As one of the most anticipated comic-book-based video games at the moment, Marvel's Wolverine is a release that instills a lot of excitement. The end of 2023 brought one of the biggest gaming stories of the year with mountains of information revealed about Marvel's Wolverine, and although this has given some insight into the game, it remains quite mysterious and unfortunate that they were revealed like that in the first place.
Insomniac has brought forth some great superhero games with its beloved Spider-Man titles. Swinging through NYC as Peter Parker and Miles Morales truly put players in the shoes of the iconic Spider-Man, which made the news of a Wolverine game in the works that much more exciting. Insomniac has already proven that the studio can nail capturing the essence of Spider-Man, so it's thrilling to think about how the developer approaches the likes of Wolverine. Although Wolverine's plot was first revealed in the infamous hack, a lot of it has been scrubbed from the internet, and Insomniac's Spider-Man games could be the answer to which comic arcs it will be taking inspiration from.
Marvel's Wolverine Runs The Same Risk as Sony's Spider-Verse
Insomniac Games is delving into another side of Marvel with its upcoming Wolverine-focused title, but the studio shouldn't forget where he comes from.
Wolverine's Source Material Could Take The Same Approach As Spider-Man
When developing Spider-Man, Insomniac looked to a very specific period in the comics. Although there were a variety of comic arcs the studio looked to for information, Insomniac mainly focused on comics from the early- to middle-2000s era. Insomniac used Ultimate Spider-Man and Mister Negative stories as major sources of inspiration.
Leaked Wolverine Footage Provides Hints
The leaks for Marvel's Wolverine were massive. However, the game's development persists despite the invasion of Insomniac's privacy, and the developer has some perfect options for Wolverine inspiration when it comes to the 2000s comics:
- The Adamantium Men (Wolverine: Weapon X #1-5)
- Wolverine: Logan
- Enemy of the State
- Coyote Crossing
Some of the most notable and lore-establishing Wolverine stories were written around the early- to middle-2000s, so it only makes sense for Insomniac to want to use the comic books in this period as the main source materials for Wolverine's story. This era of comics dove deeper into the anti-hero, exploring his backstory and personality with a more nuanced and thoughtful approach. The leaks have revealed shocking possible details of the Wolverine game, and some of the gameplay footage could give weight to this theory of Insomniac using the 2000s as source material, too.
Footage revealing combat in Wolverine shows the clawed anti-hero shredding through what looks like mercenaries. What makes these mercenaries so interesting is that they resemble mercenaries that are featured in the "Adamantium Men" comic arc from 2009. If this is the case, then the publication date of "The Adamantium Men" matches right up with the same time frame Insomniac used as inspiration for Spider-Man.
"The Adamantium Men" is a five-issue arc in Wolverine: Weapon X, and it would be a great story to take inspiration from. The story arc is a corporate espionage-filled thriller that showcases Wolverine trying to take down a mysterious organization known as Blackguard. Although this is just a theory, Wolverine will most likely feature some interesting villains from Marvel Comics, so it will be intriguing to see if Insomniac does indeed pull inspiration from other comics and lore.
