It’s been a while since Sony showcased a brand-new PlayStation 5 exclusive that you really want. Sure, we got Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yōtei launches next week, but we’ve known about them for quite some time. The company’s first-party line-up has been pretty barren over the past two years, so it needed something, anything to really jolt fans awake. We’re not talking about Housemarque’s Saros, which received its first gameplay reveal and looks like a solid follow-up to Returnal, but rather, Marvel’s Wolverine by Insomniac Games.
Calling it a “new” announcement is probably stretching the term, considering the first trailer debuted a whopping four years ago – it was at the second-last PlayStation Showcase but offered little more than CG cutscenes. Today’s reveal was different. Insomniac told us plenty about what makes their take on Wolverine so special, but it also showed us, and it was glorious.
It all began with the “Mature 17+ rating” and the first visual of Logan’s bloodstained, angry face before immediately transitioning into a quick execution. There were always concerns of Insomniac holding back on the blood and gore – for all the dark themes in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it lacked much by way of either, but Wolverine has no such hang-ups. Lifting enemies with both claws before plunging one set into their heads; slashes leaving visible wounds; dismemberment; heck, in one shot, Logan straight up tears a guy in half. But that’s only a taste of what’s to come.
There have been some violent superhero games before, but the number of titles that conveyed the utter brutality of Wolverine in the history of gaming is way too low (Insomniac cheekily acknowledging concerns that it wouldn’t be bloody enough was also a nice touch). Credit to actor Liam McIntyre throughout all this – between the animalistic grunts and pensive thoughts, he deftly captures the various extremes of the character while adding his own flavor.
I’m getting ahead of myself. Marvel’s Wolverine follows Logan in a familiar journey to learn more about his past. Everyone at this point knows how it goes – Weapon X experiment, fragmented memories, history of violence, potential immortality, which means he could be way older than he looks (a fact that we already know, but still). We’ve seen and heard it all before – even the Reavers, a familiar antagonistic faction, appear to try (in vain) to oppose Logan. But how many times have we actually embodied the anti-hero, walking in his blood-soaked shoes as he shrugs off attacks and slaughters his enemies? And how many times has it looked this sleek?
That’s the other part that makes Marvel’s Wolverine so exciting. Spider-Man has this grace and agility in his movements, even during combat. Logan, by comparison, is frighteningly quick, bounding across an alley to slice an enemy before turning around and straight up mauling another guy’s face in one clean motion. It shouldn’t get better, and yet, it does with the rapid stabbing slashes that can chain into a rising uppercut. I’ve seen some sick Marvel combos but never a DP that hits like this.
Even from the perspective of a Marvel nerd who grew up with the 1997 X-Men animated series, I’m happy with the other Mutants chosen for the story. Omega Red was a well-worn nemesis of Logan throughout and appears to be a strong contrast with his carbondanium coils, easily subduing the latter. Mystique felt natural as well, given her run-ins with the X-Men and Wolverine in the past (plus she appears to have her own agenda in taking out the Reavers).
However, the coolest tease is the Sentinel at the end. They’ve had some memorable battles throughout Marvel’s history, and I’m eager to see how this plays out in gameplay form. Also, if there’s one Sentinel around, then you know that others aren’t far behind. The fact that Wolverine’s adventures will take him through narratively significant locations like Tokyo, the Canadian wilderness, and Madripoor also feels on brand.
It’s funny because when reports emerged from the infamous attack on Insomniac Games, there was concern that the team was creating yet another action-adventure title in the vein of Spider-Man. But as much as I enjoyed the web-crawler’s adventures, it’s clear that Insomniac has re-oriented itself in how it’s approaching Wolverine. While the theme of “heroes overcoming colossal odds is as strong as ever” – and if that isn’t a reference to Colossus and the Fastball Special, I will be upset – the developer admits to “breaking new ground” with the character.
As eager as it is to tap into his “signature spin on heroism,” the developer has acknowledged that this is a “much darker and more brutal” story than you’d probably expect from it. And while it’s easy to dismiss this as marketing talk, it’s worth remembering that Walt Williams, who served as lead writer on Spec Ops: The Line, is part of the narrative team. Suffice it to say that anything is possible, but when it comes to capturing Logan’s inner conflict and how that manifests in all kinds of violent ways, I can think of few that would be more up to the task.
Another interesting reveal is how the Reavers are “one of our enemy factions,” which could mean other threats for Logan to overcome. The fact that he’s venturing to Japan gives me hope that we’ll see – or at least hear – about classic villains like Lady Deathstrike and the Silver Samurai. Maybe Logan’s trip to Madripoor involves a run-in with Viper. It’s probably too much to hope for Master Mold, but again, never say never.
Perhaps the best part of this entire presentation, alongside everything else, is that Insomniac revealed just enough to get us excited without overplaying its hand. Because, for all intents and purposes, many of us already know about the character and what he represents. What we really wanted to see was how Insomniac is adopting those mythos into a video game. Suffice it to say that it’s blown away expectations, even if there’s still a lot more we need to know going in. How will Logan’s healing factor work? Is this a linear single-player game, one with a large open world or something in between? How long is it? And so on.
Marvel’s Wolverine launches in Fall 2026 for PS5, and it’s more than likely to meet that release window. Obviously, Sony needs a lot more to fill its release window than just two high-profile exclusives (much as I’m looking forward to Saros). However, for the first time in a while, I forgot that we haven’t heard about what teams like Bend Studio, Guerrilla Games, Firesprite and Santa Monica Studio are working on (or that Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic is a long way off). I forgot about Sony’s failed live-service push and how there are still titles like Bungie’s Marathon or Haven’s Fairgame$, assuming it hasn’t been canned, due in the near future. Heck, I almost forgot about the previous half hour of the State of Play, which had some standout announcements but otherwise felt like your average showcase.
For the first time in a long while, PlayStation felt like the premier destination for triple-A single-player titles that you couldn’t find on other platforms. While that may seem like a lot of pressure to put on one game, Insomniac’s showing gives me hope. Now here’s hoping that Marvel’s Wolverine delivers on that when it arrives next year.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
