Wolverine's first gameplay trailer just reminded me why Wolverine is one of Marvel's best characters

The first trailer for the new Marvel's Wolverine PlayStation 5 game has arrived, and it's just about as Wolverine as it gets. Logan destroys waves of enemies with his razor-sharp claws as he survives his own catastrophic injuries thanks to his healing factor. It's bread-and-butter Wolverine stuff, and it has reminded me exactly why Wolverine is one of Marvel's best and most beloved characters.

Growing up as a comic fan in the '90s, Wolverine was downright ubiquitous, appearing in dozens of comics, not just as a main character, but as a guest star. Putting Wolverine on the cover of a comic was essentially guaranteeing a sales boost. He was just that popular in the '90s. And though his popularity hasn't particularly waned over the years, many of us wound up suffering from what might be called Wolverine fatigue.

Claws encounters

In recent years though, I've personally had a bit of a Wolverine renaissance. Though he's just about as omnipresent as ever, there's something about the idea of an unkillable warrior hacking and slashing his way through villains who wish him dead that has become incredibly cathartic. At the same time, non-comics media is delivering more and more of Wolverine's actual potential as an action movie hero.

For example, despite its inherent wackiness, Deadpool & Wolverine managed to put Wolverine's berserker side to the forefront, delivering endless waves of hardcore fight scenes, including the absolutely guttural battle against the Deadpool Corps. Previous Wolverine movies have stopped short of putting up that kind of brutal carnage, a staple of Wolverine's role as one of the most violently unstoppable Marvel heroes.

It's exactly that sense of tense, life-and-death energy that the first trailer for Marvel's Wolverine has cultivated, showing Logan mercilessly obliterating mutant-hating cyborgs, Sentinels, and more. The 'Best There Is at What He Does' gets to show off exactly how he earned that sobriquet, bloodying his Adamantium claws in some of the most gruesome kills I've ever seen in a superhero game.

And at this point, that's exactly what I want from Wolverine. I've become somewhat enamored by tales of heroes who endure endless pain, only to turn it against their tormentors. It's a fictional narrative that many people can relate to, a release of angst and tension in a world that seems to get madder everyday.

For a lot of fans, Wolverine has become more than a superhero – a symbol of unkillable will, personal strength, and the ability to defend what we believe in down to our very bones. In our real lives, we accomplish this through word and deed rather than violence. But there is a strong appeal in embodying a hero who can survive anything, overcome anything, win the toughest of battles.

That's not just how Wolverine has come out on top in most of his battles, it's also why he remains such a popular, beloved hero. Make no mistake, I'm not the kind of person who thinks all superheroes should be violent killers – far from it. There's a time and a place for that kind of anti-hero though, and as demonstrated in the clips we've now seen from Marvel's Wolverine, this might be exactly the moment for a ruthless protector of the downtrodden to rip through some inhuman henchmen. I know I for one will be indulging.

Marvel's Wolverine is due out in October 2026. While we wait, check out our picks for the best Marvel games of all time.