Superhero fans got a closer look at Marvel’s Wolverine at the latest Sony State of Play. If there’s one takeaway from this new gameplay footage, it’s that Logan is going to shed a lot of blood over the course of his latest gaming adventure. But if there’s another takeaway, it’s that the game is digging deep into X-Men lore and drawing on that vast lineup that is Wolverine’s supporting cast.
As we wait for the September 15 release of Marvel’s Wolverine, let’s break down all the characters we meet in this new footage and how they fit into Logan’s colorful, extremely violent world.
Wolverine
Naturally, we have to start with Mr. James Howlett himself. Marvel’s Wolverine marks the first time since 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine that we’re getting a AAA game built solely around the Ol’ Canucklehead. And, in many ways, Insomniac’s new game looks to be the spiritual sequel to that classic Activision title. Both games really lean into the carnage and bloodshed that comes from having a playable character with razor-sharp, unbreakable claws and a nearly limitless healing factor.
Like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we have gameplay elements like Logan showing real-time damage from his battles and relying on his healing factor. There’s also a berserker rage mechanic that can be activated as Logan racks up kills. Also like Origins, players can close the distance between themselves and their prey by leaping through the air and impaling foes. He may not be quite as nimble as Spider-Man, but Wolverine still gets around the map pretty quickly.
Story-wise, we’re not sure what point in the game this segment is taking place, but we do learn that Logan is on the trail of a group of mutants who have been kidnapped by the Reavers (more on said mutants and the Reavers themselves in a bit). It seems mutants are an especially endangered species in this particular version of the Marvel Universe, but it’s a good thing they have Logan watching their backs.
Naturally, this story thread looks to be one piece of a much larger puzzle. We see enough characters in the gameplay footage and the sizzle reel that follows to know that the game is drawing on many of Wolverine’s most iconic foes. In terms of scope and cast, Marvel’s Wolverine looks to easily rival the Spider-Man games.
The sizzle reel also teases some of the many unlockable costumes we’ll see in the game. There are multiple civilian outfits for Logan, including the red plaid shirt with cowboy hat we saw in the original teaser and one with a fur-lined jacket. We also see Logan’s iconic Patch disguise that he wears while gambling his days away in seedy Madripoor. And, perhaps most excitingly, we see a version of the classic brown and tan Wolverine costume that looks to be taken specifically from 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. That basically confirms that we’ll see a bunch of the popular movie suits as unlockable costumes in the game.
The Reavers
Like the Spider-Man games, Marvel’s Wolverine will feature several factions of enemies that Logan will clash with repeatedly over the course of his new adventure. One of those is the Reavers. These elite mercenaries are decked out with the finest cybernetic enhancements money can buy. Clearly, though, that only helps so much when it comes to tussling with Wolverine.
In the comics, the Reavers were introduced in 1988’s Uncanny X-Men #229, during a period when the X-Men were believed dead and hiding out in Australia. In one of their first clashes with the X-Men, they actually captured and crucified Wolverine (a memorable image that was further immortalized in Deadpool & Wolverine).
The group was originally spearheaded by former Hellfire Club member Donald Pierce, though they’ve also become closely associated with Lady Deathstrike. It remains to be seen if either Pierce or Deathstrike will appear in the game, though the latter seems like a safe inclusion.
The only named Reaver we meet in the trailer is Skullbuster, but we’re sure others like Bonebreaker and Pretty Boy will be showing up too.
Trask Industries & Sentinels
In the gameplay footage, we can see a cargo container with the logo “Trask Industries” printed on it. That company is named for Bolivar Trask, the inventor of the mutant-hunting robots known as Sentinels. Later, the sizzle reel shows a Sentinel in action, though this particular variant appears to be human-sized.
All signs point to Trask Industries being another of the main factions of enemies Logan will fight in the game. That includes both standard, gun-toting mercenaries and various incarnations of the Sentinels. The previous trailer did confirm we’ll meet a more traditional, oversized Sentinel at some point in the game.
It appears that the Reavers were hired by Trask to kidnap the mutants Logan is trying to rescue. Perhaps the company is looking for more test subjects to help perfect its Sentinel program?
Leech & Morlocks
We see several familiar faces among the group of mutants Logan rescues in the gameplay footage. Chief among them is Leech, a young mutant with the ability to suppress the superhuman abilities of anyone around him (Leech was the inspiration for Cameron Bright’s character Jimmy in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand). Leech is a member of the Morlocks, a group of mutant outcasts who dwell in the sewers beneath New York City. We suspect he’s not the only Morlock in this group.
