In 2018 Insomniac Games released Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PS4, in which players got to play as the titular character in an original story, and Insomniac got to create their own universe for the character to grow into. It was lauded as the best superhero game since the Batman Arkham series, especially praised for its narrative and combat, making it uniquely original. They followed it up two years later with the spin-off Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which followed Peter Parker’s protege as he acted as Spider-Man on his own. The game was positively reviewed for its story and improvements in the combat, and both games sold well, with the combined total between the two settling in somewhere below twenty million units sold. Insomniac hasn’t stopped there, announcing a sequel titled Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, scheduled for release sometime in 2023. However, the biggest thing is they’ve announced another game set in the same universe following a fan-favorite character.
Marvel’s Wolverine
Along with their announcement of the sequel, Insomniac announced they were working on a Wolverine game set in the same universe as the Spider-Man games. While Insomniac has not made any announcements about the future after these games, there’s much speculation that this could lead to crossovers between the two. Spider-Man itself had dozens of small Easter eggs, such as Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Santorum, Avengers Tower, and others hinting at various Marvel characters already existing there. With the new Wolverine game, there is the possibility of the introduction of the X-Men or other Mutant characters, and given the developers have stated they want to create a “darker and mature tone” with this game, they could easily bring in a number of characters. Furthermore, theories have already sprung up that the game will include the Hulk, which will mark his debut in the universe. Speculation has since risen that Insomniac is planning to create a Marvel Gaming Universe since both series take place in the same universe and could lead to a crossover. If Insomniac is planning to do this, then they are on the right track having games to introduce their characters first and then building to a team-up, and this could play out incredibly.
The narratives of the past two games have been done extremely well, leaving high hopes for the next games, and hopefully, with some well-placed teases, it could set up a major villain in a crossover game. A Marvel Gaming Universe could be the next biggest thing in Marvel since the Infinity Saga; however, it has to be done right and requires a large amount of oversight and projects. Whether or not Insomniac plans on doing this or is simply doing solo games, there is a lot of potential that many fans would love to see. For now, fans will just have to wait for further announcements and the release of the two games sometime within the next year or so.
