Comic Book Movie Character Tournament

Starscream here, and I am the lord and master

of the Geekcast radio network. Don't tell Megatron.

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Cinema

Geeks. I am one of your Cinema Geeks optimists

solo and joining me for today's episode are all

of my fellow cinema geeks. Starting with hard

candy, Mandy. Hello, Amanda. Hey, glad you remember

my name this time, sir. Amanda's a little bit

under the weather here, so you'll have to excuse

her if she coughs, sneezes, sniffles, or just

otherwise sounds nasally. Don't apologize for

me, okay? I am unapologetic right now about this

nasally mess, okay? I did what I could. Also

joining us is movie revolver Dan. How's it going,

Dan? Great, great. How's it going? It's not going

too bad here. Relatively busy week movie -wise,

but we're hanging in there. Oh, let me get the

last cinema geek in here before I go on my rant.

But also with us is Mr. Fritzen. How's it going,

Matt? I like rants. How's Zelda going? I mean,

I haven't beaten it, but I do have logged all

my hours of life in it. All of the hours. So

it's just working Zelda at this point. Oh, yeah.

Sleep and eat getting in there too sometimes.

Gotcha. So yeah, recently we had a couple different

movie trips. We actually went to the movies two

days in a row. On Monday we met some people and

watched Beauty and the Beast and did something

we don't normally do, which is watch it in 3D,

which usually makes, I mean, motion sick, but

She took her pill, was ready to go, and we watched

the whole spectacle in 3D. And then the following

day we had a free screening tickets to go see

Gifted starring Chris Evans. So, obviously it's

a free screening, so that means it's going to

be sold out, there's not going to be any seats

left, et cetera, et cetera. So we've already

learned in the past our lesson because we've

been to probably... I don't know, four of these,

five of these, and at one point we tried to get

there like, what, 10 minutes before or 15 minutes

before and were turned away obviously because

they were sold out already. So we learned our

lesson. So we got there fairly early and 40 minutes

early. 40 minutes early. So we walked in and

there was basically maybe five people in the

theater at that point. there just happened to

be two people in the normal seat that we would

select all the way to the back all the way to

the middle which is no big deal and then there

was probably one couple like right smack dab

in the middle of theater and then maybe one other

couple like towards the front not a big deal

so we walked up went you know left like two seats

in between the people that were all the way in

the back and in the middle put Amanda's jacket

and my car keys down and we decided let's just

go ahead and go grab some snacks or whatever

because we hadn't eaten anything for dinner or

whatnot. So decided to do that and we wanted

to get in the get seats first so we didn't bother

about snacks in the beginning so we left our

jacket and keys and went out to get some snacks.

Came back in. Literally only about four more

people have been in the theater at this point

so instead of like three couples now it's like

five couples including an older couple sitting

exactly where Amanda's jacket and my keys had

been. So they literally got into the theater,

saw a completely empty theater, walked up to

those seats, saw a jacket and a pair of car keys

there, picked them up, moved them, and sat in

those seats. Like where did they put your keys

and stuff at? Just to the whatever seat was next

to them then after they both sat down like the

seat directly next to them It's actually you're

ready for leaving your car keys cuz like I mean

That's very trusting and that was exactly where

my mind went was like, oh, it's car keys got

stolen this week. No No, but so like we literally

walk up to them and like grab the the jacket

and the car keys which are in the seat right

next to them They don't say a word Don't even

like make acknowledgement of anything and then

we went to the opposite side of the two that

were in the direct middle so we just basically

went to the right side instead of the left side

or whatever and I don't know but it like ticked

me off beyond belief So we still had like 30

minutes to wait for the movie and I just sat

sideways and stared at them for 30 minutes. I

don't know what got into me, but I was... It

was creepy, but something needed to happen. Then

I was making some rude comments with Kevin's

rude comments, some hit breaking things, and

you know, all that good stuff. Trying to make

them feel super uncomfortable. And they even,

right before the movie, they even made a point

to each go to the bathroom, but only one at a

time to make sure they didn't lose their seats.

But it was bizarre. I don't know. I've never

had a problem with doing that. So I guess next

time we learned our lesson, one of us has to

stay in the seats while the other one gets the

food. Even in Rockford, the old people are shady.

It was quite the event and there were words later

on on the way out. But we won't get into that.

We started a conversation in the parking lot.

We waited for them to leave the theater and then

we followed them into the parking lot. Not quite.

I waited for you to get done in the bathroom

and it just happened timing -wise. Timing -wise.

That we ended up walking out the door at the

same time. Anyways. Old people, just die. Just

die. You don't need me driving. You don't need

me in the theater. You don't need me touching

my shit. Just fucking die. Jesus. I think what

made me mad the most is when you go to these

free screenings or anything like that where you

don't have to pay for a ticket, I don't know.

I guess I'm somewhat offended then if you don't

buy anything. Maybe I shouldn't be because I

guess you know we spend enough at the theater,

so you don't get a free movie You don't spend

anything just a free date type of thing but in

my mind if you don't have to spend money for

a ticket like you could at least get a drink

and They were like one of those couples that

was not spending any money that day they But

yeah, we spent how much money? Like four hot

dogs and nachos and drinks. We hadn't eaten,

so. Yeah, it was a mess. So that was our experience.

I'm sure it was we blew it somewhat out of proportion,

but I was just completely thrown off that you

would walk into an empty theater and take the

one seat that has something in it. But yeah,

that's nuts. But. The movie was fine and we had

a good time and we were able to forget it the

rest of the way through. But it was an interesting

experience nonetheless. Today we're going to

be bringing you guys a kind of a special episode.

We're going to take a break from the video game

slash Hayao Miyazaki series that we have going

on as well as a break from the reveal of our

top 100 personal films of all time and just kind

of try to do something fun. We sprinkled in a

regular movie review the other week with Logan

and now we're going to go and do something we

used to do quite a bit which is kind of go off

the cuff here and do a little movie game style

episode so the thought process was is obviously

it is uh in the middle of march madness currently

so everybody's all about the mcda college basketball

tournament everybody although i will say Not

proudly, but I have not seen a single minute

of a single game this year and that's probably

the first in my entire adult life. Don't look

at me like it's my fault. Not your fault. I haven't

seen a Blackhawks game in two years. So I have

no idea what's going on with the basketball tournament,

but I know this time of year it's fun for a lot

of different people to do their own types of...

uh march madness style tournaments whether it's

in forums or blogs or a podcast different things

like that i know film spotting does their um

What did they call it their their March Madness

version every year? Which is fun to listen to

I know we've done GCR and wars episodes before

that kind of follow a similar format So that's

kind of the idea of what we're gonna be doing

today Matt and Amanda really don't have a clue

what's going on because Dan and I were We're

sneaky and and kind of decided everything on

the DL without you guys But that way we'll get

some authentic reactions nonetheless Dan. Why

don't you guys? Why don't you guys why don't

you? let them know what the theme is going to

be for today and kind of what we're trying to

get at. Just to let you know, I didn't know you

didn't know, so Kevin was being extra extra sneaky.

