The first members of the Reavers came into being when the mutant villain Mastermind attempted to mentally control Jean Grey, in a bid to join the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. In the resulting confrontation with the X-Men, Wolverine fell victim to Leland's mass-increasing powers, ending up in the New York sewer system, and was believed dead. However, Wolverine, very much alive, reentered the club through a secret sub-basement entrance, attacked a group of mercenaries sent to track him down - Wade Cole, Angelo Macon, and Murray Reese - and critically injured them with his claws. These men were eventually recovered and then converted to cyborgs, continuing to serve the Hellfire Club as a special task squad.