Weapon X

Weapon X is a fictional government genetic research facility project appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They were conducted by Department K, which turned willing and unwilling beings into living weapons to carry out covert missions like assassination or eliminating potential threats to the government. It was similar to human enhancement experiments in the real world, but it captured mutants and did experiments on them to enhance their abilities such as superpowers, turning them into weapons. They also mutated baseline humans. The Weapon X Project produced Wolverine, Leech, Deadpool, Sabretooth, and Weapon H.

The fictional experiment X, or the brutal adamantium-skeletal bonding process, written by Barry Windsor-Smith in his classic story " Weapon X" (originally published in '' Marvel Comics Presents'' #72–84 in 1991), was eventually revealed as part of the "Weapon X Project." Grant Morrison's '' New X-Men'' in 2002 further revealed that Weapon X was the tenth of a series of such projects, collectively known as the Weapon Plus Program, and the X in "Weapon X" referred not to the letter X but the Roman numeral for the number 10. The first project, Weapon I, pertained to the Super Soldier Project that created Captain America.

Publication history

The Weapon X organization was created by writer Len Wein and artist Herb Trimpe, and first appeared in '' The Incredible Hulk'' #180 (October 1974).

Fictional organization biography

Original installment

The code name ''Weapon X'' was originally mentioned in the first appearance of Wolverine in '' The Incredible Hulk'' #180 in 1974 since which it has been implied that he was connected to a shady and malevolent government program. In the 1991 story arc " Weapon X" (originally published in '' Marvel Comics Presents'' #72–84 in 1991), the project was designated Experiment X, and it was revealed that it was responsible for bonding the adamantium to Wolverine's skeleton, making him indestructible. It also subjected him to brainwashing in order to bring out his most basic murderous instincts and to transform him into the perfect assassin. The scientists christened their new killing machine " Weapon X".

Wolverine's solo series issues #48-50 (1992) revealed that Project X also created fabricated memories in the minds of several of its subjects.

Weapon X operated through Canada's Department K and was directed by Professor Andre Thorton. At his side were Abraham Cornelius, Carol Hines, and Dale Rice. John Sublime, the director of Weapon Plus, was always behind the scenes. Some of the work of Weapon X was based on the experiments detailed on the journals of Nazi scientist Nathan Essex which were obtained by Weapon Plus after the end of World War II.

The project's original test subjects were the members of Team X, a covert ops CIA team (consisting of Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, Silver Fox, Mastodon, Arthur Barrington, Psi-Borg/Aldo Ferro, Wildcat/Noel Higgins and Kestrel). The telepath Psi-Borg was involved in the creation of the victims' memory implants, in exchange for being endowed with immortality. The test subjects were policed by an adaptive robot enforcer, called Shiva, should any of the agents go rogue.

What Wolverine and his fellow X-Men ignored for many years is that Weapon X was part of a larger program called Weapon Plus, a United States super-soldier program created in the 1940s with the purpose of creating super-soldiers and assassins not only to be employed in conventional wars, but also to be employed for the extermination of mutants. Weapon X was the first iteration in Weapon Plus that victimized mutants.

What the Weapon X scientists did not foresee is that the experimentation on Wolverine would cause him to go on a murderous rampage, which allowed the escape of the other test subjects, and caused the death of Dale Rice, among dozens of other members of Weapon X staff, both scientists and military.

The Deadpool

Weapon X was temporarily shut down, but eventually was reinstated. Subsequent attempts at recreating the success seen by Weapon X with Wolverine include Native, Kimura and X-23 (the 23rd attempt to clone Wolverine who was designed to also hunt down rogue agents). The ''Weapon X Re-Creation Project'' a.k.a. ''The Facility'' was headed by Director Martin Sutter, Dale Rice's son Zander Rice, and Sarah Kinney. Like Weapon X once did, the Facility has also branched off from the main Weapon X Program. Latter creations of The Facility, now under the direction of Dr. Adam Harkins, include Predator X.

