It was in a tweet from MCUFilmNews when I first saw the rumor that the supervillain 8-Ball would reportedly appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Even in mid-June, with just six weeks to go before the blockbuster’s release, the rumor persisted. Alas, when the film finally came out, more than a few d-list baddies made cameos, but 8-Ball was sadly not among them.
That same depression had washed over me back in 2016 when the comic book adaptation Deadpool released, grossing $135 million on its opening weekend, making it the most successful R-rated movie release ever. The “pool” in the vigilante’s name referred to a betting pool, not billiards, contrary to the widely circulated image of Deadpool casually sitting on a pool table.
It seems billiards and comic book adaptations are not simpatico. At least, that’s what I had always surmised. But, as I started to dig into the annals of comic book themed movies and television episodes, it turns out that superheroes do have a knack for shooting stick. Well, at least some of them do. So, grab your popcorn and utility belt as I walk you through the Top 10 Superheroes who are Super Good at Pool.
10. Batman and Robin
In the 2017 animated movie Batman vs Two-Face, Gotham’s favorite duo prove that they’re no stranger to billiards, or at least not to a giant-sized billiards death trap courtesy of the Joker. The deadly play starts with Joker’s taunt, “Batman in the corner pocket.” While we can’t evaluate Batman’s backspin, he proves very adept backpedaling on a spinning three-ball to avoid the jumbo spherical menaces. Robin, however, is clearly new to the baize; he barely avoids a careening nine-ball when Batman pulls him to safety. It’s “holy compaction” time for team B&R. (Side note: this wasn’t the first time the Joker showed a proclivity for pool. Remember the broken cue stick scene from The Dark Knight?)
9. Superman
If we’re searching for the O.G. of superhero pool players – the ultimate caped Mosconi – then it must be Superman. And I’m not talking about David Corenswet or Henry Cavill or Brandon Routh or Tom Welling or Dean Cain or Christopher Reeve. I’m referring to George Reeves who played the Man of Steel in the 1950s Adventures of Superman series. In the 1954 episode “Semi Private-Eye,” the Last Son of Krypton shows up at a seedy pool hall to interrogate the local hoodlums and gangsters. I’ve only found stills of the episode, but it’s clear the Big Blue Boyscout knows how to shoot stick, or at least, can crush a cueball with his bare hands.
8. The Incredible Hulk
It’s doubtful the Hulk possesses any natural ability to shoot billiards, but he sure knows how to end a pool game – and I’m not referring to pocketing the eight ball. In the late ‘70s, Marvel’s green goliath appeared on television in CBS’ series The Incredible Hulk. Professional bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno played the Big Guy in fright wig and full green makeup. In the 1978 “Waterfront Story” episode (starting at 19:55), and then again in the 1980 “Long Run Home” episode, the Hulk appears in a local bar – after his alter ego Bruce Banner gets beaten up – and proceeds to break cue sticks, crush billiards balls, and use the bar table to mow down the local yahoos.
7. Wolverine
Not surprisingly, Canada’s baddest-ass, mutton-chopped, cigar-smoking, liquor-swilling, adamantium-boned mutant enjoys pool. While the live-action Logan hasn’t indulged, Wolverine from X-Men: The Animated Series is a frequent patron of the sport. Both in the 1992 episode “Night of the Sentinels, Part Two” and the 1993 episode “Til Death Do Us Part, Part 1,” Wolverine enjoys some billiards until some humans choose to interfere and mess up all the fun. Such distractions lead to all sorts of billiards mayhem from his X-Men compatriots, including Cyclops lasering a table in two and Gambit kinetically charging a billiards ball, turning it into an explosive weapon.
6. The Flash
DC’s speedster The Flash can run around the Earth in about 0.133 seconds. Over the years, he has outrun the concept of death, he has perceived events that last less than an attosecond (i.e., a quintillion of a second), and of course, he has regularly harnessed the power of the Speed Force to travel back in time. But, he might want to skip over 1990. That’s the year the original television series The Flash premiered on CBS. While the series was horrible, the episode “Sins of the Father” did reveal that the Flash can play pool. Or, at least, he can quickly clear a table, clear a rack of cue sticks, and spin a billiards ball so fast that it creates a hole on the table. All of this to save a helpless M. Emmet Walsh from a trio of nogoodniks.
