Why Marvel's Wolverine Excludes the X-Men

In Marvel's Wolverine, the X-Men are notably absent, despite the game featuring several famous mutants. Instead, Logan is depicted as a former member of Team X, a black ops unit that includes characters like Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike. While Jean Grey does appear, she isn't part of any group called the X-Men, so don't expect Cyclops to show up in his comic-accurate suit or for Professor X to be directing operations from the X-Mansion.

But why exclude the X-Men? In an interview with IGN, narrative director Walt Williams explained that Insomniac wanted to emphasize that mutants are outsiders, without a safe haven, rather than celebrated superheroes. This aligns with Wolverine's own character, who is perhaps the ultimate outsider.

"So Team X is canonical," Williams said. "It is Logan's first team in his history. It was a black ops team from the '70s made up of wetworks mutant workers. So in telling Wolverine's story, we wanted to bring it back to the beginning of where his story really began in that long string of teams. Because as we know, he's been a member of many teams by this point in his 50-plus year history.

"But really what we were looking to do is, because superheroes have become so mainstream at this point in just pop culture and everything through TV shows, comics, movies and everything, that even especially with our own Spider-Man games, these are characters with superpowers that a lot of the world has accepted, that they are celebrated. They have parades, they are honored and stuff. But mutants at the core are outsiders, even within the Marvel universe.

"And we have not really had that aspect of them be brought out a lot lately in the stories that we get in the bigger mainstream. We wanted to bring players back to that mindset of that these are characters who exist on the outside. They are not superheroes. They don't have a safe space. They are people who are living in shadow. They are people who are hiding their powers from the world because they are afraid of what would happen if people would discover them.

"And so if we had started this story with the X-Men in existence, there would already be that aspect of a safe place for them. And we wanted to remind people that existence for a mutant is not safe. It's hard. It's scary. And entering that world through Logan, it really felt like the best POV possible. One, I mean, he's an incredibly complex, layered character that has so much potential to write. But at the same time also, he's an outsider's outsider. Even among mutants, this is a man who does not feel at home. He keeps people at arm's length. He was that perfect POV for us to be able to enter into that mutant world and begin to understand just how much mutants do not feel as if they belong anywhere."

This detailed response addresses the question fans have had since Marvel's Wolverine was announced. While the game features co-op gameplay with Jean Grey, she isn't in the story as Marvel Girl or in an X-Men suit. Without the X-Men, Logan and Jean can explore their romantic relationship without Cyclops's interference, and Williams confirmed to IGN that there is no love triangle involving Logan, Jean, and Scott Summers.

"I don't want to get too much into spoilers because obviously there's a whole story that we want everyone to experience as they play through it," Williams said. "But I think it's safe to say that we are focusing on just Logan and Jean's relationship in Marvel's Wolverine."

From my perspective, including the X-Men in a game centered on Wolverine would have been a distraction. It would also force Insomniac to build out the X-Men and integrate them into the story, potentially bloating the game. This Wolverine game is a more focused experience, potentially setting the stage for future X-Men games.

We have plenty more on Marvel's Wolverine from our big interview with Insomniac, and don't forget to check out our hands-on preview ahead of the game's September launch.