Arcade (Marvel Comics)

Arcade
Arcade as depicted in X-Factor vol. 3 #30 (June 2008). Art by Glenn Fabry.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Team-Up #65 (January 1978)[1]
Created by	Chris Claremont (writer) John Byrne (artist)
In-story information
Place of origin	Murderworld
Team affiliations	Crazy Gang
Notable aliases	Mister A, "Mad Monk," Pinball Wizard, A.R. Cadenski
Abilities	Genius intelligence Skilled inventor and engineer

Arcade is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in 1978's Marvel Team-Up #65, the creation of writer Chris Claremont and writer/artist John Byrne. The character is a combination of an evil genius and a hitman who carries out his assassinations via various elaborate traps, often referred to as Murderworld.

Arcade's first intended victims were Spider-Man and Captain Britain but since Arcade's Murderworld games always leave the outcome up to chance, the duo defeated Arcade and escaped with their lives. Over the years Arcade has targeted a multitude of Marvel heroes, often focusing on the X-Men and associated members of X-Factor, X-Force and Excalibur. In what is considered the "game changer" for Arcade, Avengers Arena,^[2] he managed to kidnap 16 superpowered teens and forced them to kill each other for survival in his latest version of Murderworld; unlike most Murderworld schemes, this endeavor yielded several casualties.

Arcade has appeared in a number of other Marvel properties outside of comic books, in X-Men: Evolution voiced by Gabe Khouth, and in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series voiced by Eric Bauza. The character made his live-action debut in the 20th Century Fox film Deadpool 2 (2018) portrayed by co-writer Paul Wernick. He has also appeared as one of the main villains in a number of video games, including X-Men: Madness in Murderworld, Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Marvel: Avengers Alliance.