So it seems in a last ditch effort to end up on the naughty list for a few years to come, someone(s) infiltrated the archives of Insomniac Games. Their aim was to acquire information about the studios upcoming Wolverine game, extort the company, and eventually share the intel with the rest of the world.

Now even I can accept that there is a little Alvin in all of us, but like any game you’ve gotta play the entire thing through till the end. This logic applies to Christmas as well, so being good is to everyone’s benefit but especially your own. I get it there have been a lot of bad video game adaptations of comic book series recently. However, most gamers would agree this stems from a developer’s assumption that merely stringing a story to one we already know, while offering some costly cosmetic changes to our favorite characters, will be immediately successful. If you believe that was all Insomniac was capable of then why wouldn’t they simply substitute Bobby’s snowballs for Peter’s web shooters and call it a AAA.

Unfortunately, not only did these grinches get their hands on a portion of the game playable on PCs, but along with some plot details the infiltrators also found out personal information about Insomniac employees responsible for development of the game. What’s worse is that rather than be outraged at this invasion of privacy a portion of the online gaming community clearly has hearts two sizes too small; more upset about the company’s vision of the ionic character than what was taken from the company’s employees. The press release from Insomniac Games contained the glimmer of hope you’d expect this holiday season, but there is also a sense of something that fans don’t often associate with The Wolverine; ware and worry.  Now I know these sensations are often associated with those who suffer from insomnia, but they don’t often come to mind when I think of Insomniac Games, a company that is still receiving praise for the most recent Spider-Man game which hit stores in October this year.

So if outrage isn’t your initial response to the extreme lengths some individuals would go to get access to a game then based upon what you saw (or played ) you should be quite optimistic since there isn’t a release date for Wolverine yet. Merely looking at the series from an evolutionary model, the initial Spider-Man was released in 2018, with Miles Morals releasing alongside the PS5 in November 2020. With Spider-Man 2 serving as an “official” sequel, there is no denying that in terms of both gameplay mechanics and storytelling the Spider-Man 2 is a classic case of an empire striking back. The game saw closure of some plots from both previous games while also leaving enough wiggle room for future use of every entity in the Spider-Man Universe.

While the unknown hackers did in a small way manage to kidnap the Sandy Claws, it’s way too soon to let them ruin Christmas yet to come.

Instead, since the cat – make that the Wolverine – is out of the bag, I figure this might be the best time to sneak a letter in the Old Man’s sack. With this much time I can make sure Insomniac gets me everything on my list. Starting with a picture book…yellow, blue and red.

Old Saint SNIKT

Have you ever asked yourself who or what exactly is The Wolverine? I hope that question has been asked among Insomniac Games employees quite a few times. Knowing who you are dealing with may be the most difficult part about developing anything – whether books, games or film – that contains an existing character or universe.  And with a comic book character like Logan, the man you know depends largely on when you meet him.

Born James Howlett the longstanding X-Men we all knew as Logan actually made his first appearance in the pages of The Incredible Hulk # 180-181. While this introduction established his basic abilities, and striking attire, it also only gave us an image of Wolverine as an angry “little man”. After decades that have seen him adapt everything from his outfit to his demeanor, some people still don’t see Logan any differently.

It’s more than likely that these individuals are clinging to who the character was upon first entering Xavier’s Mansion. Fresh off the failed mission to capture the Hulk, Logan would become an immediate source of frustration for almost everyone he encountered, especially Scott Summer with Wolverine often questioning the then young mutant’s mantle as leadership. Yet if you were watching Wolverine you could detect there was diversity in the way he dealt with his fellow X-Men, and other comic book characters, ranging from chivalry to camaraderie and finally competitiveness depending on the circumstances. Meanwhile, at no point were he or any X-Men held hostage, so similar to Sunfire or even Cyclops at one point, Logan could have left Xavier’s. He didn’t hesitate to depart from Department H, even if Xavier helped, leaving others to protect his native Canada. These extremes should make you start to realize that similar to his adamantium skeleton what makes Logan the best there is at what he does is more than skin deep.

Given the complaint of “over exposure” one thing even the most casual viewer of “Comic Book” movies now understands is how connected things are within a given universe. However, most people’s thinking is usually limited to the cause and effect nature, where each character makes choices and then situations result from them consequently pulling others into them as well. An example of this might be the canon moments referred to in 2023’s Across the Spider-verse. What isn’t often considered is the other connective material, the sinew of the Super Hero story. This presents the picture of sometimes opposite individuals having parallel paths and even personalities. With his arrival in the pages of Hulk, Marvel creators clearly were sending a message that readers didn’t understand with the original Ant-Man.

