The best he is at what he does, but what he does isn’t very nice – if anything describes Insomniac’s take on Wolverine to a T, it’s this classic quote. Slicing, impaling, dismembering hordes of enemies, stacking up the bodies with no shortage of gore, and yet, beneath it all is a very damaged individual. One who finds solace in his loneliness but respect among those he cares about. And maybe even among those he doesn’t, given the sheer number of threats he’s cultivated over the years, intentionally or otherwise.
Marvel’s Wolverine takes all of that in service of an original story, one that involves Logan venturing across the world to save Mutants from Bolivar Trask. Plot details emerged after the last State of Play, but since then, Insomniac has released not one but two story trailers. The cinematic “Ain’t A Hero” trailer offered a montage of locations and bloody battles, from the Reavers to The Hand and Lady Deathstrike. However, it’s the story trailer which is far more substantive, and ties into the former in interesting ways. Without further ado, let’s break it all down, starting with…
Losing Himself (and Not to the Music)
In the cinematic trailer, we saw Logan struggling to hang on to a photograph of him and Jean Grey. It was only when it was eventually burned up that the rage took over, and Wolverine went berserk on Yuriko and her minions.
However, in this new story trailer, Logan and Jean are quite familiar with each other. There isn’t a sense that he’s forgotten her, or at least all of his memories of her. They share a dance in Madripoor – which we know because he’s wearing the classic white suit and eyepatch (which, believe it or not, is part of his alias, Patch). Of course, based on that one shot of Jean unleashing her powers in a rage, outright deatomizing two rows of Reavers, it’s clear that things go wrong.
Whether it’s the same sequence of events or shortly thereafter, we see Wolverine nearly stabbing Jean, embedding his claws in a destroyed vehicle behind her. He quickly comes to his senses, realizing what he’d done, before we get the Marvel Games title drop. Did his rage completely overtake him? Is he forgetting who he is and devolving into a mindless beast? Or is there someone else pulling the strings? Which is a good time to segue into…
The Once and Future Nathaniel Essex
At one point in the trailer, we see Wolverine breaking down a door and discovering a badly wounded individual in a chair. The latter recognizes him and remarks, “You came back.” It’s not long before the Reavers show up and open fire, with Logan using his body to shield the person from the shots. Funnily enough, those look like the same schlubs that Jean would decimate shortly after.
What’s even funnier is a scene later in the trailer where Wolverine, dressed in his Team X outfit (as confirmed by screens from the upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine art book, out this November), is with the same individual behind him. Based on his beard pattern and slicked-back hair, this could be Nathaniel Essex. If it is, then Minister Sinister, a long-time foe of the X-Men, may play some kind of major role.
How is that possible, especially with how old he is? Well, there’s that whole matter of clones, and his alliance with Apocalypse, which granted several powers, including telepathy. Could he have been responsible for messing with Wolverine’s mind? There’s another possibility, but we’ll get to that later.
Given his lack of mortality and sick sense of experimentation, Essex may decide to get his own hands dirty at some point. Maybe this is just Insomniac’s version of his origin story heading into a potential X-Men game where Sinister properly emerges. Regardless, there’s that other matter that needs to be addressed…
Back to the Past?
Based on the official story summary, Wolverine left Team X three years before the game’s events. Seeing him, Sabretooth and Mystique in those matching outfits could mean engaging in flashbacks and maybe witnessing his departure from the team. Then again, given that he’s reuniting with them to stop Trask, maybe everyone just decided to don their old threads for old time’s sake. Which would make sense if Sabretooth wasn’t wearing a different outfit at different points, but so is Wolverine, so you can’t really fault him.
It’s also possible that we’ll delve directly into Logan’s mind at points as his memories begin to collide. At one point, he’s in his Team X outfit, wading through a destroyed laboratory with corpses all around. Either it’s a truly gruesome mission that he was forced to undertake, or different events have mixed to create this nightmarish scene. A trip down memory lane, straight into the Weapon X facility, perhaps?
Regardless, we’re sure to witness some of Logan’s memories at some point, even if the plot follows Insomniac’s usual practice of skipping the protagonist’s origin story and getting straight into the action.
Rogue’s Gallery of Legends
Besides Omega Red – who used to be a part of Team X before Logan kicked him off, hence why he harbors so much hatred for him – we see more of Deathstrike, The Hand, the Reavers, and whatnot. Even Sabretooth seemingly turns on Logan at some point, though that may be just their way of violently working through their differences (especially since they’re teaming up to outright slaughter some poor shmuck in another scene).
But there’s also what seems to be Ogun, a ninja who once mentored Wolverine. He’s incredibly fast and can manhandle Logan very easily, though he and Deathstrike are seemingly relying on supernatural weaponry to gain an advantage. Ogun also possesses telepathy and can control minds, among other talents. Whether he had a hand in manipulating Wolverine against Jean is still unknown, especially because there’s a later scene where Logan is struggling to fight against some kind of psychic influence.
And who can forget the Sentinel? Or rather, the Proto-Sentinel, according to the art book. It’s considered the “deadliest threat” that Team X has fought. That said, this isn’t Master Mold so much as what could become Nimrod. It can scan a Mutant’s DNA and adapt to their powers, even in its incomplete state. That could be why Trask has been abducting Mutants, perhaps using them to refine the Proto-Sentinel’s abilities.
What about other potential Sentinels? Just because we don’t see them in this story trailer doesn’t mean they aren’t lurking.
Enemy of the State
With so many different plot threads, several enemies to deal with, and no shortage of people who want him dead, it’s no wonder Logan outright says, “Just can’t let a man rest in peace, can ya?” We’d imagine he’s more fed up than anything else, but at the end of the day, he can’t ignore those in need. Will he be able to stop Trask? Will these events lead to other members of the X-Men potentially appearing? Can Wolverine and Sabretooth get along in their own messed-up way? Is Jean Grey really playable, as one shot seemingly teased?
We’ll find out when Marvel’s Wolverine launches on September 15th for PS5. Far be it from Insomniac to stop teasing us now, so expect even more reveals heading into launch. One thing is for sure: whether it’s slicing through hordes of enemies as brutally as possible or dealing with his tortured past, there’s simply no better fit for the task at hand.
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