I took Marcus for the Man against Gremlins (Wong) - seemed appropriate
Alpha was really useful, pushing a Rattler into the advancing Gremlins on turn 1 (conveniently, it was also the Frame for Murder model ), and just delaying them sufficiently for them not to swamp the wagon.
As noted above, Turn 2 initiative was key (after ties and re-flips I'd used a soulstone and flipped 5 cards, my opponent used 2ss and flipped 6 cards!), fortunately I won it and was able to free the prisoner, then push it 3 or 4 times into my deployment zone over the next couple of activations (including Marcus, who slapped a cheeky Stuffed Pig that had moved up to sit on the marker, then pushed it twice). Once that was done, it was almost impossible for my opponent to win (it also didn't help that he made a mistake in blowing up a Stuffed Piglet which missed my crew and killed the Rooster Rider). The game ended 9-3 to Marcus.
Have to say, the new Circus Bear upgrade for the Mauler makes him much better; Turn 2 he released the prisoner, and used Bear Hug to pull the Rooster Rider into base contact, and then just ignore Wong's pulses and blasts that were going off everywhere! He just managed to survive on 1 wound, then finished off Wong - +2 damage for Frenzy is brutal (weak damage of 5!), especially at Ml 6. Good old Boris!