Marvel’s Wolverine Should Have Borrowed An Underrated Bloodborne Feature

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A closeup on Logan in Marvel's Wolverine, grimacing with blood splattered on his face.

Published Jun 7, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Kyle Gratton is an editor and writer based out of Kansas City. He received a bachelor's degree, dual majoring in English and History with a minor in Film and Media Studies, and has been a senior staff writer and reviewer for Screen Rant's Gaming section since 2021, with roles in editorial, and various freelance projects.

A terminal Midwesterner who graduated from the University of Kansas, Kyle also has knowledge and interest in literature, film, film adaptions of literature, and history.

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It was a relief when Marvel's Wolverine was revealed to be violent and bloody – like really, exceptionally bloody. Everything else aside, the idea of a mutant with adamantium claws can only conceivably lead to lots and lots of gore. Developer Insomniac Games has long promised that Wolverine was guaranteed to be rated M, and a new gameplay trailer from the June 2026 State of Play proves it wasn't an exaggeration, but I'm still a little disappointed the game didn't take a page from Bloodborne's book.

As if the title didn't make it obvious, blood is kind of Bloodborne's whole thing. Its Lovecraftian, Victorian-era setting veers wildly into body horror throughout, and there's no shortage of blood along the way. Characters ramble about the Old Blood and espouse the miracle of Blood Ministration, but the pièce de résistance is simply the untold gallons of blood you spill in combat, and an underrated detail goes a long way in cementing just how violent Bloodborne is.

Blood Doesn't Disappear From Your Character In Bloodborne

A creature sits on a chair in Bloodborne

FromSoftware has a history of bloodying player character models. Bloodstains cover the main character in the Dark Souls games, and the tradition continues into Elden Ring, but none of those come close to the viscera that sticks around in Bloodborne. The longer you stay alive, the more your character's model will turn deep crimson, and it only washes off when you die. My favorite part is that it's programmed to sync with your equipment; if you take off some headgear that covers everything but your character's eyes, they'll only have blood surrounding their peepers.

You can imagine my disappointment when, in the new Marvel's Wolverine gameplay trailer, blood splatters slowly disappear from Logan only seconds after he violently rips apart some poor cybernetic henchmen. To be fair, the blood splatter animations look great, and are exactly what a game starring Wolverine needs. Foot-long adamantium claws going through someone's skull produce a believable fountain of blood that coats Logan's arms, then it just... fades away.

Is Wolverine Too Cinematic To Keep Logan Covered In Blood?

Marvel's Wolverine and Bloodborne are clearly different games, but the ease with which blood disappears in the former undermines the violence inherent in the character. Similar things happen in plenty of games. I always notice how newer Assassin's Creed games will show the protagonist's clothes as wet and dripping water shortly after you go for a swim, then have them dry abnormally quickly.

It's one of those video game quirks you come to expect, especially with blood. Blood splatters often re-color the environment, but character models are rarely affected, and if they are, it usually works exactly like in Marvel's Wolverine: blood just disappears after a little while. There's likely an easy explanation. In a third-person, cinematic action game like Wolverine, what's the point of making a detailed character model for cutscenes if Logan is just going to be covered in blood the whole time?

But then again, Wolverine would realistically be covered in blood the whole time. The dude is literally ripping people to shreds with claws that stick out of his knuckles, blood would be absolutely everywhere. It's a legitimate biohazard concern.

Whether the Marvel's Wolverine story makes an attempt to grapple emotionally with the unadulterated violence of its starring character remains to be seen. It's certainly a bloody game, but like most video games, it seems to disregard the viscera produced by such violence by simply vanishing it. Bloodborne set a great example of how to lean into a blood-obsessed setting and its characters, but Marvel's Wolverine is instead keeping Logan squeaky clean.