UPDATE 9/10: The reviews are in, and IGN went 6 out of 10.
UPDATE 9/8: A viral claim that women performed Wolverine’s mocap is also going around — here is what the video actually shows.
The “mystery” woman in the Marvel’s Wolverine launch trailer has a name, and it isn’t the one fans were betting on.
Insomniac Games has confirmed the sword-wielding villain in the trailer is Lady Deathstrike, not Psylocke.
The studio settled it with a post on X on September 5, sharing a clip of the character with a one-word caption: “Deathstrike.”
Why Fans Thought It Was Psylocke
The launch trailer debuted at the September 3 State of Play, and one shot set off the argument: a villain swinging a glowing purple energy sword.
A purple energy blade is Psylocke’s signature in the comics, so comments across YouTube, Instagram, and X ran with it.
The rest of the design points the other way. The hair and vest match Lady Deathstrike, and in the combat footage she goes after Logan with Deathstrike’s signature finger claws.
Where the purple sword comes from, Insomniac hasn’t said.
She Was Already In The Game’s Trailers
This wasn’t even Deathstrike’s first appearance.
Insomniac showed her new look in July’s “Ain’t No Hero” trailer and later posted a GIF of the character.
That’s part of why the correction landed the way it did, with one fan joking, “No that’s Psylocke, some guy told me and he’s for sure right.”
Others turned it on the design itself, arguing the character looks generic enough that the studio had to step in and name its own villain.
Lady Deathstrike Is A Classic Wolverine Enemy
Movie audiences know her from X2: the clawed assassin who fought Logan in the finale, played by Kelly Hu.
In the comics she’s Yuriko Oyama, a longtime Wolverine enemy with cybernetically enhanced adamantium claws, one on each finger.
She joins a lineup that already includes Jean Grey and Callisto, Sabretooth, and the Sentinels and the Hand from the D23 trailer.
Psylocke, meanwhile, has not been announced for the game.
Marvel’s Wolverine launches September 15 on PS5. Reviews arrive September 10.
