Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Wolverine is already highly anticipated by gamers. Following the success of 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man for PlayStation 4 and 2020’s Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, it’s no surprise that a short cinematic teaser was met with such praise. An adventure featuring Wolverine — whether it’s in Insomniac’s existing Marvel universe or not — is sure to be incredible.
To really succeed, however, Insomniac should do its best to avoid letting the larger mutant population creep in. Given Wolverine’s exalted history as part of the X-Men, it seems natural to include them in some way into this new title. However, the best way to tell a good Wolverine story would be to let the man be alone like he’s always wanted.
Marvel’s Wolverine‘s teaser takes place in the Princess Bar, which Wolverine owns in Madripoor. This fictional Southeast Asian country is home to some of the Marvel Universe’s seediest characters, and Wolverine spent a good amount of time here under the alias of Patch. While some of his time in the city was punctuated with visits from X-Men, Wolverine is a compelling enough character without relying on the rest of the gifted mutants.
If the game ends up being connected to the universe established by Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, the best way to ensure its longevity is by starting out slowly. Players don’t need to see Jean Grey and Phoenix Force show up in the background. By focusing on the character development of Logan himself, the ties to existing properties will be even stronger without calling in for fan service as a backup.
That’s not to say the game should be void of references or nods towards the mutant population. Some of Wolverine’s biggest emotional ties are to his fellow X-Men, including his pseudo-parental relationships with X-23, Kitty Pryde, Jubilee and Rogue. Depending on what period of his life the game focuses on, it’s likely that Wolverine will already have some history with the X-Men.
A much more creative way of fleshing out Wolverine’s supporting cast would be to call upon characters fans haven’t seen as often in the comics. Bringing in Tyger Tiger or Scorpion would give Wolverine a direction to grow that isn’t in the shadow of Charles Xavier. Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman is perhaps the easiest connection to the Spider-Man games, but it also provides a back door to a potential HYDRA threat.
The biggest issue with including the X-Men in Marvel’s Wolverine is that their presence would water down Logan’s own strength and development. Ensemble casts are exciting fan service, and current media such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Square-Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers leave quite a large X-shaped hole. Unfortunately, with a stable as large as the X-Men’s, there are just too many potential cameos that could be included to really be impactful. Including only the obvious choices would feel cheap, while more niche characters might not make sense.
The name of Insomniac’s upcoming game isn’t Marvel’s X-Men, and it shouldn’t be treated as such. Wolverine has enough established history (and mystery) to offer a compelling story that players can enjoy and explore to their hearts’ content. Insomniac has proven that it can provide exciting and engaging experiences focused on one slice of the Marvel Universe, and Wolverine deserves the same amount of attention as Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
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