Wolverine's Best Marvel Love Affair Isn't With Morph - It Was With Hercules
One of the most shipped romances in the "X-Men '97" animated series is between two iconic team members, Wolverine and Morph. But while the shapeshifting mutant shares an unrequited love for their fellow hero, Wolverine doesn't appear interested in igniting a romance with his friend.
The epic Season 1 finale of "X-Men '97" features Morph transforming into Jean Grey to comfort Logan as he recovers from grave injuries suffered at the hands of Magneto, and it's clear the younger mutant clearly has a romantic interest in Wolverine. This was confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) where former showrunner Beau DeMayo was quick to admit that Morph confessed their own feelings for their teammate while in disguise. But as surprising as this moment is, a Morph/Logan romance wouldn't be the long-lived hero's most unexpected pairing as the best love affair involving a Wolverine was with the mighty Hercules.
In "X-Treme X-Men" (by Greg Pak, Stephen Segovia, Dennis Crisostomo, Jessica Kholinne, and VC's Joe Sabino), a team of multiversal mutants assemble to take on several mega-powered versions of Charles Xavier from across space and time. The oddball roster includes Dazzler from Earth-616 (Marvel's primary reality), Emmeline Frost-Summers (a variant of Emma Frost who has god-like powers), a teenaged version of Nightcrawler named Kurt Waggoner, a variant of Charles Xavier who is a floating head, and General James Howlett of Earth-12025, one of the many versions of Wolverine, only this time with deity-crafted Adamantine-coated bones. Later in the series, the team meets the bashful son of Zeus, the Hercules from Wolverine's reality. Soon after, the demi-god and General James Howlett reveal they share more than just the battlefield — they are actually lovers.
Wolverine and Hercules' epic love story, explained
In "X-Treme X-Men" #10, the team of alternate heroes takes turns sharing information about their pasts. Despite Wolverine's initial objections, the heroes learn Logan and Hercules are romantically involved in their timeline, where they are considered the greatest heroes of Earth-12025. After saving the Dominion of Canada from a vicious monster, the pair reveal their love to the public, causing major outrage among the gods. Zeus himself banishes Hercules and Wolverine into the Pits of Tartarus, punishing his son for consorting with a mortal — something only the ruler of Mount Olympus is allowed to do. The couple spend over three years fighting against damned souls before breaking free.
The duo's romance continues on the X-Treme X-Men, but along with Kurt Waggoner and Charles Xavier, Hercules ultimately dies at the hands of Celestial-created Exterminators in the Age of Apocalypse timeline. General James Howlett is last seen heading to Greece along with Corporal Scott Summers of Earth-70213, where he plans to free Hercules from the grip of Hades, showing he's always willing to fight even the gods for a chance to be with his love again.
Hopefully, Marvel will follow up on Wolverine and Hercules' adventures down the line. It would be exciting to see the pair together at least one more time, as their relationship made for one of the best (and most unexpected) romantic pairings across the Marvel multiverse. It's a big deal to see such masculine and straight-coded characters paired together, even if they aren't the main universe versions. If "X-Men '97" hops timelines and introduces more variants of heroes and villains, the show could (and should) introduce both heroes, as Wolverine and Hercules' relationship is more than worth exploring on the small screen.