If you haven't been reading All-New Wolverine, you might not be aware of the current state of the mutant hero. Logan died back in 2014's Death of Wolverine arc. Laura Kinney, aka X-23, was created from a sample of Wolverine's DNA. She eventually grew to see the X-Man as a father figure and took on his mantle after his death.
Since becoming Wolverine, Laura wore a costume similar to Logan's original yellow and blue suit. Now she's getting a new armored suit, just in time as a new threat arrives. We talked to All-New Wolverine writer, Tom Taylor, about the upcoming Immune story arc.
Comic Vine: What made you decide to give Laura a new costume?
Tom Taylor: A lot of what we’ve been doing in this series comes down to moving Laura to the next logical step. She’s growing on the page. This suit is part of that growth. It all comes down to the amount of times Laura is hurt, or taken out of action. Just because she has a healing factor, doesn’t mean she enjoys pain, or bullets ripping through her internal organs. She has had her issues with pain before, and she’s moving through this. This suit is designed to be bulletproof and generally more protective. In designing the suit, Mark Paniccia, Christina Harrington, and I went through a lot of versions with artist, Leonard Kirk. The colors of the suit are a nod to her X-Force days. What she wore then was certainly a fan-favorite. It’s also about stealth. It’s a bit easier to hunt prey when you’re not wearing bright yellow.
With it resembling the X-Force costume, will she go on more stealth 'missions'?
Maybe, if she survives the events of Immune.
Will she stick with this costume for now or will she still use the yellow and blue outfit?
This will be her costume for now.
What can you tell us about the Immune story arc?
When an alien child crashes into a major city in an escape pod, it speaks one name before dying, "Laura Kinney." The child has succumbed to a virus. And now, an entire city is fast becoming infected.
With thousands falling sick from the alien contagion, the city is quarantined by SHIELD, working with other world governments and the superhero community. Only Wolverine can enter the contamination zone. But, if she enters, she can't walk out again.
The clock is ticking and the stakes have never been higher. Can Laura uncover her own connection and importance to the alien child? Can she save a city? Will she make the ultimate sacrifice to do so? Hundreds of thousands of lives are in Wolverine's clawed hands.
Can you tell us anything about the alien child? Is it a new or familiar species in the Marvel Universe?
It appears to be a new species. But I can’t say too much.
Has Leonard Kirk started working on the arc yet? How are his designs?
Leonard is flooding my inbox with art and I couldn’t be happier. His designs are just fantastic, but it’s his humanity that’s exciting me the most. Every picture he sends of Gabby and Laura tells a tale and you can see so much of their relationship in every still image. I’m really excited to have Leonard as our ongoing artist on All New Wolverine.
Can you tease any guest appearances or cameos besides SHIELD agents?
This arc is really an event unto itself. It’s possibly the most epic story I’ve created for a solo character. A lot of heroes will be drawn in, particularly the scientifically minded, who can help, remotely. So, we may see Peter Parker, or Beast, or Iron Man, or Janet Van Dyne, or Black Panther, and there will certainly be some surprise characters as well. There’s also an alien connection, so don’t be surprised if we see some space-based heroes pop up too.
Will Gabby and Jonathan will still be part of the book?
Of course. Gabby has a big part to play. And as for Jonathan, well, he thinks the book is about him. He thinks HE’S the All New Wolverine. Are you going to tell him any different? Are you?
Immune begins in April in All-New Wolverine #19, written by Tom Taylor with art by Leonard Kirk. Adam Kubert provides art for the cover. The book is part of a new line of X-Men titles. Laura will also appear in the next Wolverine film, Logan.