John Ridley to write Wolverine for first Marvel work in January

Academy Award-winning 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley has joined the creative roster of Marvel Comics, starting with a story in the upcoming anthology Wolverine: Black, White, and Blood #3. Ridley will make his Marvel debut alongside artist Jorge Fornés.

Ridley and Fornés's story will focus on Wolverine's history in Japan, as they depict Logan clashing with his old enemy Silver Samurai – a rivalry that recently reignited in the current 'X of Swords' X-Men crossover.

"I can think of no better way to kick off my writing relationship with Marvel Comics than by contributing to a truly fantastic anthology series centered around Wolverine," Ridley says in the announcement of his story. "Equally exciting is having the story illustrated by Jorge Fornés. I look forward to writing more stories set in the Marvel Universe, and with their roster of iconic characters."

Ridley isn't new to comic books – he's been hard at work on the high profile DC limited series The Other History of the DC Universe, which shows iconic moments in DC history from the perspective of marginalized heroes, and which launches in November.

Ridley will also launch a new Batman story as part of DC's upcoming Future State event, which will introduce a brand new Batman whose secret identity has yet to be revealed. DC recently unveiled the advance solicitations for their Batman Future State titles, including Ridley's Future State: The Next Batman with artist Nick Derington.

As for other Marvel stories from Ridley, the publisher states they'll announce more projects with him "in the near future" – potentially implying there will be more information in Marvel's full January 2021 solicitations, coming later this month on Newsarama.

Interested in Wolverine's ongoing adventures? He's currently wrapped up in the major X-Men crossover 'X of Swords.'

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)