Insomniac Games

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

When I was watching “Monday Night Football” on ESPN, I saw an extended trailer for the video game “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.” The gameplay looked magnificent as Miles Morales and Peter Parker are fighting Venom on the streets of New York City. However, I didn’t feel that excited about it. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks great, but I think I’m just getting burnt out on Spider-Man for now.

The last two Spider-Man films have been classics. “Spider-Man: Across the Universe,” released this summer, is considered one of the best Spider-Man films ever made. And the same can be said for “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” released in December 2021. The films were brilliant. Every scene in “No Way Home” and “Across the Universe” had cinematic gravitas. One major death in “No Way Home” had the dramatic heft of an exceptional drama.

I think “Across the Universe” is a lock for Best Animated Film at the Academy Awards in March. There’s even an outside chance that the animated film could be nominated for Best Picture. Both films received critical acclaim, and rightfully so. For some reason, after watching “Across the Universe” in a theater, I said to myself, “That’s enough Spider-Man for a little while.”

But Insomniac Games’ “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” which has been in development for years, is coming out at the end of the month, on October 20th.

If we keep getting terrific Spider-Man stories on our PS5 or in theaters, I think that’s terrific, but a slight pause in the web slinger would be kind of nice. Another Tom Holland Spider-Man film is in-development, according to IMDb. We’ll probably get “Spider-Man 4: Home…something” at the end of 2024 or ’25. I may skip that one in the theater and wait for its release on streaming.

image source: supplied

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Marketing is best when It’s simple. A trailer for a video game is supposed to get gamers excited to play something new and create a buzz. The trailer for Insomniac Games’ “Wolverine” at the PlayStation Showcase 2021, checked all those boxes. It’s titillating and you want to see the gameplay immediately.

“Wolverine” is one of the greatest game trailer announcements ever. The trailer begins with a slow camera pan on a destroyed bar where bloody men are scattered all around; some are conscious, some are not. One beat up man’s lifeless body is sprawled out across a pool table. You see a man in a cowboy hat, sitting at the bar, having a drink. His fists are extremely bloody and bruised. When an injured man starts walking up behind the mysterious patron at the bar with a knife, three steel claws shoot out of the patron’s wrist. And then the trailer slam cuts to black.

The trailer is like the trailer for 2017’s “Logan”, Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Logan/Wolverine. The trailer for the game is much shorter than the films, but they’re similar in the phenomenal music they use. James Carr’s “The Dark End of the Street” sets an incredible mood, just like Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt” did for the iconic film’s trailer.

source: PlayStation

Marvel’s “Spider-Man 2” was what I was most anticipating seeing during PlayStation Showcase 2021. But that was until they showed Insomniac’s “Wolverine.” The trailer has been viewed 3.7 million times on YouTube. Will we see Sabertooth, Omega Red, or even Deadpool? A PS5 game with Logan and Deadpool would satisfy so many Marvel fans who have wanted to see them together for years. And “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” doesn’t count. Fans want to see the current Deadpool, of the 20th Century Fox films, which are now owned by Disney, with Logan in some way, even if it’s just a game.

Some online think “Wolverine” could be Insomniac Games’ masterpiece. I hope the gameplay is solid. I think Insomniac will get this right.