to feel at ease; if we promote upcoming marches, we want our core supporters to feel comfortable and we want curious newcomers to feel welcome. 

In a study for a conference on the History of the Web, I looked to the origins of Computer Science in Vienna (1928-1934)  for a case study of the importance of amiability in a research community and the disastrous consequences of its loss. That story has interesting implications for web environments that promote amiable interaction among disparate, difficult (and sometimes disagreeable) people.

The Vienna Circle

Though people had been thinking about calculating engines and thinking machines from antiquity, Computing really got going in Depression-era Vienna.  The people who worked out the theory had no interest in building machines; they wanted to puzzle out the limits of reason in the absence of divine authority. If we could not rely on God or Aristotle to tell us how to think, could we instead build arguments that were self-contained and demonstrably correct? Can we be sure that mathematics is consistent? Are there things that are true but that cannot be expressed in language? 

The core ideas were worked out in the weekly meetings (Thursdays at 6) of a group remembered as the Vienna Circle. They got together in the office of Professor Moritz Schlick at the University of Vienna to discuss problems in philosophy, math, and language. The intersection of physics and philosophy had long been a specialty of this Vienna department, and this work had placed them among the world leaders.  Schlick’s colleague Hans Hahn was a central participant, and by 1928 Hahn brought along his graduate students Karl Menger and Kurt Gödel. Other frequent participants included philosopher Rudolf Carnap, psychologist Karl Popper, economist Ludwig von Mises (brought by his brother Frederick, a physicist),  graphic designer Otto Neurath (inventor of infographics), and architect Josef Frank (brought by his physicist brother, Phillip).  Out-of-town visitors often joined, including the young Johnny von Neumann, Alfred Tarski, and the irascible Ludwig Wittgenstein. 

When Schlick’s office grew too dim, participants adjourned to a nearby café for additional discussion with an even larger circle of participants.  This convivial circle was far from unique.  An intersecting circle–Neurath, von Mises, Oskar Morgenstern–established the Austrian School of free-market economics. There were theatrical circles (Peter Lorre, Hedy Lamarr, Max Reinhardt), and literary circles. The café was where things happened.

The interdisciplinarity of the group posed real challenges of temperament and understanding. Personalities were often a challenge. Gödel was convinced people were trying to poison him. Architect Josef Frank depended on contracts for public housing, which Mises opposed as wasteful. Wittgenstein’s temper had lost him his job as a secondary school teacher, and for some of these years he maintained a detailed list of whom he was willing to meet. Neurath was eager to detect muddled thinking and would interrupt a speaker with a shouted “Metaphysics!” The continuing amity of these meetings was facilitated by the personality of their leader, Moritz Schlick, who would be remembered as notably adept in keeping disagreements from becoming quarrels.

In the Café

The Viennese café of this era was long remembered as a particularly good place to argue with your friends, to read, and to write. Built to serve an imperial capital, the cafés found themselves with too much space and too few customers now that the Empire was gone. There was no need to turn tables: a café could only survive by coaxing customers to linger. Perhaps they would order another coffee, or one of their friends might drop by. One could play chess, or billiards, or read newspapers from abroad. Coffee was invariably served with a glass of purified spring water, still a novelty in an era in which most water was still unsafe to drink. That water glass would be refilled indefinitely. 

In the basement of one café, the poet Jura Soyfer staged “The End Of The World,” a musical comedy in which Professor Peep has discovered a comet heading for earth.

Prof. Peep: The comet is going to destroy everybody!

Hitler:  Destroying everybody is my business.

Of course, coffee can be prepared in many ways, and the Viennese café developed a broad vocabulary to represent precisely how one preferred to drink it: melange, Einspänner, Brauner, Schwarzer, Kapuziner. This extensive customization, with correspondingly esoteric conventions of service, established the café as a comfortable and personal third space, a neutral ground in which anyone who could afford a coffee would be welcome. Viennese of this era were fastidious in their use of personal titles, of which an abundance were in common use. Café waiters greeted regular customers with titles too, but were careful to address their patrons with titles a notch or two greater than they deserved. A graduate student would be Doktor, an unpaid postdoc Professor.  This assurance mattered all the more because so many members of the Circle (and so many other Viennese) came from elsewhere: Carnap from Wuppertal, Gödel from Brno, von Neumann from Budapest. No one was going to make fun of your clothes, mannerisms, or accent. Your friends wouldn’t be bothered by the pram in the hall. Everyone shared a Germanic Austrian literary and philosophical culture, not least those whose ancestors had been Eastern European Jews who knew that culture well, having read all about it in books.