Despite their size difference Logan and Banner both are more known for their aggression and insistence on being left alone. Both, like First Avenger Steve Rogers, also gained their “trademark” during a government experiment that even to this day has some foreign entities still attempting to either control them or recreate the process. Although two of them would “dodge” their duty to their country, Wolverine would find a place among his peers like Cap. Still his and Hulk’s history’s each contain chapters of complete solitary from allies, often in order to protect others from the danger that comes with getting too close to them. Even the dangers that come from the man himself.

The 2008 Hulk game gave players the ability to level a city, should they choose to do so. With that much power even if used appropriately done eventually every enemy or anyone will begin to look the same. But since Wolverine is better at beating his own monster than Hulk, so instead of borrowing that bit of Banner’s alter ego’s blueprint Insomniac can take a piece from God of War’s Kratos. Wolverine should not only focus on the various forms or multiple fronts the mutant’s enemies might come from, but also how he adapts to these encounters.

I completely hope there will be some breakable environments and sorry but the red suit is reminding me there should be blood. Cap may be convinced that Wolverine is simply a killer, still I’m sure even the Sentinel of Liberty was surprised to see it was Wolverine standing against Cyclops’ decision to turn Xavier’s students into soldiers. Why, the different approach after all the decades, remember Wolverine isn’t the Hulk. Insomniac’s Wolverine needs to find a way to split the both story’s script and fight scenes in such a way they can showcase a Logan who is both capable of going it alone while creating connections to other characters in order to make the mission(s) matter.

Home is Where You Hang Your Hat

So Santa, the common misconception is the second your sack is empty you’re on vacation for a full 364 days. Now of course that is silly since there is so much to do in between, especially if you’re always snooping to see what we’re up to. I’m not complaining in fact I understand it’s a side effect of your super power. Surprisingly enough both Spider-Man and Wolverine have something like that as well.

If you’ve played any game in Insomniac’s Spider-Man series then surely the Spider Sense has saved you from disaster at least a few times. Using this split second reactionary indicator in conjunction with the colored enemy highlights that many games typically use when displaying enemy attacks ensures that whether you’re playing as Morales or Parker, your enemies probably never land a single punch.

Now hard as it is to accept, most people met both Spider-Man and Wolverine when they were students. And despite their age difference the mutant and the mutate, I mean spider, share sort of the same school of thought. Though rather than precognitive like Parker’s, Wolverine’s deal with the ability to smell pheromones and scents from sweat to shotgun shells. And Santa, in terms of listening, he doesn’t have to lean an ear in to hear like you do.

Some of the stolen material from Insomniac Games suggests that the Wolverine game will see a secondary sense like Senua experiences in the Hellblade series, except in Logan’s game I would suspect that contact with reality would be heightened and not the result of something that causes a hindrance. I can envision a scenario where some game design eliminates all visible light, requiring Logan to rely on only this mutant ability and his instincts. Does that tunnel lead to a Morlock that’s happy to see him, or someone who wants to wish him a Happy Birthday?

As for Wolverine’s other abilities the matter of replacing Spider-Man’s strength and durability for Logan’s should be a minor detail for Insomniac, with the X-Man’s being amped up accordingly. I’ve already mentioned how Logan is like a certain member of the Avenger’s and of the two your odds are better at finding Logan in a bar room brawl.

While we’re on the subject of the places he will go, one thing I’m sure you’re aware of about the creature the comic book character shares his name with is the fact that wolverines as a species are territorial. The creature is known to be extremely aggressive when protecting their home and there is no one I can think of that this holds more true for in the Marvel Universe than Logan. Yes, even with Spidey protecting all of New York. That’s due to the fact that between the two, historically Logan’s world was always bigger.

Canada. Westminster. Mandipor. Each of these locations hold a specific significance to Wolverine, and each one has enough geography to encompass an entire game on their own. They also would eliminate any opportunity for the overuse of any one enemy type.

Meanwhile the thought of omitting any of these places, not to mention a few other nostalgic nods, would feel like a personal slight from Insomniac. So the solution will have to be a story that see’s Logan need to travel to each of them, in some of his canon moments, perhaps one of those classic claw pop scenes. 

