Injustice 3: Because We Can

"Injustice 3" is gonna happen, people. As soon as "Mortal Kombat 11" is done, we're gonna get another one. And I thought it would be appropriate of me-a comic book fan-to offer what kind of new characters I'd wanna see added to this series of fighting games. Without any knowledge of how the comic series is doing, these are just some ideas I'd love to see in action. So, here is The Panel Biter's Top 10 Most Wanted Characters for Injustice 3.

10. Killer Croc

I love Bane. I really do. But he's old hat. Buff guy, takes drugs to become stronger, grappler-type character. That's great, but I think Killer Croc would make a perfect replacement for Bane. You can keep the grappler play style, you have a character who is part of a very popular team right now-The Suicide Squad-and Killer Croc makes a good "thug for hire" character in a story mode. He isn't extremely deep other than the "I'm a monster because you say I am" aspect, either. His trait ability could be throwing a slab of raw meat at the opponent. If it hits them, they're covered in blood which gets Croc hungry. He becomes faster and stronger as a result. And his finisher could be dragging them into an open sewer where he rips them a new one! I didn't want to flood this list with Batman characters, so I picked a simple and easy one to make a great heavy-hitter.

9. John Constantine

I was hesitant to put ol' John on this list because he isn't really a fighter, more of a conman, a manipulator. But given his plethora of dark, paranormal abilities and his personality I felt he deserved a shot. His moves would consist of small, basic spells, some diversion spells and protection spells. A teleport, a distant grab move, maybe he summons a damned soul or a demon or he creates an evil clone of himself or the opponent. His special trait could be lighting a cigarette which causing the opponent's health to lower when they're close to him. And his ultimate could be summoning a hoard of demons-who he has screwed over in the past-to chase him down, only he uses magic to make the opponent look like him. Just imagine if Loki fused with Rorschach and that's your character.

8. Booster Gold (and Johnny Cage)

Well, obviously. Booster is here just to tell Superman he broke the future. Booster Gold isn't really unique in terms of powers. Starfire can basically do what he does, save for time travel which would be mixed into his move set. However, his one-time alter ego Supernova could send people to The Phantom Zone and shrink like The Atom, so we could incorporate those abilities. And his trait could be Skeets, his robot companion. Either sending Skeets flying at the opponent or having the robot create a bubble around Booster to protect him. His finisher would involve teleporting the opponent to the future where The Legion of Super-Heroes gang up on them. And one of the best parts could be giving Booster Gold an alternate skin where he looks like Johnny Cage from Mortal Kombat, like how Black Lightning and Raiden work. Johnny already has green energy blasts, the teleporting and shrinking could be references to bad CGI in movies, instead of Skeets it's some remote controlled video camera, and instead of time traveling to the future Johnny uses a movie crew van to take himself and his opponent to a movie set where actors dressed as Mortal Kombat characters attack. But why is Johnny Cage in the DCU? He thinks it's all a big superhero movie.

7. Captain Atom

The straight-laced military nuclear man with the power to defeat Superman. I imagine someone like Captain Atom-who can create Red Sunlight and Kryptonite radiation-would be a heavy part of Injustice 3's story mode, and his actual gameplay would be pretty heavy. Various forms of energy blasts, teleportation, time travel, and the ability to manipulate projectile attacks. Absorbing projectiles could even be his trait, absorb enough power to burst with energy and overwhelm the opponent. His ultimate would just be opening the containment unit that is his suit and letting all the energy flood out. He's literally a walking nuke. He could a have Doctor Manhatten costume too! Not much else to talk about. Outrageous power behind the heart of an American solider.

6. Etrigan The Demon

First of all, he rhymes and that's freaking awesome. He's got fire breath, he can manipulate magic to summon swords and axes and spears, he can warp through hellscapes and morph his cape into wings and he's just so cool. His trait could be summoning in a weapon of the player's choice and sending it flying at the opponent (like Ares), with it's speed, direction and arc depending on the weapon. Etrigan's finisher could be separating himself from Jason Blood and going full-demon, becoming giant and spewing lava from his mouth until Blood regains control of the demon. Seeing his human counterpart Jason Blood's perspective on Superman taking over the Earth and upsetting the natural order would be interesting. With the absence of Zatanna and Dr. Fate, there needs to be a paranormal lead character and if this guy AND Constantine could fill that role we'd be in for one hell of a ride. And if Etrigan could reference Baraka or something that'd be great.

5. Impulse

"But Raffi, we already have The Flash". Sure, but there are a lot of things Flash can do that he doesn't do in Injustice. Things his witty, hyper-active grandson from the future can do while being a little snot towards his opponent. Like Booster, we have a character who is from the future and can reference how Superman has effected everything. We also have a character who can vibrate punch a force field at the opponent, phase through them and deliver a swift back kick, create a whirlwind and then back away from it, and-for his trait-he could create a time clone. A time clone? Impulse runs into the future by a few seconds, grabs his future self, comes back with the copy, and they team up. Doing this could be like those "shadow clone" moves fighting game characters have where the copy stands beside the player, copies all their moves, and doubles the damage done to the opponent. And his ultimate could be recruiting every Flash throughout time and have each of them run through the opponent. One punch after another. Having Bart Simpson with super speed would give the game some much-needed charm.

