Book Review - Marvel's Wolverine: The Art of the Game
November 4th 2026
Insomniac Games returned with another release in their Marvel universe, expanding it to include mutants and doing it from the perspective of the most famous one of all, Wolverine. Released exclusively on PlayStation in 2026, Marvel’s Wolverine introduced players to new adaptations of characters and locations, all of which can now be explored in a new artbook, Marvel’s Wolverine: The Art of the Game.
The book was published by Dark Horse on November 3rd, 2026, allowing fans to enjoy a peek behind the scenes at the work of the artists that helped bring the visceral globetrotting adventure to life. A copy has joined the collection, so here are my breakdowns and thoughts about the new release.
Production Quality
Dark Horse are back with another well-made hardcover to the surprise of no one. The publisher has worked on many video game artbooks, and this format is their go to and it continues to work well. It is again a 23.5cm x 31cm release, coming in this instance with 200 pages to pore over. The paper quality and binding that supports the pages are excellent, having minimal image loss in the centre fold while the print finish makes all the smaller details in the art clear to see.
I like the cover art for this release as well, because it could have been easy to use the yellow key art again (as was used for the placeholder), but this is more original. Depicting Wolverine taking on The Hand with his yellow suit contrasting the dark blue background makes it stand out and quickly recognisable.
Content
Inside Marvel’s Wolverine: The Art of the Game is a look at the early concepts for the game, including unused ideas and written insights from author Alex Forbes-Calvin. It includes 3D renders and covers all aspects of the game to give readers a look at a large and varied collection of designs.
The content follows the same order as the story of the game, which isn’t an usual approach to an artbook because it works well. It opens with a foreword from Creative Director Marcus Smith and then gives a spread to each of four early characters; Logan himself, Sabretooth, Mystique, and Nathaniel Essex. Here you get your first look at concept variants, 3D pieces, and VFX exploration for Wolverine’s powers, the type of combination you find throughout the rest of the book.
The character art is mostly made up of static poses with a look at the costumes, with some great stuff for the Reavers and The Hand. This includes a lot of ideas that didn’t make the final cut, including goggles for Team X and ancient style armor for The Hand. It’s always good to see these in an artbook and fans will appreciate them giving us a peek at this material.
There are a lot of designs included for the Sentinels and enemy bosses, some of the best parts for me, but I was left wanting more for early and unused concepts for Wolverine himself, who gets a spread and then a collection of costumes at the back of the book. The less detailed sketches come with the most variety and look great, making me happy that they were included as opposed to using only full colour and developed artwork.
Environments are also made up of 2D and 3D artwork, with outdoor areas and vistas made up of painted pieces and some ‘photobashing’, while some of the interiors and assets are rendered models with lighting. The 2D concepts are a highlight for me, sharing incredible detail and stunning scenes that always impress. Whether it’s the busy locations in Madripoor, or the more isolated areas in the forest, they are all incredible and share a variety of locations and themes. I found the use of colour and lighting fantastic as well, and you’d be forgiven for taking a quick glance and thinking you’re looking at a screenshot or full 3D model for many of the concepts.
One of my favourite parts that I wish there was more of are the keyframes of character moments in the game. There are great pieces of Jean Grey in action (one seen below) that capture vibrant scenes, including one not used in the final game. Most of the art shares a look at the designs of Marvel’s Wolverine, but keyframes capture action and personality, so it would have been nice to see more as they are such standouts.
On the art side then, the team at Insomniac and the outsourced studios have done impressive work as expected, bringing the characters and locations from the comics to life with their own unique take on them. If you collect artbooks, nothing in here will surprise you in terms of content, but it’s well balanced to give fans a look at all of the important parts of the game.
There isn’t a huge amount of reading to be found here, but what is included does provide some nice additional insights that people will find interesting. While paragraphs for characters and locations will give an overview or simple description, others will give artistic insights as to what changed or didn’t get used. I do wish more of the text was this insightful, replacing the basic descriptions, but there is still enough to add value for players
However, the biggest let down was a lack of interviews with team, and although the author no doubt got the details from Insomniac, direct quotes are always better. The previous book from the studio, The Art of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, included more text and was written from the perspective of Insomniac, saying “We looked at…” for example. This time there is less and it references Insomniac from the outside, which does feel more disconnected. The next part of the review might shed light on why this is though.
Artist Credits
Unfortunately, the artist credits are not shared on the page, just as we saw in the last book from Insomniac, but also others from the PlayStation Studios group. They are given a page at the back though, which shows the names of 8 artists, who are outnumbered by 10 outsourcing studios, including Atomhawk and Capacity Studios.
This could explain why interviews would be more difficult for the book, though it’s still possible to have an art director cover the art direction as a whole. It would also be harder to give a specific artist credit to each image on the page, but as shown in other books, it's not impossible because they have managed it or simply given the name of the studio instead. The artists that worked on this game are great, so I do hope they fix this in future artbook releases.
Use of Space
Marvel’s Wolverine: The Art of the Game takes a simple approach to the page design, something I don’t have a problem with. The skill is in managing the space to fit in as much as possible, without compromising image clarity or making the spreads messy, which has been achieved here yet again by Dark Horse. They use a simple textured background and fit a lot on the pages, not leaving wasted and unused space. The layouts change from page to page, but it’s all very readable and allows the art to shine.
Value
The book comes with an RRP of $54.99 in the US and £46.99 in the UK, putting it at the high end of the usual price range. Given the state of the world’s economy, this will likely become the norm, but for people in the UK (and Europe), the exchange rate makes it more expensive at around $63. Those in the US will see this is standard pricing and the Dark Horse high quality does justify it if you’re a fan of the game. Elsewhere though, this is getting more expensive than other publisher’s offerings, so a discount might be worth looking for first.
The good news then is that price drops are already available on the week of release. Using Amazon as always for consistency, fellow collectors in the US can find the book for under $50, a nice saving for players. In the UK it is currently right down to £34.47, a price that makes it much easier to recommend as it’s now at the lower end of what you can find a new artbook for. Europe is slower to discounts, but all deals come and go. At under $50 or £40, you won’t have an issue with the pricing for the content and production quality.
Verdict
Marvel’s Wolverine: The Art of the Game is a solid showcase of the artwork behind Insomniac Game’s take on our favourite beserker. Dark Horse showcase once again that they can be relied on for their consistent quality, and while you don’t get anything flashy or unexpected, they have given the art the showcase it deserves.
Players of the game will find a lot to enjoy in this look behind the artistic curtain, especially with the enemy designs and unused concepts. It did leave me wanting in other areas though, and pricing might be a barrier depending on where you are, but if you need to sink your claws into more Wolverine and find a good price, this will be a welcome addition to your shelf.
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