Second installment

At some point, Weapon X branched off from Weapon Plus' control and was solely headed up by Canada's Department K. A new generation of agents were created: Deadpool, Garrison Kane (who took on the moniker " Weapon X"), Slayback, Sluggo, Wyre, Wildchild, and Ajax, among others. Weapon X used Logan's DNA to endow its agents with healing powers. The batch produced many additional failures, which were sent to a facility for dissection to determine the cause of their failures. These rejects were freed by Deadpool when he escaped from the facility.

A smaller experiment was later developed by Department K with a New Zealand terrorist (who would become the third individual to be known as Weapon X) merging him with Thetagen-24, a dangerous symbiotic bacterial colony.

Typhoid Mary was also a subject, when she was captured by an Antarctic facility continuing research for the Weapon X Project, specifically the mental faculties of the mutant mind. Their experiments helped give birth to Mary's "Bloody Mary" persona, which exhibited increased psychokinetic powers.

Third installment

In Weapon X series number 6, director Malcolm Colcord forms the third version of the Weapon X Project, designed to monitor and eliminate mutants. Colcord, once a security guard at the first Weapon X project, suffered severe facial lacerations during an escape attempt by the mutant Wolverine. Unlike the previous two installments of Weapon X, the third Project was completely U.S.-based and focused not only on the creation of living weapons, but also on the ultimate goal of Colcord: the creation of death camps where mutants are either executed or forced to serve Weapon X. Maggott, Ape, and Tar Baby are among his victims.

The agents of the third Weapon X were Brent Jackson, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent; Sabretooth, who was given new adamantium implants; the shapeshifter Copycat; Deadpool; and Mauvais. Later on, Deadpool went rogue and new operatives were recruited into Weapon X, many of whom had their powers enhanced or were brainwashed into servitude. Maverick was saved from certain death and his powers were enhanced with the purpose of assassinating Wolverine, thus Agent Zero was created. Former member of Alpha Flight Wildchild was brainwashed and further mutated into a Nosferatu-like feral humanoid.

Former mutant terrorist Marrow had her powers set to a controllable level, restoring her body. Sauron's personality was merged with that of his Karl Lykos self and his energy-draining powers enhanced so he could fire energy blasts. Garrison Kane was further transformed into a cybernetic being. Aurora was kidnapped and brainwashed, like Madison Jeffries, who was extracted from the terrorist group known as the Zodiac and used to create hundreds of Boxbots loyal to Weapon X to serve as guards at Neverland.

Washout had his powers enhanced, though at a heavy cost. Each usage of his powers endangered his life and eventually, he dies trying to kill Colcord. Mesmero joins willingly, while Reaper and Wildside (former members of the Mutant Liberation Front) became agents of the program in exchange for their lives. The psychic mutant Jack-in-the-Box joins after his legs and arms were amputated. He becomes a living polygraph.

Unbeknownst to all except Sabretooth, Mister Sinister was disguised as the head scientist at the Neverland facility, Doctor Robert Windsor. As Windsor, Mister Sinister supposedly helped some mutants escape from Neverland, but he was only taking them to his own secret labs.

After some time, Brent Jackson (the only human officially on the team) took over as Director, during a mutiny by the team in conjunction with an attack by mutants from the Underground. Cable led this group, in a mission to destroy Weapon X and expose its existence and its human rights violations. Washout and Garrison Kane died in the event, while Sabretooth was washed away into the sewers after a battle with Marrow. Marrow used the battle to escape from Weapon X, eventually taking over the Mutant Underground, now reformed as the third incarnation of Gene Nation.

Colcord fled Weapon X with the always loyal Jeffries and Aurora as well. Director Brent Jackson's team consisted of Wildchild, Sauron, Agent Zero, Mesmero, Jack-in-the-Box, and newly recruited Chamber, whose face was restored by the program's scientists. Chamber was originally a double agent working for the X-Men, but was subsequently brainwashed into Jackson's service. Mister Sinister, under the alias of Dr. Windsor, remains at Weapon X. At some point, Jackson's team fought with Colcord's Boxbots. Colcord regains control of Weapon X.

Following M-Day, both Chamber and Mesmero are rendered powerless. Neverland is shut down and the prisoners, either powered or depowered, are executed by hosts of Boxbots. Records of the massive executions are discovered by Beast in the Endangered Species storyline, which also hints that some of the bodies of the prisoners executed prior to M-Day were sent to Ord and used in the research to develop the cure for mutation.