So the basic idea is what Kevin just said we

were thinking of doing something tournament wise

and trying to think of how can we get something

that would be easy for us to all do. We would

all have some idea or opinions on. So we decided

to do the best performances of comic book character,

heroes and villains. So we've selected 16 different

people with a few play in options for those characters

that have been played by multiple people and

multiple times. And the idea is to face those

off once against another, determine which person

you thought what gave the better performance

to determine who exactly is given the best superhero

-slash -supervillain performance of all time.

And, Dan, just to kind of even further clarify

that, especially for Matt and Amanda, should

they be looking at this more from an angle as

far as who fit the character the best, as far

as who personified the look or the style of what

that comic book character represented, or more

strictly based on the actual acting and the performance

given within those films that they appeared in?

Or a combination of I I think you use whatever

you want to use because that's always been my

the most fun thing to do So it's like I'm gonna

put choose that guy because they have they use

the best costume or the best hairstyle But now

I think it'd be the I'm thinking you would go

with What you feel best the best performers overall

because there's probably a few will get to that

maybe Approach the character differently, but

also cause that character to change because of

that. So I don't know but I think it's it's subjective

So it's whatever you wanted to be fair enough.

So Amanda you can use any criteria you would

like How this is gonna work is we like dance

that we did we selected 16 We're gonna go one

by one through the first round and then after

a brief discussion We're each gonna be able to

cast a vote. Obviously there is four of us So

there is the possibility that we may have a couple

ties Alright so we're going to try this and see

how it works on the fly but we're going to give

everybody a couple tie breaking votes. We're

going to start with two and see if that works

or if we end up with a lot more ties than I'm

anticipating. So anytime there's a tie if you

feel very strongly about that matchup you're

more than welcome to use your tie breaking vote.

You'll each have two of them and whoever speaks

up first will have the power to use that. Nobody

can veto that. Alright. Outside of that, if nobody's

using their tie -breaking vote, then it'll just

take a quick... Additional discussion until somebody

decides to switch their vote over to the other

camp We'll see if that can work or if we'll forever

be in in battle here today as we try to get to

our best comic book performance Man, I can't

handle a forever battle And like like Dan mentioned

there are gonna be some play in the games like

the tournament likes to do so just to get into

the tournament we have to Decide a couple of

these matchups in order to determine who is actually

involved as we get into our first round matchups.

So let's start with the play -in matchups. There

are four of them and let's start with the one

that would pit two heroes against each other

that played the same character. I won't tell

you what seed they're going to be in because

we did kind of somewhat seed these. But let's

just start with the world of Batman and we have

to decide who's going to be actually in the tournament.

Is it going to be Christian Bale's Batman? Or

is it gonna be Michael Keaton's? Oh shit, Michael

Keaton. Amanda, would you like to start the thought

process on this one? I'm gonna say Michael Keaton.

Like, I don't know. I think he's one of my favorite

Batmans ever. Like, even like his mouth. I'm

like, that's fucking Batman. When you see him

in his costume. I think that I liked his voice.

I liked his swagger and his style. I think that

he wasn't like the most good -looking Bruce Wayne.

But I still think you fit as that character.

All right, so you're leaning towards Mr. Keaton?

Yes. Dan, what do you think about that? Man,

Mr. Keaton or because a part of this, too, it's

like you think about who plays Boosh Wing as

well. Like this is that part of it, too. Or,

you know, should I vote for George Clooney just

to be funny? No. So. I know a lot of people hate

the Christian Bale voice because it can get a

little bit ridiculous at times and a little grainy

and a little bit maybe unnecessary, but I don't

know. I felt like he was the Batman we needed

at the time considering the awfulness that was

Batman and Robin, so I think Batman needed to

get his grip back, and he did that. Unfortunately,

like... I do think that he in represents the

character a little bit more and a little bit

has a more nuanced performance. There's more

to his character where Christian Bale, I don't

know if I like he he wasn't often the least interesting,

not least interesting, but. I don't think he

ever really, really made the character into something

that made you love. Batman and more I guess I

don't know it's more or not working I would like

him to like he was good but like I always thought

he was never the best performance in the movie

he was in typically it was right you know Keith

Ledger or what have you where if I you know and

Keaton was or at least complimented the character

more and I think because of that and I think

he I'm gonna go with Keaton, especially because

it was a very surprised performance for him,

considering that's the first time he ever really

did a role like that that wasn't comedic. But

I like Bale. I don't dislike Bale, but I think

he just had a notch better. Amanda, you had mentioned

the actual Bruce Wayne. Do you think Christian

Bale was a better Bruce Wayne? I think he looks

-wise, he was a better Bruce Wayne. Okay. Matt,

where do you sit on this debate here? Are you

a Christian Bale fan or a Michael Keaton fan?

These these are the only Batman's in the tournament,

correct? Okay, they're not the Batman I would

pick Because my heart forever goes to Adam West

True, but I can see that we I think we were more

so looking at like Like them the major features

areas. Yeah, they're both serious and he's silly

I think just if only because I've gone on record

in like the last record we did saying that the

Christian Bale movies were trash. Which I think

might have been a little bit of a strong opinion.

They're not the worst movies ever. They're just

not what I want from a Batman movie. And they

have some issues that I don't like. But I don't

remember ever having an issue with Keaton. It's

like, I gotta go Keaton. I love that 89 Batman

movie. Like it's so good. Amanda just did like

a fist bump. It's like a yes fist bump. Yeah,

so she's excited for that one. That means that

I don't need to make a decision. So maybe I should

just vote for Christian Bale just so he doesn't

feel left out. Jesus! Alright, some strong words

to Christian Bale, I guess, Amanda. Show on some

true colors here. What? You like Christian Bale

too, though. Not like a lot. Alright, no love

for Christian Bale over on this side. So that

means Michael Keaton is going to advance into

the tournament as far as that play -in game or

match -up goes. We have another one featuring

a couple well -known heroes. See how we all fare

with this one, one of them more recently probably

in our minds as we all just saw Logan. Let's

compare Mr. Patrick Stewart to James McAvoy as

far as Professor X. of those two versions do

you prefer? Amanda, you started last time, so

let's start somewhere else this time. Dan, what

do you think about James McAvoy versus Patrick

Stewart? This really breaks my heart because

I really love both of these guys. They bring

something very different, I think, to the role

and it's tough. I mean, if you're looking at

who embodies the character more, it's probably

Patrick Stewart because Let's face it like, you

know, it was like the role he was born to play.

