Wolverine is a Canadian character, but we rarely see that reflected in depictions of the popular Marvel superhero.
That’s why it was so exciting for Canadians to see that none other than beautiful British Columbia was the main location featured in the big Marvel’s Wolverine demo during PlayStation’s June State of Play. In between skewering evil scientist Bolivar Trask’s goons in a rush to save abducted mutants, eagle-eyed fans spotted several North Vancouver easter eggs, including the iconic sulphur pile, Canada Place and the Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Centre.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Insomniac Games in Burbank, California to check out Marvel’s Wolverine, so naturally, I took the opportunity to learn more. After all, it’s rare to see Canada in games, period, let alone in a prominent AAA title like Marvel’s Wolverine.
In an interview with creative director Marcus Smith, I asked about the Canadian representation in the game. While Smith wasn’t able to reveal too much, he did offer a bit more insight into how Canada factors into ol’ Canucklehead’s larger globe-trotting quest to stop Trask.
“First of all, one of our art directors, Gavin [Goulden] — he lives in B.C., so we had to have Vancouver represented properly, or he wouldn’t be able to go home,” says Smith, laughing. “Wolverine’s Canadian, so we obviously need to spend time there. In our case, I don’t want to reveal too much, but we knew that Canada was one of the locations you had to spend time in. So you’ll spend more time in parts of Canada.”
Smith admits with a laugh that the team wasn’t sure who outside of B.C. might understand nods to the likes of the sulphur piles.
“It’s confusing to see this giant yellow pile! But it’s also great because one of our artists went on vacation up there recently and took a picture of the pile and was like, ‘There it is!’” he said. “So it really was, we figure out first where we’re going to go and how it fits into the narrative, and then we just do a ton of research to make sure that we’re representing it properly.”
The State of Play demo concluded with Wolverine fighting atop vehicles on a highway, with signs pointing to the likes of Squamish as snow started to fall. It reminded me of Insomniac’s promise that we’d visit the frosted Canadian wilderness in the game. Since Wolverine is originally from Cold Lake, Alberta, I had to ask: would we also visit there at some point in the game?
“No. That’s my only answer,” Smith says with a laugh. “We’re mostly West Coast, is what I’ll say.”
All in all, it’s wonderful to see Canada featured so prominently in a major Wolverine story. We’ve certainly come a long way from only getting lip service to his Canadian roots, such as in X-Men: Origins Wolverine when he amusingly replies “I’m Canadian” after U.S. Major William Stryker tells him to “serve his country.”
For more on Marvel’s Wolverine, check out my extensive hands-on preview and wide-ranging chat with Smith. The game launches exclusively on PS5 on September 15.
Image credit: Marvel Comics (art by Joe Quesada)