The amiability of the café circle was enhanced by its openness. Because the circle sometimes extended to architects and actors, people could feel less constrained to admit shortfalls in their understanding. It was soon discovered that marble tabletops made a useful surface for pencil sketches, serving all as an improvised and accessible blackboard.

Comedies like “The End Of The World” and fictional newspaper sketches or feuilletons of writers like Joseph Roth and Stefan Zweig served as a second defense against disagreeable or churlish behavior. The knowledge that, if one got carried away, a parody of one’s remarks might shortly appear in Neue Freie Presse surely helped Professor Schlick keep matters in hand.

The End Of Red Vienna

Though Austria’s government drifted to the right after the War, Vienna’s city council had been Socialist, dedicated to public housing based on user-centered design, and embracing  ambitious programs of public outreach and adult education. In 1934 the Socialists lost a local election, and this era soon came to its end as the new administration focused on the imagined threat of the International Jewish Conspiracy. Most members of the Circle fled within months: von Neumann to Princeton, Neurath to Holland and Oxford, Popper to New Zealand, Carnap to Chicago. Prof. Schlick was murdered on the steps of the University by a student outraged by his former association with Jews.  Jura Soyfer, who wrote “The End Of The World,” died in Buchenwald.

In 1939, von Neumann finally convinced Gödel to accept a job in Princeton. Gödel was required to pay large fines to emigrate. The officer in charge of these fees would look back on this as the best posting of his career; his name was Eichmann.

Design for Amiability

An impressive literature recounts those discussions and the environment that facilitated the development of computing. How can we design for amiability?  This is not just a matter of choosing rounded typefaces and a cheerful pastel palette. I believe we may identify eight distinct issues that exert design forces in usefully amiable directions.

Seriousness: The Vienna Circle was wrestling with a notoriously difficult book—Wittgenstein’s Tractus Logico-Philosophicus—and a catalog of outstanding open questions in mathematics. They were concerned with consequential problems, not merely scoring points for debating. Constant reminders that the questions you are considering matter—not only that they are consequential or that those opposing you are scoundrels—help promote amity.

Empiricism: The characteristic approach of the Vienna Circle demanded that knowledge be grounded either in direct observation or in rigorous reasoning. Disagreement, when it arose, could be settled by observation or by proof. If neither seemed ready to hand, the matter could not be settled. On these terms, one can seldom if ever demolish an opposing argument, and trolling is pointless.

Abstraction: Disputes grow worse when losing the argument entails lost face or lost jobs. The Vienna Circle’s focus on theory—the limits of mathematics, the capability of language—promoted amity. Without seriousness, abstraction could have been merely academic, but the limits of reason and the consistency of mathematics were clearly serious.

Formality: The punctilious demeanor of waiters and the elaborated rituals of coffee service helped to establish orderly attitudes amongst the argumentative participants. This stands in contrast to the contemptuous sneer that now dominates social media.  

Schlamperei: Members of the Vienna Circle maintained a global correspondence, and they knew their work was at the frontier of research. Still, this was Vienna, at the margins of Europe: old-fashioned, frumpy, and dingy. Many participants came from even more obscure backwaters. Most or all harbored the suspicion that they were really schleppers, and a tinge of the ridiculous helped to moderate tempers. The director of “The End Of The World” had to pass the hat for money to purchase a moon for the set, and thought it was funny enough to write up for publication.

Openness: All sorts of people were involved in discussion, anyone might join in. Each week would bring different participants. Fluid borders reduce tension, and provide opportunities to broaden the range of discussion and the terms of engagement. Low entrance friction was characteristic of the café: anyone could come, and if you came twice you were virtually a regular. Permeable boundaries and café culture made it easier for moderating influences to draw in raconteurs and storytellers to defuse awkward moments, and Vienna’s cafés had no shortage of humorists. Openness counteracts the suspicion that promoters of amiability are exerting censorship.

