// KOTAKU — GAMING
Seven Unhinged Characters That Would Make Tōkon A Marvel Fighter For The Ages
Arc System WorksFighting GamesMarvelMarvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
While Tōkon producer Michael Francisco says character popularity wasn’t the deciding factor in the new fighting game’s roster, it’s hard to overlook how closely it aligns with hits like Marvel Rivals. When Capcom’s Marvel brawlers first hit arcades, it was at the tail end of the superhero comics gold rush. All new, all xtreme debuts. Prismatic collectible covers. Mullets, mullets, mullets. Their 2D crossover fighters reflected this wild west era, giving slots to out of pocket choices like Spiral, Blackheart and Shuma-Gorath years ahead of Thor or Iron Man.
Among many issues, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite clearly synchronized itself with the Disney films, going so far as to lock out the X-Men entirely. While it’s nice to see more Spidey villains get their due, and it’s wild how long it took for Blade to land in one of these, the most left field Tōkon combatant so far is Danger, who looks far more anime android than her usual tangle of deathtraps. While the game has other kinks to work out, I believe that a crossover fighter is only as good as its roster is unhinged. A theory constantly reinforcing itself. In that spirit, here are seven deeper cut options that would get me much more invested in Arc System Works’ merry Marvel marching society.
Marvel’s forever underdog, the Fantastic Four villain turned X-Factor staple knows how to pack a house. Capable of replicating himself, seemingly indefinitely, the major drawback to his numbers scheme is that the longer his clones exist independently, the more disgruntled they become to the original. In a fighting game, Madrox could be a one man army, making up for martial artistry with blunt hooliganism, or a poor man’s attempt to replicate Cirque du Soleil.
If the Democrats really wanted to keep Joe Biden in the race, there was a blueprint. Silvio Manfredi was a powerful mover of the New York underworld, but as time pressed on and his body failed, the gangster sought an unconventional solution. Manfredi returned as Silvermane, a gnarly cyborg with the Crypt Keeper’s leathery visage. I’ve always loved Spidey’s mobland losers and hoped they’d have a stronger presence in his big-screen team-up with the Punisher. As fun as it would be to stress test combos with Tombstone or Hammerhead, I feel Silvermane’s wild one-man hit squad has the most to offer Tōkon.
A leading member of Mike Allred’s media-obsessed X-Force, Moonbeam moved to the big city to make a name for herself in the arts, only to end up murdered by her boyfriend. Hard to say if this was an ideal moment for a mutant power to activate. She woke up in her tomb discovering she had complete control of necrotic tissue, including herself. While her self-absorbed teammates had a knack for getting themselves killed, Dead Girl lived long enough to discover that do goodery somewhat suited her, honing creepy necromancer abilities and aligning with the likes of Dr. Strange.
Is Tilda Johnson a werewolf? No. But if there are no fans of werewolves left, then Tilda Johnson is dead. The villainous Captain America disco queen has one purpose in life: Using science to the benefit, if not outright proliferation, of werewolves. Commanding a fuzzy army, Nightshade’s signature ploy is transforming Avengers into werewolves to use as personal enforcers. Dangerous even without a slobbering entourage, Nightshade has maintained an anti-hero’s presence in the Marvel criminal underworld. She made her MCU debut in Netflix’s Luke Cage series, albeit without any of her signature werewolves. An injustice that Tōkon could easily amend.
You’ve probably caught on to the fact that I like characters with a menagerie of Ed Roth devil ghouls. A clone of Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor is some dangerous chemistry, mixing forbidden magics and mutant brain powers. Sometimes the legitimate article, sometimes a psychic illusion, the Goblin Queen uses her mutations to turn her surroundings into hell on earth, exploi