Insomniac Games' Wolverine has proven surprisingly divisive, but love or hate the game, it's clear that it isn't as critically acclaimed as the developer's previous titles, Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank.
Wolverine offers a very different take on James Logan Howlett, telling his story in a world where the X-Men don't exist. Instead, Nathaniel Essex has assembled a team of mutants, Team X, to do battle with the mutant-hating Bolivar Trask.
The game also explores Logan's relationship with Jean Grey, who, now combined with the Phoenix Force, is reborn each time she dies. It's established that the powerful mutant finds Wolverine—who was turned into Death by Apocalypse hundreds (thousands?) of years earlier—in every new life. It's a little weird and takes some big swings, which are at least part of the reason Wolverine has split opinions.
At the end of the game, Mister Sinister is destroyed, and Wolverine loses his memories when Apocalypse's influence is removed from his mind, leading to him and Jean going their separate ways. A post-credits scene, meanwhile, reveals that Sabretooth has survived his battle with Wolverine and will now become Apocalypse's new Horseman, War.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Marvel Games executive producer Eric Monacelli said "Apocalypse was a day one decision," with narrative director Walt Williams adding, "Having [Sabretooth] continue to search for that sense of family and finding a new place, it seems, with Apocalypse, someone who already has that history with Logan as the Horseman of Death."
"[He's] beginning to find this new angle of, 'How can I take this hurt that you’ve left in me and continue to dig into your past and bring it back to hurt you in the same way?'"
"It’s one of those characters that just leaves a lot of canvas for where you could go with it," Williams continued. "Apocalypse has lived a long time, right? He’s been around since ancient Egypt. So a character like Logan and a threat like Apocalypse are like peanut butter and jelly in some ways. They just have that same duration; they have that same long history that you can lean into and mine a lot of ideas from."
Monacelli also confirmed that Wolverine is closely tied to Apocalypse, presumably meaning that En Sabah Nur was the one who covered his skeleton with unbreakable Adamantium (Weapon X doesn't appear to exist on Earth-1048).
"Logan in the past was a Horseman. He was Death. We kinda get into that mythology. So, who are the other Horsemen? Where are they?" he mused. "There are a lot of questions that we leave unanswered and that we can potentially mine and explore if and when we need to."
Williams added, "There is more to mine from the story about where our head is at about this version of Apocalypse and how he might be important to mutantkind — and really evolution on earth in general."
As for the changes made to Jean Grey's story, the duo confirmed that she and the Phoenix are now the same person and that, like Wolverine, she's immortal. While it appears she and Logan are destined to be each other, Insomniac Games isn't closing the door on adding Cyclops to the mix if they can find the right version of Scott Summers.
"The only threat to Logan, if we’re being honest, is a Scott Summers that doesn’t suck — a guy who comes in, he’s got his whole act together, and he’s just ready to rock," Williams teased. "Because the only thing that Logan really cares about, ultimately, is Jean. If there was a potential future, Scott would have to really be bringing a lot to the table."
As for whether Jean will be the one to bring the X-Men together, Monacelli said only time will tell on that front but pointed out that, if a sequel does happen, "we're definitely teasing Apocalypse." So, while Jean may bring more mutants together, it seems exploring Wolverine's past and the Apocalypse of it all will be the priority.
"Wolverine delivers killer cutscenes and performances," we said in our review of the game, "but with basic gameplay and an unfinished feel, Insomniac Games, the team behind the Spider-Man games, is no longer the best at what it does when it comes to Marvel Comics adaptations."
Marvel's Wolverine is now available on PlayStation 5.