Wolverine's Teeth Aren't Adamantium For A Very Good Reason

Every Marvel fan knows that Wolverine's entire skeleton is coated in the indestructible metal known as adamantium. In 2000's "X-Men," Ian McKellen's Magneto asks the following upon seeing Hugh Jackman's Wolverine: "That remarkable metal doesn't run through your entire body, does it?" The answer is no, it doesn't. Our favorite Canadian cut man might have himself a super-strong skeleton, but the extent of his adamantium coating stops at his teeth, which we see pretty regularly — Wolverine loves snarling during conversations and chomping down on a cigar between bouts. But why, bub? How come Logan didn't get a shimmering set of dentures to go with his skeleton during his stay at the Weapon X facility?

It's all a matter of simple science in a pretty fantastical world — the truth about Wolverine and his teeth is that they're just like ours. It's something of a common misconception that your teeth are bones, but that's simply not true. "While teeth and bones may look similar, they're very different," Colgate reminds readers on its website. "Your bones can heal themselves when they get broken, but your teeth can't." The objective was to coat Logan's skeleton in Marvel's unbreakable metal, and, as such, his teeth weren't part of the deal. This is something that some Marvel artists have overlooked and/or forgotten about over the years, but it's absolutely the case.

Marvel has made good use of Wolverine's healing powers over the years, putting the X-Men member through the ringer. Some of Wolverine's darkest moments have seen him shot, stabbed, and steamrolled. He was melted down to just his skeleton in Marvel's "Civil War" event, and Magneto even ripped all the metal from his body one time (it was as gross as it sounds). The latter two examples are interesting when it comes to the topic of Wolverine's teeth and their lack of an adamantium coating.

In the former incident, Wolverine pursues the villain Nitro after he kills hundreds of people. When they meet, it ends in a battle that stretches the mutant's healing powers to pretty unbelievable levels: He somehow manages to regenerate despite being reduced to just his adamantium frame. When people pointed out how ludicrous this whole scenario was, Marvel decided to essentially retcon the moment, putting his survival down to the fact that he defeated the Angel of Death in a prior battle. One notable thing about the accompanying panel is that Wolverine's teeth are clearly shown to be adamantium, remaining intact along with his skeleton.

While this is a cool image (think Wolverine meets "Terminator"), it's not in line with Marvel's true stance on Wolverine's teeth. If you want clarity, look at 1991's "X-Men" #25 by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert. This is the issue in which Magneto uses his powers to pull all the adamantium from Wolverine's body, and in this panel, his pearly whites are clearly still in place. The iconic moment was recently recreated on-screen in the animated series "X-Men '97."