4. Mera

Best. Wife. Ever. Remind the world why this woman is the Queen of Atlantis and make her a playable character. Unlike Aquaman, Mera doesn't need a big fork to get the job done. Not while she can bend the ocean to her whim. Forty-two years before "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was a thing. Mera can create weapons, turn water to ice, fade into a mist, crash waves and create whirlpools. Her trait could be turning all her water-based moves into ice attacks for a short time, making them hit harder and remain on screen longer. Her finishing move would be flooding the stage and blasting a pillar of water into the sky, and then having it cascade down like icicle spears onto the opponent. I wonder if she'd agree with Superman's actions or not? She could even have a Mortal Kombat skin to look like Skarlet or a skin to look like Tula/Aquagirl. And if you don't wanna use her, use Aqualad. He could do all that AND shock people.

3. Larfleeze

Not Sinestro, not Atrocitus, The Agent Orange and sole member of The Orange Lantern Corps himself, Larfleeze. Watching him crave all the toys and properties of the DCU's heroes would be entertaining to say the least. He's a bizarre villain who's motivated by greed. He wouldn't care about what Superman has done, he'd just want the Earth to himself. I'm not saying he has to be main villain or anything, but that would be a pretty ballsy move. Like The Green Lantern, Larfleeze can create objects with his ring. Now, I understand it might be hard for Nether Realm Studios to come up with a move set for Green Lantern given the limitless possibilities of his powers, but with Larfleeze comes a common theme: greed. Wanting something. This could mean he could make nets or grappling hooks or claws or pouches or containers, and his trait could be leeching his opponent's health for himself. And his finisher could involve absorbing all the life from his opponent and then using all that energy to create a giant maggot or leech to tunnel through them. Come on, Ed Boone, you put that Red Lantern cat in the last one!

2. Plastic Man

You can really tell I went personal with this list, huh? Plastic Man is one of the strongest heroes on Earth, take it or leave it. He's a shapeshifting wisecracker with tons of imagination and the strength to back it up. Imagine how an ex-criminal turned Justice Leaguer would react to his friend and heroic idol becoming the ruler of the Earth. That's gotta sting. Plas could become a wrecking ball, slingshot his arms, turn his head into a hammer, use his legs as springs, and so on. His trait could be becoming so rubbery attacks don't stun him and projectiles bounce off of him. And his ultimate could be slinging the opponent across the planet, meeting them on the other side with his torso as a baseball bat, hitting them back around, and then grabbing them as a giant mitt and dunking them into the ground. Again, like a Lantern you can be as creative as you want with his move set. If I have one gripe about the Injustice games it's been the lack of creativity when it comes to the Lantern characters, so use a character who's whole gimmick is changing shape and making crazy weapons. And make him funny and likable and give people a reason to love him as much as I do.

Honorable Mention/Guest Character: The Green Ranger

DC Comics and Boom Studios worked on a Justice League/Power Rangers crossover a year ago and I will never let it go. If the Turtles can be in Injustice than so can a Power Ranger. I thought about including the first five Rangers the same way the TMNT worked, but I thought just Tommy himself would be enough. He is everyone's favorite and I'm sure Jason David Frank would love to voice him. His base appearance would be his Green Ranger form, but with other colors comes his Black, White, and Red variants, armor pieces from his other Ranger forms and maybe borrowing the gear and colors of his fellow Rangers. He fights with his blaster, his Dragon Dagger, and his martial arts. He can teleport (hmm, a lot of people can do that), throw the dagger, and shoot the opponent with his blaster which could result in sparks like in the show. Maybe create a big, green explosion by posing. His trait would be upgrading his offense or defense. If the player picks defense, Tommy's Dragon Shield glows and he takes less damage and has super-armor. If the player chooses offense, the Dragon Dagger is swapped out with The Sword of Darkness for longer reach and more damage. And for his ultimate Tommy teleports himself and his opponent to a high cliff where he hops onto the Dragonzord and commands it to fire all it's weapons on his opponent. All the quips, references, and spirit from this character would be just as awesome as how the TMNT were and I'm sure both DC fans and Power Ranger fans would rejoice with his inclusion.

1. Superboy & Krypto

Surprised? Don't be. What's the thing about the Injustice universe that makes it different from the main DCU? There's many answers, but the correct one is Superman. The beacon of hope, man of tomorrow, greatest hero on Earth has become a dictator who's actions are supporting by a mistake he made. Superman is broken and the world needs a new one. That's where his clone, his adopted brother, and the Teen Titan himself Conner Kent-Superboy-comes in. Superboy would be your main character, set on defeating Superman and taking his place as he was designed to do. Skirting the line between being like Superman and being like Lex Luthor. Superboy can leap far, he's super strong, and he can create force fields and barrier blasts with his tactile telekinesis, so he's at least a little different from other Kryptonian characters. His trait would be summoning his companion Krypto The   Superdog. Krypto can fire heat vision, sonic bark, and straight-up tackle and bite the opponent just to give Conner some support. Conner could command Krypto to "Sit" to hold the opponent down or "fetch" to grab the opponent and bring them closer. The combination of boy and dog could rack up some serious damage. And for his ultimate-similar to "Young Justice"-he slaps on a patch that gives him all of Superman's powers and lays into his opponent with the force of a mad god. So other than all the cool powers and Krypto and stuff, I really wanna see Conner in a world like Injustice and see how he'd react. Maybe we'd even get a happy ending where Superman dies or leaves Earth and says "You're right, Conner. I'm not Superman anymore. You are".

Thanks for reading.