From Hugh Jackman to Liam McIntyre: Another Australian Takes Up the Claws in ‘Marvel’s Wolverine’

Wolverine may be Canadian, but Australians continue to have a habit of claiming him as their own.

More than two decades after Hugh Jackman transformed the Marvel mutant into one of cinema’s most recognisable superheroes, Australian actor Liam McIntyre is preparing to take up the claws in Marvel’s Wolverine, the highly anticipated PlayStation 5 game from Marvel’s Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games.

The game launches Sept. 15, with PlayStation releasing a new features trailer on Aug. 28 narrated by McIntyre as James “Logan” Howlett. 

For McIntyre, the role represents the latest chapter in a career spanning television, film, animation and video games.

The Melbourne-born actor is perhaps best known for succeeding Andy Whitfield in the title role of Starz’s Spartacus, leading Spartacus: Vengeance and Spartacus: War of the Damned. His screen credits have since included The Flash, while gaming audiences may recognise him as JD Fenix in Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 and Taron Malicos in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

But Wolverine presents a considerably different challenge.

Insomniac’s version of Logan isn’t simply voiced by McIntyre. The studio has built the character around his performance, with developers recently praising the Australian actor’s contribution to shaping their interpretation of the mutant.

Speaking to Australian gaming outlet Press Start, senior animation director Benjamin Wai said McIntyre became a significant creative collaborator during performance capture, with his choices sometimes causing the team to rethink scenes.

“A lot of the character is Liam,” Wai said, adding that the actor regularly brought ideas and unexpected emotion to the role. 

It puts McIntyre in interesting company.

For an entire generation, Wolverine has been inseparable from another Australian actor. Sydney-raised Jackman first played the character in 2000’s X-Men before returning repeatedly across the franchise, most recently opposite Ryan Reynolds in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.

McIntyre isn’t attempting to replicate that performance.

Insomniac’s game tells an original story in which Logan, three years after leaving mutant task force Team X, is drawn back into action as Bolivar Trask begins kidnapping mutants. His journey will take players across Canada, Japan and the fictional island nation of Madripoor. 

The studio is also embracing a side of Wolverine that superhero games have often had to soften.

Combat is deliberately violent, with Logan able to use his adamantium claws to dismember enemies, while the newly detailed accessibility options allow players to reduce the game’s gore. Insomniac describes the combat as fast, fluid and ferocious, built around maintaining aggressive momentum. 

McIntyre’s casting wasn’t an attempt to continue Wolverine’s Australian lineage, either.

Insomniac creative director Marcus Smith previously joked about Australians apparently being particularly good at playing Canadian superheroes, explaining that McIntyre simply emerged as the standout during auditions. 

The result is an unusual Australian through-line for one of Marvel’s most enduring characters.

Jackman may remain Wolverine’s definitive cinematic face, but when Logan begins his next major adventure this September, another Australian will be behind the claws.

Marvel’s Wolverine launches exclusively on PlayStation 5 on Sept. 15.