Marvel's Wolverine Hands-On: Insomniac Delivers the Bloodiest Game of 2026

Insomniac Games already knows how to make a great superhero game. Marvel’s Spider-Man proved that.

But Wolverine was always going to be a different challenge.

Peter Parker swings through New York, jokes with enemies and tries to stop every fight from getting too ugly. Logan? He has adamantium claws, a healing factor and very few reasons to hold back.

After extensive hands-on sessions with Marvel’s Wolverine, that difference is impossible to miss. The game takes the foundation Insomniac built with Spider-Man and reshapes it around a much more aggressive hero.

And yes, it gets very bloody.

This Isn't Spider-Man With Claws

The easiest comparison is also the one Insomniac seems most determined to avoid.

Spider-Man's combat is about movement. You bounce between enemies, launch gadgets, swing around arenas and constantly reposition yourself.

Wolverine is much more direct.

Logan fights up close, chaining claw attacks, kicks, parries, critical strikes and special Techniques together. The camera sits closer to the action, making every hit feel heavier and more personal.

That doesn't mean the combat is slow.

Quite the opposite.

Insomniac describes it as fast and fluid, but the momentum comes from aggression rather than acrobatics. You aren't trying to stay untouched. You're trying to get into the middle of the fight and keep the pressure on.

And that's where the Rage system becomes important.

Rage Turns Logan Into a Walking Disaster

Every successful attack, parry and kill builds Logan's Rage.

Once the meter gets high enough, Wolverine becomes even more dangerous. His Rage can power stronger attacks and help him survive otherwise devastating damage through his Healing Factor. At the highest Rage tier, the presentation itself changes, turning the fight into a stylized burst of violence inspired by Marvel's Black, White & Blood comics.

The clever part is that the system doesn't simply make Logan stronger.

It encourages you to fight like Wolverine.

The more aggressively you play, the more momentum you generate. Keep attacking and you can keep the fury going. Lose that momentum and suddenly survival becomes much harder.

That creates a combat loop that feels tied directly to Logan's personality rather than being another generic superhero ability meter.

The Violence Actually Changes the Tone

This is probably the biggest departure from Spider-Man.

Wolverine isn't violent simply because Insomniac wanted to make a mature superhero game. The violence is part of the character fantasy.

The hands-on preview showed Logan ripping through heavily armed enemies, using their own weapons against them and performing brutal Critical Strikes. The game also features dynamic blood and dismemberment, with optional settings allowing players to adjust some of the violence.

That makes the action feel considerably harsher than anything in Insomniac's Spider-Man games.

But there's an important distinction.

Logan isn't supposed to enjoy hurting people.

The developers have described his violence as a consequence of who he is and what he has endured. That gives the brutality a narrative purpose instead of turning every encounter into a gore showcase.

A More Cinematic, Character-Driven Story

The combat might be the obvious selling point, but the hands-on impressions suggest the story could be just as important.

Marvel's Wolverine isn't an origin story. Logan already has his adamantium skeleton and a long history behind him.

Instead, the game follows him as he becomes involved with Team X, crossing paths with characters including Mystique, Jean Grey and Sabretooth while confronting the anti-mutant threat surrounding Bolivar Trask.

The adventure also moves across locations such as Canada, Tokyo and Madripoor rather than staying inside one enormous open world.

That smaller, more focused structure seems intentional.

Insomniac's creative director Marcus Smith explained that Wolverine's lack of Spider-Man-style traversal made it possible to build more consolidated missions and smaller environments, while allowing the team to focus heavily on Logan's character and story.

And that difference could end up being one of the game's biggest strengths.

What Happens Next?

The biggest question now isn't whether Marvel's Wolverine looks good.

It's whether the full game can maintain this intensity.

The hands-on sessions only covered portions of the campaign, but they already showed a game that combines stealth, close-range combat, boss encounters and cinematic set pieces.

There are also systems waiting beyond the main campaign, including Mission Replay, Nightmare Challenges, New Game Plus and Photo Mode.

Most importantly, Insomniac has clearly tried to make Wolverine feel like his own game.

The studio isn't throwing away everything it learned from Spider-Man. It's taking those lessons and asking a different question:

What would those systems look like if the hero wasn't Spider-Man?

The answer is bloodier, heavier and considerably angrier.

🎮 The Bottom Line

Marvel's Wolverine feels like Insomniac finally cutting loose.

The Spider-Man games established the studio as one of the best at cinematic superhero adventures. Wolverine takes that expertise and strips away the friendly-neighborhood optimism, replacing it with close-quarters combat, rage, blood and a much darker character story.

Based on the hands-on impressions, this isn't Spider-Man with claws.

It's Insomniac figuring out what happens when the hero doesn't need to pull his punches.

And we'll find out how far that idea goes when Marvel's Wolverine launches exclusively on PS5 on September 15, 2026.

Are you more excited for Wolverine's brutal combat or its darker story?