Marvel's Wolverine Runs The Same Risk as Sony's Spider-Verse

Game ZXC

The Wolverine

By Cameron Lucas

Published Mar 6, 2024

Highlights

Marvel's Wolverine's teaser shows Logan as a drifter, hinting at a true edgy nature for the character, but questions remain about the representation and how lonesome he'll really be.
Wolverine's deep ties to the X-Men should not be forgotten, even in a solo game, as connections to the larger mythos are crucial.

Marvel's Wolverine is set to arrive eventually, but it's still a mystery what direction the Insomniac title will take with its titular character. Coming off of the success of its recent Spider-Man games, it appears that the studio will be leaning into a more mature tone for its take on the adventures of Logan. As one of the core members of the X-Men on his own, however, there is a concern that the same pitfalls of Sony’s handling of its superhero IPs could affect his representation in Marvel’s Wolverine.

With leaks indicating that an M-rating for Marvel’s Wolverine is likely to allow the project the freedom to express the character’s true edgy nature, there’s a genuine sense of excitement among players who have already enjoyed Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man. The game’s only teaser so far depicts Logan in his well-known drifter persona, an identity that seems to be clearly understood by the developer. Despite this, the reality of this Wolverine solo outing’s existence is that it may brush a major part of Marvel’s canon under the rug in a manner currently seen in films.

The Most Interesting Leaked Character For Marvel's Wolverine Isn't Who You Think It Is

While fans have been quick to discuss the leaked Marvel’s Wolverine characters that they are most excited to see, one name deserves more attention.

Modern Superhero Rights Messes and Sony's Infamous Spider-Man Universe

Even many casual viewers of movies have become familiar with Sony’s recent slew of Marvel-licensed projects during the last few years, but the context behind the failures of Morbius and Madame Web may not be as apparent. Sony, the owner of Spider-Man’s film IP, has a deal with Disney that has allowed for the MCU’s take on the character, but also for Sony to create its own, unrelated films. Starting with the first Venom, these have all been movies centered around Spider-Man characters while somehow lacking the web-slinger himself.

The Less Than Favorable Reception to Sony’s Cinematic Universe

Associating with the most popular superhero might have seemed lucrative, but these spin-off movies have not performed nearly as well as the media properly featuring Spider-Man. Rushing an expanded universe has become an issue for studios imitating the MCU, and the recent release of Madame Web may have weakened Sony’s Spider-Man universe even further. These characters could have shined if they got to be built up around pre-existing Spider-Man projects, but forgetting their origins ended up being a point of criticism.

Marvel's Wolverine Needs to Remember Logan's Place in the Greater World of X-Men

Wolverine is More X-Men Than Solo Character

It might be easy to forget due to all the spotlight that he has grown to receive on his own, but Wolverine became established as the character he is through his deep association with the X-Men. There have been many solo storylines since, but Logan was initially defined through his role in multiple iconic runs of X-Men comics, and his relationship with Xavier’s school has been the source of much of his development. The mechanics of playing as Wolverine are likely to be made compelling by Insomniac, but the studio needs to remember to include connections to the mythos that created the character before he went out on his own.

Even X-Men Cameos Would Be Enough

Including many other playable X-Men is likely too tall of an order to fulfill for this first Logan-based project, but having them around in any capacity could serve to significantly flesh out the game’s world. There’s a heavy emotional weight to Wolverine’s ties to Jean Grey and Cyclops alone, but including any of the X-Men would do a lot to make this side of Marvel more believable.

Xavier or Magneto popping up in major roles, but it’s ultimately best if the game remains relatively self-contained instead of stepping into ensemble cast territory. The X-Men don’t need to be a central concept to make Marvel’s Wolverine work, but not acknowledging a character’s history is a mistake that shouldn’t be repeated any longer.