Thomas Logan

Back to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we meet the biological father of Wolverine, and the one he takes the last name from: Thomas Logan, portrayed by Aaron Jeffrey. In the movie, he is also the father of Sabretooth, who actually looks a lot like him, while in the comics he is identical to Wolverine in appearance. He appears briefly, just the time to kill his former master John Howlett and to be killed by young James in return, telling him in his dying breath that he is his biological father. In the comics, old Logan is around for a bit while, and even pops out after his death, and he’s most definitely not Sabretooth’s father. Let’s take a look.

Thomas Logan was born in Alberta, Canada, in the XIX Century, and lived there as a manual worker. At a certain point in his life he fathered a son, who he named Dog, quite representative of the affection he had for him. Short-tempered, violent and with a taste for excessive drinking, Thomas could never keep a job for much time, and moved a lot. He and his son (the mother was long lost by then) found some stability the moment Logan was hired by a rich man, John Howlett, as a groundskeeper for his family estate. Despite having a good job and something he could call a house, Thomas held a deep grudge against Howlett, as he hated him for all he had and he had not; between one drunken beating and another, he taught also his son to hate all the rich, as they were a different brood that would have always looked down upon the likes of them. As some sort of payback, Thomas managed to seduce the unhappy Elizabeth, wife of Thomas, and it’s implied that John’s first son, John Jr., was actually his own. Something unclear happened to John Jr., and the boy soon disappeared from the estate. Thomas continued his affair with Elizabeth, and the woman got pregnant once again, giving birth to another boy, James. Just when he was realizing he actually felt something for the lady, Elizabeth was moved to a madhouse, and Thomas remained alone with his grudge and his rage, that he constantly vented on Dog. When Dog became friends with young James, Thomas knew it was only a matter of time before his boy learnt what his real place in the world was.

Unfortunately, Thomas’ predictions turned true: Dog had a lot of rage to vent after the way his father treated him, and he cruelly killed James’ puppy. He crossed all lines when he tried to rape Rose O’Hara, the girl John had hired to keep company to his son. Not wanting to tolerate such brutality in Howlett Estate, John summoned Thomas, fired him, and ordered him to leave along with Dog. Thomas left as he had been ordered, but after some bottles of wine he realized he had not been treated fairly, and that same night he came back to the estate with Dog, both armed. Thomas actually wanted to convince Elizabeth to leave with him, in what from the outside could look like a kidnapping, but that was actually an attempted reunion of old lovers. When John intervened, though, Thomas reacted with his usual rage, and he struck him in the head, killing him. The death of his father triggered something in young James, and the boy grew unnatural bone claws, that he used to attack Logan with untold ferocity, stabbing him in the chest and killing him in turn. As it was expected, his soul was claimed by Marduk Kurios and brought to Hell, where he was condemned to an eternity of punishment… but even divine justice couldn’t quell Thomas’ spirit. From his hellish dimension, he kept an eye on James, and saw him becoming the heroic Wolverine for one hundred years. Then, the secret society known as the Red Right Hand sent Wolverine to Hell, and finally father and son could meet in person, man to man. Thomas wanted to use his son’s power to become the new ruler of Hell, and he tried to trick him into helping him, but failed, and was beaten instead. Not much time, though, passed before Daken and the Red Right Hand tricked Wolverine into killing his own sons and daughters, the Mongrels, pitiless killers who were sent to Hell as well. Here, their grandfather Thomas Logan was ready to welcome them: they were family, and they would have made quite a lot of changes in Hell if they joined forces…

Thomas Logan is a violent and cruel man, constantly angry, constantly unhappy, always trying to drown his pitiful life into alcohol and ending up becoming even sadder and angrier instead. Thomas knows no love, barely possession, and all his relations in his life are with people he considers his personal property, son and lovers included. There’s no light in Thomas Logan, and his darkness is a contagious disease that spreads through centuries.