Team Evolution

Weapon Plus is a government program introduced to create super-soldiers to fight in future wars. It eventually evolved to deal with the growing "mutant problem." Originally the only known branch of the Weapon Plus program was the Weapon X Program. Weapon X was the codename for the government group that made Wolverine into a living weapon, infusing his skeleton and claws with adamantium and honing is mutant skills to make him the ideal killer. At the time Wolverine's codename was Weapon X.

It was not until much later that Fantomex revealed to the X-Men that Wolverine's program was not simply Weapon X, but Weapon 10 (the Roman numeral X). The part of the program that created Wolverine was not the first attempt at perfecting a living weapon, but was instead the tenth installment of the Weapon Plus program.

Generations of Weapon Plus

Weapon 0

Weapon 0 was a collaboration between the American, British and German eugenicists led by Josef Reinstein (an alias of Abraham Erskine) and Doctor Koch. When World War II began, Koch took over the German program, and Reinstein moved to the American program.

Weapon I

More commonly known as Operation: Rebirth, Weapon I was headed by Abraham Erskine during the World War II. It began with the experiment that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America, but the process was lost immediately when Erskine involved was assassinated by a Nazi spy. The project was then headed by Koch. In an attempt to recreate the formula, the army began testing on African American volunteers, eventually empowering Isaiah Bradley. Later attempts to recreate the serum resulted in Josiah X, Isaiah Bradley's son.

Weapon II

The second iteration mainly focused on animal testing. The most successful subjects were Brute Force, pack of wild animals with increased intelligence and adaptive armor. This project was led by Dr. Randall Pierce and funded by Multicorp, which hoped to use them as their own personal security force.

Weapon III

Recruited by Father during the Cold War due to his natural spying capabilities gained from his elasticated skin, a former barrister was augmented to become Weapon III. Throughout the Cold War he killed thousands of Soviets, occasionally with Fantomex. At some point, Father sent Weapon III into Otherworld to obtain the Orb of Necromancy, however, Fantomex followed him to prevent Father from receiving such power. Fantomex took the Orb and left Weapon III to the judgement of the Captain Britain Corps who trialed him and as punishment removed his skin, but was left alive to feel the pain. From this point on Weapon III became known as the Skinless Man.

Weapon IV

The fourth iteration was known as Project Sulfur. It was the telefloronic research of Dr. Ted Sallis and his SO-2 serum. This serum turned Sallios into the Man-Thing and was later used to turn environmentalist, Jackson Strode, into Man-Slaughter

Weapon V

The fifth iteration was known as Project Venom spearheaded by Nick Fury Sr. during The Vietnam War. Sym-Soldiers were outfitted with a special second skin made from an ancient symbiote called Grendel. It was considered a failure when the soldiers lost their minds due to the symbiote's influence. Regardless, the research went into developing the Mercury Team and the Mars Team.

Weapon VI

The sixth iteration was known as Project Power. It was run by Dr. Noah Burstein, who experimented on prison inmates. One such inmate was Luke Cage, who went to found the Heroes for Hire and be an Avenger.

Weapon VII

Weapon VII marks the beginning of Project: Homegrown. Similar to Weapon I, Weapon Plus tested on human soldiers during the Vietnam War. Currently the only know successful participant of Weapon VII is Nuke who received various cybernetic enhancements and became a covert agent for the government.

Weapon VIII

The eight iteration tried to create supersuits for humans to use. Guardian was a part of this program.

Weapon IX

The ninth iteration was known as Project: Psyche. It was mostly a psychological experiment by Dr. Michael Hunt who tried to psychologically manipulate the mutant, Typhoid Mary.

Weapon X

The tenth generation of Weapon Plus was responsible for experimentation on Wolverine. Because of his advanced mutant healing factor they were able to graft adamantium onto his skeleton and claws, making his bones virtually indestructible. Without his healing factor he would not have survived the process. Wolverine was also conditioned and trained to be a killer. Weapon X would split off from the Weapon Plus program, continuing to experiment to create the ultimate weapons out of mutants and retaining their name.

Weapon XI

Unknown, although Rob Liefeld intended Garrison Kane to be Weapon XI.

Weapon XII

Huntsman was engineered at the World, another creation of the Weapon Plus program designed as an artificial habitat to train and create super soldiers using Sentinel nanotechnology as well as artificial aging and forced evolution. Zona-Cluster 6's mind is composed of millions of viral nanomachines. He infects anything he touches, using host creatures as extensions of his own body.

Weapon XIII

The 13th iteration of Weapon Plus and 2nd creation of the World, Fantomex is a combination of advanced mutant evolution and sentinel nanotechnology.

Weapon XIV

The 14th iteration of Weapon Plus and 3rd creation of The World, The Stepford Cuckoos were created as clones of Emma Frost, and like their most recent predecessors were developed using nanotechnology. Their telepathic abilities are increased when their minds work as a single unit, and their skeletons house computer technology that can continue to function even after the rest of their bodies have been destroyed. It was originally believed that there were only five of them, but it was later revealed that 1000 were created, together being capable of telepathic feats perhaps unmatched by any single mutant.

