Wolverine was a custom 2008 Ford F-150 monster truck created by FELD Motorsports and owned by Marvel Comics, based on the comic book character of the same name. The truck was originally created in 2001, with Brian Barthel driving the truck until its retirement in 2003, after the first license with Marvel expired. After Monster Jam established a second license with Marvel in 2010, Wolverine returned to competition two years later, being driven by various drivers until the truck was ultimately retired in 2014, when the license with Marvel expired again. Meanwhile, the truck has competed in five Monster Jam World Finals and has also won the world racing championship in 2003.
However, in 2023, Monster Jam would renew a third contract with Marvel Comics, opening a possibility of the truck returning.
History[]
2001[]
Wolverine originally debuted on January 6th, in Des Moines, Iowa with former Little Tiger driver Brian Barthel behind the wheel. Barthel would then compete alongside Little Tiger with a rookie driver. Chad Christian would be the first driver to drive Little Tiger as a teammate, but due to Chad's inexperience, Barthel would frequently drive both Wolverine and Little Tiger for him in freestyle for the second half of the 2001 winter season, making Barthel the only driver to perform "double duty" multiple times.
Barthel and the truck would later be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals II. Despite coming into the event as the fastest qualifier, they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Lyle Hancock in Blue Thunder. There would be controversy with the race though, as after the original racing track was shortened, due to a water-pipe breaking, Barthel was unable to see the green light due to the small side-windows. because of so the race would be re-ran, though Barthel would eventually lose the re-race. He would not be able to compete in the freestyle competition due to a broken pick-up tube.
In December, Randy Brown drove the truck in Minneapolis, due to Brian sustaining an injury at an independent show.
2002[]
Barthel and Wolverine would again be invited to compete at World Finals III. Although they would come into the event as the second fastest qualifier, they would be eliminated in the first round by Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter, and would go on to finish sixth in freestyle, with a score of 30. For unknown reasons, the truck ran the Little Tiger wheels on the back of the truck.
2003[]
Barthel and Wolverine would be invited to compete at World Finals IV. There, they would win the World Racing Championship, defeating Creten in Bounty Hunter, after both trucks would notably wash out in the final turn, but Barthel would be first to correct his mistake, and win. Meanwhile, the truck would perform a brief freestyle performance due to a broken rear-right four-link bar, finishing in twelfth with a score of 16.
Later that year, Monster Jam’s first license with Marvel expired, resulting in the truck being retired, along with Spider-Man. Barthel would eventually return to driving Little Tiger until his retirement two years later.
2010[]
Monster Jam would renew a second contract with Marvel Comics.
2012[]
Wolverine would be revived and return with former Captain’s Curse driver Alex Blackwell driving, alongside a new Captain America truck. It would also receive an updated body style, being a 2008 Ford F-150. Blackwell would drive the truck throughout the 2012 Monster Jam season, while also competing at World Finals XIII, where the truck would qualify sixteenth and be defeated in the semi-finals by Damon Bradshaw in Monster Energy. They would later go on to finish seventeenth in freestyle after going first in freestyle and breaking a rear tie bar after their second hit.
2013[]
Blackwell would return to driving Captain’s Curse with a new inverted paint scheme. Dustin Brown eventually took over the driving duties, and would later be invited to compete at the Young Guns Shootout at World Finals XIV. He would be fastest qualifier, but would lose in his first race in a close finish. The chassis would later be used at the same event as a spare chassis for Superman during the main event, after the original truck’s chassis blew an engine during qualifying.
2014[]
After Brown moved to Iron Man for the start of the 2014 Monster Jam season, Aaron Basl and Ryan Huffaker took over the driving duties as the truck began competing on a Racesource chassis that formerly ran as El Toro Loco, touring alongside Pablo Huffaker in Grave Digger 28.
In March, Huffaker would later drive the truck at World Finals XV, where the truck would blow its transmission after its round 1 race. It would get fixed, and Pablo would win his round 2 race, but then would rollover after the race. The truck would be fixed again, but would lose in round 3 after spinning out.
In the summer, Jim Lehnertz drove the truck in Corpus Christi, Texas, Stafford Springs, Connecticut, and Mexico City, Mexico.
In August, Pablo drove the truck again in New Weston, Ohio.
By the end of the season, Marvel’s license with FELD Motorsports expired, and Wolverine was retired once again.
2015[]
Basl would move to Flame Motorsports afterwards, where he would drive New Earth Authority in the inaugural More Monster Jam Series, while Ryan would move to Backwards Bob, sharing driving duties alongside Bryan Wright.
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Brian Barthel | Qualifying: 1st (16.12) | Racing: defeated in semi-finals by Blue Thunder | Freestyle: 14th (DNC) |
| 2002 | Qualifying: 2nd (16.28) | Racing: defeated in round 1 by Bounty Hunter | Freestyle: 6th (30) | |
| 2003 | Qualifying: 2nd (17.18) | Racing: Final round win by defeating Bounty Hunter | Freestyle: 12th (16) | |
| 2012 | Alex Blackwell | Qualifying: 15th (16.893) | Racing: defeated in semi-finals by Monster Energy | Freestyle: 17th (18) |
| 2013 | Dustin Brown | Young Guns Shootout only | ||
| 2014 | Pablo Huffaker | Qualifying: 20th (17.347) | Racing: defeated in round 3 by Grave Digger the Legend | Freestyle: 12th (26.5) |
Video game appearances[]
- Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction
- Monster 4X4: Masters of Metal (Planned, but cancelled)
Trivia[]
- Following the retirement of the original Wolverine in 2003, there were theories that the truck was intended to be converted into Ninja Blade, a Hot Wheels 1:64 scale diecast that was released in 2004 and shared the same body style. However, the plans ultimately fell through.
- The 2003 Hot Wheels 1:64 scale release of Wolverine featured a paint scheme that appeared to be based on the Ultimate Marvel Universe version of the character.
- Following retirement, Wolverine’s original chassis would be used by Barthel as a secondary Little Tiger chassis until the end of the 2004 season. Afterwards, the chassis was converted into Safe Auto Minimizer the following season.
- Both versions of Wolverine would debut on the same day, being January 6th.
- In 2012, Wolverine, along with all other existing Marvel trucks at the time were originally scheduled to compete at a unique event called "Marvel Monster Trucks Live". The event, however, was eventually cancelled a year before it was meant to take place, likely because of the show being too complicated and expensive to create.
- For a long time, Wolverine held the record for the longest hiatus between World Finals appearances, with nine years, having appeared in 2003 and not competing in the World Finals again until its revival in 2012. It would later be beaten by Blue Thunder by two months because of the event moving from March to May.
- Despite receiving a new Ford F-150 body style in 2012, merchandise of Wolverine continued to feature the truck in its original Chevrolet Silverado body style.
- During the trucks run, X-Men Evolution was going on at the same time, lasted from 2000-2003 despite the truck being 1 year off from the series.
Gallery[]
First generation[]
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Merchandise/miscellaneous[]
