Highlights

  • Bringing Wolverine into Insomniac's Marvel universe may result in a two-world collision.
  • Introducing more Marvel heroes as playable characters could expand Insomniac's universe, but may require developing multiple games simultaneously.
  • Marvel's Spider-Man has already set the stage for an expanded Insomniac universe through iconic Marvel locations, hinting at possible future appearances.

As Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man series has largely been a critical success since it began in 2018, the news that the developer's upcoming Marvel's Wolverine game will be in the same universe has only served to heighten anticipation for it. Canonically, Spider-Man and Wolverine have partnered up before, so their two worlds now coming together in Insomniac's expanding Marvel universe implies the same. That being said, it's entirely possible the superheroes from Marvel's Spider-Man and the titular hero from Marvel's Wolverine never encounter one another and instead are only considered in the same universe by way of mention, via either Insomniac or in-game dialogue.

Despite any excitement the thought of bringing Wolverine into Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man universe may conjure, at the end of the day, it only results in a two-world collision. The crux of the matter lies in the fact that the Marvel-verse is incredibly vast, full of a wide variety of superheroes with unique personalities and abilities, and a universe featuring only three of its most well-known superheroes and their iconic rivals may feel a bit underwhelming. As such, Insomniac's Marvel universe could afford to be quite a bit bigger, and there is more than one way it could accomplish this.

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Insomniac's Marvel Universe Could Still Be Bigger

Insomniac Should Add More Marvel Heroes to Its Universe

The first and most obvious way Insomniac could expand its Marvel universe is by introducing more playable characters. Whether it be fan favorites like Iron Man, Captain America, or the Hulk, there are plenty of distinct superheroes in the Marvel-verse that would make Insomniac's adaptation feel even larger. The only issue here is that it would likely require Insomniac to develop multiple unique games simultaneously to introduce new playable heroes, and as the recent Insomniac hack suggests the developer is not headed toward expanding its universe beyond the X-Men anytime soon, it would potentially take decades for Insomniac's Marvel universe to achieve an objectively satisfactory size.

Thankfully, Insomniac's games don't necessarily have to feature heroes as playable protagonists in order to expand the developer's Marvel universe. Instead, these heroes can be introduced as side characters who either have brief cameos or fight alongside the main playable characters as NPCs. Although this would likely only whet players' appetites to play as said characters, it would still get the job done of making Insomniac's game universe feel more like the extensive Marvel-verse it is based on.

Marvel's Spider-Man Is Already Set Up to Expand Insomniac's Marvel Universe

Despite the uphill battle that growing Insomniac's universe through adding more playable characters would be, Marvel's Spider-Man has already opened the door for an expanded Insomniac universe. Throughout the game's version of New York City, players can find iconic Marvel locations such as the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Wakandan Embassy, the Baxter Building, and Avengers Tower, all of which serve as potential routes for new heroes to be introduced.

In a way, Insomniac has already grown its Marvel universe simply by including these locations in Marvel's Spider-Man 's game world, but it could certainly go even further with it.

With these locations, Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man universe is already set up for Dr. Strange, Black Panther, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers to eventually make an appearance in some form, but it's currently unclear whether the developer will choose to go that route anytime soon, if ever. In any case, Insomniac may need to make a decision in that regard some time in the near future, as players could feel underwhelmed by a universe containing only characters from the worlds of Spider-Man and Wolverine. However, it could very well be that the developer has already considered the idea of a much larger Marvel universe, and it could also be that Marvel's Wolverine will introduce that idea in some way.