Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Hellverine #4Forged in hellfire with the sole purpose of punishing the wicked and transforming their corpses into monuments of art, the demon Bagra-ghul has bonded with a few violent souls, but his newest host is an entirely new beast altogether -Akihiro, the son ofWolverine. Fused with the pseudo-Spirit of Vengeance, Akihiro delivers hellish punishment as the Hellverine. With his hellfire-imbued mutant abilities, Akihiro has evolved into a beast of retribution.
Hellverine #4by Benjamin Percy and Julius Ohta officially reintroduces Wolverine and Akihiro as something the duo have never fully achieved before: a family. The father and son’s relationship has been riddled with violence and hatred since Akihiro was a child. Stolen and forged into a weapon of hatred, Akihiro grew up feeling nothing but hate for his father.
However, after being horrifically killed and mutilated by Sabertooth, Akihiro has been revived and reborn by Bagra-ghul, who once possessed Wolverine, giving the mutant family one more chance together. Now,as the Hellverine, Akihiro has found a new lease on life and vengeance.
The Demon Bagra-ghul’s Journey to Becoming the Hellverine Was a Gory One
Forged From Hellfire and Bonded to the Body of an Infant Boy
When a pair of Satanic occultists wished to birth a human vessel for Mephisto, the Hell-Lord bonded Bagra-ghul to their infant son’s soul.
The demon Bagra-ghul was originally created by Mephisto as a means to alleviate his boredom with humanity. When a pair of Satanic occultists wished to birth a human vessel for Mephisto, the Hell-Lord bonded Bagra-ghul to their infant son’s soul. After unknowingly slaughtering his parents,turning their bodies into a macabre totem in Mephisto’s honor, the boy, named Bram Straub, bounced through foster care systems his entire life, leaving behind a trail of horrific monuments in his wake. Bram’s uncontrollable hatred is later focused on mutantkind after he turns toXavier’s School for Gifted Youngstersfor help, believing himself to be a mutant.
Mephisto Finally Gets the Terrifying Design He Needs to Work in the MCU
Mephisto has yet to appear in the MCU, but when he does, Marvel Comics just created his perfect design, one that is way better than a ‘red devil’.
Wolverine smells the rot of blood and brimstone on Bram, leading to Professor X rejecting the boy completely. Bram, devastated by another rejection, slaughters his fellow orphans before being recruited into the Hellfire Program,a secret governmental military unit designed to imbue the corpses of noble soldiers with the powers of Hell.Following theFall of X,Bram targets mutants specifically for his dark rituals, ultimately leading toa deadly conflict with Wolverine and the Ghost Rider. An acolyte of Mephisto, guiding Bram’s murderous rampage, sees the fight as an opportunity to re-bond Bagra-ghul to a stronger host - Wolverine.
Wolverine and His Son Reforge the Demon With a Refreshed Sense of Purpose
Once Frozen and Dismembered, Akihiro Is Reborn as a Spirit of Vengeance
Now bonded with the ritualistic-murdering demon, the Hellverine quickly becomes a new destructive force of death.No match for the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze has Bagra-ghul exorcised once again and uses the Penance Stare to seal the demon and Bram into a prison within one of their Satanic monuments. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Akihiro is brutally killed and dismembered by Sabertooth. Seeing a new opportunity for freedom,Bagra-ghul escapes and bonds with Akihiro’s corpse.Freshly resurrected, Akihiro is reborn as the one and only Hellverine.
Both Akihiro and Bagra-ghul have found a new place to focus their combined decades of rage on those better deserving of punishment.
As the Hellverine, Akihiro maintains a stronger control of the demon, whose murderous ways were tempered byWolverine’s overwhelming feelingsof repentance. With a newfound sense of purpose, Bagra-ghul instead influences Akihiro to seek out sinners to perform his horrific rituals, delivering a new kind of vengeance. This comes to a head inHellverine#4, where the devilish duo turn their vengeance toward Project Hellfire, purging its insidious members in a torment of infernal flames. While still destructive in nature,both Akihiro and Bagra-ghul have found a new place to focus their combined decades of rageon those better deserving of punishment.
Seeing the heart of a hero in his son, Wolverine promises to support Akihiro in any way he needs before Hellverine rides off into the distance.
Wolverine and Hellverine fully join forces for the first time as father and son, as they lay waste to Project Hellfire and its maddened leader. Once vengeance is delivered, and what’s left of the program’s desecrated hellfire soldiers are freed,Akihiro decides to take over the remnants of Project Hellfire to transform it into a black-ops squadron of dealers of death and vengeance.Seeing the heart of a hero in his son,Wolverine promises to support Akihiroin any way he needs before Hellverine rides off into the distance, telling his father that they will reunite soon.
1 Sentence Convinced Wolverine to Kill His Son (& He Was Right)
Wolverine murdered his son, Akihiro, back when Daken was still a bloodthirsty villain, and Logan was convinced to do so with just a single sentence.
The Hellverine is a violent force nearly unmatched by any other Ghost Rider, beinga rare combination of mutant and demon. However, underneath the horrific displays of gore and violence,Hellverine #4is a surprisingly heartwarming and inspiring story about healing and purpose.For the first time in his history, Akihiro bears no hatred towards Logan and sees his father as someone he can rely on. Sappiness aside, the Hellverine, andhis upcoming ongoing series, promise a horrific journey of death and vengeance asAkihiro, the son ofWolverine, the newest Spirit of Vengeance, wages war against the sinners of the world.
Wolverine
The human mutant Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan) was born James Howlett, blessed with a superhuman healing factor, senses, and physiology. Subjecting himself to experimentation to augment his skeleton and claws with adamantium, Logan is as deadly as he is reckless, impulsive, and short-tempered. Making him the X-Men’s wildest and deadliest member, and one of Marvel Comics' biggest stars. He’s played in Fox and Marvel’s movie franchises by Hugh Jackman.
