# Question about Wolverine/Logan and his age **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448 "2017-06-20T17:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/1 "2017-06-20T17:10:22Z")
After a recent viewing marathon of X-men and Wolverine movies at my house a question occurred to me: Is Wolverine’s extreme age (he was born sometime in the 19th Century, perhaps as early as the 1840’s, meaning he may be 170 or more years old by present day) common knowledge in any continuity. Meaning, if someone casually asks his age and he says 167 or whatever they don’t even blink, or his government-issued ID states his correct and true birthdate? If not the general public, would it be known to a fair number of government and/or mercenary types? In the movie _Logan_ it seems that mutants are a known thing to the public (even if currently believed largely extinct). Would Stryker and the Weapon X program know his true age? What about Alpha Flight? Nick Fury and SHIELD? Of course, any government Wolverine/Logan/James Howlett works for can simply give him a set of ID documents stating whatever age he apparently is, but I’m just curious if his age remains mysterious to practically everyone, is known by some, or known by many and just accepted as-is. Feel free to add in the comic book and animated stuff - I haven’t been a regular reader of comics since the 1980’s so maybe the answers are there and I just haven’t seen them. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/2 "2017-06-20T18:11:25Z")
Did Logan even know how old he was? He had amnesia for quite a while and I don’t think memories grow back. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/3 "2017-06-20T18:14:10Z")
Did the technology to change him exist back in the 1840’s? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/4 "2017-06-20T18:15:17Z")
_Wolverine_ didn’t exist back then, but _Logan_ did. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/5 "2017-06-20T19:06:15Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Did the technology to change him exist back in the 1840’s? He was a super-healing mutant back then, in some continuities he also had bone claws - in all cases the adamantium skeleton thing came later, probably in the '60’s or 70’s but I’m not entirely sure that was ever specified. So he was already 90-100 years old at the time that was done to him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/6 "2017-06-20T19:37:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > He was a super-healing mutant back then, in some continuities he also had bone claws - in all cases the adamantium skeleton thing came later, probably in the '60’s or 70’s but I’m not entirely sure that was ever specified. So he was already 90-100 years old at the time that was done to him. The timeline of the movies are full of contradictions. But it seems to have been established in _Days of Future Past_ that Wolverine still had his original skeleton in 1973. He got his adamantium skeleton in 1979 in _X-Men Origins: Wolverine_. But Logan changed the timeline when he went back to 1973. So how did he get his adamantium skeleton in 1979? ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/7 "2017-06-20T19:46:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The timeline of the movies are full of contradictions. But it seems to have been established in _Days of Future Past_ that Wolverine still had his original skeleton in 1973. He got his adamantium skeleton in 1979 in _X-Men Origins: Wolverine_. > > But Logan changed the timeline when he went back to 1973. So how did he get his adamantium skeleton in 1979? The events in the movie _The Wolverine_ happened just before _Days of Future Past._ In _The Wolverine_, the adamantium was stripped from his body, leaving him with just the bone claws. Now, how that was affected by the change in the timeline in 1973, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/9 "2017-06-20T19:53:08Z")
Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/10 "2017-06-20T19:58:28Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > The events in the movie _The Wolverine_ happened just before _Days of Future Past._ In _The Wolverine_, the adamantium was stripped from his body, leaving him with just the bone claws. > > Now, how that was affected by the change in the timeline in 1973, I dunno. In Age of Apocalypse, which takes place in 1983, Wolverine is freed from imprisonment in a military facility; presumably he’d been given the adamantium skeleton at some point during his imprisonment (between 1973 and 1983) (this is after the timeline change) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/11 "2017-06-20T20:01:00Z")
To be clear, I wasn’t reporting Sauron’s very interesting and informative post, but rather a spammer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/12 "2017-06-20T20:04:49Z")
In the comics, it’s possible SHIELD knows everything about him cause they know everything. The only kind of ID he would have his some Canadian special agent thing or a fake license for if he gets pulled over. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/13 "2017-06-20T20:05:02Z")
Are there mutants older than Wolverine? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/14 "2017-06-20T20:07:55Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Are there mutants older than Wolverine? Apocolypse for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/15 "2017-06-20T20:35:08Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Are there mutants older than Wolverine? Mr. Sinister is about 50 years older than Logan. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/16 "2017-06-20T20:59:57Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > The events in the movie _The Wolverine_ happened just before _Days of Future Past._ In _The Wolverine_, the adamantium was stripped from his body, leaving him with just the bone claws. > > Now, how that was affected by the change in the timeline in 1973, I dunno. It was just his claws that lost the Adamantium in The Wolverine (the Silver Samurai cut off his claws, using a heated Adamantium blade (_waves hands_ LOOK OVER THERE! AN EXPLANATION AS TO HOW THAT WOULD WORK!), as part of attempting to steal his healing factor, then the claws grew back). And apparently DoFP either prevented The Wolverine from happening, or changed the sequence of events some\*, since he has the coated claws in Logan. - The resulting 21st century shown at the end of DoFP had only minor differences from the original continuity, including featuring characters not born until after the timeline was changed, so the changes couldn’t have been that severe. So something LIKE The Wolverine likely happened, especially since many of the key events took place before the timeline change, but, again, it clearly didn’t happen quite the same way it did in the original timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/17 "2017-08-01T16:25:32Z")
I just saw both The Wolverine and Logan on a flight to Scotland. I have not seen any of the other X-Men movies except the first and second. Did something happen in Last Stand or First Class that restored Logan’s lost memories? If not, why does he remember someone he met in WWII? That kind of bugged me the whole movie. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/18 "2017-08-01T23:45:47Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Did Logan even know how old he was? He had amnesia for quite a while and I don’t think memories grow back. In the real world… But this is a world with powerful psychics, and they’ve done a lot of work with him to help him restore much of his lost memory. Prof. X, specifically, unleashed a whole lot of hidden memories…some of which Wolvie might even have preferred not to regain. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/19 "2017-08-02T00:12:32Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Mr. Sinister is about 50 years older than Logan. Mr. Sinister isn’t a mutant, though. Apocalypse, on the other hand, is, and he’s as old as the pyramids. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/20 "2017-08-02T03:43:09Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > I just saw both The Wolverine and Logan on a flight to Scotland. Wow, were they sitting together? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448/21 "2017-08-02T05:14:09Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Wow, were they sitting together? I was picturing it more like: The Wolverine gets up to use the lavatory, and Logan comes back and sits in his seat. Then Logan gets up and inexplicably the seat is claimed by some random dude with an eyepatch, muttering something about how if the pilot doesn’t pick up the pace he’s going to miss his connection to Madripoor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-wolverine-logan-and-his-age/789448.md?page=2)