Parody: The environs of the Circle—the university office and the café—were unmistakably public. There were writers about, some of them renowned humorists. The prospect that one’s bad taste or bad behavior might be ridiculed in print kept discussion within bounds. The sanction of public humiliation, however, was itself made mild by the veneer of fiction; even if you got a little carried away and a character based on you made a splash in some newspaper fiction, it wasn’t the end of the world.

Engagement: The subject matter was important to the participants, but it was esoteric: it did not matter very much to their mothers or their siblings. A small stumble or a minor humiliation could be shrugged off in ways that major media confrontations cannot.

I believe it is notable that this environment was designed to promote amiability through several different voices.  The café waiter flattered each newcomer and served everyone, and also kept out local pickpockets and drunks who would be mere disruptions. Schlick and other regulars kept discussion moving and on track. The fiction writers and raconteurs—perhaps the most peripheral of the participants—kept people in a good mood and reminded them that bad behavior could make anyone ridiculous.  Crucially, each of these voices were human: you could reason with them. Algorithmic or AI moderators, however clever, are seldom perceived as reasonable. The café circles had no central authority or Moderator against whom everyone’s resentments might be focused. Even after the disaster of 1934, what people remembered were those cheerful arguments.

The Money Habit: Why Financial Stress Isn’t About Math written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Episode Overview In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch sits down with bestselling author Mike Michalowicz to discuss his latest book, The Money Habit: The Worry-Free Way to Financial Independence. While Mike’s previous work (Profit First) revolutionized how entrepreneurs manage business finances, this conversation shifts focus to personal money management—and why […]

The Money Habit: Why Financial Stress Isn’t About Math written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Episode Overview

In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch sits down with bestselling author Mike Michalowicz to discuss his latest book, The Money Habit: The Worry-Free Way to Financial Independence.

While Mike’s previous work (Profit First) revolutionized how entrepreneurs manage business finances, this conversation shifts focus to personal money management—and why so many people still feel anxious about money despite earning more.

Mike reveals that financial stress isn’t primarily about income or math—it’s about behavior, habits, and lack of control. He introduces a system rooted in behavioral psychology that helps individuals take authority over their money without relying on strict discipline or deprivation.

The discussion explores the connection between business and personal finances, the flaws of traditional budgeting, and how simple structural changes—like separating money by purpose—can create clarity, reduce anxiety, and build long-term financial independence.

Guest Bio

Mike Michalowicz is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and financial systems expert dedicated to helping business owners and individuals gain control over their finances.

He is the author of multiple influential books including Profit First, Clockwork, Fix This Next, and All In. His work has been adopted by over a million businesses worldwide.

Through his latest book, The Money Habit, Mike expands his methodology into personal finance, focusing on behavioral systems that reduce financial stress and create sustainable wealth habits.

Key Takeaways

1. Financial Stress Is Behavioral, Not Mathematical

Most people assume more income will solve financial problems. Mike argues the opposite—financial stability comes from gaining control over money first, then increasing income.

2. More Money Doesn’t Fix Poor Money Habits

Without systems in place, both businesses and households can “leech” from each other, leading to financial instability even when income is high.

3. Discipline Often Backfires

Strict budgeting and deprivation can lead to two outcomes:

• Rebellion (overspending)
• Scarcity mindset (hoarding money without enjoying it)

4. Systems Beat Willpower

Instead of changing behavior, Mike advocates for “behavioral intercepts”—systems that guide natural behavior toward better outcomes.

5. Your Bank Account Is Your Most-Used Financial Tool

Rather than relying on apps or spreadsheets, Mike suggests structuring multiple bank accounts to reflect spending categories, making financial awareness automatic.

6. Real-Time Budgeting Creates Immediate Awareness

When money is separated into purpose-driven accounts, every purchase reflects instantly, helping people make better decisions in real time.

7. Start Small to Build Confidence

Begin with one account tied to your biggest financial worry (e.g., rent, groceries, retirement), then expand gradually.

8. Clarity Reduces Financial Anxiety

Financial stress often comes from uncertainty. Clear allocation of money creates confidence and reduces emotional strain.

9. Entrepreneurs Must Manage Both Business and Personal Finances

Success in business doesn’t guarantee personal financial health—and neglecting one can undermine the other.

10. “If in Doubt, Add an Account”

Creating a dedicated account for a specific concern (like emergency funds or runway) can immediately reduce stress and improve decision-making.

