Marvel’s Wolverine Just Dropped a Brutal New D23 Trailer And It’s Only One Month Away

Insomniac Games has shown Marvel’s Wolverine again at D23, and this is probably the strongest the game has looked so far. The new footage puts Logan, Jean Grey and Team X against a growing threat to mutantkind, while reminding everyone of one very important fact: the game launches September 15.

At this point, Marvel’s Wolverine does not need another mysterious teaser. We already know the game exists, we know Logan is angry, and we know the claws work.What Insomniac needed to show was confidence.The new D23 footage does exactly that. It gives us more of the story, more characters, more combat and a better idea of how much bigger this game is than simply “Spider-Man, but with Wolverine.”And honestly, that is probably the most important thing Insomniac had to prove.

Watch the New D23 Trailer

MARVEL’S WOLVERINE — D23 SHOWCASE SIZZLE

The trailer is short, but it does a good job of showing the scale of the conflict. Wolverine, Jean Grey and Team X are fighting against Bolivar Trask and a growing threat to mutants, with enemies like Omega Red and Deathstrike also involved. The story is clearly going much bigger than a simple revenge plot. That is a good decision. Wolverine works perfectly as a violent solo character, but keeping him completely isolated for an entire game would have been a waste of the wider X-Men universe.

The Combat Finally Looks Like Wolverine

The biggest thing Insomniac seems to understand is that Wolverine should not fight like Spider-Man.Spider-Man is fast, acrobatic and constantly moving around enemies.Wolverine should feel like someone who simply does not care how much damage he takes as long as he reaches the person standing in front of him.That is exactly what the gameplay is leaning toward.Logan can launch himself directly at enemies, tear through groups, use brutal finishers and build his Rage Meter as fights continue.The violence is also much more explicit than anything we saw in Insomniac’s Spider-Man games.And frankly, it needs to be.Making a Wolverine game while trying to keep everything clean and harmless would have completely missed the point of the character.

Watch the Extended Gameplay

MARVEL’S WOLVERINE — EXTENDED GAMEPLAY TRAILER

This is still the best video to watch if you actually want to understand how the game plays. The D23 trailer sells the story. The extended gameplay sells the game. And from what we have seen so far, the combat looks fast enough to stay exciting without turning Wolverine into a character who flips around the room like Spider-Man. That balance matters. Logan should feel heavy, aggressive and difficult to stop.

Jean Grey Makes the Story More Interesting

One of the better surprises is how important Jean Grey appears to be.She is not just showing up for one cinematic scene and disappearing.She fights alongside Logan and appears to play a major role in the mutant conflict.I think this is one of the smartest choices Insomniac has made.A Wolverine game still needs to feel like Wolverine’s story, but including Jean, Mystique, Sabretooth and other mutants gives the game much more personality. It also stops the story from becoming fifteen hours of Logan walking into rooms and killing whoever annoyed him last.

The Villain Lineup Is Already Strong

The current confirmed cast includes Bolivar Trask, Omega Red, Deathstrike, Sabretooth, Mystique, The Hand and Sentinels. That is a serious lineup. Trask also makes perfect sense as one of the main threats because the story is heavily focused on mutant persecution. And when Trask is involved, Sentinels are never far behind. We have already seen a Sentinel Prototype in action, and this is one area where I hope Insomniac does not hold back. Wolverine fighting human enemies is fine. Wolverine climbing onto a giant Sentinel and tearing it apart sounds much more interesting.

Sabretooth Has to Be Done Properly

Sabretooth is part of a much larger mutant cast surrounding Logan. Image: Marvel / Insomniac Games

Sabretooth being involved was basically inevitable.What matters is how Insomniac uses him.He should not feel like another boss fight that appears twice and disappears.The relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth is too personal for that.From the footage and story details released so far, their history appears to matter, which is encouraging.If Insomniac gets that rivalry right, Sabretooth could easily become one of the best parts of the game.

The Hand Is Here Too

The Hand is another confirmed enemy faction, giving Logan something very different to fight compared with Trask’s cybernetic forces. That means the game is mixing:

• mutant hunters

• Reavers

• Sentinels

• ninjas

• personal enemies from Logan’s past That variety should help the combat stay fresh.

Watch the Story Trailer

The story trailer focuses more heavily on Logan’s past, Jean Grey, Deathstrike and The Hand. This is also where the game starts looking less like a simple superhero action title and more like an actual Wolverine story.

