Marvel Madness: Incredible 8

We are through round 2 and into the SPECTACULAR 16! we’re going to do all 4 regions at once here so hold on to your helmets!

Endgame Region:

1 vs 10 The Endgame region has the biggest seed mismatch of all the regional finals with the the front runner Avengers: Endgame (the top seed in the whole tournament) going up against massive underdog X-Men 2 (or I guess it’s actually officially called X2: X-Men United). Perhaps Endgame was expected to roll through this one and didn’t prepare as they should have, but the juggernaut falls to the Cinderella here. Ultimately, X2 wins on the strength of its story, and the way it handles the character relationships and thematic material (which I’ve already talked about a lot, so if you are jumping in here for the first time, go back and read from the beginning). Endgame is an exciting movie, but most of the best stuff to do with the infinity Gauntlet Story happens in Infinity War, and while Endgame is great fun, and has a lot of great moments, X2 is just a stronger overall story start-to finish. While Endgame is a great superhero movie, X-Men 2 is a great movie – full stop.

Ultron Region:

4 vs 11 Captain America is a great little superhero movie. It’s fun, Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Hugo Weaving are fantastic, and of course Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sebastian Stan are great in their supporting roles. but Thor: Ragnarok is such a brilliant film. God I love this movie. It is the perfect blend of humor, action, strong character beats, and compelling story. We get to really see the love between Thor and Loki in this movie in a realistic, antagonistic brotherly sort of way, not just the Shakespearean tragedy we were subjected to in the first two Thor outings. Like I alluded to in the last post, I love how the Hulk is portrayed in this movie, as a separate entity from Bruce Banner with his own thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs. IT’s the closest we’ve ever gotten in a movie to classic Comic Book Hulk. “How long have you been like this?” – “LIKE WHAT?” – “Like, this. Big, green… stupid” – “HULK ALWAYS HULK” Taika Waititi GETS IT! Thor: Ragnarok sales into the Fantastic Four without really breaking a sweat.

Infinity Region:

1 vs 2 Here’s the big one. 1 vs 2. the clash of the titans. Russo vs Russo. Avengers: Infinity War vs Captain America: Civil War. This was a tough draw for Cap. Any of the other 1 seeds, and it probably would have taken the match, but Infinity War is inarguably the best of the full Avengers movies. I’ve already written about what is so unique about both of these movie, so, again, if you haven’t read the earlier posts, please go back and read them. In the end, there is literal nothing that I would want different about Civil War, it’s great, but it’s just not Infinity War.

Avengers Region:

8 vs 11 Here we are in the Avengers-less Avengers Region. Battle of the Cinderellas and the only Region without an MCU movie left in its matchup. Logan vs Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a truly strange match-up especially this deep into the tournament. Logan is a great, dark anti-blockbuster take on the superhero genre. But Into the Spider-Verse outlasts it on the strength of the spectacular animation and art-direction. I love the different animation styles on display to help differentiate and add depth to the different characters. the animation is, in and of itself, like another character. Not only is this movie a brilliant technical achievement, but it also manages to tell a beautiful story with a lot of heart.

Holy Avengers, Batman! (is that allowed here? it’s my blog and I make the rules, so i say yes!) what an incredible 8 that was! We’re down to the Fantastic Four (not THE Fantastic Four, however) so check back soon for the thrilling conclusion.

If you jumped in here for some reason, go back and check out the Spectacular 16

If you would like to go back and read the Round 2 results, you can find them here: Endgame – Ultron – Infinity – Avengers

The Endgame Region – Round 1 results are here Ultron Region – Round 1 results are here Infinity Region – Round 1 results are here and Avengers Region – Round 1 Results are here. If you want to check them out.

If you want to go back and see the original post setting up the bracket, it’s here