One of the most anticipated PlayStation 5 releases of 2026 is Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games, the studio behind Marvel's Spider-Man. With roughly 17 years since Marvel last gave Wolverine a new standalone game, fan debate has centered on whether the project would follow Insomniac's open-world New York City Spider-Man model or a different structure.
Based on comments from Insomniac, Marvel's Wolverine appears to maintain Wolverine's past tradition of linear progression rather than open-world exploration. In an interview, game director Mike Daly said the team was focused on capturing the essence of the character.
We did not set out to make an open world game or a sandbox game. What we really wanted was high octane, high intrigue, linear single-player adventure, and the missions reflect that in their structure.
Daly added that individual levels and enemy encounters may still offer multiple paths forward, with different strategies available in a given environment instead of a single rigid route. An extended gameplay trailer shown during the June 2026 Sony State of Play presentation supported that framing, with Wolverine on a brutal rescue mission approaching a caravan of mutant prisoners held by cybernetically enhanced enemies, stealthily eliminating foes before charging into open combat.
Marvel's Wolverine may not deliver an open-world experience, but players could still have meaningful freedom in how they approach each mission on PlayStation 5.
