Insomniac is looking to expand its Marvel video game universe with the highly-anticipatedMarvel’s Wolverine. To truly make the Wolverine game feel connected to theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames, it would make sense for the two series to have some overlapping characters. Now, I’m not saying Spider-Man himself should show up in the Wolverine game, but it would still be nice to get solid confirmation that the games take place in the same world.Marvel’s Spider-Manhas already hinted at the existence of heroes like Doctor Strange and the Avengers, but there should be a more concrete connection established inWolverine.
Initially, I would have thought Venom would be the perfect choice. We’ve seen Wolverine square off against him in the past, including in previous video games,Ultimate Spider-ManandSpider-Man: Web of Shadows. However, seeing asHarry Osborn endsMarvel’s Spider-Man 2without powers, and there wasn’t enough time during the events of the game for this to be aLion King 1.5type midquel, he’s likely out. That said,there’s another Marvel character who could be a perfect way to bridge the gap between the franchises.
Jessica Drew Would Be The Perfect Marvel Crossover Character
Jessica Drew Has History With Spider-Man And Wolverine
Jessica Drew is a Marvel Comics superhero who most frequently operates under the name Spider-Woman. Despite her moniker, she originally had nothing to do with Peter Parker, and instead was introduced as the villainous “Agent Arachne” working for Hydra inMarvel Spotlight#32, by Archie Goodwin, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney, and Janice Cohen. Drew would eventually work alongside Spider-Man on the Avengers, before becoming a larger part of his world when Marvel started to put more - frankly, too much - emphasis on spider-themed heroes.
Marvel introduced the concept of Spider Totems, a way to lump their many spider people together into a group and create stories like the ones in theSpider-Versebooks.Jessica Drew has appeared in several of these crossovers, which makes her feel like a natural fit for aMarvel’s Spider-Mangame.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2did reference her with one of the game’s Spider Bots, though this isn’t necessarily evidence that she exists, given that the bots were supposed to reference other universes.
Another reason Jessica Drew works as a crossover character isher close affiliations with Shield, the Avengers, and other Marvel groups. It wouldn’t be strange to see her popping up in stories that aren’t connected to Spider-Man, because most of the time that’s where she appears. In fact, there is even a good precedent for her to show up inMarvel’s Wolverine,based on a run of oldWolverinecomics.
Spider-Woman Was A Big Part Of Wolverine’s Madripoor Storyline
Marvel’s Wolverine Is Rumored To Take Place In Madripoor
Although details aboutMarvel’s Wolverineare still scarce, it isrumored to take place in Madripoorbased on the teaser for the game. Madripoor is a fictional island in Southeast Asia which was originally created by Chris Claremont and Steve Leialoha inThe New Mutants#32.Wolverine has had several storylines that take place in Madripoor, including one that kicked off his second solo runin 1988, which was also written by Chris Claremont.
InWolverine#1 from this run, by Claremont, John Buscema, Al Williamson, and Glynis Oliver, Wolverine is attempting to track down the Muramasa Blade when he runs into an old friend, stunt-woman Lindsay McCabe. McCabe tells Wolverine that she doesn’t have the sword, but her friend Jessie will be bringing it soon.Jessie turns out to be Jessica Drew, who goes on to play a supporting role in the remainder of Wolverine’s Madripoor arcfrom this run.
Now, it’s more than likely thatMarvel’s Wolverinewon’t be a one-for-one adaptation of Claremont’sWolverinerun from the ’80s. If theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames are any indication, Insomniac uses the comic book source material as inspiration, but strays away from directly adapting any storylines. If anything, they are much more focused on telling unique stories, like having Harry Osborn become the first Venom. That said, just becauseMarvel’s Wolverinewill likely be an original story, that doesn’t mean it won’t take some cues from the comics.
It would be strange ifMarvel’s Wolverinedidn’t at least give Logan some supporting characters to bounce dialogue off of. After all, Wolverine’s gruff nature is part of his charm, so it would be a shame not to have someone for him to interact with.Jessica Drew also has some similarities to Logan in her past, including being the subject of medical experiments, so the game could show the two bonding over their troubled pasts.
Jessica Drew Would Make An Interesting Addition To Marvel’s Spider-Man 3
Jessica Drew Would Help Expand The World Of Spider-Man 3 Without Stealing Too Much Focus
I’ve seen several posts online ofplayers speculating about where the Avengers and Shield are during the events of theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames. While the real-life explanation is likely just that Insomniac doesn’t want to pull focus from Spider-Man, especially seeing that many Marvel fans have complained about the MCU doing just that with Tom Holland’s soloSpider-Man movies. That said, it does feel a little strange that the Avengers clearly exist in the game, but never show up to help with major disasters like Venom taking over New York.
A character like Jessica Drew coming in to represent either Shield or the Avengers would be the perfect way to manage this. Jessica is still spider-themed, so she wouldn’t feel too out of place, and she isn’t a big name like Iron Man or Captain America who might steal too much of the spotlight from Peter or Miles. Also, if she had already appeared inMarvel’s Wolverine(assuming the game comes out first), then her cameo would feel more like a fun connection to the other game than an outside hero taking up too much screen time.
Jessica Drew would also be a good inclusion because she hasn’t been oversaturated like a lot of other Marvel heroes, since she hasn’t appeared in the MCU. Aside from the alternate reality version inSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,Marvel’s Wolverinecould be a lot of players' first introduction to Jessica Drew. This would make a crossover appearance from her inMarvel’s Spider-Man 3feel more exciting, because it would be an in-universe reference to Insomniac’s connected game franchise instead of a nod to exterior Marvel properties.