The Healing Factor Actually Matters

One mechanic I genuinely like is how Insomniac is using Wolverine’s healing factor. It would have been very easy to make healing completely automatic and remove most of the tension from combat. Instead, enemies can use Ability Inhibitors that temporarily interfere with mutant powers, including Logan’s healing. That creates situations where getting hit suddenly matters much more. His Rage system can also eventually unlock Last Stand, allowing him to recover after being taken down. That sounds simple, but it fits the character perfectly. Wolverine should be difficult to kill. He should not be impossible to kill.

It Is Not Open World — and That Might Be Better

Marvel’s Wolverine is not an open-world game. It is a single-player, narrative-driven action-adventure. Personally, I am completely fine with that. Not every superhero game needs a giant map covered in icons, collectibles and fifteen versions of the same side mission. Wolverine actually benefits from a more focused structure. The game can move Logan between places like Madripoor, Canada and Tokyo without needing to explain why the player spends thirty minutes driving between every mission. There are still explorable areas, collectibles and optional challenges, but the game is clearly built around the story first. That sounds much better than forcing Wolverine into another oversized open world.

Madripoor Looks Like the Perfect Wolverine Location

Madripoor is probably one of the locations I am most interested in. It is dirty, dangerous, criminal and full of exactly the kind of people Logan tends to attract. The game includes areas such as Lowtown and the Princess Bar, where players can explore, find story details and discover Easter eggs. One of those details references Remy LeBeau — Gambit. That does not confirm Gambit as a full character, but Insomniac clearly knows exactly what kind of hints fans are going to notice. And yes, people will absolutely spend launch week checking every wall, document and bar table for X-Men references.

The Suits Look Good Too

One unlockable Wolverine suit is inspired by Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. Image: PlayStation / Insomniac Games / Marvel Games

Insomniac is giving players several Wolverine looks, including more traditional designs, casual outfits and a Weapon X-style appearance.The Digital Deluxe Edition also adds extra suits and claw designs.For me, though, this is easy.Give me the classic yellow-and-blue Wolverine suit and I probably will not touch anything else. Some designs are iconic for a reason.

Sony Is Going All-In

Sony’s Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow PS5. Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sony is also releasing a limited-edition Wolverine PS5 setup.The Battle Yellow console and DualSense use Wolverine’s yellow-and-black colors with claw marks across the design.There is also an Adamantium-themed option for PS5 Pro owners. You do not make this much hardware for a game you are quietly pushing out the door. Sony clearly expects Wolverine to be one of its biggest releases of the year.

The Biggest Risk Is Still Repetition

This is the one thing I am still watching closely. The combat looks excellent in trailers. But Wolverine is built around claws, Rage and close-range aggression. That is great for five minutes of footage. The real test is whether it still feels good after ten or fifteen hours. Insomniac needs enemy variety, meaningful upgrades, different combat situations and bosses that force the player to do more than repeatedly rush forward and slash. If every encounter becomes: jump at enemy → claws → finisher → repeat then even great animation will eventually get old. The trailers suggest there is more depth here. Now the final game has to prove it.

Another Risk: The Story Could Become Too Crowded

Jean Grey, Mystique, Sabretooth, Omega Red, Deathstrike, Trask, The Hand and Sentinels all sound exciting individually. But there is a danger in trying to fit too much Marvel into one story. Wolverine needs to remain the center. Insomniac did a good job balancing multiple characters in Spider-Man 2, but that game also became very busy toward the end. I would rather get one strong Wolverine story than a game constantly stopping to set up ten future Marvel projects.

Why I Am More Interested Now Than I Was Before

When Marvel’s Wolverine was first announced, the obvious reaction was: Insomniac made Spider-Man, so Wolverine will probably be good. That was not enough for me. Wolverine needs a very different tone. He needs violence. He needs a darker story. He needs combat that feels rough instead of elegant. And he needs to feel like someone who has lived through decades of terrible things. The more Insomniac shows, the more it looks like they understand that. That is why this latest trailer matters. The game is starting to feel less like “Insomniac's next Marvel project” and more like an actual Wolverine game.

One Month Left

We are now close enough that there is not much room left for marketing tricks. The game launches September 15. At this stage, Insomniac has shown enough for me to be optimistic. The combat looks brutal without becoming ridiculous. The cast is strong. The focused structure makes sense. The story seems willing to explore mutant persecution instead of treating everything as an excuse for another boss fight. The concern is whether all of that stays interesting across the entire game. If Insomniac gets the combat variety and pacing right, Marvel’s Wolverine could easily become one of the strongest superhero games we have had in years. And if it does not? At least Logan will probably make the failure extremely violent.