Great Moments (Timestamps)

00:01 – The Real Cause of Financial Anxiety
Mike challenges the idea that money stress is about math, pointing instead to habits and behavior.

01:24 – When Business Success Hurts Personal Finances
How profitable businesses can still fail due to poor personal money management.

02:45 – Generational Money Trauma
Why many people develop unhealthy relationships with money early in life.

03:54 – Financial Worry as a “Part-Time Job”
The hidden cost of constantly thinking about money.

04:29 – Why This Book Is Different from Profit First
Key differences between managing business vs. personal finances.

06:46 – Why Discipline and Budgeting Fail
The psychological pitfalls of deprivation-based financial systems.

08:54 – The Power of Habit-Based Systems
How structured systems outperform willpower.

10:32 – Why Traditional Budgeting Doesn’t Work
Introducing the concept of real-time budgeting through bank accounts.

13:27 – Start with One Account
A simple entry point to building the money habit.

16:20 – Systems Make You “Good with Money”
Why success isn’t about skill—it’s about structure.

18:54 – “If in Doubt, Add an Account”
A practical mantra for reducing financial uncertainty.

Memorable Quotes

“The solution to financial struggle is not more money—it’s authority and control over money.”

“I’ve never been good with money. I’ve found systems that are good with money.”

Resources & Links

• Mike Michalowicz website: MikeMotorbike.com
• Money Habit banking resources: MoneyHabitBank.com
• Money Habit mentors: MoneyHabitMentors.com

Not every great movie needs a massive budget to make a lasting impact. Smaller films consistently prove that creativity, storytelling, and strong performances outshine even the biggest blockbusters. Independent cinema has long been a space where bold ideas thrive, often taking risks that larger productions avoid. These films may not have had the same financial backing, but they connected with audiences, critics, and culture in powerful ways. This list highlights twenty independent films that did not rely on big budgets to stand out, showing that sometimes, less really is more.

The post 20 Independent Films That Didn’t Need a Big Budget to Beat the Big Boys appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

This article contains spoilers for Invincible season 4 episode 5. Since it debuted on Prime Video, Invincible has been a brutal show, even more so than the comics that inspired it. That brutality seemed to reach a climax in season 3, when the Viltrumite known as Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) arrived on Earth. Mark barely […]

The post Robert Kirkman and Steven Yeun Break Down That Major Invincible Rematch appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

Some video games never fade away. Decades after their release, players still return to them, not just for nostalgia, but because they remain genuinely fun and engaging. Strong gameplay, memorable worlds, and lasting communities have kept these titles alive long after newer releases came and went. They continue to be replayed, discussed, and even discovered by new generations of players. This list highlights fifteen video games that people are still playing more than twenty years later, proving that great design and timeless ideas can keep a game relevant far beyond its original era

The post 15 Video Games People Still Play After 20 Years appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

If you’re feeling the weight of your years and you used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was, and now what you’re with isn’t ‘it’ anymore, and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary, that’s okay. All we need to understand is that aspiring filmmakers used to largely fund their first films […]

The post A24’s Backrooms Trailer Hopes the World Is Ready for a New Creepypasta Movie appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

This article contains spoilers for Invincible season 4 episode 5. In its fourth season, the Prime Video series Invincible finally delivers a confrontation long in the making. No, it’s not the rematch between Mark Grayson and Conquest, nor any of the bone-shattering battles between the intergalactic coalition and the Viltrum Empire. Rather, it’s the moment […]

The post Invincible: Sandra Oh Discusses Her Favorite Debbie Moment Yet appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

After Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s indie sci-fi horror movie Iron Lung made waves at the box office, the popular YouTuber’s fans began discussing the possibility of him adapting Mark Z. Danielewski’s famously “unfilmable” novel, House of Leaves. For the uninitiated, House of Leaves follows photojournalist Will Navidson and his family after they move into a new […]

The post The House of Leaves Movies That Aren’t House of Leaves appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

Veronica Mars never quits. When her show moved networks in 2006 and then got canceled, she endured. A movie and a Hulu revival series would follow, and there’s often talk of bringing her back to our screens in the future. Thanks to the magic of streaming, new viewers are also discovering Veronica Mars and her […]

The post The Most Shocking Twists in Veronica Mars appeared first on Den of Geek.

This post contains potential spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2.

