PS5's Wolverine confirmed the tragic fate of several mutants in Insomniac's Marvel Universe, expanding this part of the world in unexpected ways. The latest Marvel video game followed the story of Logan as a member of Team X, a mutant elite force backed by Nathaniel Essex (aka the future Mr. Sinister). In this universe, it's worth pointing out that the X-Men don't exist yet. Following a grueling opening rescue mission to save Essex from Bolivar Trask and his forces, Logan returns to the Team X Headquarters at the Essex Institute to receive a much-needed break.
This major X-Men location featured many notable Easter eggs, and some of them are deep cuts. Perhaps the most prominent one is the Team X memorial seen in the armory and living quarters during the early Homecoming mission. This memorial featured nameplates for dead mutants who once became part of Essex's Team X.
The full look at the memorial inside Team X headquarters can be seen below:
The lockers that were never emptied provide a major clue about what happened to some of these former Team X members, suggesting they did not hold a ceremony and move on.
This move leans more toward a militaristic approach where a barracks leave a bunk made after a soldier gets killed in action, indicating that these are mutants who still had a place in the building when they died.
The memorial appears to be Marvel’s Wolverine way of saying that the war against Bolivar Trask is brutal, ongoing, and hard to stop. The wall of the dead ignites Logan’s desire for revenge, placing him at the center of the revenge mission in the fight against Trask and his Reavers and Sentinels, poised to end mutantkind.
It's also interesting that the back of the Team X memorial has a shorter list of names, unlike the ones in the front. It is unknown why the list is shorter, but it's possible that this is a universal day-one glitch that gets patched once enough players start noticing this glaring mistake.
The shorter list adds another layer of mystery in Marvel's Wolverine, suggesting that there is something odd in Nathaniel Essex's way of honoring dead Team X members.
Every Main 'Dead' Mutant Featured In Team X's Memorial in Marvel's Wolverine
John Wraith
Death - 1998
John Wraith is one of the mutants highlighted in Team X's memorial at the Essex Headquarters. In Marvel Comics, Wraith served as the team's secret weapon, capable of getting them out of messy situations, as he worked alongside Wolverine, Mystique, Sabretooth, Maverick, Mastodon, and Silver Fox. He is a phase-jump teleporter who kept that power hidden from the team.
Like other members of Team X, he was given an artificial age-suppressor and a lifetime of false memories. He pulled the team out of the Berlin job against Omega Red, and it was the first time his teammates learned about his powers. Wraith has died more than once, most recently in a Hellverine encounter before Krakoan resurrection protocols put him back on the board.
Wraith's death in Wolverine isn't quite surprising, considering that his extraction skills put him first in line to die covering a retreat.
Kodiak Noatak
Death - 1998
Kodiak Noatak (aka Harpoon) is a relentless Inuk mutant recruited by Mister Sinister in the pages of Marvel Comics. His abilities include turning spears into bio-energy that can stun, paralyze, or disintegrate.
Mister Sinister used him as a precision killer in the Mutant Massacre, most notably when he decimated the Morlocks' underground tunnels in New York City. In the comics, Harpoon was killed in a conflict with the X-Men during the demonic invasion of New York.
His death in Insomniac Games' Wolverine is significant, considering that he worked under Mr. Sinister as one of his Marauders. Some have theorized that Harpoon might have turned against Sinister at some point, and the memorial serves as Essex filing away a former asset.
Sidney Green
Death - 2000
Onyxx is one of the powerhouse mutants in Marvel Comics. Onyxx possesses super-strength and near-invulnerability due to his thick, rocky skin, which has altered his skeletal structure. His original death came during the attack on Selene's Inner Circle in Utopia after he was disintegrated by Wither (a mutant who can disintegrate all forms of organic matter by touch).
Despite his apparent death in Marvel's Wolverine, it's interesting to point out that he still has a locker with the main team despite having died in 2000. Given that Nathanial Essex (Mr. Sinister) has perfected cloning technology in the comics, it's possible that those with lockers are potential "targets" for his future cloning plans.
Myles Alfred
Death - 2001
Myles Alfred, also known as Vivisector, served as X-Statix's resident novelist. In Marvel Comics, X-Statix is a team of mutants who operate as self-absorbed reality TV stars and media celebrities. His abilities include transforming into a feral, werewolf-like creature by focusing on both positive and negative emotions.
Vivisector died after X-Statix's reunion party during a set-up designed to kill the team after a team of gunmen shot and killed all of the members. Like Onlyxx, Marvel's Wolverine revealed that Vivisector also has a locker, and it could lead to the theorized cloning plans from Essex.
Michael Baer
Death - 2004
Michael Baer (Blockbuster) was another Maurader involved in the attack on the Morlocks. He has brute strength, superhuman durability, and stamina, and he held his own against the likes of Colossus and Thor.
