This September is jam-packed with new games, and Marvel\u2019s Wolverine <\/em>is the biggest of the bunch. Insomniac\u2019s PS5-exclusive superhero game looks to deliver a brutal take on Wolverine that\u2019s suitably faithful to the character. Given Insomniac\u2019s sterling track record (which includes Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man <\/em>and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart<\/em>), it should be riding your typical big-budget hype train right now ahead of the game\u2019s Sept. 15 release date. So why are so many people so angry about it right now?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the past few weeks, social media has become a hotbed of hostility for Wolverine<\/em>. Simmering rage boiled over after previews for the game dropped and revealed more about the action-adventure game. Some players weren\u2019t thrilled with this early look at gameplay and have been posting up a storm across platforms as a result. The backlash has gotten so bad that marketing director James Stevenson referred to it as a \u201crelentless onslaught that I cannot believe is good for anyone’s mental health nor representative\u201d in a post on X.<\/p>\n Is it simply a case of gamers not liking what they\u2019re seeing? While that very well may be part of it, Wolverine <\/em>also finds itself at the intersection of various internet discourses that make it hard to see reality clearly. It’s a social media headache that should serve as a reminder that you should always be wary about what algorithms are serving you.<\/p>\n The backlash kicked off last week when hands-on previews of Marvel\u2019s Wolverine<\/em> dropped ahead of its upcoming release date. Those previews showed that Insomniac\u2019s latest is a more straightforward action-adventure game than its open-world Spider-Man games. Compared to the open-world grandeur of those games, Marvel\u2019s Wolverine<\/em> is fairly linear and focused on delivering a cinematic experience. Some of the choices Insomniac made to achieve that have been lambasted based on new footage. Two moments in particular have been common targets: a chase scene where an enemy has a red trail, and a boss fight against a giant Sentinel that has been compared to 2007\u2019s <\/em>Ben 10: Protector of Earth<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n That reaction should <\/em>be straightforward enough, at least in a civilized society. Wolverine <\/em>looks to be following the playbook set by series like Uncharted and God of War, delivering a style of big-budget game that some players have lost their appetite for. Polygon\u2019s own Oli Welsh delivered a down-the-middle take on it in his own hands-on preview, praising its lean feel but flagging its lack of depth as a potential problem in the full game. Case closed\u2026 right?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a little more complicated than that. For starters, Insomniac has a long history of being used as a punching bag for gamers. In 2018, it found itself at the center of \u201cPuddlegate,\u201d one of the weirdest gaming controversies I\u2019ve ever experienced. That sprung up after a player accused Insomniac of downgrading the graphics in Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man<\/em> ahead of launch, a claim entirely based on the developer shrinking some puddles between builds of the game. Then in 2023, Insomniac was the victim of a cyberattack, which resulted in early footage of Wolverine<\/em> <\/em>being leaked and subsequently dissected. Whether it makes logical sense or not, the studio has had a target on its back for eight years.<\/p>\n That target got even bigger in 2024 when a culture war swept Insomniac back into the swells of discourse. That year, a subset of reactionary gamers lashed out at Sweet Baby Inc., a consulting studio that assists developers with scriptwriting, sensitivity readings, and other services. The company was accused of forcing diversity into games, an argument born from a wider pushback against \u201cDEI\u201d that was inflamed by right-wing politicians amid a heated election year. Insomniac enlisted the team\u2019s help for games like Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man 2<\/em>, saddling it with some particularly loud enemies.<\/p>\n Comb through Wolverine <\/em>criticism on X and you\u2019ll find posts mocking the linear gameplay interspersed with complaints about how Mystique isn\u2019t hot enough and how Wolverine has low testosterone. You\u2019ll often find Sweet Baby Inc. namechecked in criticism, alongside broader complaints about \u201cWestern\u201d game developers. (A common talking point among this crowd is that Western-developed games are poisoned by \u201cwoke\u201d ideology, whereas games developed in countries like China are saviors of that perceived push.)<\/p>\n That would make online conversations difficult enough to parse, but they are further muddied by something that doesn\u2019t have to do with Wolverine <\/em>at all. Earlier this summer, Sony announced that it plans to stop producing physical game discs in 2028. The decision was met with swift backlash from players that has since bled into everything Sony touches. State of Play streams are flooded with comments about physical media, while indie games like Duskfade <\/em>have been caught in the crossfire simply because they are releasing on PS5. That\u2019s happening outside of X; you can see it in YouTube comment sections and Bluesky replies to just about any PlayStation post. As Sony\u2019s first big exclusive following the announcement, Wolverine <\/em>has become the biggest target of that anger \u2014 despite the fact that it\u2019s receiving a physical release.<\/p>\n All of these intersecting discourses make it difficult to tell which complaints are actually about Wolverine<\/em>, and which ones are about something else entirely (and which ones are made purely in bad faith for purposes of chasing clout). You can\u2019t look at a one-off tweet mocking a pretty standard boss fight without going down a rabbit hole to make sure that person isn\u2019t posting that to advance a different agenda or willfully misrepresenting a game for ragebait clicks on a platform that financially incentivizes engagement. Convoluted drama like this is a consequence of an unhealthy social media landscape that makes life harder for anyone who\u2019s simply looking for straight answers.<\/p>\n![\"Wolverine,](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mw_previews_raven_4k_2026.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Insomniac Games\/Sony Computer Entertainment<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n