A cinematic trailer has been released for Insomniac Game’s upcoming mutant action romp: Marvel’s Wolverine. And while many fans have been excited to see another clawsome update for the game, it’s been swarmed by those still angry at Sony’s decision to ditch physical discs.
The “Ain’t No Hero” trailer, which you can see below, is a tone setter for the game ahead of its release on the 15th September. It shows Wolverine battling through the years, slashing at various groups of goons. Tragically, a lack of proper pockets on his yellow super suit means he keeps dropping a precious photo. It is destroyed, leaving Logan very angry.
While cinematic trailers can often be simple hype releases with little new info, this one does feature a few surprise appearances. Lady Deathstrike is the villain responsible for destroying Logan’s photo, you can tell it’s her by her nasty nails. Sabretooth also shows up alongside Logan, wearing his own yellow suit, which is a surefire way to get a pop out of X-Men fans.
If you head to the comments for this trailer on YouTube, or the social media posts on X, you would expect to see shared excitement among fans of Insomniac, Marvel, and Sony. Instead, spaces are flooded with outrage.
“You know who isn’t the hero? The killer of physical,” writes YouTube viewer ErrantRob. This comment has over 10,000 likes less than a day after the trailer’s release, and has claimed the top spot in the comment section. It’s followed by another comment by AyyItsRoboProductions, who wrote: “Wolverine was really getting PHYSICAL in this trailer, he has such a DISCtinct presence.”
If you sort the comments by top, you have to scroll by literally dozens of similar posts before you find something not tied to the physical games outrage. Some have even pointed out the irony of Wolverine fighting desperately to keep his physical photo intact.
The trailer posted on X by the Insomniac Games account is safe at the very least from these comments showing up at the top of its replies, if only because its responses automatically fill out that position. However, a quick scroll shows the most-liked reply is a gif of a disc, and the next is an image of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine looking at a framed photo of the famous Sony trading games skit. Regardless of platform, Insomniac and Marvel’s Wolverine has found itself in the midst of real outrage.
These perturbed fans have also been expressing their displeasure with Sony’s decision ever since the announcement. While the official Sony X account was silent for a week after the disc news broke, recent X posts for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and PowerWash Simulator have met similar outrage.
On one hand, the continued anger coming from Sony fans is understandable. With disc production ending in January 2028, an alternative to digital game ownership is going out the window. This has raised many concerns, including the price of games months after they’re released, consumer rights in regards to a digital-only Sony platform, game preservation, and more. While Sony has said this is a response to industry trends, ongoing pushback seen on social media and popular online petitions has made it clear this is an issue close to many hearts.
On the other hand, you’ve really got to feel for Insomniac Games here, and any other developers caught in the crossfire. Sony’s decision to phase out physical discs was not something Insomniac could likely impact, and as a result of decisions made outside of its control, a game releasing in around two months must contend with a passionate wave of angry fans. Of course Marvel’s Wolverine is still getting a physical release, so those fighting against Sony’s disc decision can get a version of the game to their liking later this year.
What’s clear from this story is that the outrage around Sony’s plans to move away from disc production isn’t going away any time soon. It appears that its strategy so far is to wait it out and not budge, which to be fair has unfortunately been a tried and true strategy for many businesses across many industries. One has to wonder though, how big an impact will this public backlash have against the games Sony is championing? Is it just online bluster, or are there material consequences on the cards?
