For a short and furry guy, Logan is quite a ladies’ man. He is truly an inspiration to us all, yet as part of the character’s long-lasting self-hatred, one of Logan’s defining attributes is that he could never be with the woman he loves the most. One of the most infamous comic book love-triangles, outside of Archie-Betty-Veronica, is the drama between Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. The X-Men love triangle was part of the peak of Chris Claremont’s and John Byrne’s Uncanny X-Men run, becoming a hallmark for the X-Men brand. The love triangle helped sell the X-Men as an epic with soap opera elements.
Logan’s unrequited crush on Jean helped deepen the character’s personality, highlighting how he is more than a brute. It also helped further the divide between Logan and Scott Summers, enhancing their rivalry. Nonetheless, the Logan and Jean romance was always more compelling when unrequited, despite some temptation from Jean’s end. Marvel seemingly walked back on a recent romance between Logan and Jean in Wolverine #400, and we couldn’t be happier.
Why The Wolverine and Jean Grey Romance Never Worked
When the Giant-Size X-Men first formed, it took a while for several new X-Men members to grow into the iconic characters they became. Claremont would naturally develop a rivalry between the aggressive Wolverine and stone-wall Cyclops. Logan’s forming an unrequited crush on Jean hammered home the conflict between the two men, leading to the most prevalent love triangle.
While Logan’s attraction to Jean was clear early on, she represented the only person who saw his hidden softness, Jean’s attraction was always less clear and was always a stretch to justify. The early X-Men issues written by Claremont didn’t make it seem that Jean had any romantic feelings beyond a line or two of dialogue. Jean and Scott’s relationship was rock solid initially, with their love serving as the emotional backbone of the Uncanny X-Men comics up to the Dark Phoenix Saga. It was hard to justify breaking up the original X-Men power couple. Some of Wolverine’s obsession with Jean can border on creepy, especially when he openly tries to break up Scott and Jean.
Marvel Begins Pushing Jean and Logan
Marvel started taking Jean and Scott in unusual directions by the turn of the century. Scott’s infamous affair with Emma Frost happened in New X-Men by Grant Morrison, leading directly to a brief romance blooming between Jean and Logan. Although Marvel toyed with Jean and Logan several times before Morrison, New X-Men validated the relationship in a way it really wasn’t before.
By the time the Krakoa Era begins in 2019, Jean and Scott are back together, re-establishing the status quo. However, Krakoa heavily hinted that Jean and Scott were in an open marriage, with Logan being implied to be part of a throuple relationship with the two. Whilst it was never directly stated in the comics themselves, panel angles and some specific phrasing suggest the three were in a cohabitation relationship. The most prominent evidence is Logan and Jean having an intimate alone time in a hot spring.
There was a practical reason for potentially making Jean, Scott, and Logan part of a throuple. It further cements the new standards that Krakoa offers its citizens, mutants are open to having any freedom they want. It also puts to rest the long-lasting love triangle, a trope that has become increasingly tired by readers.
Jean and Logan Work Best as Friends
Even though Krakoa Saga was where the Jean, Scott, and Logan throuple idea began, the trio’s relationship was toned down as the comics continued. There were still hints that it was a thing, yet it wasn’t as prominent as it was early in the run. Wolverine #400 by Saladin Ahmed and Martin Coccolo further drives the point home that there’s nothing between Logan and Jean, with the former confirming in internal narration that he and Jean are just friends. Although the platonic nature of Logan and Jean’s relationship seems to contradict Krakoa, it was best to keep Logan and Jean as friends. Even though non-monogamous relationships should have more representation in comics, the Jean and Logan romance was always a hard sell. Jean always felt too good for Logan, even before she became the Phoenix, and her overall kindness towards Wolverine in Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men was used to emphasize Jean’s altruistic personality. Jean wasn’t nice to Logan because she was in love with him; she was nice to him because that’s who she is.
Wolverine also doesn’t need Jean’s affection to be sympathetic anymore. The character has existed for over 50 years, with plenty of stories focusing on the complexity of Logan and his inherent goodness. We don’t need Jean’s kindness towards Logan as proof that he is a good person. We know Logan is a good person for all the action he has done in the last several decades. Marvel didn’t need a throuple to make a love triangle go away, the company only needed Logan to move on. Logan moving on is a more mature direction to take the character and matches with the character journey he’s been going on for the last half-century. One day we will have the canon Marvel throuple we deserve, but Jean, Scott, and Logan aren’t it.