5. Yellow Power Ranger
Since 1993, the color-coded, spandex-wearing Power Rangers superhero team have been entertaining children, and making billions of dollars across the myriad franchise properties for their corporate overseers. Tucked into that 30+ year history is Power Rangers RPM, the sixteenth entry in the franchise, which included the 2009 episode “The Dome Dolls.” In that episode, Summer Landsdown (aka Yellow Power Ranger) is not showcasing her kung fu or flexing the Sabertooth Tiger Dinozord, but rather impressing the boys in a game of pool. Told a certain shot “has never been done before,” she steps to the table, takes her stroke (with terrible form), and makes five balls at the same time. Unfortunately, her mates pass out from some airborne diotoxin before they can witness the accomplishment.
4. Plastic Man
Unlike Marvel’s stultifyingly stuffy Mr. Fantastic, DC Comics’ stretchmaster, aka Patrick “Eel” O’Brian, better known as Plastic Man, is a surreal, slapstick, one-man rubberband. He also got his own animated series: The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show. Though it only lasted five seasons, the “This Is Where We Eat” episode from 1979 features our malleable metahuman escaping an angry mob at Pepe’s Pool Parlor. There he physiologically morphs his body into a cue stick so that his sidekick Hula-Hula can use him to play pool while they search for information on the whereabouts of Plastic Man’s nemesis Dr. Dome. Apparently, maintaining a 58”x1” shape can be challenging, and Plastic Man reverts to his original form after a nice shot by Hula-Hula. (Watch the scene here, starting at 0:54.)
3. Supergirl
Before Milly Alcock’s drunken sot version of Supergirl was getting soused at every red sun bar in the galaxy, the more wholesome Melissa Benoist version was bashfully learning to play pool in the 2020 “Reality Bytes” episode of Supergirl. In the scene, Kara Danvers’ boy-crush friend William Dey promises to take the game “one shot at a time” since Kara has only played eightball once in her life. But, that doesn’t stop Kara from invoking some Kryptonian mojo and pocketing all 15 balls on the opening break.
2. Daredevil
The Man Without Fear may also be known as The Man With Mad Skills, given the double ball ricochet shot he hits in the 2016 “Bang” episode of Daredevil. For the uninitiated: Daredevil, aka Matt Murdock, is a blind lawyer whose other senses are super-augmented as a result of a chemical accident when he was a child. Apparently, those augmented senses include the application of echolocation to enable him to perceive the location of balls on the pool table. While fellow lawyer Karen Page “fails” to teach him the game in the first half of the scene, it’s clear once she leaves, in the second half of the scene, that he was playing the role of the beginner because “she wanted to teach me,” and secretly was a crackshot all along.
1. The Teen Titans
One might think the Titans TV series, with its graphic violence and dark themes, might have a billiards scene among its episodes. But, it is the supergroup’s animated spin-off series, Teen Titans Go!, that overdelivers, with not just a scene, but a whole episode devoted to billiards. The ninth season “Pool Shark” episode (2025) finds our quintet of young Titans egging on their friend King Shark to start playing pool again. Via flashback, we learn that King Shark used to be the “big champ” of the DC Villains Billiards League, in which a who’s-who of DC baddies – including Scarecrow, Doctor Light, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Brainiac, Catwoman, Killer Moth, Poison Ivy, Two Face, Clayface, and Black Manta – used to congregate around the table to shoot stick. King Shark won hundreds of games with his lucky narwhal cue stick, but his overconfidence got the better of him and he lost it in a bet to a mysterious character called The Hand. King Shark never played again. But, coincidentally, the DC Billiards Invitational is happening this weekend, which gives King Shark a chance to redeem himself and for all of us viewers to learn the secret identity of The Hands. The episode is streaming on HBOMax.
That wraps my top 10 list. So, what can we conclude? More than a few of these heroes are likely beatable, but given their penchant for crushing balls bare-handed, I’d recommend throwing the game. A couple of these heroes could likely defeat Shane Van Boening, or at least compete against Florian Kohler for best trick shot. And while HBO’s current Lanterns hasn’t yet featured any billiards, if the TV-based Green Lantern ever emulates his comic book counterpart with a galactic pool stick, we’re all in trouble.
