Twenty-five years after the original Wolverine: Origin redefined Logan's backstory, Marvel is sending original writer Paul Jenkins back into that same history with Wolverine: Origin III – The Dark Age.
The five-issue series launches December 16, 2026, with artist CAFU joining Jenkins to cover a 1950s-set stretch of Logan's life that's never been shown before.
Unlike the reading-order guides covering series already mid-run, this one is a genuine ahead-of-launch breakdown, since not a single issue has shipped yet.
Here's what's actually confirmed about the story, the creative team, and how to get ready for a December pull list that's about to get more crowded.
Jenkins wrote the original Wolverine: Origin back in 2001 and 2002, the series that first gave Logan a confirmed childhood and backstory instead of leaving his past a total mystery.
Having the same writer return for a third chapter, rather than a new creative team picking up the concept, is a meaningfully different kind of continuation than most anniversary projects get.
The Dark Age is set during a period after Logan fought in two World Wars, when he was living a quieter life with new friends and a new doctor trying to help him make sense of his own memories.
That's a specific, previously unexplored gap in Wolverine's timeline, positioned as the groundwork for whatever eventually leads him toward Weapon X.
Marvel's own description of the series leans on Logan's notoriously unreliable memories as a storytelling device, suggesting The Dark Age is building a mystery around what Logan actually remembers rather than a straightforward action throwback.
CAFU has called the project the most important work of his career, which signals Marvel is treating this as a prestige continuation rather than a quick nostalgia cash-in.
Marvel's recent anniversary-driven limited series, including this year's Godzilla and Tomb of Apocalypse runs, have consistently used a five-issue structure rather than an open-ended ongoing.
That makes The Dark Age a complete, self-contained arc by design, which is worth knowing if you're deciding whether to commit to single issues or wait for a collected edition.
Issue 1's confirmed covers include a Wes Burt main cover, a Josemaria Casanovas variant that also gets its own 1:100 virgin printing, and an ACO foil variant.
A 1:25 incentive cover rounds out the issue 1 lineup, though the specific artist for that printing hadn't been announced as of this guide.
With a firm launch date and a confirmed five-cover spread already locked for issue 1, reserving a copy with your local shop now is the simplest way to avoid missing the specific cover you want on release day.
Given how fast anniversary-driven Marvel launches like this tend to move, treating December 16 like any other new-release Wednesday risks missing the Casanovas virgin printing specifically — especially once it needs a current-age comic backer board behind it to stay flat in long-term storage.
The original Wolverine: Origin ran six issues from 2001 to 2002, with a follow-up, Wolverine: Origins II, arriving years later to extend the same backstory further.
The Dark Age is being positioned as a third chapter in that same lineage rather than a reboot, which means prior familiarity with Origin helps but isn't strictly required given the story's isolated 1950s setting.
Marvel choosing to revisit this specific concept on a 25th-anniversary timeline, with the original writer back on board, is a stronger continuity signal than most anniversary one-shots get.
Origin III isn't the only significant single-issue launch landing December 16, 2026, since Tomb of Apocalypse's own confirmed finale shares the same release date.
That overlap makes a pull-list reservation worth doing for both books rather than just one, since a shop juggling two major single-issue releases in the same week has less room to over-order either title's incentive printings.
December 16, 2026.
Paul Jenkins writes, with art by CAFU.
A 1950s-set stretch of Logan's life between the World Wars and Weapon X.
Five issues total.
With Paul Jenkins back on the series that started Wolverine's backstory, and a confirmed five-cover spread already locked for issue 1, Wolverine: Origin III – The Dark Age is shaping up as one of December's bigger single-issue launches.
Get ready with EVORETRO's current-age comic bags so issue 1 goes straight into protection the day you bring it home.
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