I mean, he looks just like that comic book version

of Xavier before X -Men was ever made. People

were fan casting and it was always like, okay,

well, who's Charles Xavier? It's Patrick Stewart.

And then that actually ended up happening and

he's been amazing in the role. I do like what

Mackleboy brings to the character, especially

in first class, where he's a little bit more

of a playboy. You see more of a fun and carefree

side of Xavier. But then in these in future pasts,

you really get that more of a emotionally beaten

character as he's trying to... come to grips

with the responsibility of the world that is

at its feet. But I think honestly, what takes

it, and maybe it's unfair because it's so fresh

in my mind, is with Logan in the last performance

of Stuart, which is arguably one of the best

performances he's done on film. And I think looking

at the histories he's had with that character

and the stories he's been able to tell, it's

probably been the most complete. So because of

that and because of just... Yeah, we're just

thinking of the moment on the bed. This is bringing

really strong in my mind, so I want to go with

Stuart. Alright, one vote for Patrick Stewart.

Matt, are you going to make it two votes for

Patrick Stewart or are you going to even things

out? Well, this one's a fun one because, like,

Patrick Stewart is Picard. Patrick Stewart is

Xavier. He's one of the best actors we've ever

had. Like, ever. uh but like the McElroy movie

or McElroy McElroy McElroy sorry too much my

brother my brother and me uh uh Jason McElroy

like is in so many better x -men movies like

all of his x -men movies are better than almost

every Patrick Stewart x -men movie um like and

so it's like part of me like well he's got way

better movies so he's probably the better one

but i mean that's writer that's director that's

that's co -stars um I think Dan's got it, like

Logan might be the one that tips it for Patrick

Stewart for me because that movie he did so amazing.

So yeah, I think I'm gonna go Patrick Stewart,

but like cautiously. Alright, so two votes, even

though a lot of love for James McAvoy from both

people. Two votes for Patrick Stewart, Amanda.

Three for three, or are you shedding some love

over to McAvoy as far as an actual vote? I think

Dan definitely hit it on the mark that Patrick

Stewart is the dude for Professor X, but... McAvoy

brings some really cool stuff to the role too,

and he definitely is his own Professor X. I really

dig his character. arc and all that good stuff.

And I think he's got some awesome moments and

great lines. I love seeing young Professor X

in his element and coming into his zone and all

that stuff. But Professor Xavier has got to be

Patrick Stewart. All right. That makes it three

for three. I'm just along for the ride, guys.

So I would say, like Matt, I would agree that

Patrick Stewart is one of my favorite actors.

that I've ever seen and so if you said Patrick

Stewart or any actor I would probably pick Patrick

Stewart and just happens that this one they both

played the same character I do like James McAvoy

though I mean I agree with everything you guys

have said but I think this is a slam dunk for

Patrick Stewart I think he just You make a good

point, Matt, that a lot of people would point

to First Class and Days of Future Past as probably

two of the best films. I think, like Dan was

saying though, the addition of Logan and where

I would place that amongst the franchise helps

out a lot. So it's not going to dissuade me from

voting for Patrick Stewart. So we'll make it

all four of us for that. Going to the third play

-in matchup to see who's going to be actually

in the tournament. It only makes sense if we're

talking about Professor X to also talk about

Magneto. So, Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender.

Amanda? Oh shit, I'm gonna go with Fassbender

on this one. I think that his character is so

much more dynamic, so much more full, so much

more fleshed out, and his younger self and I

think his emotions are so much more displayed

and... I really, really dig the Fassbender performance

of it. So interesting. Four votes for the original

Professor X. Starting off with Magneto immediately

going to the newer version. Matt, do you echo

that? Can you vote against Ian McKellen? See,

that is exactly where my mind went. I think she

might be right about all the things she just

said. But it's Ian McKellen. I don't know, like,

in Days of Future Past, when he shows up at the

beginning, like, I don't know, there's like this

level of grandeur and stuff where it's like,

yeah, that's Magneto and everyone should be afraid

that he's not on their side. Like, anyone who's

not on his side is on the wrong side. Like, I

love what he's done with the part. But also,

I think that what I just said about McAvoy applies

here, like, Those other movies, the newer movies

are so much better and the actors are allowed

to do more and they're given more to work with.

I think I'm gonna reluctantly go with Fatspender

even though, I mean, they're Ian Gellin. Similar

to what we had with Patrick Stewart obviously,

two old -time classic actors against these young

bucks here. The Fassbender effect though might

be in effect. Dan, has Ian McKellen had as strong

of emotional moments as what we've seen with

Fassbender in a few of those films? What do you

think of this one? Not necessarily, I don't think.

I've loved him as that character and but when

he's that character that character, you know,

Megiddo, Eric Lynch is more established. He's

kind of gone through it all. He doesn't really

have the lack of control as the fastbender. He's

not going through, you know, those difficult

times as much. He's really more kind of dedicated.

He knows the game. He knows how to play people.

He has some great moments, some great like he

has a presence about him. He has that Charisma

you need from a great villain or great antagonist

in some cases protagonist But I think Fassbender

like I for me X -Men First class was his coming

-out party like he did other movies before then

but this was like the first like big film like

Blockbuster that he did and I think it was his

announcement to the world that made Fassbender

into one of the biggest stars today There's so

many great moments and I'll say some of them

because he's moving forward because I'm voting

for Fassbender as well. And I love what he does

with the character. And again, it's not necessarily

that I think his performance is better per se,

but he's given more to do because in a lot of

ways, First Class is his movie. Well, him and

obviously McTavoy, but I think he's the emotional

core of that film. And because of that, Max Boyd

nails it out of the park. He owns every moment

he's on screen. And because of that, I'm going

to go with him for this. All right. So this is

a bizarre turn of events so far. You don't usually

get some podcasters or just geeks in general

around to vote on things and have this much agreement.

So all three battles so far for... have been

unanimous and I'm gonna go with this one as well.

I think Fassbender takes this one in an easier

way than Stuart over McAvoy to me. Like this

one, I do like Ian McKellen, but I can't think

of anything as powerful that he did in that role.

He might embody the role and have that look and

have the... intimidation factor and kind of the

presence of the character but i just think if

we're going looking at maybe performance if you

take that type of thing i think fastbender has

been able to do more and i i guess some of that

is Granted, you know, based on the writing and

some of the things that are revealed and whatnot,

but some of those moments, man, just blew me

away for Fassbender. And I don't think you're

allowed, if you're a movie geek, to vote against

Fassbender in anything. I think it's kind of

a rule. So let's make it four for four for Mr.

