Highlights

  • Marvel's Wolverine is rumored to have a darker story than Insomniac's Spider-Man games, potentially featuring a setting in the fictional Southeast Asian city of Madripoor.
  • The game could potentially follow the Wolverine Goes to Hell storyline from the comics, providing a dark and intense experience for players.
  • Marvel's Wolverine could explore a subversive story where Logan confronts the sins of his past and battles a demon possessing his body, offering potential gameplay enhancements with the use of bone claws and a reworked healing factor.

With Spider-Man 2 now released to the world, Insomniac fans have their attention turned to the developer's next project: the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine. Recent information from a reliable leaker suggests Marvel's Wolverine is aiming for a 2025 release, and it will feature a darker story than Insomniac's Spider-Man games with a setting in the fictional Southeast Asian city of Madripoor. While this potential setting makes a lot of sense for the first outing of Logan in Insomniac's Marvel universe, the sequel to this game could turn up the heat and follow one of Wolverine's most bizarre comic storylines.

Although nothing about the plot of Wolverine has been confirmed, the rumored setting of Madripoor would give fans some clues as to what storyline the game could follow. In the comics, Wolverine retires to Madripoor, adopting the name Patch and hunting down criminals in the city to atone for his past. If this dark past is explored in the game, the sequel would have the perfect setup to follow the Wolverine Goes to Hell arc from the comics, potentially building upon the dark tone and brutal combat Insomniac is rumored to be creating for Wolverine.

Insomniac Marvel's Wolverine Old Man Logan
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Wolverine Goes to Hell Would be the Perfect Inspiration for a Sequel to Insomniac's Wolverine

Wolverine has always been one of Marvel's darker characters, with his history as a nearly immortal being who has participated in major world events as a mercenary and committed a variety of unsavory acts as a result. One of Wolverine's darkest and most fantastical adventures comes in the Wolverine Goes to Hell storyline, where Satan traps Logan's soul in Hell and his body becomes possessed by a demon bent on killing everyone Logan has ever cared about. While the premise for this story sounds intense, it could provide the perfect amount of escalation a sequel to Insomniac's Wolverine needs in both story and gameplay.

In the comics, Wolverine's son, Daken, works with the nefarious Red Right Hand to send his father's soul to hell. This sequence could lead to an epic first boss fight in a Wolverine game that follows the Wolverine Goes to Hell storyline.

Being trapped in Hell means Wolverine loses access to his Adamantium claws and reduces the effectiveness of his healing factor, meaning he is left with only his bone claws. While this could be a great opportunity to showcase this grittier version of Wolverine, it would also be a great chance for the gameplay to iterate upon the previous entry, since Insomniac could create new mechanics around the bone claws that could increase the difficulty of combat. Depending on how Insomniac handles Logan's healing factor in Wolverine, a sequel set in Hell could also rework how it affects the player's ability to heal in combat as well.

The story of this sequel set in Hell could also follow up on the potentially older, hardened version of Logan that appears to be the basis for Insomniac's incarnation of the character. While in Hell, Logan is forced to confront the sins of his past, which could provide the foundation for a compelling character arc in a Wolverine sequel. Meanwhile, players might have to contend with the demon possessing Wolverine's body, which could potentially see a sequence similar to Spider-Man 2's playable Venom level, where players control Hellverine and fight against iconic heroes like Ghost Rider and Colossus who are attempting to exorcise the demon.

For a character like Logan who is known for his immortality, facing his demons in Hell would make for an intense and subversive story that has the potential to expand upon elements introduced in Marvel's Wolverine. It would also be a great way to showcase the past of a version of Logan who has already been through it all by the time Insomniac's game takes place. While it may be some time before a sequel to Wolverine is in the works, the upcoming game could keep this storyline in mind when building the foundation for a future Insomniac series.