In the aftermath of the '' Avengers vs. X-Men'' storyline, Cyclops and his team of Uncanny X-Men have taken up residency in the Weapon X facility, which they have rebuilt into a school named the New Charles Xavier's School for the new mutants that began appearing.

Fourth installment

As part of the '' RessurXion'' event, a fourth installment of the Weapon X Project debuted.''Weapon X'' Vol. 3 #2. Marvel Comics. During the ''Weapons of Mutant Destruction'' storyline, the Weapon X Project is interested in Lady Deathstrike, Warpath, Domino, Wolverine, and Sabretooth for a new experiment. It is shown that the Weapon X Project is turning civilians into cyborgs made of Adamantium sent to hunt a specific group of mutants, forcing Old Man Logan to team up with Sabretooth to stop them. Logan and his allies alongside Amadeus Cho's Hulk form discover that Weapon X has been experimenting on humans by grafting the DNA of Wolverine and Hulk into them while also applying Adamantium to their bones. In addition, it is shown that the director of the latest incarnation of the Weapon X Project is a somehow-revived William Stryker.

Later, Weapon X creates H-Alpha, a mutate with the abilities of Cho and Logan.

Implosion and Xeno emergence

Following Professor Charles Xavier founding a sovereign nation state for mutants on the living island Krakoa, he made sure all shadow agencies around the world were defunded and disbanded, Weapon X among them.

However remnants of those agencies gathered together and established Xeno a global organization with ties to anti-mutant politicians and business leaders. Xeno are dedicated to bioengineering themselves into weapons. Upon discovering this, Professor X tasked Domino to infiltrate the organization to gather intel. Domino was discovered during her infiltration, and The Xeno's operatives used grafts of her skin on their genetically altered soldiers to allow them to evade Krakoa's security protocols. The Xeno strike team was able to attack Krakoa, and assassinate Xavier.

The Weapon X codename

* In mainstream Marvel, Logan was the first individual known as Weapon X. After Wolverine, Garrison Kane went by the alias of Weapon X before leaving the Canadian Government to work as a mercenary again.
* A short time later, a New Zealand terrorist was captured by the Canadian Government and subjected to an experiment which bonded him to a bacteria colony, called Thetagen-24. This symbiosis proved dangerous as the union created a deadly energy field which could only be contained by an armored suit that was powered by the energy field.
* In the "Age of Apocalypse" alternate universe, Logan was known as Weapon X.

Series called ''Weapon X''

1991 storyline

The chronicle of Wolverine's days with the Weapon X project, from the bonding of adamantium to his bones to his escape from the project, were revealed in the '' Weapon X'' story arc, written and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith and published in installments in the anthology series ''Marvel Comics Presents'' in 1991. An expanded version of the story has been produced by writer Marc Cerasini and published by Pocket Star Books in 2004. The story intertwines with some of Wolverine's past, and eventually ends with Wolverine's rampage being described in full, only to be revealed as the work of a Virtual reality system which actually ''predicted'' the events of Wolverine's escape which then occur in real life moments later.

Age of Apocalypse series

In 1995, ''Weapon X'' became the name of the Age of Apocalypse variation of Wolverine's ongoing series (during the " Age of Apocalypse" storyline, each X-Men series was renamed and renumbered for four monthly issues and then reverted to the original name and numbering after the storyline ended).

2002 ongoing series

''Weapon X'' is the name of a 28-issue ongoing series published by Marvel from 2002 to 2004, featuring the third installment of the Weapon X project. It was written by Frank Tieri, who previously wrote the ongoing ''Wolverine'' title and had created the group's most recent incarnation in the pages of said book. The series began in 2002 and quickly gained critical praise for its use of minor characters as well as reviving characters such as Cable, who at the time was not featured in a monthly title. However, sales sagged following the removal of Cable from the book after the first year, on orders of Rob Liefeld, who was working on a new ''X-Force'' project.

