Hollywood spends so much time turning games into movies that sometimes we forget gaming is perfectly capable of creating its own ridiculous level of noise. And this week, that noise has claws. Marvel’s Wolverine launches on PlayStation 5, tomorrow, 15 September 2026, bringing one of Marvel’s most famous mutants into his own Insomniac Games adventure. Which is already a big deal, because Insomniac is not exactly some random studio trying its luck with a superhero licence. This is the same developer behind the Marvel’s Spider-Man games. So naturally, expectations have been calm and reasonable.
I’m joking, obviously. The moment Insomniac revealed it was working on Wolverine, people started expecting something brutal, cinematic and probably full of unfortunate men discovering that adamantium is not something you want introduced to your personal space. According to PlayStation, Marvel’s Wolverine is a single-player, narrative-driven action-adventure game. It is not open world, which already makes it different from Insomniac’s Spider-Man games. Instead, the story follows Logan as he rejoins Team X after walking away from them years earlier. PlayStation says Bolivar Trask is kidnapping mutants, forcing Wolverine into a fight that takes him across locations including Canada, Japan and Madripoor.
So yes, this is very much a Wolverine story. A story of past trauma. Mutants in danger. A shadowy enemy. And of course a man with claws reluctantly being asked to do heroic things even though we know he would probably prefer to be left alone. That is the character. And interestingly, early reviews suggest Insomniac has leaned hard into the one thing a Wolverine game absolutely cannot afford to get wrong: the violence. The Verge describes the game as a return to a simpler and bloodier style of action game, with fast combat, cinematic set pieces and a tighter linear campaign. Game Informer says the game captures Wolverine’s brutal ferocity better than any previous film or game, even if the story and linear structure do not always land perfectly. And that may be exactly what many people wanted.
Because when people ask for a Wolverine game, I hardly think that they’re asking for a gentle emotional walking simulator where Logan spends 14 hours processing his feelings near a waterfall. In many ways, he probably should cos he certainly has been through a lot. But what they are looking for are
claws, rage, and combat that feels like the game understands why this character is different from Spider-Man. Now that’s the difference that matters.
Because Spider-Man swings while Wolverine charges. Spider-Man jokes his way through danger and Wolverine looks like he has been interrupted during the worst day of his life, which somehow happens every day. Spider-Man is movement, charm and impossible acrobatics. But Wolverine? He has momentum, damage and the very strong suggestion that whoever started this should have made different life choices.
So it makes sense that Marvel’s Wolverine is not trying to be another open-world superhero playground. And sometimes the correct design choice is a straight line and a bad attitude. And that right there is maybe why this release feels interesting beyond the obvious Marvel branding. We are living in a moment where Hollywood keeps looking at video games like a very full pantry. The Last of Us, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Fallout, Sonic the Hedgehog, Minecraft and everything else that has either already happened or is probably sitting in development somewhere. Studios have realised that games come with worlds, fans and built-in recognition. But gaming does not need Hollywood to feel explosive.
A major PlayStation exclusive from Insomniac already arrives with the machinery of a blockbuster. Trailers. Pre-orders. Reviews. Fan debates. Costume unlocks. people arguing online about whether the combat is deep enough before most players have even touched the controller. You know. Culture.
The conversation around Marvel’s Wolverine also shows how high the bar has become for superhero games. A few years ago, “good for a licensed game” was enough. Now, thanks partly to Insomniac’s own Spider-Man series, players expect these games to feel polished, cinematic and emotionally worthwhile.
That is probably slightly unfair, but I can also see how Insomniac helped create the problem. When a studio makes superhero games that feel like proper prestige releases, people stop treating the next one like a side project. The expectation grows. They expect the combat to feel right, the character to feel specific and the story to justify using a Marvel icon instead of simply placing a famous name on the cover and hoping nostalgia does the rest. Early reviews seem to agree on one thing: Marvel’s Wolverine does deliver the feeling of being Logan. It may not reach the same heights as Spider-Man for everyone, and some reviewers have criticised parts of the story, exploration and repetition. But the core fantasy appears to be intact.
And for Wolverine, that core fantasy is not complicated. He is definitely not here to make being a superhero look graceful. He is here to survive, fight, heal, snarl and remind everyone that Marvel does not only belong to the shiny inspirational characters giving speeches about responsibility. Sometimes Marvel is a man with claws, a bad mood and a past that refuses to stay buried. So yes, Hollywood can keep adapting games into movies and series. There is clearly money in that. But Marvel’s Wolverine is a useful reminder that gaming already knows how to build its own kind of blockbuster, without a red carpet, a theatrical release window or a post-credit scene teasing the next six years of someone’s spreadsheet.
All that’s required is a controller and possibly a very forgiving furniture budget.
Because Logan is arriving this week.
And he does not seem like the kind of man who enters a room gently.
