Marvel’s Wolverine Must Evade a Tired Character Trope in Its Original Story

Marvel's Wolverine

By Jared Stewart

Published Jun 21, 2024

Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be incredibly exciting for any number of reasons: it is an original story, Wolverine hasn’t had his own standalone game that wasn’t a loose licensed tie-in in the last two decades, Insomniac will have an opportunity to stretch its legs again with a new character, and so on. These three reasons alone are enough for Marvel’s Wolverine to be one of the most hotly anticipated titles in 2025 if it does indeed launch next year, and its story already has a ton of questions to answer regarding where Logan’s story will be picked up and how Insomniac wishes to reimagine parts of his established comic book canon.

The same questions were a big part of why Marvel’s Spider-Man was so enticing before its release and getting to see new interpretations such as Peter Parker working for Dr. Otto Octavius—and for no money—was fantastic. This is also why the DLC’s lie of Felicia Hardy having a child with Peter was staggering, too, because anything could be possible that wasn’t explicitly touched on in Peter’s backstory before the scripted events of the game. Insomniac will likely make some distinct choices in Marvel’s Wolverine, and if Logan must have a love interest it will hopefully resist the urge to make that love interest Jean Grey.

Marvel's Wolverine Wish List

Marvel's Wolverine has the opportunity to bring the beloved character to a modern gaming audience, with expectations higher than ever.

Marvel’s Wolverine Can Retire the High-School-Esque Logan, Jean Grey Romance

Logan and Jean’s romance is as rampant on the pages of comic books as it is in Fox’s movies and in X-Men ’97, meaning that Logan pining over her wouldn’t be out of place or clashing with X-Men canon if Insomniac reprised it for Marvel’s Wolverine. But because it’s been such a prolific part of his character in modern media and never to a refreshing or significantly rewarding outcome, Insomniac should take its original Wolverine story as an opportunity to either repurpose his third-wheel dynamic or, preferably, scratch it entirely.

However, if Insomniac considers Logan and Jean’s romantic connection to be as seminal and inseparable to Wolverine’s character as it considers Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s romance is to Spider-Man, it’ll likely feature them as an item or with Logan as a third wheel once again. It’s possible Insomniac could write their connection positively and uniquely, but since live-action and animated X-Men media alike have spent so much time focusing on it it’d be a relief to not have it be a large plot point in Marvel’s Wolverine if something rarer and more distinct can be centered on instead to delineate it.

Marvel’s Wolverine Can’t Be a Wholly Original Story without Shedding the X-Men’s Worst Love Triangle

Logan shouldn’t need to be a rage-induced animal who’s too emotionally unavailable to find love, though a romance with Jean has chiefly been a reductive effort for everyone involved. In particular, whenever Jean is portrayed as being romantically connected to Scott Summers’ Cyclops, let alone married to him with a child, Logan skulking in a corner takes away a lot from his character while adding nothing of value and turning him into a homewrecker.

It also isn’t a good look for Jean, whose unsubtle reciprocations make her apparent love for Scott seem disingenuous, or Scott, who becomes even more of a third wheel than Logan in this love triangle and is made to look like someone the star-crossed pair is content to trample over or sneak around behind.

Instead, it would be wholly interesting to see Logan enamored with another mutant, perhaps someone who’s equally enamored by him and whom the comics or other Marvel media has never paired him with before. There are far more engaging avenues for Marvel’s Wolverine to trek and it’ll be disappointing if Insomniac follows one of Logan’s more grating and cyclical character traditions when it could craft a whole new perspective on romance for him.