I can't say I got the same impression from that X-Factor arc. It seems the writer and artist were having a fun time using the wolf characters, and I would maybe even call what they had there a " werewolf party or celebration" , who otherwise don't get very much use (werewolves in generally aren't a very hot fad in this day in age, so it goes without saying). There's a new Legion Of Monsters series set to hit, or it has and I missed it, imo. But Jack looks to have more work set for him. A lot of werewolves in popular fiction otherwise are generally played off as gruff with hard lives vs gifted ones as that's part of their appeal and why they appeal to audiences, the " underdogs " to use a terrible pun for lack of a better term.
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Getting back to wolves not being a very hot fad. This stems from the fact that werewolves are hard to sexualize, therefore difficult to sell to the masses as a character they would want to be like and idolize, as most people aren't attracted to the concept of being a hairy clawed snarling creature, and as well the inherent
animal like (predatory in this case) violent aspects of the template don't naturally pass over easily in the pacifist and children's market groups for the obvious reasons. More or less werewolves tend to appeal to the portions of the audience that truly feel like outcasts, and possible really relate with monsters in a sense or two, as well maybe have a bit of pent up emotion scratching to be let out. Hence, their target audience logically represents a minority. Were I to pitch a big werewolf movie right now to say Warner Bros., I can estimate that no matter how well prepared and proposed, or my union dues up to date, they would fidget a bit and give me the classic " Well, that's our time. Thank you for coming out, we'll have our people contact you if we're interested in having you do any work for us down the line. " routine. Sadly to me in a sense as I fondly remember reading a large amount of compiled werewolf stories, many of them went a different direction and depicted the werewolf and being one as gaining a grossly enhanced ability of sensation and spirituality in an overall sense, bringing ones ability to both experience life and ones feelings on a much greater more acute and controlled scale and becoming a realized part of nature itself. I found that appealing, particular one about an asthmatic who gains the sense of being healthy in that regard, but obviously internal expression and first person perspective translates differently in the visual arts than the written. Adversely vampires sell well because they meet the criteria werewolves don't by design, and zombies go a different direction by providing themselves as a backdrop to accentuate the living as well as being "okay to kill canon fodder" characters. So your real reason is that the majority of the audience isn't buying nor demanding werewolves, so Marvel isn't selling as much.
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Wolfcub however wasn't singled out due to being a wolf, but due to being created as a "stock mutant" character, much like a few of the 198. These characters are basically designed as what the "red shirts" are to the Star Trek universe to the X-Men universe, as it's hard to propel the whole " Mutants are targets " cliche without having relatively know mutants on all sides lost to the cause as it were. He might as well have been an octopus, a character with a large eye for a head, a blue skin, a rock man, ect. His designed purpose was to be notable in his difference but still recognizable as both a human and member of a mutant faction.
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