Michael Fassbender entering into the tournament,

which means there's only one more playing game.

And that would be, maybe, I'm thinking this might

be the first time we aren't unanimous, but let's

see, let's go to, we had Batman as one of the

playing games, let's go to the Joker as one of

the other ones, and you have to decide, Jack

Nicholson or Heath Ledger? Matt, where do you

go with this one? I don't know, so, I feel like

the Dark Knight was more or less ruined. for

me by everyone uh just like talking about it

like oh it's the best movie ever it's the best

movie ever and then you know i saw it like eight

months later and i was like yeah it's it's an

okay movie it's i mean it's way better than batman

begins way better um but like overhype really

burned it for me but the thing is is it it didn't

make Heath Ledger's performance any less just

amazing Like, no matter what I expected from

that movie, he still just gave a stellar performance.

And I've got problems with the script, I've got

problems with Christian Bale's performance, but

Heath Ledger, just, like, that's it. Like, you

couldn't have chose a better movie to go out

on than that one for him. So I'm gonna have to

give it to him, even though I don't like the

Joker choices they made. Like, that's not the

Joker to me, is that character. But I think his

performance was just so good that I'm going to

give it to him. Amanda, agree, disagree, Jack

Nicholson, Heath Ledger. I do like Heath Ledger's

Joker a lot more. I think that the anarchist

version of the Joker was pretty cool and it definitely

fit in the world that they built with that. His

performance, everybody knows, was just spectacular

and amazing. He gave every piece of himself to

that role. And I don't think you can deny that

he just blew that sucker out of the water. And

Jack Nicholson was a more cartoon caricature

version of the Joker. He might be more true to

the look and the feel of the early comic books

and the early Batman, but I think that Heath

Ledger changed the game with that one. Okay,

so two votes towards Heath Ledger Three votes

or are you gonna jump to the other side Dan?

Who do you like better as that character? Yeah,

man, and you thought that might be disagreement,

but there really isn't any here Honestly, I like

Jack Nicholson, but I don't like his performance

as a joker I don't know holds up that great.

I don't know there are moments that that kind

of bugged me a little bit and you you know Nicholson

there's a lot of drama regarding him taking in

that performance and I feel there's there's moments

in time where you can tell he's raining and then

a little bit but not that it's awful but there

are times where it's just like I don't know like

this He's maybe overplaying it more so than he

needs to Ledger's performance is iconic and will

always be so But yeah, I'll just hold off as

we will be talking about him probably a lot more

coming up. So Alright, so three for three once

again You guys are totally in sync as far as

your thoughts on this one So that means Heath

Ledger will be moving on as well. I guess I would

probably I would have been torn on this one I

don't know which way I would have gone But I'm

thinking I would have leaned towards Heath Ledger,

too, just for being so out of the box and something

that wasn't expected. I don't think anybody,

when they heard that Heath Ledger was going to

be playing the Joker, thought that that was a

wise choice by anybody. But he definitely showed

they were wrong and definitely poured his heart

and soul into that character. So got to let him

move on. And that means we're going to go into

the tournament proper now. Now, we did seed these

things, so there are going to be some one seeds

against eight seeds, etc, etc. So some of them

may seem like more of a... closed contests and

some of them may seem like obvious choices so

we'll see how that goes and we won't have to

spend too much time if it's obvious but starting

on the left side of the bracket which just happens

to be more of the heroes I guess as it turned

out we're gonna go with our number one seed against

our number eight seed number one seed on that

side of the bracket maybe because of the number

of times he's had to play them maybe just recency

bias because we just saw a movie with him but

the number one seed is Wolverine as played by

Hugh Jackman and he is going up against the number

eight seed which is J. Jonah Jameson as played

by J .K. Simmons. Dan, why don't you start this

one? What's your thoughts as far as how these

characters match up? Oh, man, it's tough because,

like, they are doing two very different things,

obviously. Like, I couldn't... And what's weird

there is, like, I can't imagine anyone else playing

these roles. I think they have... nailed it so

strongly that I can't imagine anyone else being

Wolverine. I can't imagine anyone else being

J .J. Jones, Jameson, J .K. Simmons. Just give

me the timing, his personality. It's some of

the best moments of the Spider -Man franchise,

or him. Even in Spider -Man 3, he still has some

great, great moments. The timing is just phenomenal.

There's a reason Hugh Jackman is the number one

seed and even I think without Logan still looking

at what he was able to embody with that character.

Even when the movies around him are awful, like

with Wolverine Origins, that guy is putting in

a great performance. You can even see it with

the dedication to how he became superhuman physique

-wise and looking at him in X -Men in 2000 compared

to now. It's insane what he has been able to

do. way level actor that took this role of this

dude with claws in his hand seriously and it's

worked. So for me he goes on. So one vote for

Hugh Jackman. Amanda, agree that Hugh Jackman's

role in Green is just one notch better than J.

Jonah Jameson as played by J .K. Simmons or what

do you think? Yeah, just a notch better. Like

Dan said, there's nobody else to play each of

these roles. They fit so perfectly. And there's

no way that you could see anybody else playing

them. Their look, their attitude, everything

that they bring to the table for each one of

these performances is spot on. But I think the

longevity and the legacy is much bigger for Hugh

Jackman as Wolverine. Matt? dissenting opinion

or we are one oh Yeah, we're one on this one

But I like if this is the easiest most decided

with the one in the eight that idea I have no

idea what you're gonna throw at me like because

honestly I was more worried about who was gonna

play J. Jonah Jameson and the amazing spider

-man line that I was about spider -man or Aunt

May or any other picks like Because JJ Simmons

is just he's got it. He has done it And like,

you know, fingers crossed, like, hey, make it

do it again, but he didn't. So we'll see what

he does as Commissioner Gordon, but for now,

like, he's got that. So your vote is? My vote

is Wolverine, Hugh Jackman. Alright so Wolverine

moves on as the one seed should into the very

next round. I do agree with you guys. I don't

think there's anyone else that would play those

two, could play those two without us immediately

comparing them to these guys obviously. But I

think just Wolverine as far as an entire body

of work and what he's been able to do from the

beginning to the end with that character is on

another level and like we said he's number one

seed for a reason. Alright that means the matchup

right below them would find us the five seed

and the four seed. the four seed, being who we

just talked about in one of our playing games,

Patrick Stewart's Professor X, and he'll be going

against the five seed, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool.

So Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool versus Patrick Stewart,

Professor X. Amanda, how do you even start this

one? I know you weren't as big on it as everybody

else on Deadpool, so does that make it an easy

vote for Professor X, or what do you think? Uh,

not necessarily, because... I mean, there's no

denying that Ryan Reynolds was made to play Deadpool,

just as Patrick Stewart was seemingly made to

play Professor X. Kind of a hard choice, but

I think it comes back to, again, a legacy that

we've got already here. Do I think that that's

the case with Deadpool? Not sure, but we've already

got this long -lasting history with Patrick Stewart

as Professor X, even now that we have a new version

of him, there's still this sentimentality to

hold onto Patrick Stewart as Professor X, so

I'm going to say Professor X. Alright, one vote

for Patrick Stewart. Matt, what do you say on

this one? You like Deadpool, you obviously said

some nice things about Patrick Stewart in the

playing game, so how do you break this one down?

See this this is a good one. This is a good one

like cuz That Deadpool movie Ryan Reynolds embody

that character perfectly like as a person who

really appreciates Being true to the source material

because why are you going to make a different

version of a thing if you're not going to follow

the thing like His performance is Deadpool in

the Deadpool movie like just just it's everything

that I would want from that character But that

Wolverine origin movies though guys He was that

guy He was still that guy like it was the same

actor same character like it was no good It was

no good And so I'm giving it to Patrick Stewart.

I'm gonna say Wolverine origins is what why Like

I mean Patrick Stewart's amazing, but I think

more Ryan Reynolds lost this than Patrick Stewart

won it Dan agree or disagree It's tough. Yeah,

I mean Wolverine origins isn't great for him,

but to be fair. He only was He wasn't the Deadpool

in the end. He was only though the part of the

person in the beginning, which I think was The

Deadpool that I know for the most part, not necessarily,

but I think he was limited by what it was, a

god -awful script, and just a bad movie in general.

Yeah, I just like to pretend that movie never

happened. So if we could do that, that would

be great. Don't forget that Patrick Stewart was

also in that, and though it was only like a crazy

cameo, was probably one of the worst moments

of his career when it comes to the X -Men franchise.

Well, the next Phantom Man 3 came along, so never

mind. I'm actually going to go... I'll switch

things up here a little bit. I'm actually going

to go with Ryan Reynolds, and I... I didn't expect

that going in, but the reason being is that I

think the X -Men franchise or an X -Men film,

I think, could work without Patrick Stewart being

there. Like X -Men 2, for example, like he's

out of commission for a great period of that

movie. But Deadpool's not working if Ryan Reynolds

doesn't work. If he can't make that character

work, Deadpool's not becoming who he is. If that

doesn't happen, we don't get Logan. So the responsibility

of him as an actor in that movie is grand, and

he nailed it, and by sheer force of will, made

that happen. not even just in that movie, but

even that's like leaked footage that went viral.

His being able to really nail that role in a

couple minute clip made that movie great. And

like he got to give him credit for that. And

I think he, you know, it was maybe the. the role

he was born to play, it fits his sense of humor,

it fits his way of speaking, his way of acting.

So I want to go with Ryan Reynolds in this. It

hurts me to do so, but I think he has a little

bit of an edge. pretty strong arguments there

by Dan bringing up a couple different things.

Number one, the Deadpool movie can't work without

him obviously. And number two, the marketing

aspects of what Ryan Reynolds was able to do

as Deadpool leading up to that film. Enough to

persuade either of you two to switch your vote

to Ryan Reynolds or are you guys sticking with

Patrick Stewart? I'll switch to Ryan Reynolds.

I think yeah, I think he made a good argument

that you know His movie doesn't work without

him. Yeah, he's the main character But who else

would it be able to get to nail that character

as well as we did and make this this you know

now a franchise whereas Look, we got another

professor X and the shit still going on. So Interesting.

So a flip -flop on miss hard candy Mandy over

to the Ryan Reynolds side Which means now Ryan

Reynolds is up two to one over Patrick Stewart.

Which means I actually have to - Can I flip -flop

back myself? Is that possible? What's your thought

process on that, Dan? I'm just curious. I just

want to know the rules. Yeah, you can do whatever

you want. There are no rules. Wow. Matt, what

are you thinking about all this? I'm thinking

that, like, Dane Cook could do, like, I mean,

I get that he's a little too old, but, like,

we have another person that's been out there

that, I mean, even looks like Ryan Reynolds and

can do, that could do that role just as well.

And so... Dane Cook is not about to get a six

pack. No way. Well, okay, so what? Like, but

he's got the, he can do the talking part and

he can do the look part. And so I feel like there's

another, you know, Deadpool could get his mega

boy. Nah, dude, I've never looked at Dane Cook

and been like, that dude could beat somebody's

ass. But Deadpool. You look at Ryan Reynolds

and think that? Yeah, dude is jacked. I'm pretty

sure he could like whoop anybody. Maybe not Hugh

Jackman. Well, that's what it's coming down to.

Who do I want to see Hugh Jackman have to go

against? Deadpool or Professor X? Man, I don't

know about this one. I was all set to... Vote

for Patrick Stewart as well, but I'm I'm questioning

that myself based on somebody that does actually

bring a good point I actually could kind of see

day coat doing that Doing that role. Maybe you

wouldn't be like the physical presence. I don't

know I stunt double but he'd be all right Man,

but yeah, I mean Ryan Reynolds was just like

a dude in the sitcom for a while too until like

he right took some Pilates classes and stuff

like that I was actually tempted to say the other

guy from Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place,

but I didn't. Needed Billion? No. Man, I don't

know. How do you vote against Patrick Stewart?

This one's tough for me. We got two votes for

Ryan Reynolds with Amanda and Dan. Man, I don't

know if you've convinced me yet to vote for Patrick

Stewart. I think that's where my gut fits, though.

I like Dan's argument, though. I'm gonna go with

Ryan Reynolds on this one. I'll go with Ryan

Reynolds as Deadpool. I think it did work. I

think there could be a James McAvoy out there

to do that. There could be that version that

could take over Deadpool, but I gotta give it

to Ryan Reynolds just becoming that character

and the success he had in marketing it and just

following through with that. That made it work,

regardless of the whole Wolverine thing. So I

guess I'll vote for Ryan Reynolds as well. So

that means he will move on. Alright, that means

we are going to go to the other end of this bracket

here, the heroes bracket. Let's go down to the

number 3 seed and the number 6 seed. The number

3 seed we'll see was our play in match up between

our Batman. So that's going to be where Michael

Keaton's Batman falls in at the 3 seed. And it

only makes sense to have Batman versus Superman.

So let's go with Christopher Reeve as Superman

against Michael Keaton as Batman. Too old school.

