Marvel's Wolverine hype new trailer is overshadowed by drama
Overview & Key Takeaways
Insomniac's bloody superhero action game is shaping up well, based on a recent Comic-Con panel. But few seem to care.
San Diego Comic-Con is underway, and Insomniac Games is using the opportunity to drum up hype for the soon-to-be-released Marvel's Wolverine. On Wednesday, the game's narrative director, Walt Williams, dropped a prequel comic that may shed some light on the action game's true villain. And now, with an SDCC panel titled "Deep Cuts: Marvel's Wolverine" being held on Thursday, the studio is diving deeper into the game's story and characters.
Despite an impeccable new trailer that promises to highlight Marvel's Wolverine's story, few people seem to be talking about the game's narrative.
The footage suggests some sort of tension between humans and mutants (shocker!) as well as Logan's inability to remember his past. While predictable, the footage does make Marvel's Wolverine look like a thrilling ride. There's a fast-paced, action-packed series of X-Men hero and villain appearances from the likes of Jean Grey, Leech, Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth, and Omega Red, and at one point we get a look at poor Logan having all the flesh stripped from his adamantium-coated skeleton.
On the YouTube version of the trailer, the comments are almost entirely about the controversy surrounding PlayStation 5 abandoning physical game discs in 2028.
"PLAY HAS SEVERAL LIMITS," reads one of the top-voted replies. "Can't wait to buy my PHYSICAL COPY !!!!" another comment exclaims.
Prior to SDCC, miffed fans had already been tearing into anything related to Sony, so this outcome is not terribly surprising. That's not the only drama trailing Marvel's Wolverine. Fans also have a lot to say about Logan's looks outside his iconic yellow suit. Fans are comparing Logan's model to something out of Planet of the Apes or perhaps Black Myth: Wukong. At the heart of it, hilariously, is the general notion that Logan is not hairy enough.
Thursday's panel was hosted by several key members of the development team, including the creative director, the game director, the project director, an executive producer, and the two actors behind protagonists Logan and Jean Grey. The panel's description promises "never-before-seen" content, which is wild when you consider that the game has suffered some pretty significant leaks. Insomniac Games has also been pretty chatty about the game over the last few months.
In addition to being privy to some blood-soaked gameplay footage and Logan's hairy chest, fans have spent the last couple of months theorizing the superhero game's direction. The game is full of cameos from other Marvel characters, like Mystique and Sabretooth, that will provide fertile ground for Logan's new adventure. The prequel comic, which may contain some background on Logan's origin story, also offers much to chew on.
Marvel's Wolverine is out as a PlayStation 5 exclusive on Sept. 15. Insomniac Games is taking a no-holds-barred approach to the game, which does not shy away from the brutality of Wolverine's adamantium claws. Wolverine will also be presented as an unreliable narrator who can't remember everything that's happened to him. Those memory gaps put Wolverine on edge, but Insomniac Games says that the X-Men character will still have a soft side. That kindness will offer some relief from the intense violence inherent to the game's proprietary blood-spatter tech.
