“It’s Called a Vulcan Nerve Pinch”: Spock vs Wolverine Didn’t Actually End Like Everyone Thinks

Star Trek’s Mister Spock once fought Wolverine, but the fight did not go the way fans think it did. In 1996, Marvel Comics released Star Trek/X-Men, a historic crossover that saw Marvel’s mutants meet the crew of the Enterprise. During the story, Wolverine and Spock come to blows. While most fans know Spock gave Wolverine the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, many do not know what happened next.

Star Trek/X-Men was written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by Marc Silvestri, among others. The X-Men, chasing the mutant Proteus, arrive on board the USS Enterprise. Spock and Wolverine fight, and the Vulcan gives Logan the trademark Nerve Pinch. Spock tells Wolverine the maneuver’s name and the mutant goes down…for a brief second. Logan bolts back up, claws unsheathed and ready to tear into Spock.

Spock, surprised that Wolverine resisted the Nerve Pinch, looks on.

Spock Fought Wolverine In Time for a Star Trek Anniversary

To celebrate Star Trek’s 30th anniversary in 1996, Paramount entered into a multi-year deal with Marvel Comics to publish new comics based on the franchise. The line kicked off with the controversial Star Trek/X-Men. Star Trek fans felt crossing over with another pop culture franchise tainted Gene Roddenberry’s vision. Despite this, the book became a success, and inspired a follow-up a year later. Star Trek/X-Men provided some interesting story possibilities, namely the interaction between the mutants and the crew of the Enterprise.

And one of these meetings was between Spock and Wolverine, and it proved just how tough Logan is. In the Star Trek franchise, the Vulcan Nerve Pinch is the species’ primary method of defense. Vulcans “pinch” an opponent in the shoulder area, causing them to lose consciousness. Star Trek has shown that no race is immune to the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Spock has laid it on humans, Klingons and many other races. Very few have been able to stand up to the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, including Gary Seven and Khan Noonien Singh. Both of these characters had been genetically engineered, perhaps explaining how they were able to resist.

Related: Does Spock’s Nerve Pinch Work on Borg? -Star Trek Settles the Debate

Spock and Wolverine’s “Fight” Did Not Go the Way Fans Expected

And now Wolverine can add his name to this exclusive list, even if fans may not realize it. The panel featuring Spock putting the Nerve Pinch on Wolverine circulates widely in Star Trek fan circles, leading to some concluding that Spock defeated Wolverine. However, many posts do not show Wolverine bouncing back quickly, to Spock’s surprise, leading to fans only getting half the picture. No doubt Wolverine’s healing factor played a large role in his ability to resist Spock’s Nerve Pinch, as did his adamantium skeleton. Spock thought he had gotten one over on Wolverine, but the mutant came from behind–even if most fans do not know it.