Marvel's Wolverine could very well be the biggest video game to feature a member of the X-Men. At this stage very little is known about the upcoming game, and it's not entirely clear what direction it will take. However, if Marvel's Wolverine borrowed one of God of War Ragnarok's biggest features, it could be a big game-changer for the character and how he is traditionally adapted.
Like the 2018 game, God of War Ragnarok was a mostly linear game with a number of limited open world areas. Several of these areas were absolutely essential to the main story while others had little to do with it. Many of these areas functioned as little sandbox areas that full of God of War Ragnarok's most memorable side quests and allowed the characters to further develop. The Vanaheim Crater in the game is the one region that does this more than any other.
The Vanaheim Crater in God of War Ragnarok
The Vanaheim Crater is an optional area that players can explore in Vanaheim relatively later in the game. The region itself doesn't tie into the main narrative in any meaningful way outside of saving a single side character. However, the region is full of fun enemies to battle, numerous puzzles, and meaningful lore. For example, spirits within The Vanaheim Crater in God of War Ragnarok will tell Kratos about his wife's battle with Thor. This gives Kratos a new perspective on Faye, and makes him realize that he may not have known her as well as he thought. This sort of content, however, is not without its risks.
The biggest risk with an area like The Crater in God of War Ragnarok is that it is easy to miss. It's very likely that the developer put a ton of time, effort, energy, and money into making this region. Unfortunately, there is very little in the way of narrative pull to keep players in the region after rescuing the initial NPC. This, however, also works to the region's strength, as it allows players to explore the region naturally and let those who want to take in the extra backstory bits to do so without impeding the story. Marvel's Wolverine is a game that could benefit from such an area given the character's background.
How Marvel's Wolverine Could Benefit From an Area Like The Vanaheim Crater
Wolverine has what is perhaps one of the most convoluted backstories of any X-Men character. The main reason for this is that the character is around 200 years old in many storylines and suffered from some kind of memory loss. Because of this, Wolverine's backstory and relationships with Marvel heroes and villains were in a constant state of flux. As a result virtually every adaptation builds the majority of his story around the mystery of his past. This is something that an area like The Vanaheim Crater could help with in Marvel's Wolverine.
Currently, nothing is known of the plot the upcoming game. Marvel's Wolverine may earn an M rating according to current rumors, but the story remains a complete mystery. However, it would not be a stretch to assume that part of the character's past will come up in the game and this would be where an area like The Vanaheim Crater could help the most. It would allow players to continue the main story unimpeded by Wolverine's dense backstory. At the same time, it would allow players who are interested in that content to indulge in the character's history.
Ultimately, it's impossible to know what the developers have in store for the upcoming game. As of now, Insomniac and Sony have only released one trailer for Marvel's Wolverine and it isn't clear what kind of game it will even be. However, should the developer go with a linear game with open areas, it would absolutely benefit from having an area like The Vanaheim Crater.
Marvel’s Wolverine is currently in development for PS5.