You know Wolverine. He’s the mutant named Logan, whose rapid healing factor drew a secret Canadian program to transform him into a super-soldier by grafting unbreakable adamantium metal onto his skeleton, including the claws that pop from his fists. He’s the most popular X-Man, the best anti-hero in the Marvel bullpen. He’s the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. And he’s been part of some really weird stories.

If a new Wolverine Funko Pop is any indication, one of those stories will come to life in animation for season 2 of X-Men ’97. Amongst the figures shown in the latest batch of leaks, we find one labeled, “Wolverine (Wasteland).” At first glance, the figure doesn’t look that different from the standard Wolverine design: he’s wearing yellow and blue spandex, a mask covers the top part of his face, and his claws are popped. But it’s only when one notices his sharp teeth, the ragged hood he’s using for his mask, and the jagged bone claws coming from his fist that comic book fans realize that this isn’t the Wolverine we know. This is the savage Wolverine from the late ’90s, the Wolverine who doesn’t have a nose.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Scarlet Joker (@thescarletjoker)

To understand how that Wolverine came to be, we need only look at a story beat that X-Men ’97 adapted in season 1. At the end of the first season, when the massacre on Genosha ended Magneto’s brief tenure fighting alongside the X-Men, the Master of Magnetism used his powers to pull the adamantium off Wolverine’s bones and out of his body.

The scene comes directly from the pages of 1993’s X-Men #25, the climax of the Fatal Attractions storyline. The moment forever changed Wolverine, for several reasons. First, it changed a key part of Logan’s backstory, revealing that his claws were bone extensions of his skeleton and predated the adamantium transfusion. In his earliest X-Men adventures, Wolverine described his claws as part of the gloves that he wore. Later, the claws were retconned to be added to his body when Department H of the Canadian government turned him into a super-soldier as part of the Weapon X program. X-Men #25 established that Logan has had claws ever since his mutant ability manifested when he was an adolescent.

More importantly, the storyline forced Wolverine to face his greatest fear. From his first appearance in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine has been defined by his internal struggle, the feeling that his humanity has been forever overwhelmed by his bestial impulses. Wolverine found redemption as part of the X-Men, winning fights against villains not because he’s stronger or smarter or even a better fighter, but because his healing factor allowed him to stay in the fight longer than anyone else.

At first, the loss of his adamantium diminished his healing factor, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. For the first time in decades, Wolverine had to be judicious in his battles; he couldn’t just slash his way through baddies. But then, his healing factor not only recovered, but kicked into overdrive, and that’s where things get strange.

We learn that his healing factor had been largely used to keep the adamantium from poisoning him. But once Magneto pulled the adamantium out, his healing factor went into overdrive, mutating Wolverine further. Over the next several years of X-Men and Wolverine comics, Logan got meaner, hairier, and even less coherent. He started devolving into an animal and the stories at the time suggested that writers would finally embrace a long-rumored idea that Logan was originally imagined to be an actual Wolverine who mutated into a human. As he became more animalistic, Wolverine eventually lost his nose, with a flat snout where his sniffer once was.

As the above synopsis indicates, Wolverine’s devolution comes during a bad time for X-Men comics. Across his epic run that lasted from 1975 to 1991, Chris Claremont transformed the X-Men from C-listers into the best-selling comic on the racks. That popularity hit the mainstream with the arrival of the original X-Men animated series in 1993. But with Claremont off the franchise, editors desperate to keep the success going, and Marvel relying on its mutants to stave off its upcoming bankruptcy, X-Men comics were a cavalcade of bad ideas during the ’90s, even by the standards of the decade.

Yet, as goofy as the idea was, the noseless, animal Wolverine did speak to the character’s central question, that tension between man and beast. Given the excellent track-record set by the first season of X-Men ’97, we’re certain that the Funko figure points to not a retread of a bad idea. Rather, X-Men ’97 may be able to bring out the best in the noseless Wolverine story, exploring its themes without sacrificing any of the silliness.

Because if there’s one thing we know about Wolverine, it’s that he can mutate, adapting to any situation and ensuring that he remains the best at what he does, even if what he does happens without a nose.

X-Men ’97 season 2 will stream on Disney+ in mid-2026.

The post X-Men ’97 Toy Leak Teases the Weirdest Wolverine Story appeared first on Den of Geek.