When we last left off, we were deep in the world of the Easter Egg.
It felt like Insomniac had weaved one every few steps which felt incredible. And while I was thinking about that sense of movement and reference, it reminded me of when I spoke with Josue Benavidez for Spider-Man 2. He said there were new areas like Brooklyn and Queens. And new ways to move, like the web wings. When combined, it allowed players to see things in a different way. I wondered then, how Logan’s traversal differs from a web swing? And will speed and fun be prioritized over spectacle? Or is it vice versa.
“So Spider-Man classically is web-swinging through cities at breakneck speed” says Reed. “It’s very, VERY fast. But Logan, like we said earlier, heavier. But you can be fast. And it’s quite spectacular in a way. We obviously wanted it to feel great to control. But also responsive.”
We wanted to make sure traversal was responsive, while being authentic to him being a heavy character.”
Jess Reiner-Reed, Senior Project Director (Insomniac Games)
This was when Reed started to speak to the environment around Wolverine. “He can climb up trees, but they’re going to sort of bend away. When he’s slashing up walls, you’re going to see that damage. So while we were working to make it responsive. Make it authentic. We also wanted it to reflect how strong he is. He can leap a distance to take out an enemy, right? So we still wanted to honor that in combat.”
“I think that’s the ‘absolute power’ of Wolverine we wanted to get across.”
I agreed with Reed’s sentiment. While Logan is fast and agile, there’s a heft to him. Especially in the way he lands after a jump and labours with his punches. And I said that it definitely gave the sense that he’s someone who could go toe-to-toe with the Hulk.
After discussing the movement in the introduction, and the sort of fluidity it has as it gives you the means to become Weapon X. I circled back to the sense of pride the team appears to give off every time I’ve met them. I had to ask, what moments might the team be most proud of in Marvel’s Wolverine? Whether it’s a personal anecdote or a collective effort.
“The moments that immediately stand out to me” says Reed. “Are when we get to actually show something to the public. There’s so much build up with the team. Like we are perfecting a trailer. Or when we showed the extended gameplay. Making sure every little bit of it is exactly how we want to represent our game.”
We want to make sure it looks fun to play. We want to impress people. So once the trailers are out and and we can see fan reactions? It’s just really good.”
Jess Reiner-Reed, Senior Project Director (Insomniac Games)
“It’s just an emotional shot in the arm to think, “Oh! People are excited about this!”. Like we’re making a Wolverine game and we’re weeks out from release.”
We both sit in the moment, and as we begin to wrap up I comment:
“It’s a Wolverine game in the world of Spider-Man, which people have loved on the PlayStation 4 and 5. I think people have a lot to look forward to.”
There will be one more secret, fourth thing to follow our upcoming review of Marvel’s Wolverine, which is set for release on the 15th of September, 2026, exclusively on PlayStation 5.
