State of Play: Gameplay of Marvel's Wolverine Shown Off in Extended Clip

Logan hacks and slashes, but is this the Wolverine game fans have been wanting?

During yesterday's State of Play, Sony showed off a good chunk of gameplay from its upcoming Marvel's Wolverine game, which is headed to PS5 this fall. Let's not dawdle and get right to the footage, first. Warning that this is gory stuff, so the video is age restricted; click to head to YouTube directly and give it a watch:

The footage shows off Wolverine slicing into a bunch of Reavers as he tries to rescue some captured mutants. It's on this level that the trailer is successful, as Wolverine's hacking and slashing of foes is largely satisfying to behold. However, there are other details to be aware of that could temper the excitement for some.

First off, this version of Wolverine lives in a world with no X-Men. Instead, he's part of something called Team X that goes looking to save mutants in peril. As this story kicks off, he's returning to the team after some time away. Why Insomniac is going for this angle is a bit perplexing. Granted, they might have been limited by Disney Marvel to this setup given the ongoing development of the X-Men in the movies, but considering this is a game in its own continuity, that doesn't seem likely (or necessary).

Honestly, "Team X" reeks of the mindset of former Marvel Studios executive Victoria Alonso, who had infamously claimed the name X-Men was "outdated" and potentially offensive. Then there's the matter of Jean Grey. Not only is Jean lacking any of her iconic costumes from the comics, she also doesn't look anything like the character does on the printed page. Jean has been played by actresses like Famke Janssen and Sophie Turner in the past; this version of Jean is a far cry from either of those women.

From a combat perspective, things start to look a little better. The visceral appeal of chopping up enemies is undeniable, but it's being balanced out with Wolverine's Rage, which is basically a meter that fills as he fights. Rage can be used to activate Wolverine's healing factor, as well as something called Rage Tier 3 where the world becomes stylized and everything is black, white, and red. When brought to the brink of death, Rage can also be used to initiate Wolverine's Last Stand mode and push his Healing Factor to force him to stay alive.

Still, when viewed as a whole, something about Wolverine just isn't feeling right. It's as though the game is apologetic about being based on a comic book. There's nothing sexy or fascinating about generic armored bad guys fighting superheroes in similarly generic armor and long coats. Wolverine's suit looks okay, but he sticks out like a sore thumb; not because he's bright yellow, but because he's virtually alone in looking like something out of a comic book. Why adapt this material if the instinct from the designers is to mute everything from the comics to the point of being almost nonexistent?

Marvel's Wolverine drops on PlayStation 5 on September 15, 2026. There's still a lot that isn't known about the game, so it isn't fair to say it's DOA. Regardless, what has been shown off isn't encouraging to this longtime comic book reader. It might resonate more with MCU fans, which seems to be the core target here. If that's the case, Wolverine will probably end up succeeding. As an adaptation of the Logan from Marvel Comics? That remains to be seen.

Source: PlayStation Press Release + State of Play Broadcast 06.02.26