Insomniac’s Wolverine is heading to PS5, with the Marvel’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales developer now taking on the X-Men anti-hero for one of its next projects. The teaser trailer was short and sweet, and while it didn’t seem to give anything away — it didn’t even show Logan’s face — it dropped a few notable hints in regards to its setting, potential villains, and even a love interest.
What is the Princess Bar in Insomniac’s Wolverine?
The Marvel’s Wolverine teaser trailer may be short, but it all takes place in one notable location that may be familiar to comic fans: the Princess Bar. This has appeared in comics before, with it first debuting in the 1988 comic Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine, along with Madripoor, the island it’s located in. (Eagle-eyed viewers will also spot the green shrine to Davi Naka, one of the many gods worshipped by the island’s population.)
The Princess Bar was co-owned by O’Donnell and Madripoor criminal Tyger Tiger a.k.a. Jessán Hoan, who has a history with the X-Men after they saved her from a bank robbery at the hands of the Reavers. This included brainwashing at the hands of Pretty Boy, with Hoan moving to Madripoor where she winds up becoming immersed in its criminal underbelly.
Wolverine eventually catches up to Tyger Tiger, and the pair have a battle inside the Princess Bar itself — the trailer depicts a fight having already broken out, suggesting that Logan could be waiting for Hoan to appear in the bar in this scene. Wolverine is eventually defeated by Sapphire Styx and Razor-Fist, who both encounter the hero for the first time in the bar, who take him to Roche — the criminal overlord of Madripoor.
Who are the villains in Marvel’s Wolverine?
Sapphire Styx, Razor-Fist, and Tyger Tiger are obscure Marvel characters in the grand scheme of things, with Hoan even becoming Logan’s love interest in the comics, as he helps her kill Roche and take over as overlord of Madripoor.
However, if Marvel’s wolverine is to mess around with the timeline, then Hoan’s rise to eventual power does throw up some interesting possibilities. For one, the region ties into Death of Wolverine, with Madame Hydra, also known as Ophelia Sarkissian or Viper, putting a hit on the hero in the comic that takes place in Madripoor. This also brings Tony Stark into the fray, who himself gets involved in overthrowing the government led by Madame Hydra, with Tyger Tiger picking up the pieces after the fact.
Why is the Marvel’s Wolverine setting Madripoor?
Insomniac has struck gold with its two Spider-Man games, both of which take place in an open-world New York. So as not to revisit a US city for its next Marvel project, Madripoor features a very different environment considering that it’s a fictional Southeast Asia island, located in Indonesia and with two very contrasting societies in the appropriately named Hightown and Lowtown.
Hightown is for the rich, while Lowtown is impoverished and devastated by crime. This will give Insomniac the chance to explore both sides of the coin, presumably diving into both its indulgent and violent sides.
Madripoor is a huge part of Wolverine’s story, though it isn’t necessarily well-known to casual Marvel fans, nor does it have a history of hosting the X-Men’s most famous villains. This could all change with Marvel’s Wolverine, of course — it could present a wholly unique Wolverine story that just so happens to take place in this location — or it could instead seek to highlight lesser-known villains in typical MCU fashion.
Those who have been tuning into Marvel’s Disney Plus shows may recognize it from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, with the island appearing in four of its episodes. This is the only time the location has featured in the MCU so far.
With only the short trailer to base our speculation on, there’s not a lot to go on right now. However, with Madripoor all but confirmed as its location, it seems this will be a significant step away from the Big Apple for Insomniac.