Frank Tieri was forced to drop nearly all of his subplots, including the introduction of a mutant concentration camp run by Mr. Sinister that featured many popular B-List mutant characters, and take the book into the controversial direction involving the introduction of X-23, and Wolverine and Sabretooth's quest to find the recently revived John Sublime. The new direction failed to catch on, mainly due to the books' over-exposure of Wolverine and the drastic change in tone of the book. It was cancelled with all of its storylines unresolved.

2005 limited series

A limited series ''Weapon X: Days of Future Now'' in 2005 was released that resolved all of the dangling storylines and revealed that Wolverine's disfigurement of Weapon X Director Malcolm Colcord was the catalyst for the creation of a future similar to the " Days of Future Past" scenario.

''Wolverine: Weapon X''

An ongoing series launched in 2009 titled '' Wolverine: Weapon X''. The series was written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Ron Garney.

2017 ongoing series

As part of their '' RessurXion'' event, a new ongoing series for Weapon X written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Greg Land was launched along with other new ongoing X-Men titles. This series takes place after the events seen in ''X-Men Prime'' when Lady Deathstrike gets kidnapped by the new version of Weapon X.

Membership

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the '' Age of Apocalypse'' alternate timeline, Logan was never actually called Wolverine; he retained the "Weapon X" codename, through his entire career.

Dead Man Wade, the AoA counterpart of Deadpool, did not receive his healing factor from the Weapon X program but from Apocalypse, apparently after Apocalypse dismantled the program, and became part of Apocalypse's elite assassin trio dubbed the ' Pale Riders'.

''Exiles''

In the series '' Exiles'', whose cast is a group of characters from alternate timelines who travel to other realities, Weapon X is a group of superbeings that have been torn from their respective realities to fulfill various missions for the Exiles' employer, the Timebroker. To return home, they have been forced to jump from reality to reality, repairing the broken links in the chain of time. Unlike their more heroic counterparts, the Exiles, this ruthless assemblage will resort to any means necessary to attain their goals. They act without mercy and without conscience.

The team's membership has changed through time. The first known mission given to Weapon X was to capture the Hulk. At the time, the membership of Weapon X consisted of Sabretooth (Victor Creed of the Age of Apocalypse, the father figure of the Exiles' leader Blink), Deadpool and Garrison Kane. Later it was revealed that the team also included Wolverine, Maverick and Mesmero. The six chose the name 'Weapon X' due to their common ties to the Project in their native timelines, although, save for Sabretooth, the background of all the other members are a mystery. The Exiles completed the mission without realizing the existence of Weapon X, but the Weapon X trio saw the Exiles and their leader, Blink.

When the two teams met face-to-face for the first time, Weapon X was already a sextet: Sabretooth, Deadpool, the Spider (Peter Parker, an alternate version of Spider-Man, here a psychotic murderer with the symbiotic alien costume of Carnage), Storm (Ororo Munroe, here only sixteen years old and already ruler of more than half of Africa), the Vision (a version that remained an emotionless robot), and the Hulk (Jennifer Walters, normally called the She-Hulk, here a former mob bookkeeper transformed into an eight-foot green-skinned powerhouse). It was mentioned that the Vision had replaced Kane and that the Spider had replaced Matt Murdock ( Daredevil). Later, Iron Man replaced Deadpool.

The next time the team was seen, Angel (now a gun-toting assassin) replaced Iron Man and the team leader was now Gambit instead of Sabretooth. Later, the Hulk was replaced by Colossus, and eventually Angel was replaced by Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers).

When Storm died, she was replaced by Hyperion. Later, Colossus and the Vision were replaced by the Hulk (Bruce Banner) and Firestar. These two, along with Gambit, tried to stop Hyperion, the Spider and Ms. Marvel when they decided to abandon their mission and rule a world. They failed, and the next mission given to both the Exiles and Weapon X was to kill enough members of each team so that there would be only six survivors in total. Ultimately, all members of this Weapon X team were killed in the fight.

Ultimate Marvel

In '' Ultimate X-Men,'' which takes place in the Ultimate Marvel universe, the Weapon X project has a similar intention and similar methodology as its Marvel Universe counterpart, as it was also responsible for bonding adamantium to Wolverine's skeleton.