We also see a character who appears to be Toad, a longtime member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Toad has a long, prehensile tongue and a powerful kick, neither of which was enough to save him from the Reavers.
There’s another bald character in this group who may be Caliban. Caliban is a mutant who can sense other mutants over great distances, and is probably best remembered for his supporting role in 2017’s Logan (played by Stephen Merchant). Funnily enough, that movie also depicted Caliban being captured and exploited by the Reavers.
Those are all the characters we were able to pick out, but let us know in the comments if you recognize any other mutants in this group of prisoners.
Jean Grey
Logan won’t be fighting this battle entirely alone. We see Jean Grey show up to lend a helping hand midway through the gameplay trailer. Jean, of course, is a founding member of the X-Men and a hugely powerful psychic. In most versions of the X-Men mythos, Logan is deeply infatuated with Jean, even though she usually has eyes only for Cyclops.
Jean stops by to assist Wolverine in his efforts to rescue the captured mutants, though at some point she seemingly gets left behind as Logan heads out onto the open road. It remains to be seen just how big a role she’ll play in the story, and how many other X-Men will stop by.
That does raise an interesting question. Do the X-Men actually exist in this universe? We’re told that this is a very dark version of the Marvel Universe where mutants are hunted and most members of the general public don’t even know they exist. That would seem to suggest that Professor X and his team haven’t been out there campaigning for peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. It’s worth noting that Jean isn’t even wearing a traditional X-Men uniform here.
Does this mean Wolverine and Jean Grey are free agents rather than team players? What exactly is their history together? These are questions we’re very interested to see the game explore.
Ogun
The sizzle reel shows a ninja wearing a demonic mask. This is almost certainly Ogun, a character who shares a long history with Wolverine. They originally met in WWII, and Ogun was Wolverine’s sensei for a time.
However, in modern times, the two are bitter enemies. Ogun used his ability to possess others to hijack Kitty Pryde’s body, at least until she resisted his influence and Wolverine killed his old friend. But, this being the Marvel Universe, it wasn’t long before Ogun returned.
We’re not sure what role Ogun will play in the game. Is he part of a flashback storyline, or will he appear in the present? And is he the leader of the red ninjas we see in the sizzle reel? Perhaps the game will depict Ogun as the leader of The Hand or another ninja cult, making them one more faction of enemies Logan has to fight.
Mystique
We briefly see Mystique in the sizzle reel. This is another villain whose history with Logan goes back decades. As a mutant shape-shifter, Mystique is, like Wolverine, functionally immortal, and the two have clashed many times over the years.
That said, it doesn’t necessarily appear that Mystique is a villain in this game. We see her battling a Reaver, suggesting that she’s joining the fight to stop whatever it is these mercenaries and Trask Industries are up to. Could she be trying to protect her lover, Destiny, or her son, Nightcrawler?
Omega Red
One villain we know will be directly clashing with Wolverine in the game is Omega Red. Once a man named Arkady Rossovich, he was subjected to brutal experiments designed to create the Soviet Union’s answer to Captain America. That ordeal gave him increased strength and durability, as well as a pair of flexible carbonadium tendrils that can drain the life force of his enemies.
Omega Red’s rivalry with Wolverine goes back well before Logan’s time with the X-Men. They originally clashed when Logan was a member of the strike force Team X. Wolverine has since learned the hard way that Omega Red is a very hard man to kill.
Sabretooth
What would a Wolverine game be without an appearance by Sabretooth? Logan may have many foes, but only Sabretooth can claim the distinction of being his arch-nemesis.
Sabretooth is basically a bigger, meaner, stronger version of Wolverine himself. He has great strength and similarly enhanced senses and boosted healing. Depending on which origin story you choose to follow, Logan and Victor Creed are either long-lost brothers, father and son, or simply members of the same, feral subspecies of mutant.
Whatever is going on in Marvel’s Wolverine, expect Sabretooth to be at the center of the conflict. But don’t necessarily expect him to be the final boss. It turns out that he’s actually fighting alongside Logan in the game. However much these two may hate each other, they seem to have a common goal.
Which X-Men character are you most excited to see in Marvel’s Wolverine? Let us know in the comments.
For more, find out where to order Marvel’s Wolverine and see everything announced at the State of Play.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
