Wolverine’s healing factor is quite legendary. While we’ve seen him heal from some pretty fatal injuries on-screen, he has actually healed back to his former self from a single drop of blood in the comics. There are several occasions where Wolverine’s healing factor has left us in awe, scratching our heads about how he maintains his bad-ass beastly looks when his whole body regenerates. Well, the real question here is about his hair. Does Wolverine’s hair regenerate as soon as he shaves them? One could say that they should since they are a part of his body. But apparently, it doesn’t work that way.
The simple and obvious answer to the question asked above is that Wolverine’s hair & even his nails aren’t tied to his healing factor. At least that’s what we’ve seen in the films because in the beginning of The Wolverine, Logan stopped shaving as he went into a lonely phase after losing Jean. And then, when he did get back to his former look, his har obviously didn’t grow immediately. Even in Logan, Jackman sported a full beard until the final act when the mutant kids shaved his face into a more familiar look. The beard did grow back into what it was in the beginning of the film. Hence, we could conclude that his hair growth is similar to that of a normal human. And similar would be the case with his nails. Wolvi could get all sorts of hairdos, manicures & pedicures that he wants.
Screen Rant brought up this question, and they suggested a non-scientific reason for how Logan is able to maintain his look every day after he shaves. Since Logan lives in the X-Mansion which is technologically advanced, thanks to Beasty Boy Hank McCoy. So perhaps, Hank could’ve given Logan a shaving potion that would bring down his healing factor until he gets a good shave and resets his look. But then again, why would Wolverine want some potion that would take his healing away. Perhaps, the second answer to this could be the Weapon X experiment that he had gone through. The experiment could have removed the regenerative ability from his hair and nails. That’s probably why he seemed much hairier and animalistic before he got the adamantium added to his body. But then again, that could just be a coincidence.
All these assumptions aside, there’s actually a scientific proof behind Logan’s hair growing just as a normal human being. And the proof is – Human hair grows from a root made up of older protein cells that are packed together in a follicle. This follicle then grows hair. Unlike the cells of our body, our hair and nails aren’t living. That is why, they won’t regenerate when Wolverine would shave them, or when he would cut his nails. If Logan’s hair & nails would have regenerated like the cells of his body, then he would’ve constantly looked like a hairball. And his nails would’ve been much longer than Lady Deathstroke.
The comics also bring another question to our minds. We’ve seen Wolverine smashed & brutally obliterated, and yet he retains his former shape. So, how exactly does Wolverine reform back into his exact look here if his hair aren’t supposed to regenerate? Well, there’s another scientific explanation for this question also. Since hair growth happens in different stages, it is possible that when Wolverine regenerates to his former self after suffering from a fatal injury (let’s assume to his face), the regeneration also begins the anagen phase and allows the hair to grow as big as they were.
Well, it is obvious that I’ve put more thought into this topic than we should have. These factors should come under the “Suspension of disbelief” category. So, remind me to keep that in mind the next time.
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