Ultimate Weapon X was headed by Colonel John Wraith, a mutant-hating commando, and Dr. Cornelius. The program was sanctioned by S.H.I.E.L.D. sometime before or during the Gulf War to capture mutants and force them to carry out covert missions for the US Government. Their main facility was located in Finland (as opposed to the mainstream that was originally located in Canada). The lineup included, at times, Wolverine/Logan aka "Lucky Jim", Sabretooth, Rogue, Juggernaut, Nightcrawler, and the rest of the original Ultimate X-Men, for a short time after the program invaded Xavier's mansion and took them captive.

Ultimate Universe

During the " Ultimate Invasion" storyline, Maker traveled to Earth-6160 and remade it into his own image. There was an unidentified Weapon X specimen whose adamantium-laced skeleton is on display in a Damage Control facility.It is later established that the research project was interrupted during its testing stage, with "Weapon Alpha" being a failed procedure. It's implied its subject is the aforementioned skeleton.

The Eurasian Republic ruled by the Rasputin family (consisting of Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red) eventually creates a variation of the Weapon X Program called Directorate X.

Wolverine: The End

In a possible future of '' Wolverine: The End'', Wolverine attempts to hunt down the people involved in Weapon X, and discovers not only that they have been dead and gone for many decades, but also what may have been the very first subject of the project: his elder brother John Howlett, who he had been told died when he (Wolverine) was still just a baby. In addition to having bone claws, enhanced senses and a healing factor, the elder Howlett appeared to have some kind of ethereal form which allowed him to phase through things and somehow conduct energy blasts. John Howlett claimed that he was driven mad at first by his parents' seeming abandonment of him when his powers first manifested. Had he been in his insane state of mind when he first encountered Wolverine, he claims he would likely have attempted to kill him.

X-Men Noir

Set in '' Marvel Noir'', this Weapon X is a 1940s German based government agency led by the "Red Rose"/Jiamine Szardos/Amanda Sefton, a former circus artist. She that employs agents like Andreas Strucker/Fenris and boyfriend " the Demon". However the spy Calvin Rankin revealed that Weapon X is named after him as Berlin seeks to replicate his skills in warfare.

In other media

Television

* Weapon X appears in '' X-Men: The Animated Series'', consisting of Professor Oyama and Abraham Cornelius.
* Weapon X appears in '' X-Men: Evolution''.
* Weapon X appears in '' Wolverine and the X-Men'', led by Professor Andre Thorton and Abraham Cornelius.
* Weapon X makes a cameo appearance in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'' episode "Behold...The Vision!".

Film

* Weapon X appears in '' X2'', with Colonel William Stryker as a prominent member. This version of the organization possesses a facility at Alkali Lake.
* Weapon X appears in '' Hulk vs Wolverine'', with Professor Andre Thorton as a prominent member.
* Weapon X appears in '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine''.
* A Weapon X facility called the Workshop appears in '' Deadpool'', with Ajax and Angel Dust as prominent members. Though unstated in the film, actors Ed Skrein and Ryan Reynolds revealed to MTV via San Diego Comic-Con 2015 and Screen Junkies via '' Honest Trailers'' respectively that the Workshop is part of Weapon X.
* Weapon X appears in '' X-Men: Apocalypse'', with a young Colonel William Stryker as a prominent member.

Video games

* Weapon X appears in '' X2: Wolverine's Revenge''. This version of the organization runs a maximum security mutant prison called the Void and employs the Shiva virus as a failsafe to control their test subjects further.
* Weapon X appears in a flashback in '' X-Men Legends''.
* Weapon X appears in '' X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse''.
* Weapon X appears in '' X-Men: The Official Game''.
* Weapon X appears in the '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' tie-in game, with William Stryker, Abraham Cornelius, and Dr. Carol Hines-Frost as prominent members.

Collected editions

First series

Second series

Third series

References

{{X-Comics
Characters created by Herb Trimpe
Characters created by Len Wein
Characters created by Barry Windsor-Smith
Marvel Comics organizations
Marvel Comics titles
Villains in animated television series
X-Men supporting characters
X-Men titles