Summary

• Wolverine's healing factor is tied to his emotions, increasing in moments of intense rage.
• Laura Kinney's slower healing factor based on her emotional state highlights this connection.
• Wolverine's healing factor inconsistencies are explained by Marvel in Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII #3.

Warning! Contains spoilers for Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII #3!One of the most powerful tools in Wolverine's arsenal has always been his healing factor, but Marvel has been a bit inconsistent about how it actually works. Sometimes Wolverine heals nearly instantly, and sometimes it takes him a lot longer. But now, Marvel has finally explained this inconsistency with a single throwaway line.

During the events of Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII #3 by Joe Kelly and Adam Kubert, Wolverine is forced to try and survive in a fight against a monstrous creature while a group of rich people watch him for their own amusement. During the fight, Wolverine gets his entire arm torn off, which he manages to quickly regenerate in just a few seconds. This is a pretty major feat, even for Wolverine's healing factor, and one of the viewers points out the brilliant explanation for why this is.

Logan regenerates his arm during a period when Wolverine is in his berserker rage. One eagle-eyed viewer seems to believe that Wolverine's healing factor goes into overtime when he's in his iconic rage state. Looking at how Wolverine's healing factor works, this might explain why it's been so inconsistent over the years.

Wolverine's Healing Factor Is Affected By His Emotions

Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII by Joe Kelly, Adam Kubert, Frank Martin, and Joe Sabino

Evidence of Wolverine's healing factor being tied to his emotions can be seen in his clone, Laura Kinney. She has the same healing factor as Wolverine but with one odd quirk. Laura's healing is significantly slower based on her emotional state. Wounds she receives from other people heal just as fast as Wolverine, but when Laura self-harms, her healing factor barely does anything at all. Since Laura's DNA is the same as Wolverine's, Logan's healing factor likely has the same quirk, but no one simply noticed it until now. While Laura's healing factor is suppressed due to feelings of self-hate and depression, Wolverine's seems to increase due to feelings of rage.

When Wolverine enters his berserker rage, all he can see is red, and he attacks just about anyone he comes across. In Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII #3, Deadpool has to talk Wolverine down from his berserker rage, since he nearly attacks an innocent family. It seems that in moments of intense rage, Wolverine's healing powers increase, which makes sense. If Wolverine is just attacking everything in his path, he's clearly not worrying about defense or avoiding damage, which means he needs that extra healing more than ever.

Wolverine's Healing Factor Is More Complicated Than People Realize

Wolverine has tried for years to put his past behind him and become more man than monster. Because of this, he's tried to distance himself from violence in order to avoid giving into his rage. Since Wolverine actively tries to resist slipping into his berserker rage state, it would make sense that his healing factor would seem inconsistent over the years. If he enters berserker rage and takes huge amounts of damage, he'd regenerate in moments, but if he's trying to remain calm and takes the same amount of damage, it would take him far longer to heal. With one throwaway line, Marvel perfectly explained how Wolverine's healing factor truly works.

Deadpool/Wolverine: WWIII #3 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!