Given that Wolverine established that Harpoon and Blockbuster were former members of Team X who perished, it's possible that they could be part of Nathaniel Essex's former kill squad, which he had to dispose of in exchange for a better and more manageable team.
William H. Thorton
Death - 2004
Mesmero (whose real name is William H. Thornton) is a green-skinned master hypnotist who debuted in X-Men #49. Throughout his active years, he has posed as a carnival mesmerist, a Weapon X operative, and a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
At one point, he even formed his own Brotherhood in an attempt to try and paint mutants in a bad light. Part of his upgrade when he joined the Weapon X program included an offer to increase his powers. At the end of the experimentation, Mesmero was able to control crowds with a glance.
Mesmero's death in the Insomniac Games universe is interesting because the Marvel Comics version of the mutant is the kind of survivor who almost never fails to talk his way out of a firing squad.
Robbie (Prism)
Death - 2007
Prism is another Marauder who worked for Mister Sinister. His powers include his crystalline body's ability to refract and store energy. During his first mission with the Marauders, Prism encountered Cyclops and Jean Grey from X-Factor. Jean was actually the one who accidentally killed Prism after she slammed him against a nearby wall.
In Team X's escalating war against Bolivar Trask and Sentinels in Marvel's Wolverine, his death essentially writes itself.
Carl Aalston
Death - 2008
Carl Aalston (Rain Boy) is introduced as a new X-Men-era student whose body is living water. He can flow, crush, and drown at close range. During his initial stint at the Xavier Institute, he became a member of Gambit's student squad, the Chevaliers. As the youngest member of the team, Rain Boy is known as a shy mutant and is more naive than the others.
Similar to other former members of Team X, Rain Boy still has a locker and a glove sitting in a water-filled box in the armory. It's possible that he is also a candidate of Sinister's cloning experiments.
Christoph Nord
Christoph Nord (aka Maverick) is a notable member of Weapon X from Marvel Comics. Maverick even appeared in X-Men '97 Season 2 during the Wolverine-centric episode featuring some members of Weapon X. Unlike other Team X members, Maverick and Logan got along well, which is rare in that unit.
Maverick's primary mutant ability is the absorption of kinetic energy and a regenerative healing factor. Insomniac Games' version of Christoph Nord still has a locker in Team X's headquarters, and his death could be the most significant reason why Logan decided to leave three years ago in a rage and why Essex still talks about abandoned people.
Trevor Hawkins
Death - 2014
Eye Boy (Trevor Hawkins) was one of the new mutants to manifest their powers after the war between the Avengers and the X-Men. Following this incident, Hawkins decided to enroll in the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
Aside from his face literally having numerous eyes, Eye Boy's other abilities include enhanced visual acuity, psychological intuition, and the perception of weakness. Eye Boy still has a locker inside Team X's headquarters, and his goggles are on display on the shelf to serve as a brutal reminder of the dangers of being involved in Essex's team of mutants.
Lazaro Kotikash
Death - 2015
Lazaro Kotikash (Kidogo) is a Tanzanian student who can shrink to insect-like proportions. Following the launch of Xavier Institute's training squad system, Lazaro was assigned to the Alpha Squadron and given the codename Kidogo.
Kidogo is not a known killer in the X-Men universe, and his inclusion in Nathaniel Essex's team suggests that part of Mr. Sinister's plan is to provide a home to whoever needs him (and potentially control them in a misguided way).
Benjamin Deeds
Death - 2017
Benjamin Deeds, whose codename is Morph, isn't the same "Morph" from X-Men '97 and Age of Apocalypse (that specific mutant is Kevin Sidney). Given that they shared a codename, his abilities include psychogenetic camouflage, which allows him to subtly change his physical features and voice to resemble those of nearby people.
As someone who is young and easy to miss, Insomniac's decision to place this version of Morph as part of a death toll serves as a reminder that the game's mutant generation has seen enough violence that tragically led to devastating deaths.
Sarah Vale
Death - 2020
Sarah Vale (aka Network) was a member of the Alpha Squadron in Marvel Comics. Sarah's powers include technopathy, allowing her to mentally communicate with and control all forms of machinery. Her death in the pages of the X-Men comics was brutal: she was one of the 42 mutants who died when William Stryker's Purifiers bombed the bus carrying depowered students.
It is unknown how Network died in Insomniac Games' universe, but it's possible that Bolivar Trask targeted her to send Essex a direct message that not everyone is safe.
Roxanne Washington
Death - 2025
Roxanne Washington (aka Bling) is a mutant who has diamond-hard skin and can produce diamond shards of varying quality during battle. She also has superhuman strength and a genius-level intellect.
Bling's death in Marvel's Wolverine is pretty telling, suggesting that her diamond skin is no match for Bolivar Trask's army of Reavers and Sentinel technology.
