Are Wolverine's Claws Too Big For His Body? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill)

SURPRISE BECAUSE SCIENCE CHANNEL! Subscribe now and click the shiny notifications bell so you don’t miss out on all things science and pop culture.


In all the X-Men movies and comics, Wolverine’s adamantium claws are his signature feature, but could they really fit in his arms? Kyle breaks down some Loganatomy on this week’s Because Science!

Because Science every Thursday.

Artist: Andrew Bowser

Learn more:

[DavittFinol]

if you think that's fucked up, remember that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"'s Deadpool had friggin swords in his arms

[BigSwarz]

in comics he cant bend wrist when claws are out an his claws are 12 inches which would fit in forearm with tips slightly below wrist to allow bending. Dont use movie wolverine because thats wolverine light! Also he is a mutant born with bone claws so his body is made for them. His arms may be a bit longer than a non mutant. Mutants bodies adapt to their powers

[KaliTakumi]

"Thor uses science to ridicule Logan's existence"

[ttandc]

Putting on nerd hat ( SORRY ) With the bending of the wrist problem, any comic artist worth a damn learns the basics of anatomy long LONG before going into the industry. Until Singer and Fox screwed it up Wolverines claws did not come out from in between his knuckles. They actually pierced his skin on the back of his hand, thereby allowing Wolverine to bend his wrist whether his claws were in or out. The claws were attached to the skeletal structure of his forearm and not his hands at all. a slight incline making them run slightly off parallel to his bones made them pop out at the back of his hand. Sure slight tearing may have occurred when his claws were out and he bent his wrists but with super healing it would have been a very fleeting pain. I had heard this was brought up to Singer and not long after Singer had all comics banned from the studio where they were filming.

[brettpalmer]

I don't think wolverines in the comic has a human anatomy exactly, I think latter in his life he got a secondary mutation that was trying to turn his body into a savage animal but the adamantium he got held his bone structure in place halting his transformation .

[Nerdist]

For everyone asking; yes I could have just made Wolverine's claws smaller, but I figured, where's the fun in that? I don't want to diminish his awesomeness I want to increase it! But thank you to everyone for pointing this out. -- KH

[cameronj]

Because science is like the best series by nerdist

[invicta]

Well, thank GOD I'm not the only person who noticed his claws were too long, and his wrist wouldn't bend. Been trying to tell people this since 1995 lol.

[maurycy_gnc]

Hugh Jackman doesn't play wolverine. Wolverine plays Hugh Jackman

[Satanail]

Judging by the look of the film, ignoring the Xrays, the blades should actually be retracting along his forearm bones all the way back to about half an inch from the joint of his elbow - meaning that the tips of his claws inside the forearm would end just before meeting the bend / bones of the wrist. And when extended, the base of the claws would be somewhere just above (outwardly toward his knuckles) his wrist bones, allowing for no impairing of mobility of the arm. Just how they would be connected to him sort of remains a mystery, but this is generally how his claws -should- work.

Chart:
forearm | wrist | knuckles | fingers

(When in) (When Out)
(claws change size in chart due to size of words)

[KingKevin]

Would you say that Huge Jackman is really Huge JackedMan?

[frankbragison]

in his first appearance, his claws were part of his suit, they were 6 inches long. then in his x-men debut, his claws were retractable 6 inch adamantium blades. then they made them 12 inch atamantium coated bones... because comics :D

[misseli]

*Kyle:* Canonically, Wolverine is just 5'3

*Me:* Ha! He's so short!

*Me:* * remembers I'm just shy of 5'2 *

*Me:* wait...

[comradecatbug]

I always thought about this! Also, if his claws go beyond the wrist so he can bend it while they're out, they would only have a few centimeters of support inside his hands! Clashing them hard against something would make his hands split open and the claws "fall out".

[Rhyza]

Here's a thought. What if the back ends of his claws had joints or sockets that would align with his wrist bones and muscles?

[DarthVaizard]

Just a thought, what about shorter claws? 2 inches isn't much to lose when you're already just about super humanly fast and able to take a nuke to the face.

[seantripp]

I think Kyle should tie his hair up to look like princess Lia.

[soufi]

I'm only subscribed to Nerdist for Because Science

[cyrinaefox]

If Wolverine unsheathed his claws into a lemon, would it cause a series of unfortunate events?







Lemony Snikt

[rygull]

Can Iceman reach -273Cº = 0K (zero Kelvin) effectively freezing himself to death?