Weapon XV

The fifteenth generation of the Weapon Plus program (4th creation of The World) was the Human-Sentinel hybrid Ultimaton. Although, he was believed to be killed by Wolverine, he resurfaced in the employment of Fantomex as an ally of the X-Men. .

Weapon XVI

The sixteenth generation of the Weapon Plus program and last creation of The World. It was known as the Allgod. It was described as a living religion, a virus that attacked the faith reserves and created unwitting slaves to The World. It was shut down along with The World itself by Wolverine, Fantomex, and Noh-Varr,

Offshoots

T.E.S.S.

During WWII, Professor Schumann, a scientist with the war department, convinced President Roosevelt to greenlight an anti-super soldier program, fearing that an army of super soldiers would turn on America once the war was won. It was dubbed Total Elimination of Super-Soldiers (or TESS for short). He planned robot enforcers, however, the funding was cut after the assassination of Erskine led to only one super soldier. Schumann continued to work on a single prototype on his own time.

Weapon Y

Weapon Y was a Canadian super soldier program which grafted admantium to the skin of a soldier, dubbing him Citadel.

The Facility

The Facility was an offshoot of Weapon X specifically. They specialized in female super soldiers. Their projects resulted in Kimura, Native, and X-23.

Weapon Infinity

Weapon Infinity, also known as Operation: Deathlok, was the program instigated by Father in an alternate future to convert the superhuman population into Deathloks. These new cyborg super-soldiers became known as the Deathlok Troopers and were sent into the past to kill Fantomex, capture the World and destroy the cloned Apocalypse growing within.

Weapon Minus

The Weapon Minus program was a S.H.I.E.L.D. counter program to the Weapon Plus program. One example was Dr. Mindbubble, a scientist who was forced to experiment his combination of the super soldier serum and LSD on himself, turning him into a powerhouse psychic manipulator. He was the intended countermeasure to Nuke, Weapon VII

Project: Trojan Horse

Project: Trojan Horse was a US tech program, that aimed at getting rid of mutants. It was run by Dr. Nitika Gaiha and used telepaths to allow them to communicate as a group by linking their minds into one network; that could be exploited. It started with a host. In our case, Ms. Marvel. Our drone has already planted the Trojan horse inside her, and they would use her brain as a psychic bomb.

Project: Troubleshooter

Project: Troubleshooter was a US military program that combined the research of multiple super soldier programs. It was run by Gen. Maverick and combined the super soldier serum, the lizard serum, Pym Particles, and gamma radiation. It resulted in the American Kaiju.

Weapon H

Weapon H is specifically an offshoot of Weapon X. It combined the genetic material of Wolverine and The Hulk to create a single hybrid super soldier. The soldier who was experimented on was named Clayton Cortez.

Weapon Hellfire

Weapon Hellfire is an occult Weapon Plus program that set up a facility at Hell's Backbone. Led by occultist, Father Pike, he searched for a more suitable host body for the demon, Bagra-ghul.

Variants

Earth 9602: In the amalgam universe, Logan Wayne, a combination of Wolverine and Batman, is experimented on by Weapon X and eventually becomes Dark Claw. His nemesis, The Hyena, a combination of Sabretooth and The Joker, was also a test subject.

Earth-1298: In a dark alternate universe once visited by Havok, Weapon X experimented on Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Wild Child. Havok's new team, The Six, were going to destroy the facility before Alpha Flight took over.

Exiles: A second team of interdimensional travelers recruited by the Timebreakers referred to themselves as Weapon X since their original members (variants of Sabretooth, Deadpool, and Garrison Kaine) were Weapon X test subjects.

Ultimate Weapon X: On Earth-1610, Weapon X was a SHIELD commissioned operation capturing and forcing mutants on black ops missions based out of Finland. Wolverine and Sabretooth were members per tradition. Among the mutants conscripted were Rogue, Juggernaut, and Nightcrawler. This Weapon X was also responsible for Hank McCoy's blue, furry appearance. Instead of a Weapon X subject, Deadpool was a member of the Reavers.

Weapon-S: On the aggressively anti-mutant Earth 11326, Sabretooth was known as Weapon-S and served as a mutant hunting dog for the Avengers.

Wasteland: On the Old Man Logan Earth, the Weapon X program was relatively the same as 616 earlier on the timeline. After the fall of the heroes, it was restarted by Mr. Sinister and was made up mostly of Sabretooth clones who lacked Victor's intelligence and healing ability. They were used mostly as cannon fodder.

Earth-65: On the Earth where Gwen Stacy became Spider-Woman, Wolverine and Kitty Pryde were subjects of Weapon X, both receiving adamantium skeletons.

Weapon Hex: On Warp World, a new reality created by Gamora with the Soul Stone. She did so by folding reality in half, causing people to fuse in pairs. Scarlet Witch and X-23 were fused into a hero named Weapon Hex, a child created by an organization combing science and the occult to create a perfect host body for the demon, Mephichthon (a fusion of Mephisto and Chthon)

Weapon Six: On Earth-14515, Weapon Six was a competing defense program to the Sp//dr program. When the Sp//dr armor rose in prominence, funding was cut to Weapon Six.

