X-23

Laura Kinney (designation X-23) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Wolverine, whose codename she has also used, and the X-Men. The character was created by writer Craig Kyle for the X-Men: Evolution television series in 2003, before debuting in the NYX comic series in 2004. Since then she has headlined two six-issue miniseries written by Kyle and Christopher Yost, the X-23 (2010) one-shot and the 2010 X-23 (vol. 3) ongoing series written by Marjorie Liu, the 2015 All-New Wolverine ongoing series by writer Tom Taylor, and the 2018 X-23 (vol. 4) ongoing series by writer Mariko Tamaki. Since December 2024,^[update] she has headlined the ongoing series Laura Kinney: Wolverine by writer Erica Schultz. Laura has also appeared in several team books such as Avengers Academy, New X-Men (vol. 2), X-Force (vol. 3 & 6), X-Men Red (vol. 1), X-Men (vol. 6), and NYX (vol. 2). The character also appears in other media from Marvel Entertainment.

Laura was apparently the clone and later the adoptive daughter of Wolverine, created to be the perfect killing machine. For years, she proved herself a capable assassin working for an organization called the Facility. A series of tragedies eventually led her to Wolverine and the X-Men. She attended school at the X-Mansion, and eventually became a member of X-Force. It is revealed later that she is not a clone, but the biological daughter of Wolverine. Like her father, Laura has a regenerative healing factor and enhanced senses, speed, and reflexes. She also has retractable adamantium-coated bone claws in her hands and feet. In 2015, the character succeeded her father in adopting the name and costume of Wolverine in the series All-New Wolverine. During the Krakoan Age, a duplicate of Laura is created via the mutant resurrection protocols after she is presumed dead. However, the original Laura is later discovered to be alive, leading to both versions coexisting – the original assumes the Talon codename and joins the X-Men, while the duplicate continues to use the Wolverine codename and joins X-Force. Talon then died during the Fall of X storyline.

Laura Kinney has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes. In addition to comics, the character has appeared in various media, including animated film and TV series and video games. Dafne Keen portrayed the character in the film Logan (2017) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

Laura first appeared in season 3, episode 10 of the X-Men: Evolution animated television series, titled "X-23", voiced by Andrea Libman. She was later voiced by Britt Irvin in season 4, episode 3, titled "Target X".

Laura was created by Craig Kyle. He revealed that the character was his attempt to make a Wolverine to "connect more to the younger kids", as while X-Men: Evolution was a reinvention of the X-Men making the characters teenagers, "Wolverine was one of the old, grizzled guys". The characterization went for the opposite of Wolverine, where instead of a man "older than we know" with no memory of his past and the life that he lost, Laura Kinney was a young girl "shackled to the murders she's committed" whose entire life revolved around the project that made her a killer. Kyle added that the character is "Pinocchio for Marvel Comics, she's a samurai sword trying to become a real little girl". Kyle and Christopher Yost were the writers of the two episodes of X-Men: Evolution in which Laura appears ("X-23" and "Target X"), with Yost stating that Kyle "had all the beats of her origin in his head when I came on board".

Laura Kinney's comic debut was in 2004 in the third issue of the Joe Quesada's NYX series, where her history and past were never divulged but her abilities were showcased. In X-23, her first miniseries, Laura's origin was fully explained. She became part of the X-Men supporting cast in Uncanny X-Men #450.

Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost also scripted X-23: Innocence Lost, a six-issue miniseries that details the character's origin, as well as X-23: Target X, a six-issue miniseries that covers the character's experiences between her origin story and her appearance in NYX. They continued to write for the character into their runs on New X-Men and X-Force as a member of the teams.

Laura Kinney starred in a monthly comic book series in 2010, written by Marjorie Liu. The series was prompted by the success of Liu's one-shot X-23 from earlier in the year. On November 15, 2011, Marvel announced that the X-23 (vol. 3) comic series would end at issue #21.