You know who James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine is. He’s cool. He smokes cigars. He calls people “bub.” He is an icon. Since the late 1990s, Wolverine has remained an ever-present and constantly lucrative staple of the comic book zeitgeist. Thanks to Hugh Jackman, Wolverine cemented his place as the face of the X-Men - at least, on-screen that is. With a reboot on the way, but pushed back by COVID, when will your Wolverine investments pay off?

A Bit of Background...

20th Century Fox’s divisive X-Men franchise was not without its highs. Ten years on, and X-Men: First Class still is… Class? However, all too often, the series felt more like Wolverine & The X-Men as opposed to being about the Mutant super-team as an ensemble. The closest we ever came to such a thing was perhaps found in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which still featured Jackman’s Logan, front and centre.wolverine-investment-pay-off

Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox (which included the film rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four) was completed on March 19, 2019 - just a little over two years ago. Since that fateful day, X-Men keys have been a highly lucrative and intriguing investment.

The Reboot:

In March of this year, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed development on an untitled X-Men reboot over at Disney. Fans rejoiced in the fact that we may finally get a cinematic iteration of the X-Men that warrants the name.wolverine_giant_size

When this news dropped, key X-Men comics jumped up in price and demand. Included in this was, of course, Wolverine’s first two appearances, found in Incredible Hulk #180 and #181 as well as Giant-Size X-Men #1, which included the first appearance of the new (and improved) X-Men. 

So, when will your Wolverine investments actually pay off? It is August of 2021. The Pandemic is still a thing (whether folks want to admit it or not) and thanks to this global disaster, Marvel Studios’ release schedule has taken a major hit - we’re now hearing rumblings that Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home may be pushed back to March or April of next year, though it had been scheduled for December of this year. Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage is also rumoured to jump back to February.

By pushing back movies like No Way Home and Thor: Love & Thunder (which was originally meant to release this November), that means that films that were not even in active development then have now been pushed back even further. This brings me to the central purpose of this article:

When will your Wolverine investments actually pay off

While Marvel will prioritize other Mutants in the reboot, Wolverine will be there. Perhaps not as centre-frame as he used to be, as we have heard rumblings that the character will take on a mentor figure role, ala the 2000 television series, X-Men: Evolution. Rumours suggest Jubilee or Kitty Pryde will be the main character.

All of this said, the character is way too popular and iconic to be ignored entirely - I mean, look at how quickly Marvel rebooted Spider-Man into the MCU after The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Because of the delays of other Marvel movies, Wolverine, X-Men keys in general, have taken a hit. But, I don’t actually see that as a big problemo. 

wolverine_hulk_investWhile sure, we want every investment to be profitable and quick, when it comes to keys such as Wolverine’s first appearance or Giant-Size X-Men #1, these are keys that will always be in-demand and lucrative for potential buyers, meaning if the book goes down in value, you really shouldn’t worry as it will bounce back up again in no time. As such, the longer the delay, the more people will think about getting their own hands on some of these. It’s the classic Wolf of Wall Street scene, “Sell me this pen…” Supply equals demand. 

Recently, I have seen a lot of Incredible Hulk #181s on Facebook Marketplace and eBay, selling for thousands under the recommended price and it absolutely pains me! That is the holy grail of an X-Men book. Don’t cave, have some faith in ol’ Wolvey. Sure, you may not be making a killing now, next year, hell, even the year after that! But, Wolverine is forever. He’s a character that, and I may get some flack for this, is bigger than any actor who plays him. Just wait until Marvel Studios casts the character, and you’ll see that investment you made way back in 2019 pay off in an X-cellent way. 

Sorry, you know I had to do it.

Are you ready to take your collecting game to the next level? Upgrade to GoCollect PRO!