As I prepared for this interview, I didn’t realize how lucky I’ve had it.
Wondering what I could ask Senior Project Director, Jess Reiner-Reed, about Insomniac’s upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine, I suddenly remembered I’ve interviewed other members from Insomniac. Whether it be Lindsay Thompson or Mike Fitzgerald for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Or Josue Benavidez for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I’ve got this history I can use to look into the philosophy and language Insomniac continue to use for Logan’s upcoming adventure on the PlayStation 5 on September 15th, 2026.
I note my own luck and fortune in having this extensive background with Insomniac, and how much pride all the members appeared to have for the studio. “I’m glad that comes through! Insomniacs are pretty proud of what they do” says Reed. “What’s interesting about Insomniac, is it’s maybe a little different than some other studios in the industry. People seem to stay at Insomniac a long time!”
We have a lot of folks that have been there 10. 15. 20 years!”
Jess Reiner-Reed, Senior Project Director (Insomniac Games)
Noting how incredible that is, I segue into when I spoke with Josue Benavidez. He had gone from building bases in Sunset Overdrive to entire cities in Spider-Man 2. And it made me wonder how Wolverine’s character design honors Logans’ comic and movie legacy, while fitting Insomniac’s visual language.
“When we were setting out to make Wolverine, we were looking at what’s the best kind of structure that we can use to tell this character’s story” says Reed.
“And when we’re looking at Spider-Man, he’s somebody that is quintessentially New York. He is living in his ‘Friendly Neighbourhood’. Miles Morales is high-fiving neighbours and helping them with groceries.”
But when you’re thinking about Logan, he’s a loner. He’s a quiet guy. He’s not the friendliest guy, you know? He’s not a ‘Friendly, Neighbourhood Wolverine’.”
Jess Reiner-Reed, Senior Project Director (Insomniac Games)
“So he’s somebody we wanted to set up on this adventure, going to all these different places like you mentioned” says Reed. While we were setting up recording, they had asked how I felt about the playthrough we had time with, and I spoke about the locations right away which pulled from the source material so well. “There’s all these different Marvel comic books and canon. Logan is Canadian. We wanted to make sure he was in Canada at some point. But he also has other locations which are very ‘Wolverine’. Madripoor. Japan. So I think we did a lot of respect to the kind of path and canon Wolverine has followed, by getting him to travel to these different locations for the game.”
It was at this point that I remarked how I liked that the playthrough hinted at the fact Logan knows Japanese. “He does! Yeah! Awesome”. Because that’s such a great reference to a period of his life many fans might not know about. After celebrating this win, I moved on to when I had the opportunity to speak with Marcus Smith during the release of Rift Apart. He was excited for players to immerse themselves with the DualSense controller, thanks to its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. I had to ask how will the DualSense communicate Wolverine’s healing factor, Rage states or adamantium claws?
“We want the players to feel the claws through the controller. So we worked a lot on the haptics as far as making sure that with claw slashes, you’re feeling that through controller vibrations.”
“But you’re also feeling the weight of Logan. He’s heavy, right? Adamantium skeleton. Not a nimble, agile Spider-Man. So when Logan’s jumping down on something, we want the player to not only hear that, but also feel that on the controller. Our team did multiple passes through the game. Gameplay. Cinematics. All to make sure each of those moments felt correct.”
You shouldn’t have to think about the controller as you’re playing. It should intrinsically feel good and immerse you more into the game as you play.”
Jess Reiner-Reed, Senior Project Director (Insomniac Games)
I added that I felt that during the Sentinel sequence. “Where!” says Reed. I said there was a delay with the crunch in the trigger as Wolverine pierces the Sentinel during a quick time event in the battle. “Oh yeah!” they say, as I use this to talk about Logan’s claws and move on to the next question. Weapons are such a big part of Ratchet & Clank’s pedigree. And Adam Noonchester had commented on a three-pronged approach to them: How spectacular is a weapon to use? Does it fill a specific niche? And how funny is the weapon?
“That sounds very Ratchet & Clank” says Reed.
As a Wolverine has limited weapons: Claws, fists and strength. How does the team create variety without the traditional arsenal?
“You mentioned in Ratchet, that weapons are really important. In Spider-Man, there’s a tech focus. They could use a lot of different gadgets. When we started Wolverine, he has claws. That’s it. So we lean into his mutant abilities. He has enhanced senses, and you see that in the stealth section, where you can hear an enemy’s heartbeat behind walls. So we wanted to push those, and obviously healing factor was really important so what’s the right gameplay mechanic.”
How can this feel not only authentic to the character, but also be a fun gameplay mechanic?”
Jess Reiner-Reed, Senior Project Director (Insomniac Games)
“So you can use Last Stand. You can use Rage to be able to get back your health and jump back into the fight. Which I think really speaks to the fact he was codenamed ‘Weapon X’ when they injected him with the adamantium. So, in a sense, he is ALL the weapons. He is it.”
“He is the Apex Predator.”
After a fantastic opening to our interview, join us back here soon where we’ll go over how the audio and narrative builds up the lore of Marvel’s Wolverine.
