Professor Thorton

The Professor
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Comics Presents #73
Created by	Barry Windsor-Smith
In-story information
Alter ego	Truett Hudson
Team affiliations	Weapon X Weapon Plus
Notable aliases	Professor Andre Thorton, Number One
Abilities	Genius-level intellect

Professor Andre Thorton (real name Truett Hudson; also known as The Professor) is a character in Marvel Comics, an enemy of Wolverine.

Fictional character biography

In 1972, nearly twenty years before Logan was romantically involved and abducted with Silver Fox at Windsor snow lodge, Professor Thorton experimented on numerous mutants including Sabretooth and Mastodon. He hired Carol Hines as his assistant and the scientist Abraham Cornelius. His experiments on Wolverine are responsible for his adamantium-laced skeleton. He is also connected to the creation of Alpha Flight on to developing super-soldiers for the US government. During the adamantium-lacing process, the physical trauma causes Wolverine to regress to violent animal behavior, prone to attacking anyone who comes near. At one point, Thorton's mysterious "master" takes control of Wolverine and has him attack everyone in the facility, cutting off Professor Thorton's right hand and killing him. Though an ending scene clarifies to the reader that this was a virtual reality simulation of an escape attempt by Wolverine, in later appearances Thorton has a metal hook in place of his right hand.

Years later, Professor Thorton and Carol Hines lure Wolverine into an abandoned warehouse in Canada which was once the secret location for the Weapon X program. Codenamed Project X, Wolverine discovers Weapon X was funded by the CIA and sheltered in Canada. Professor Thorton activates a robotic android named Shiva, which is programmed to destroy all of Project X's test subjects, starting with Wolverine. Silver Fox (who works for another secret organization called HYDRA) is revealed to be behind the entire plan, and steps forward to interrogate Thorton at gunpoint. He tries to grab the gun from Silver Fox, and she shoots him fatally.

It was shown that Romulus was in control of Weapon X and gave orders to Truett both observing Wolverine as he was unconscious. Although it is stated that Romulus had known Logan in a past life, it is unclear if he knew of Logan while he was young and living at the Howlett estate if this he did then he would have known of Truett's connection to Logan.

Other versions

• A version of the Professor (although insane) appears in the pages of Mutant X, but is killed by Captain America.
• The Professor appears in Wolverine: The End in a flashback.

In other media

Television

• Professor Thorton first appears in the X-Men episode "Repo Man," then later in reused footage from this episode in the two-parter "Out of Time."
• Professor Thorton appears in the X-Men: Evolution episode "Grim Reminder", voiced by Campbell Lane.
• Professor Thorton appears in Wolverine and the X-Men voiced by Tom Kane.
• Tom Kane reprises his role of Professor Thornton who appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Behold...The Vision." He is the head at a Weapon X facility when the Vision attacks looking for Adamantium for Ultron.

Film

• Professor Thorton appeared in the Wolverine portion of Hulk Vs voiced by Tom Kane. In the film, Thorton plans to recruit Hulk to be a part of Weapon X's Team X. He is slashed in the back by Sabretooth.

Video Games

• Professor Thorton appeared in X2: Wolverine's Revenge, voiced by Don Morrow.
• Professor Thorton appeared in X-Men: Legends, voiced by Earl Boen (though the credits listed him as "Doctor"). He is seen in Wolverine's flashback level which depicted Wolverine escaping from the Weapon X facility.