Batman and Superman guys Amanda let you start

this one. What do you what do you think? You

always are about Batman or Superman. Here you

go. Hey now, this is hard though. Um Just just

based on you know the time period that I was

Watching these movies for the first time and

the age that I was in Definitely drawn to Batman

more than Superman Although as I got older and

watched, you know more of the Superman movies

I was able to appreciate them, but my heart falls

in the 90s no matter what so I'm gonna go with

Michael Keaton Batman See, I guess my point on

this one might be if you're thinking about those

characters specifically There was a play -in

match -up with Batman, which means that there's

other actors who have played Batman that we also

would consider or highly consider as, you know,

great performances. Do you put any of the other

Supermans up there? There isn't a playing game

for Superman. It was just Christopher Reeve because

he seems to embody that character. Nobody's putting

or talking about the other guys that have played

Superman as being great. Maybe one of you guys

feels that one of the other ones should have

been involved, but... So, I don't know if that

tilts things towards Christopher Reeve a little

bit more, since there's not as much competition,

but Matt, maybe you have different feelings about

Superman. So what do you think about this one?

Well, I think I would have much rather seen these

two fight than Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck.

But that's not Affleck's fault, he did a great

job. Here's the thing if you're like, hey, what's

your favorite Batman movie? What's your favorite

Superman movie? These guys aren't the stars these

these aren't the two that I the movies that I

would go to but I Like I would always always

want more Adam West Batman, but I think The Richard

Donner Superman movies those are Superman like

I think I gotta give it to Superman on this one,

just because he is that character, like, for

all of those movies. This might be the one matchup

that represents your criteria the most, because

I think if you're deciding which one more embodies

the character, I think Matt makes a valid argument

that that seems to be Chris Reeve at Superman.

But Dan, Michael Keaton's clearly the better

actor, right? I don't know, clearly. curse of

a reason i think had had had his moments uh you

know i don't know i if i would say better he

probably is a better actor did he give better

performances I don't know, because one thing

you got to consider with Christopher Reeve, too,

is how well he was able to play both the role

of Superman and Clark Kent, and how you were

able to actually somewhat buy the fact that,

yeah, people won't recognize the fact that Superman

and Clark Kent have the same person just without

glasses. Just the physical way he was able to

make Clark into this very bumbling type of character.

And he sold that well, and he made Superman a

character that's so difficult to play so many

people have tried and failed into someone who

was charismatic and pathetic and It had an element

of charisma as well. So to me it's um, this isn't

this is kind of an easy one I like Keaton, but

there's maybe some debate of who could be the

best Batman like we went over There's no debate

of who the best Superman movie do Superman is

and Ralph was basically doing an impersonation

of Christopher Reeve So this is a slam dunk from

Christopher Reeve all the way Alright, so that's

a vote for Christopher Reeve Amanda was a vote

for Michael Keaton You were for Christopher Reeve

too as well, right? Mm -hmm. All right, so that

means if I vote Christopher Reeve he moves on.

If I vote for Keaton we got ourselves a tie.

But I think I got to go back to what I was saying

in my initial thoughts that there's been more

people that I can picture as Batman. I cannot

picture anybody else as Superman. And the ones

that have tried so far to me have utterly flopped

as far as trying to play that character. So I

am going to make it a vote for Christopher Reeve

then and pass Superman on to the next round.

That means we only have one more matchup on this

side of the bracket. Our two seed and our seven

seed. Two seed. being none other than one of

Amanda's favorite actors. Mr. RDJ is Iron Man.

And the seven seed, it only makes sense. They

just gave it to us last year. We got to do Iron

Man versus Captain America. So Captain America,

as played by Chris Evans. So we got Captain America

versus Iron Man. Matt, we'll let you go first

on this one. Oh, jeez. Like... this these these

guys are are great like they're great Robert

Downey jr. is is one of the best actors out there

today um like maybe not best of all time but

like if he's in a movie now i want to see it

Like, he's got more drawing power than just about

anyone else in Hollywood, for me personally.

Like, I love his Iron Man. And what's great is

that, like, the fact that you know that on some

level he's lived the Iron Man life in real life,

like, it really helps, somehow. Like, it's like,

yeah, he knows what it's like, and he method

-acted this one before he got the role. And so,

like, he's so good. But, like, Chris Evans in

that first one, like... Like you know play playing

just the head and then playing the whole body

like it like he's so good Like these guys are

great and either one of these guys deserves to

be number one But if I got to choose one of them,

I think I'm going with Iron Man on this one And

this was an intriguing matchup for me because

I know we have two people that are very strong

in each camp, I think, because Amanda loves RDJ

as Iron Man. And I believe, Dan, your feelings

are just as strong for Captain America. I know

that's considering the movies. I don't know how

it breaks down when you're considering these

two characters. So where do you lie as far as

Robert Downey Jr. versus Chris Evans? This is

probably the hardest one we've done so far for

me. It's really going back and forth. Because

you know Chris Evans does he gets that role of

Captain America and it's similar to to Christopher

Reeve and Superman That's a hard character to

play, you know Tony Stark Iron Man's flashy he's

comedic. He is a lot, you know, it's easier to

make that character fun and entertaining where

Steve Rogers can be kind of boring and bland,

but it's the way he kind of is able to make you

really empathize with him as a person. Like he

is just a stand up guy first and foremost and

he doesn't ever, you know, he was able to really

make that character work and he gets the nuances

of Captain America and Steve Rogers thinking

back to Civil War and that moment when he does

that, you know, I can think I can do this all

day. And like that that in so many ways gets

to the heart of that character. But. Honestly,

I think I might have to go to Tony Stark in Robert

Downey Jr. I talked about what Ryan Reynolds

and the responsibility he had. You think about

it. Robert Downey Jr. basically put the Marvel

Universe on his back and he made it work. He

was a big reason why Iron Man was the success

that it was. It was breaking out, coming back

to the world party for him because he was in

the doldrums of Hollywood for a while. He just

burst onto the scene. I kind of knew him before

that, but I didn't know much about him. But he

made me want to see Iron Man. He made me want

to see the Avengers. He was the money for this

franchise. He made Iron Man into an A -list character,

hit by sheer force of will. Without him, we may

not get the Avengers. Without his success, we

may not even get Chris Evans as Captain America.