Another would be a plot where only a few locations afford Logan safe harbor. An Orchis type organization taking over Earth – similar to the storyline currently on comic book shelves – or even the Days Future timeline is a possibility as is the option of this being another Origin like entry.

Depending on the areas the game covers one thing to consider will no doubt be the delivery, especially since I’m not sure if Logan is up for riding in a one horse open sleigh. The occasional cut scene may suffice sometimes to show how Logan was able to get to different locations but this can’t be a constant throughout the game. One way to have Weapon X get from point A to point B would be to have him hop a ride on an unsuspecting transport or even the undercarriage of a vehicle as he has done before in both comic books and the animated cartoon.

There is the option of giving him the ability to “borrow” a motorcycle – unheroic but then again even Logan would admit he ain’t one.

He just needs to be careful of who the bike belongs to, he already has enough enemies.

Sharp Dressed Man

It wouldn’t be the holidays without friends, both new and old. After the X-Men Alpha Flight and Avengers, there is only one other team that comes to mind when I think of Wolverine – The New Fantastic Four. And if the last member can get into the spirit of the season, maybe take a break from shooting a penance glare in the direction of the little jacks in the corner, maybe he can help me look over this list one last time.

Of the many fan service moments we were given during the Spider-Man series the biggest came in the form of the various suits that players could acquire. While Wolverine in no way has the wardrobe of the web crawler it would be wrong for Insomniac to not realize that while you may not be able to recognize one Rider from the next, Logan does in fact have a look – or make that looks. In addition to the OG outfit, there is Fang’s “borrowed” uniform and his X-Force uniform. I never was much of a fan of the “Too Hot For Teacher”, I know it was supposed to make him still look rugged but it came off as ridiculous. Besides, everybody knows the McClane costume captures Christmas the best. 

Now clearly I can accept that sometimes the costume that Wolverine wears will depend on the situation; Spider-Man 2 features this during the Black Suit missions. If I’m playing during the period where Wolverine breaks free from Department H and flees the Weapon X facility I don’t expect to be able to sport his Hellfire Tuxedo. However, if a player chooses to trek through the Canadian tundra during a snowstorm in the Yellow and Black, well they are probably one of the ones who don’t think Logan uses stealth to his advantage.

One thing that isn’t beneficial is being made to wait to get a look until after beating the game, like the Ghost Rider 2099 or Blade in 2K Games Ghost Rider. If Insomniac’s intention is for players to be able to play as Wolverine variants, such as AoA Weapon X or Albert, then either this needs to be a story inclusive option, whether because of plot or personal preference.

Thankfully, Insomniac Games did an amazing job with the suit and ability upgrade/acquisition system in the Spider-Man series to the point that it was practically seamless. This still leaves the matter of how you get XP. Activision’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Ghost Rider and even Ratchet and Clank all used both objects and enemies to provide some type of currency for players to do this with.

While I tend to like the Spider’s solution of accumulating a total after the completion of each type of mission, I wonder how this limits other players progress if they refuse to take on “mini” missions. Also, some thought should be placed on how these objectives are supplied to Wolverine. I don’t want to always make my way to some centralized location, and if Wolverine’s game world is open and not linear like before this wouldn’t work anyway. A psychic alert from Xavier or secret rooftop rendezvous with Fury or Widow might work as an option. Peter and Miles had a partner but Logan doesn’t really have a Ganke Lee. Even though I’m sure Jubilee has offered to help he still is seems rather technologically averse most of the time so unlike you, Santa, I’m not sure of how anyone reaches him.

Nor can you ever determine what Logan will do in any given situation. In no way do I want a cumbersome system, still the line Logan walks at times gets hairy, or like Harry in the suit.

Which is another thing I’d like to mention. I’m a huge fan of all the other “Wolverine” that exist, but with the exception of them being some sort of custom suit I’m not particularly ready for that quite yet. That doesn’t mean someone like Laura can’t show up in a side mission, maybe working with Logan to locate stolen mutagenic material. I’m okay if Insomniac incorporates the NPC team up from Spider-Man 2, but please at this point if anyone else shows up let them be cameos. Leave the rest for the sequel.

Which is where I’d like to close my letter. Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 showed how any relationship evolves during the course of the story. But that part probably came easy for a company known for two characters that are greater together. The same is true of the gaming community.

So while this letter may never actually make it to St. Nick’s North Pole address…

Given their record, their reputation, I’m sure when Insomniac is ready for an official reveal, they too will prove they know best.