After success with Spider-Man, how will Insomniac handle Wolverine’s shift to gorier, less open-world gameplay?
2026 preview: Insomniac takes a break from the webslinger to explore one of the most beloved comic book characters ever
While Naughty Dog gets most of the acclaim, Insomniac is the engine behind PlayStation’s first party.
In the last decade, few studios have propped up a console like Insomniac during the first few years of the PlayStation 5. With a remaster of the PS4 Spider-Man alongside Miles Morales at the PS5’s launch, with Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart after that, and then Spider-Man 2, it’s an incredibly impressive run considering many studios have struggled to get one or two games out in the same period of time that Insomniac released four.
Since Spider-Man 2, however, things have been quiet. There are a few reasons for this. A devastating data breach meant that Sony and Insomniac’s closely guarded secrets, such as what they might be up to for the next decade, were spread far and wide on the internet. Footage of early builds of its next game flooded TikTok. Insomniac, understandably, went dark.
That was until earlier this year, when it returned to showcase more of its next game, Marvel’s Wolverine. Wolverine is one of the most recognizable comic book characters on the planet. A true member of the top table of comic books, going from Spider-Man (arguably the world’s most popular superhero) to Wolverine is bold, but from what we’ve seen so far, we’re excited.
Wolverine has a long history in video games. He’s been the star of many, including a licensed X-Men Origins Wolverine game that had no right being as good as it was. Players know what they want when it comes to a Wolverine game. That is, namely, gore, high-speed action, and a compelling Logan. If the recent trailer is anything to go by, the gore is guaranteed.
Marvel allows Wolverine to skirt the line between being a kids’ character in some contexts and a very adult character in others, and this game seems firmly in the latter camp. Blood, guts, and flying limbs are all present and accounted for, and frankly, there was very little chance Insomniac would have gone in any other direction.
“Marvel allows Wolverine to skirt the line between being a kids’ character in some contexts and a very adult character in others, and this game seems firmly in the latter camp”
You can probably picture what Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be. It’s a third-person hack-and-slash action game. What’s left to be seen is the scale of the world, and how Insomniac will handle the transition from a huge open-world New York to what appears to be much smaller, level-based encounters.
Not every game needs to be an open-world game, certainly, but it will be interesting to discover if the locations in the game are smaller open zones, or if this is a more traditional linear action fare.
The gameplay trailer shows a lot of environmental destruction and some level of traversal through areas, so it’s possible we’re looking at more of a Yakuza-style set of condensed open zones, which would serve as the location of side missions, and hold plenty of places to hide collectibles, a staple of Insomniac’s games.
Obviously, the glue holding the game together will be its cast. With Liam McIntyre confirmed to be playing Logan, his performance follows excellent showings from Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter in the two Spider-Man titles. The latest trailer also includes X-Men favourite Mystique, suggesting a few more faces from Logan’s most famous stories will show up.
Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be a crowd-pleaser. Few heroes are loved as much as Wolverine, and Insomniac makes games that resonate with both the core gaming audience and casual superhero fans.
This game launching in the same year that will reportedly see the X-Men debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe means we could be seeing a new Golden Age of Mutants, but it’ll all come down to whether Insomniac can combine the intense power fantasy of playing as Wolverine, with the excellent character work that has made Logan endure.
More 2026 game previews:
