Published Jul 13, 2026, 9:01 AM EDT
Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.
Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.
Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.
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A new mutant has stepped into Wolverine's shoes in Marvel's X-Men lore, becoming the team's designated lone wolf and one-man-army. Here's who's taken Logan's place, why it happened, and how his unique powers work in X-Men lore.
Originally introduced as an antiheroic rival to the Hulk, Wolverine was folded into X-Men lore with 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1, from Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. The Canadian mutant quickly became the series' breakout star, and one of Marvel's most successful heroes of all time.
A man caught between his violent past and his honorable nature, Wolverine is the X-Men's resident killer, living by a vow that if blood must be spilled, he'll spill it so his friends don't have to. However, given recent events, that position is open - and a supreme badass has stepped in to fill it.
John Greycrow Has Taken Wolverine's Place in Marvel's Main X-Men Title
As of 2024's X-Men revamp, aka the 'From the Ashes' era, Marvel's mutants have been split into two main teams - Cyclops' Alaskan X-Men in X-Men and Rogue's Louisiana X-Men in Uncanny X-Men. Wolverine is with Rogue, leaving an open spot on Cyclops' team that's been filled by John Greycrow.
Now, Greycrow is officially taking Wolverine's place, in a storyline basically hand-made for Logan. As part of the upcoming DNX crossover, Greycrow will face an army of enemies as the X-Men's base in invaded, with only the former villain to defend it.
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Release Date: |
October 14, 2026 |
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Writer: |
Jed MacKay |
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Artists: |
Netho Diaz |
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Cover Artist: |
Tony S. Daniel |
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Enemies put their sights on the X-Men’s home base - the Factory, in Alaska. But the Factory is not undefended...and John Greycrow is an army unto himself! |
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One killer facing an army while the other X-Men aren't available is the kind of storyline that defines Wolverine - indeed, X-Men #132 (Chris Claremont, John Byrne) gave Logan perhaps his most iconic moment ever. After the X-Men were downed by the Hellfire Club, Logan began his solo fightback with the line, "You've taken yer best shot! Now it's MY turn!"
However, with Wolverine starring in Uncanny X-Men, he's not available for this kind of story, making it clearer than ever how John Greycrow has filled the gap left behind by the X-Men's resident badass.
How Did John Greycrow Become the Next Wolverine?
Introduced in 1986, John Greycrow was originally a villainous member of the Marauders, carrying out the iconic 'Mutant Massacre' of the Morlocks. The team were controlled by Mister Sinister, who cloned them again and again to carry out his wishes. In today's comics, the originals are long dead and replaced by "copies of copies of copies" who remember their crimes but didn't commit them.
John Greycrow originally used the codename 'Scalphunter,' but this name has seemingly been abandoned by Marvel due to its offensive nature.
In the late 2000s, during the Utopian era, the most recent Greycrow clone experienced the beginnings of a redemption arc, briefly allying with the X-Men. This blossomed during the 2019-2024 Krakoan Era, where Greycrow was one of the main characters of Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia's Marauders - a team of dangerous mutants sent on missions where violence was the only recourse.
Surprisingly, Greycrow became a voice of reason on the team, building a found family and falling in love with team leader Psylocke (while also killing sociopathic teammate Empath when he manipulated the team's emotions.)
More recently, Greycrow appeared in Psylocke's solo series as her romantic partner, and has been appearing in X-Men comics as a reliable ally who's willing to work alongside the team due to his affection for Psylocke.
Greycrow now seems invested in mutant survival, though he's still a trained killer with no hesitation about taking life.
John Greycrow's Superpowers Explained
In X-Men lore, Greycrow's has two mutant powers which make him an ideal Wolverine replacement. First, he has a powerful healing factor which allows him to heal even fatal injuries. Like Wolverine, this appears to slow down his aging and allows him to regenerate lost limbs.
Second, Greycrow has a limited form of technopathy, or control over machines. Greycrow can intuitively construct a variety of weapons and gadgets with his mind, intuitively seeing how all the necessary pieces fit and having them fly together in that shape. Leave him near pretty much any machine and he'll find a way to weaponize it.
Greycrow can even reshape component parts as part of constructing a machine, but only so far. As a result, he tends to wear a costume made of a huge number of different mechanical parts, allowing him to quickly construct his ideal weaponry on the fly. After losing several limbs to Magneto (who cauterized the wounds to foil his healing factor), Greycrow has even replaced parts of his body with yet more components, allowing him to disassemble his arms and legs to create bigger and better machines.
Despite debuting in the '80s, Greycrow has become the ultimate '90s superhero comics fever dream - a weapons master who can construct gigantic guns out of anything, including his own cyborg body.
X-Men Can Finally Expand Greycrow's Powers
Despite the immense potential of being able to build almost anything he can imagine - and shapeshift component parts to get it done - Greycrow is generally only shown making guns, explosives and ammo. That suited his personality as a killer under Mister Sinister's control, but now that he's taken on an antihero role, it's time for X-Men to push him even further, and X-Men #39 is the right time to do it.
Giving John Greycrow a solo story where he has to take on an army of villains is the perfect opportunity to push his creativity and show what else he's capable of. That's a process that's already begun, with the recent X-Men #29 pushing Greycrow to move beyond just weapons.
Seeing Greycrow expand his powers to create vehicles, sci-fi gadgets and more would be the perfect way to use what seems like a one-off solo adventure, especially because increased versatility would make it easier to keep expanding his role in X-Men lore.
With John Greycrow, X-Men has the biggest mutant badass since Wolverine, and the gap in the narrative to use him right - bring on X-Men #39, and a showcase of Greycrow's mutant potential.
X-Men #39 is coming October 14 from Marvel Comics.
TV Show(s) X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024)
Video Game(s) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
First Film X-Men (2000)
Character(s) Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
Comic Release Date 213035,212968
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