Weapon America: The Steve Rogers from Earth-20504 became the subject of multiple super soldier programs. Presumably, these included at least Project: Rebrith (Cap's original program), Weapon X (evidenced by his adamantium claws), and Project: Homegrown (evidenced by his American flag face tattoo).

Earth-72: On Earth-72, Weapon VIII experimented on Peter Parker granting him 6 additional eyes and 4 spider legs. Like most Spider-Man variants, he would be recruited to the Spider Society.

Directorate X: On Earth 6160, the Weapon X program was renamed the Directorate X and was a Russian program to exploit mutant powers for the government. This version of Earth was tailor made by The Maker into his ideal world with no superheroes. On this world, Russia was ruled by Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red, who were credited with the creation of Directorate X. They were responsible for turning Logan into the Winter Soldier.

Weapon XXX: In a new DC/Marvel crossover, one story featured a new amalgam character, Logo (a hybrid of Lobo and Wolverine). He referred to his rocket cycle as Weapon XXX.

In Other Media

Film

• Captain America: In the 1979 made for TV movie, the super soldier serum is renamed the F.L.A.G. formula (or Full Latent Ability Gain).
• Captain America: In the 1990 film, Steve Rogers is a polio survivor with weakened legs who is administered the super soldier serum. The Red Skull is reimagined as an Italian fascist who is also given the serum, which scars his face.
• X-Men: In the 2000 X-Men movie, Weapon X appears in ambiguous half-remembered flashbacks of Wolverine's
• X2: X-Men United: In the 2003 sequel to X-Men, Wolverine tracks Weapon X to an abandoned facility in Canada. It's former director, William Stryker, starts to hunt Wolverine again after the public events of the first movie.
• The Incredible Hulk: In a brief cameo scene, it is shown that the serum used by Emil Blonsky to become the Abomination was developed for Weapon Plus by Dr. Reinstein. Tony Stark later tells General Ross that the project had been shut down due to the mental instability caused by the formula.
• Hulk vs Wolverine: In this animated 2009 short film, Wolverine is recruited by the U.S. to fight Hulk in the Canadian wilderness. The two superhumans are kidnapped by Weapon X operatives: Sabretooth, Deadpool, Lady Deathstrike, and Omega Red.
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine: In this Wolverine-centered spinoff of the X-Men franchise, Wolverine's origin is explored including his employment as a wetworks operative and tortured experimentation at the hands of Weapon X.
• Captain America: The First Avenger: This 2011 entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe details the origins of Captain America, taking Abraham Erskine's super soldier serum as part of Project: Rebirth.
• Deadpool: In this 2011 X-Men movie franchise spinoff with questionable canon, Wade Wilson's origin is re-told from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He is tortured until his X-gene develops by an organization that resembles the version of Weapon X that already exists in X-Men canon.
• X-Men Apocalypse: In this X-Men-centered prequel, a group of Xavier Academy students track their teachers to the Canadian facility featured in X2: X-Men United. Hugh Jackman cameos as Wolverine, wearing Weapon X gear.

Television

• X-Men: The Animated Series: Weapon X is featured heavily in the backstory of Wolverine in the 1990s X-Men animated adaptation. Sabretooth, Maverick, and Silver Fox also appear.
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series: Weapon I is featured in the Spider-Man adaptation in the 1990s. Captain America's origin is featured in the episode "The Cat," while other Project: Rebirth super soldiers appear in The "Six Forgotten Warriors" saga.
• X-Men: Evolution: This early 2000 adaptation of the X-Men featured both Weapon X and I. Weapon X was featured as part of Wolverine's backstory and was the first appearance of X-23, the female clone of Wolverine. In a flashback episode, titled "Operation: Rebirth," Wolverine teamed up with Captain America in WWII. The research used to create Captain America was used by Magneto to extend his youth.
• Wolverine and the X-Men: Weapon X appears in a few episodes of this 2009 X-Men adaptation that features Wolverine trying to keep the X-Men together after Xavier is left comatose. Characters like Sabretooth, Maverick, and X-23 are featured and cross paths with Wolverine. Weapon X, including Deadpool, was reportedly to feature more heavily in a season 2, but the show was cancelled.
• Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: Weapon X features briefly in the episode "Behold...The Vision." The Vision breaks into a facility to steal their supply of adamantium.
• Luke Cage: Project: Power, aka Weapon VI, is adapted in a flashback episode in the first season of Netflix's Luke Cage, detailing the origin of the title character.
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Black market attempts to recreate Erskine's super soldier formula are depicted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. They are being bought by the terrorist group, The Flag-Smashers, and was used by U.S.Agent to get an edge against them. Previous Weapon Plus subject, Isaiah Bradley also appears, detailing the Tuskegee-Experiment-like abuse.
• What If...: This Marvel Cinematic Universe project that features animated alternate realities features a variant of Project: Rebirth, where Peggy Carter receives the serum and becomes Captain Carter instead of Steve Rogers, who was injured by the Hydra spy that traditionally kills Erskine after the experiment.