‘Hulkverines’: Who Is Weapon H?

Do you know the only words in the Marvel Universe that are scarier than “We’ve got a Hulk”? The answer is “We’ve got a Wolverine.” But now, there’s a hero who combines the best and worst traits of both the Hulk and Wolverine: Weapon H. And while Weapon H has encountered the Totally Awesome Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Old Man Logan, and the All-New Wolverine (X-23), he’s never met the original models until now.

The three-part HULKVERINES miniseries brings Weapon H face-to-face with Wolverine and the Immortal Hulk. Writer Greg Pak and artists Ario Anindito and Guiu Vilanova are the creative team bringing us this modern-day monster showdown. In many ways, it’s the main event for every Weapon H story Pak has told so far. To bring everyone up to speed for HULKVERINES #2, on sale now, Marvel.com is recapping everything you need to know about Weapon H.

First, we need to talk about the man behind the monster: Clayton Cortez. He was an ex-soldier-turned-military contractor for the Eaglestar Corporation. Clayton was so well trained that part of his regimen included fighting techniques from other worlds. That’s how he learned to perform the Breakworld Death Punch, among other deadly moves. It’s also why Clayton’s mind was largely left intact. His experience made him very valuable.

Clayton made the nearly fatal mistake of growing a conscience during one of his Eaglestar missions. He turned his weapons on his own men when he refused to be a party to a massacre of the natives. In return for that heroic turn, Clayton was beaten to a pulp and sold to Weapon X. At the time, the organization that once created Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Deadpool was run by William Stryker, a religious extremist. Clayton wasn’t a “believer” in Stryker’s anti-mutant crusade. He was actually an off-the-books experiment by Dr. Alba. She wasn’t a believer either, and she had plans to make Clayton into the perfect killer.

Towards that end, Weapon X acquired DNA from several mutants, including Wolverine. Alba even procured Cho’s Gamma irradiated blood, which allowed her to create Wolverine and Hulk hybrids. The first models were unsuccessful and nearly brainless. But Clayton was too smart. He had enough of his mind left that he turned on the scientists who created him after killing the Wolverine/Hulk hybrid that came before him.

Stryker was less than pleased about Alba’s actions, and nearly killed her himself. From there, Sabretooth and Old Man Logan’s team hunted for Weapon H as he slowly started to remember details from his life. Alba briefly regained control of Weapon H and used his rage as an instrument of destruction. He saw everyone as the person he hated the most, which happened to be Alba at the moment. Because he had been through a similar ordeal, Old Man Logan felt empathy for Weapon X’s latest creation. He insisted upon being given a chance to talk Clayton down, and he succeeded.

From there, Clayton graduated to his own WEAPON H ongoing series, which further established his background. It formally introduced his wife, Sonia, and their children. The series also went a long way towards giving Clayton his own personal nemesis: Roxxon Director Dario Agger. Clayton stumbled upon Roxxon’s experiment with the Ur-Wendigo and saved the life of Dr. Ella Sterling, a Roxxon freelancer who turned against the company after that incident.

Agger became obsessed with bringing in Clayton as Roxxon’s newest operative. He sent Man-Thing and Blake, a human-Brood hybrid, to capture Clayton. At the same time, Sonia began her own investigation into Clayton’s disappearance. She randomly encountered Sterling, who recognized Sonia as Clayton’s wife. Shortly thereafter, Clayton was reunited with Sonia and Sterling. That was before Agger surprised them all by offering Clayton a job. He wanted the Hulkverine to save the world from the monsters of Weirdworld, which were breaking through a dimensional portal.

Because that portal was tied to an ongoing attempt to exploit Weirdworld and its resources, Agger didn’t shut it down when he had the chance. That led to the shapeshifting apex predators known as Skrullduggers to burst through the portal. Ironically, this gave Weapon H his first opportunity to feel like a hero when he teamed up with Captain America to take down the Skrullduggers.

Cap was so impressed with Weapon H that he asked him to be his inside man within Roxxon. That allowed Clayton to set up his own team including Korg, Titana, Blake, Man-Thing, and an operative named Angel. Sterling and Sonia even agreed to serve as Clayton’s support team (for $10 million each). Their mission was to save the Roxxon operatives who were trapped in Weirdworld.

Naturally, that mission turned out to be a lie. Agger just wanted Clayton to kill every Skrulldugger in Weirdworld. In reality, Roxxon had captured Morgan Le Fey, the nearly immortal sister of King Arthur, who was also an all-powerful sorceress. Morgan used her powers to slowly mesmerize Clayton, and she even exposed Angel as Black Widow, Cap’s spy on both Roxxon and Clayton. Weapon H freed Morgan from her confinement, and she immediately enslaved his mind.

Only Sonia was able to break through the enchantment and help Clayton reclaim control over himself. The fate of Weirdworld is still playing out in WEAPON H, but we’re eager to see the partnership between Clayton and Sonia continue in HULKVERINES. Sonia may even be Clayton’s ace-in-the-hole in the upcoming conflict with the Hulk and Wolverine. She’s proven to be more than capable of saving herself and Clayton. And if she helps keep him emotionally grounded, then he’ll have the upper hand against his predecessors.

HULKVERINES #2, written by Greg Pak with art by Guiu Vilanova, is on sale now online and at your local comic shop!