Categories: Originals

Ten heroes In need of their own Marvel pinball tables

With this week’s release of Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles, Zen Studios has managed to once again rise above most comic book fans’ expectations with some awesomely designed tables based on popular hero stories, including Fear Itself, World War Hulk and, most importantly, The Infinity Gauntlet. But with that, and the release of the previous hero tables including Wolverine, Ghost Rider and Iron Man, has the company really captured all the heroic action they possibly could with the Marvel license?

We don’t think so, and, with that, we’ve got ten suggestions for upcoming tables that the team can certainly tackle for future designs. Hope you’ve got your notepads at the ready, Zen Studios crew, because have we got some killer suggestions for you…

Hulk Vs.

World War Hulk really did something for us when it came to contemporary table design and really putting the Hulk in the thick of the action, but we’d really like to see a design that actually pits him head on against some of Marvel’s best. We’re talking going head-to-head in bonus rounds with Thor, shooting for skill shots in a full-on match against Wolverine, and even pitting him against some unlikely foes, like Venom and Juggernaut. Let’s really mix it up and put him into a battle that’ll keep us shooting the ball into play.

Magneto

Since there’s been all this talk about a Magneto spin-off movie, we can’t help but wonder what a Magneto-based table would be like. It would have magnets – like most good pinball tables do – but we could see a bonus round where the balls would spin around in the center of the table, then let loose in a flurry of multiball fun. Plus, you could always bring in additional X-Men style characters for him to fight against, keeping those multi-scoring rounds coming. It’s something worth thinking about.

X-Men First Class

Hey, why not? If Zen Studios can create a table based on the hit Avengers film, why couldn’t they talk to Fox about producing an upcoming First Class table based on not only the original 2011 film release, but also the incoming sequel, set for release in the next couple of years? They could easily put together a 60’s chic style of table with plenty of cool LED bonus rounds, great music and lots to shoot at across the playfield. Plus, old school Beast!

The Punisher

When we say make a design based on The Punisher, we don’t mean that ridiculously lame Thomas Jane flick, we mean the REAL Punisher, the one who doesn’t have a problem dishing out bloody justice against the likes of the Kingpin and various other enemies. There could easily be LED-based shootouts, huge skill shots requiring bigger guns, and plenty of quips from the Punisher himself, dishing out justice as only he can. Hey, if Zen Studios can create a first-person shooter based on Punisher they can easily do a pinball table based on him as well.

The Amazing Spider-Man

With the film set to hit theaters in a matter of weeks and a home video release planned for the fall, wouldn’t it be ideal for Zen Studios to talk to Sony and create a whole new Spider-Man table based on the reboot film? Think about it, bonus rounds where you shoot at the Lizard while also escaping the police forces chasing after you, and even skill ramps where the ball could float over pursuers with ease. Hey, if the film series can be rebooted, then so can the pinball one, right?

Venom

Why should web-head have all the fun? Let’s give Venom his own table and let him proclaim victory over his enemies across a slew of his comic book stories, including Lethal Protector, Carnage Unleashed, Separation Anxiety (featuring a very nervous Spider-Man) and The Hunger, among others. And let’s get a voice actor who isn’t afraid to scream out insults as only Venom knows best. You can even add a slick black plunger to the mix. Something to consider…

Ms. Marvel, Psylocke and the Marvel Girls (Emma Frost, too)

Hey, let’s give it up for girl power and give the heroines of the Marvel universe their own table. What do you say? Making Ms. Marvel, Psylocke and several other female superstars from the X-Men/Marvel universe would hit the spot with us, complete with great bonus rounds, cool little collector balls based on each of the female personas (hey, it worked on the Avengers tables), and of course, some dedicated table art. You can’t ignore the girls, now can you, Zen Studios?

Daredevil

We may take some flack for this because of how the Ben Affleck flick turned out, but, honestly, what would be wrong with a cool Daredevil table? How about designing one where the entire playfield blacks out and the only way to tell where the ball is on the table is to have vibration sensors go off when it hits something like a bumper or a tile? That would be a slight bit frustrating, but awesome for fans of the book…right?

Howard the Duck

It sounds like a joke, almost along the same lines of the 1986 film that George Lucas backed away from after goading it into creation (figures), but think about it. A pinball table where you’ve got a wise-cracking duck smoking a cigar and cracking wise with you while you shoot at skill shots and try to save the world from Dark Overlords, AND you attempt to get busy with a human girl. If that doesn’t sound awesome, we don’t know what does.