This fall will mark the 40th anniversary of Wolverine’s first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #180, but instead of celebrating the occasion Marvel has decided to forgo cake and candles for a four-part series that will kill off the X-Men’s breakout star. This summer Marvel will be launching the 3 Months To Die series, one that will see Wolverine robbed of his regenerative healing factor, the mutant power that has kept him from suffering any long-term damage throughout his career. On the heels of 3 Months To Die will be the four-part series Death Of Wolverine—which will be helmed by relative Marvel newcomer Charles Soule—with each of the four issues taking a different focus on the life of the iconic character. The series’ fourth final issue will come on September 24 and feature the death the arc had been building toward.
Though the news originally broke via Entertainment Weekly, at C2E2 in Chicago many of Marvel’s writers and editors spoke about the impact Wolverine’s death would have, claiming that it would result in dramatic shifts throughout the universe. Of course, it’s become customary for comics to kill off characters only to have them re-appear in new, updated forms at a later date. But, for the moment, it appears that Marvel is set on putting Wolverine to rest for good.