Marvel’s Wolverine: 13 New Details We Just Learned

Marvel's Wolverine looks like it'll be one of the biggest games of September--which is a stacked month--as the new single-player adventure from Insomniac Games is aiming to put a fresh spin on the iconic mutant. At San Diego Comic-Con, multiple members of Insomniac hit the stage to talk about the game, the dark world that Marvel's Wolverine takes place in, and how the character has been modernized for his first solo outing since 2009. In case you missed it, here's a breakdown of all the new details revealed during the panel, ahead of the release of Marvel's Wolverine on September 15.

While Insomniac has mentioned it before, the studio did once again confirm that its Wolverine game is set on the same alternate Earth as Marvel's Spider-Man, Earth-1048. Insomniac had previously planted seeds for this link in Marvel's Spider-Man 2--alongside many other Marvel Easter eggs--as references to Trask Industries could be found in the game alongside an abandoned hospital in the game covered in graffiti. Take a closer look at those tags, and you'll find a big "X" reference, and one of the walls has "Beast" written on it--which could only be a mention of the X-Men's resident super-genius, Hank McCoy. 

Just like in the comics--and the solo spin-off movie that most of us want to forget--Logan has been around for centuries. He's 200 years old at the start of the game, but he's still sporting a youthful appearance thanks to his mutant healing factor. Decades of war and combat have taken their toll on Logan, and game director Mike Daly said that this has resulted in Logan keeping the people he cares about at arm's length.

"Our Wolverine, he's cynical, he's candid. He keeps people at a distance, not because he knows he's dangerous, but because he doesn't want to get hurt again," Daly said during the San Diego Comic-Con panel. "He has a big heart, and that gets him into trouble. Gameplay-wise, we prioritized claw combat because that's an essential part of the character to bring to life and to put into your hands. That meant leveraging his mutant healing factor, bringing forth his deep rage that bubbles up uncontrollably in combat, giving you enhanced senses to track and scout enemies, and feeling his incredibly heavy skeleton as you try to push forth with animalistic strength."

Don't count on Professor Xavier's mutant rescue to save the day, because the X-Men haven't been formed yet in Marvel's Wolverine. Instead, Team X operates in the shadows as a secret group looking to protect mutant interests, but under a very gray compass when compared to the traditional X-Men teams from the comics.

Logan has had several instances in the past where his memory has been fractured. While his mind was eventually healed in the comics, in Marvel's Wolverine, he is still in the dark regarding his past due to some inconvenient amnesia. "Another really important element is his lost memories, and so you'll be peeling back layers of his past, but it's not an origin story," Daly said about this story decision. It looks like Jean Grey will be crucial to helping Logan discover his lost memories, as gameplay suggested that she'll use her psychic powers to guide Logan during dream-like sequences.

Don't expect a straightforward story, as similar to its work on Marvel's Spider-Man games, Insomniac wants to drop a surprise or two along the way for fans to discover. "I've always wanted one story to be told that I don't feel like it's ever been kind of investigated as enough," Liam McIntyre--who voices and provides the motion capture for Wolverine--said.  "There's so many twists and turns, and stuff that drops my jaw on the ground. You wait. There's a moment in this that's … I can't wait for you to play it."

Billionaires aren't exactly popular in real life for a number of reasons, and Marvel's Wolverine will see players face off against the mutant-hating Bolivar Trask. Better known as the genius behind the Sentinel program, Trask has funneled all of his considerable resources into exterminating mutantkind.

"I know this is going to come as a shock, but billionaires can cause damage. It turns out that having like, unlimited resources and a strong opinion can lead to bad things," said creative director Marcus Smith. "Bolivar Trask is a person who sees mutants as an existential threat to all of humankind, and he will not rest until he's used every ounce of his resources to eliminate every mutant from the planet. And that means he's using his Trask guards--which is basically a personal army--but he's also hired the mercs, the cybernetically enhanced mercenaries, the Reavers."

With mutants being persecuted and on the run, it's up to people like Jean Grey to find a home for her people where they can feel safe in Marvel's Wolverine.

"Jean is an unexpected ally that Logan never thought he would have," narrative director Walt Williams said. "This is a Jean that we've never really seen before. She's been out on her own since almost the day that her powers activated, discovering that there are other people in the world out there like her, people with powers, but not necessarily as fortunate, because they can't pass as human. She wants to give them what she didn't have; she wants to give them a home, somewhere safe, where they can just live their normal life. But there really is nowhere safe in the world for mutants at this point in time when someone like Bolivar Trask is out there."

In the comics, the romance between Jean Grey and Logan has always been a forbidden love, given her connection to Scott "Cyclops" Summers. But in Marvel's Wolverine? Even if it isn't romantic at first, there's a spark between the two as their efforts to protect mutants eventually meet.

"They cross paths, and she can't believe that this man, this stranger, is willing to do so much to protect people she cares about," Williams said. "Logan has spent as long as he can remember fighting for mutants who either can't or won't fight for themselves, and suddenly, he meets this woman who's willing to stand up and do just that. Not because she thinks it's fun or thrilling like some of his co-workers might, but because she actually cares. I think these two lost and broken souls, they kind of find hope in each other through this, and it gives a little bit of a spark. They don't know if it's going to be romantic or platonic.

"They can tell that it's going to be transformative, and it sends them on this path that neither of them are really prepared to go on."

No X-Men? No problem, because Team X is ready to help mutants out--no matter the cost. With a team lineup that consists of Logan, Sabretooth, Mystique, and, in the prequel comic, Sunfire, this black ops group was formed decades ago by Nathaniel Essex. You might recognize that name, because in the comics, Essex is also known as the twisted scientist Mr. Sinister. The prequel comic shows him in his human form, and he operates as the team leader of Team X, who are taking the fight to Trask and his mutant-hunting Sentinel robots.

In Marvel's Wolverine, three years have passed since he left the group, but circumstances pull him back into their ranks. Strangely, Essex is one of the few people that Logan trusts, as he found Logan in the woods during one of his feral bouts, helped restore his humanity, and gave him a place on Team X. "I think he respects Essex more than anyone else in the world because Essex has never lied to him," Williams said.

While it's safe to say that Logan and Sabretooth have some bad blood between them, at least players will get to see the feral mutant in familiar threads. Insomniac Games has updated his signature costume for the game, complete with orange accents and some fur lining. Likewise, Mystique also has a costume taken straight out of the comics, combining her familiar black-and-white garb with skull accents and guns.

Marvel's resident ninja death-cult, The Hand, will be one of the factions that menaces Logan during his journey. Currently led by Lady Deathstrike--who Logan has a history with--we'll get to learn more about this secretive sect in the game. In the comics, one of the most notorious acts by The Hand resulted in Wolverine being killed, resurrected, and brainwashed by them to become their ultimate weapon against SHIELD, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four.

There's a one-two punch of Marvel games on the way in August and September, with Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls arriving first. The fighting game also features Wolverine, and to celebrate, players can grab a free outfit that dresses the Marvel Tokon version of Logan up in his Earth-1048 costume. When Marvel's Wolverine arrives in September, players can grab a Marvel Tokon-themed outfit that applies a cel-shaded look to Logan. That's probably going to look odd when you're tearing through gangs of Reavers.

Award-winning composer David Fleming (HBO's The Last of Us, Superman) has put together the score for Marvel's Wolverine, and if you're curious, you can listen to the first track right now. The full album will launch on August 28.