Is that an unfair thing to say? It might be,

but I don't think it also shows just how... how

important that performance was. And even though

he is funny and he has all the crazy lines, there

are moments where you do see a more tragic character

as well. So it pains me to say it, but I think

I'm gonna go with Robert Downey Jr. Amanda. What

do you think? I'm surprised Dan going with Iron

Man. Are you going to surprise me and go with

Captain America? Hell no. I'm going to go with

Hardy J all the way. I do think Chris Evans is

a great Captain America. Definitely for all the

points that Dan brought up. I think that Chris

Evans is a great actor in many of his roles,

really. I respect him, but R .D. Day is definitely

just has my heart. I think he's got like one

of my most favorite quotes ever. He's actually

in a courtroom talking about his addiction and

he said that, you know, he said it's like I have

the gun on my mouth, but I like the taste of

the metal. I think he puts himself completely

into what he's doing and I think it definitely

shows in Iron Man. He's definitely embodied that

and given it, you know, dynamicism that just

has so much charisma that we can't help but love

him. Yeah, I think also what Dan kind of brought

up is I think there was definitely a bigger hill

to climb for RDJ to pull off Iron Man than there

was for Steve Rogers, only because, like he was

saying, how many people knew who Iron Man was

if you weren't really into comic books. I had

heard of him, but I had no clue anything about

him when that movie was... first being talked

about and rumored and kind of discussed. And

I was like, well, I'm not really that interested.

I don't even think I saw it in theater. But then

when you do finally see it, it's what launched

Marvel and it's what made it. And the ball was

already rolling by the time Chris Evans comes

along. But that's not to take away what Chris

Evans did with that character. It's like Dan

said, it's not necessarily the most flashy of

characters. And he's totally embodied that character.

We've gotten that a lot. We got a lot of characters

so far that you can't picture too many other

people. playing. And I think Chris Evans fits

into that with Captain America, but I will vote

in the end for Robert Downey Jr. just because

I like what he's done to carry kind of Marvel

in those early stages. So Iron Man moving on

into the next round. Let's flip to the other

side of the bracket. We're talking good a lot.

Let's break it up a little bit and talk some

evil. Or at least some villainry. Let's go to

the number one seed on the villain side, one

that we've already talked about, which was the

playing game between the two jokers. So we have

Heath Ledger's joker in the one seed. And if

he beat Jack Nicholson's joker, I would think

this would be an easy choice for some of us.

But the number eight seed on that side is Danny

DeVito's penguin. So can he take down the other

joker and the other penguin? Amanda, what do

you think? Is it Heath Ledger moving on easily

past Danny DeVito or what do you think? Oh dude,

I love Danny DeFito as the penguin. He's disgusting

and despicable and I think he looks perfect for

the role. I think it is, you know, a very, I

don't know, I kind of want to say a landish role.

Like it's, he's definitely not human looking

and he is a very big character even though he's

a short motherfucker. I think that he is one

of my all -time favorite Batman characters, and

that's definitely a hard choice pitting him up

against the best friggin' Joker that I've seen

in film. So, man, hard. You know what? I'm gonna

stick up for all the little people in the world,

and I'm gonna say Danny DeVito. Going for the

upset, the eight seed over the one seed. Matt,

what do you think? Danny DeVito's Penguin? Heath

Ledger's Joker? Well, um, I believe if anyone

can remember all the way all the way all the

way back when we did our It was like top 10 or

top 20 favorite comic book characters in movies.

I chose Burgess Merriweather as my penguin um

and not to be this batman 66 like apologist or

enthusiast or whatever um i like how he portrayed

the character i i mean again it's these guys

both are doing different takes from the comic

books than what i would like right like i i like

this the the game video has some of the cool

and calculating but wasn't he mostly made by

people around him in that movie it's been a while

since i've seen it it was not like i think it

was more so they thought so but he really had

this secret plan using penguins with rocket launchers

all along i need to see was the bad man returns

again like that movie sounds amazing it really

is like I don't like the disgusting character.

I don't so much like the the anarchist evil.

I don't know I mean like a different take on

anarchist like a dark gritty anarchist. He's

got black shit coming out of his mouth He's like

ripping heads off fish and stuff, but his body

is morphed like it makes it crazy and awesome

So much love for the penguin You know what I'm

gonna I'm gonna vote penguin like I'm not I'm

not casting my tiebreaker on this one if it goes

the other way not at all But like I think I'm

just gonna do that and not feel bad damn Well,

I'm gonna go he flutter I like I like Danny DeVito

and I think this performance is someone underrated

and kind of gets lost and maybe because the movie

isn't isn't as well regarded as some of the other

comic book film especially Batman movies, but

you know Heath Ledger There's so much, I don't

know what more to say about it that hasn't been

said, but I like Danny DeVito's character. He's

kind of, like, smarmy, disgusting, like Amanda

mentioned, but Heath Ledger is disgusting in

a lot of ways, too, and just so... Like, Dark

Knight doesn't go back to the, like, what won't

work if they're not there. I don't think Dark

Knight is the movie it is without him, and...

What he did for that role. Um, so I mean he did

kill a guy with a pencil. So he did there was

an amazing magic trick So I mean he I never I

never saw the Joker as an intimidating character

in anything I read or watched but he made it

into that Just because it's there was something

like only unpredictable about him. So Look what

that role does to people like it consumes people.

It's such like a dark role that People just they

don't really go fucking stupid nuts like it's

crazy look how it's it changed Jared Leto, too

But look at Penguin. He's a fun skeezy little

character Believe his character and he's not

gonna ruin anybody's life by playing I think

Kind of the the legend behind like ledger losing

his life because of the role is is maybe played

out a little bit more than than it should because

you know if you ever look at some of the backstage

you know behind the scenes photos and videos

he is kind of just living life like a normal

dude he's happy and got lucky and i don't know

necessarily i don't i think that's i think that's

more of like the legend that's been built i don't

know if that's really the reason behind it charlotte

was just a weird dude so i can't really say much

about that um but i mean yeah Yeah, I don't like...

And you know, Mark Hamill seems to be doing okay,

and he's been Joker for what, like 30 years now?

He's just the voice, though. He's just the voice.

Don't ever say just the voice when you're talking

about Mark Hamill and the Joker. You'll have

mobs of angry people. Has he ever showed up looking

like the Joker somewhere? He doesn't need to.

Probably. Yeah, probably. I was gonna say, have

you ever seen him do the voice? He kinda looks

like him. Have you ever seen him in real life?

He's not a good looking dude. He really kind

of looks like the... Why don't you calm your

shit and cast your voice? Or your voice. Voice?

It's your voice. I will cast my voice because

this is ridiculous. I think Danny DeVito's put

up more of a fight than most people would give

him credit for, but this has to go to Heath Ledger.

He's as one of the... greatest performances in

a comic book movie period. So I don't see him

going out this early in this tournament. I have

to vote for Heath Ledger to pass Danny DeVito

regardless of how skeezy and slime volley Danny

DeVito was able to do with Penguin. I don't...

I can't do it. So I vote for Heath Ledger too.

