Sony and Insomniac Games shocked the world during the 2021 PlayStation Showcase, which featured a reveal for Marvel’s Wolverine. That’s right, Insomniac has been hard at work on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and now, this. This will mark the first time Wolverine will star in his own game since 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was based on the film of the same name.
While Insomniac has proven itself in the superhero realm thanks to its Spider-Man games, Wolverine is an entirely different beast, so it’ll be interesting to see how the studio handles the character, especially its gameplay. It’s still early in development, but that hasn’t stopped us from gathering as much information about the upcoming game as possible.
Here’s everything we know about Marvel’s Wolverine.
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Marvel’s Wolverine release date
Sadly, Marvel’s Wolverine does not have a release date just yet. As part of a PlayStation Blog post, Insomniac Head of Franchise Strategy Ryan Schneider said “Marvel’s Wolverine is very early in development.” Considering Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 received a release window of 2023, and this game is certainly not going to come out before it, we can assume Marvel’s Wolverine won’t be ready until at least 2024.
The announcement trailer (more on that below) was less than a minute long and only gave us a brief glimpse at the tone and aesthetic, so there’s likely a long road ahead before it’s ready to launch.
Marvel’s Wolverine platforms
The only platform confirmed for Marvel’s Wolverine was PS5, and based on its likely release window of 2024, it probably won’t be available for PS4. At the end of the announcement trailer, a line of text read “in development for PlayStation 5,” so that’s all we know for sure.
What we can almost certainly guarantee is that Marvel’s Wolverine will not come to Xbox Series X|S or Nintendo Switch, since Insomniac Games is a first-party Sony studio. It’s unlikely Sony will allow Insomniac to make games for a competitor’s platform, but it’s within the realm of possibility that it will come to PC. Sony has been pushing for more of its first-party games to be ported to PC, and now that it owns Nixxes Software, we’ll probably see more of this going forward.
Marvel’s Wolverine trailer
Marvel’s Wolverine stole the show during the September 2021 PlayStation presentation thanks to its teaser trailer. It depicts a trashed bar, presumably at the hands of Logan, as he sits down to enjoy a drink. This is very much in line with the version of the character from the comics, and hopefully, Insomniac has done its homework to ensure the game is authentic as possible.
What was surprising is that many viewers assumed this trailer was for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 at first, based on the logos for Marvel and Insomniac. But then the big reveal at the end shocked us all. Check it out for yourself above.
Also, shoutout to the license plate on the wall of the bar that reads “HLK 181,” which is a reference to The Incredible Hulk issue #181, the first appearance of Wolverine. This might just be a cheeky nod to the character’s rich history, but that isn’t stopping us from hoping it means something else. Could Hulk make an appearance in Marvel’s Wolverine? That would just be … incredible.
Marvel’s Wolverine gameplay
Since the trailer didn’t show any gameplay, we can only assume it will play similarly to Marvel’s Spider-Man. It will likely be action-oriented, with some sort of upgrade system, and possibly an open world (maybe even the same world as Marvel’s Spider-Man). But part of the appeal of the Spider-Man games is its traversal system, wherein players are able to swing freely around New York City.
Wolverine doesn’t have this ability, so it’ll be interesting to see how movement and traversal will be handled in the new game. Perhaps Wolverine will utilize his motorcycle to get around, which could be fun, albeit different than web-slinging. Unlike the Spider-Man games, Wolverine will probably not rely on gadgets to defeat enemies. He’s a much different character than Peter Parker (and Miles Morales) — a grizzled veteran who uses his own wits and claws during combat, rather than an arsenal of weapons and toys. Insomniac has certainly earned our trust after its recent releases, but it will certainly be interesting to see how the team handles this aspect of Wolverine from a gameplay perspective.
Multiplayer
Although multiplayer hasn’t been confirmed or denied, it’s unlikely you’ll get to play with your friends in Marvel’s Wolverine. Insomniac Games doesn’t have much of a history of developing multiplayer games, so you should expect this to be a single-player experience. With the likelihood of Insomniac turning into a Marvel video game studio, it’s possible cooperative multiplayer will eventually be implemented in a later installment, but Wolverine probably isn’t the game to start that trend.
DLC
DLC on the other hand is practically a given in Marvel’s Wolverine. As shown in Marvel’s Spider-Man, it’s highly likely Wolverine’s narrative will continue with added story content post-launch. Along with that, a slew of costumes will probably be available to download, referencing the character’s many iterations across film and comics. Of course, the team is currently focusing on the main game, but we’d be shocked if DLC didn’t play a part at a later date.
