Insomniac Games is going to break its Spider-Man tradition in 2026 with its next PS5 release, Marvel's Wolverine. The new PlayStation game is the third Marvel release from Insomniac, following its successful Spider-Man games: Marvel's Spider-Man, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The studio is switching things up with its next Marvel game, moving away from the iconic web-slinger and entering mutant territory.
A new lead character isn't the only thing that has changed in Marvel's Wolverine, as trailers for the game have confirmed that it will break one long-standing gameplay element Insomniac has established in its Spider-Man games. The new PS5 game is eyeing a Fall 2026 release, and is one of several Marvel video games on the slate right now.
Marvel's Wolverine Is Swinging Away From Spider-Man
One of the first things fans noticed in the first major trailer for Marvel's Wolverine last year was that the story wasn't taking place in New York City.
To date, all three Marvel's Spider-Man installments from Insomniac have been set in Spidey's home city, which has become a beloved open-world in gaming. After Manhattan Island was reconstructed in great detail in Spider-Man and then depicted under a blanket of snow in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Insomniac expanded the explorable area by adding surrounding boroughs, such as Brooklyn and Queens.
However, Marvel's Wolverine will take the action out of New York City entirely, with the trailer showing off multiple locations in the game, including Tokyo, Madripoor, and Canada. PlayStation confirmed Wolverine would be a "global thriller" with a bevvy of locations on its blog:
In this global thriller, Wolverine’s search for answers will send him on perilous excursions to exotic locales, including the island nation of Madripoor, the frosted wilderness of Canada, and the narrow city streets of Tokyo.
This introduction of multiple locations is a first for Insomniac's Marvel games, which have traditionally taken place in a single explorable open world. The switch from New York City to Tokyo, Canada, and Madripoor will be a big change, but a welcome one, as it opens up more opportunities to explore this Marvel gaming world.
Is Marvel's Wolverine Ditching Open-World Entirely?
It's still unclear whether Marvel's Wolverine will even be an open-world game like Insomniac's past Spider-Man entries, or whether it will switch to a purely narrative-focused approach.
It could be that Insomniac plans to include Tokyo, Madripoor, and Canada as explorable hubs in Marvel's Wolverine, opting for three smaller open worlds rather than a large single one. This would maintain the free-form exploration that fans love in the Spider-Man games. Alternatively, the game may adopt an Uncharted-esque chapter approach, with each globetrotting location explorable only through key action sequences.
The gameplay trailer showed Wolverine clambering atop rooftops and riding a motorcycle through the streets, suggesting open-world exploration could be featured in the game.
Insomniac has been clear that "ferocious combat" and "action-packed set pieces" will be core tenets of Marvel's Wolverine, but has stopped short of confirming any open-world elements. The studio also confirmed on the PlayStation blog that "we're breaking new ground with Wolverine," but that the game would still feature "Insomniac staples:"
"We aim to deliver the ultimate Wolverine fantasy built on Insomniac staples like fast, fluid, and ferocious combat; exhilarating, action-packed set pieces; robust accessibility features; and a gripping story that taps into the core tenets of one of the most compelling comic book characters of all-time. We’re breaking new ground with Wolverine, yes, but our penchant for telling stories about heroes overcoming colossal odds is as strong as ever."
Losing the open-world elements would be a shame for fans of Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man games. But this is also the studio that brought dazzling intergalactic adventures in Ratchet & Clank, and allowing Insomniac to explore multiple locations in Wolverine could unleash more creativity from the studio and give fans more aspects of the Marvel world to explore (and potentially some Spider-Man crossovers).