Which means we have our first tie 2 -2. I'll

use my tiebreaker and this he has to go on we

cannot like the message like they'll legitimately

the once we post it the message boards would

like if we if we didn't let him go to the cast

radio network I will take on the internet you

don't want to do that I am not scared alright

so Joker moving on thanks to Dan's tiebreaker

vote let's go to the five and four seat on that

side of the bracket and let's get a little some

female action involved here so let's go to two

female quote -unquote villains and let's go with

our number four seed Catwoman as played by Michelle

Pfeiffer against the number five seed more recently

Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie. Amanda

ladies first on this one since it's two ladies

going against each other what do you think Catwoman

or Harley Quinn? She'll fight for Catwoman. Boom.

I think she doesn't really have like seven Harley

Quinn Funkos over on the shelf, which is telling

you something. I really, really like Harley Quinn

as a character. But I also think that people

blew up Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Fucking

stupid style. And I can't always get behind it.

All right. I think she did a great job. I think

that her character was kind of underused in Suicide

Squad. The scenes that they deleted out definitely

added something. They should have left them in

there. But maybe she needs her own standalone

film to really solidify that role for me. Maybe.

But I think that Michelle Pfeiffer was an amazing

Catwoman. I love the buildup of her story. I

loved her transformation. I loved her interactions

with freaking Christopher Walken as her boss.

I loved her interactions with Batman. I loved

the scene where she's making her freaking costume.

Like, I think that it was... Fun ride and a fun

transformation and I liked who she became so

Michelle Pfeiffer Yes, all right I will say most

people did obviously point to Margot Robbie and

Will Smith as the best two parts of the Suicide

Squad Dan What do you think here Harley Quinn

or? Catwoman I Want to think less about Suicide

Squad than I need to then so I'm gonna go with

I'm gonna go with Michelle Pfeiffer. I like I

know how he quit Markle Robbie was fine. I don't

necessarily know if like if it was more of just

the fact that she'd looked a lot like Harley

Quinn I don't know if the performance was anything

all that spectacular Michelle Pfeiffer is just

and talk about crazy like that her performance

is just like it's we it's weird and it's it's

such a Random combination of are just Acting

choices, but I don't know but it's she's a lot

of fun in that role like it's it's she's very

much that like exactly what I would expect for

a timber inversion of So I want to go with Michelle

Pfeiffer Matt agree or a dissenting opinion here

with Harley Quinn and Catwoman well I've already

said once this record that I don't remember Batman

Returns that much. Like I remember one bit at

the beginning where Batman like misses a dude

with a grappling hook and then pulls the wall

out from behind him. And I remember one bit at

the end where Catwoman gets shot like a dozen

times as a guy's one life. That's two lives.

I remember that and then I remember the Penguin

Rockets and that's all I got of that movie. But

she's more catwoman than Halle Berry will ever

be Say that much Honestly, I think I think you

hit on the head when he said Will Smith and Margot

Robbie were the two best things about the Suicide

Squad movie I Suicide Squad movies problems were

script related to me. Like, I think most of the

actors did a good job with what they had and

what they were offered. I think a lot of the

character choices were terrible, but not the

actors choices, like the direction choices. I

think the script was one of the worst scripts

in a superhero movie history. But I think Margot

Robbie is exactly what I want from an on -screen

Harley Quinn, which is especially weird considering

Jared Leto was terrible as the Joker. So I'm

gonna go with Margot Robbie. Alright, so one

vote over to Harley Quinn side. I This could

be completely recency bias or something like

that, but I have not I'm like Matt I haven't

seen Batman Returns in a long time. I do remember

Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman But I wouldn't

be able to like break down her performances and

kind of go in the ins and outs I do remember

thinking it was absolutely crazy at the time,

but I don't know I I'm thinking I'm siding with

Matt on this one just because as bad as that

movie was I thought Harley Quinn was one of the

bright spots in there. What's one of the six

times of them just panning up to her butt to

cause you to cast this vote? None of them, but

I'm gonna vote. Maybe I shouldn't. I'm gonna

vote for Harley Quinn on this one, which means

we have another tie. Two for Harley Quinn and

two for Catwoman. Anybody feeling strong enough

on this one to use a tiebreaker? Amanda, you

were pretty... Adamant right at the beginning.

How many of these tiebreaker things? You got

two in me. Yeah, I would use mine here. I'm going

to say tiebreaker. It's got to be Catwoman. And

I think that her performance and her arc was

way better than what we saw from Harley Quinn.

And I don't even know if we're going to get any

more Harley Quinn and to even help her case as

Harley Quinn. But I know for a fact that Michelle

Pfeiffer's performance was tops as Catwoman.

Alright, so Catwoman moving on emphatically by

Amanda and her use of the tiebreaker. That means

we only have two more matchups on that side to

go. Let's go down to the number two and the number

seven seed on that side. Number two seed has

already been talked about. It was the play and

match up for Magneto. So we have Michael Fassbender's

Magneto now in the number two seed slot. Going

up against Alfred Molina's Doc Ock in the seven

seed. Dan recently brought this up on a previous

record on kind of that being an underrated performance,

so we'll let you start with this one, Dan. Michael

Fassbender as Magneto or Alfred Molino as Doc

Ock. I'm going to go with Fassbender, but I do

want to kind of throw some praise to Molino's

performance in this, and I love Spider -Man 2

for a lot of reasons, but to me, I think what's

great about what they do with Doc Ock is how

it plays against that of Peter Parker and Spider

-Man, you know, where that is a character that

is about... what happens when a person takes

up the responsibility that they're given based

upon the power that's bestowed upon them, where

you see Donkok is the opposite of that, where

a great power is provided, but the responsibility

isn't there. Where decisions are made that are

to the benefit of the individual, even though

that there is a risk to others, and how that

grows as it moves on. What's great about, I think,

his performance is how he just starts as a normal

guy. There's an element of tragedy to what he

becomes, and I think his arc is rather strong

in that film. But I think, too, he's got some

really great lines. I love his interaction with

Aunt May. how he transforms himself, and it's

not necessarily a drastic change, it's not like

he's just, he becomes this maniacal, cackling

type of character, but you certainly see the

drive that he kind of consumes him, and he gets

obsessed, and to the point where he's doing what

he's doing, but like I said, Fassbender is just

at another level, and there's specific moments

within the X -Men franchise that I won't get

to that. to me are just some of the best of any

comic book movie in history. And I think legitimately

Oscar worthy. And if it wasn't a comic book film,

maybe you've even considered because of that.

So Malina's great. I like him a lot, but I'm

going to go with Fassbender. Matt, agree or disagree

with Dan's take? I think he was the one the most

in Doc Ock's court. And if he's not even voting

Doc Ock, how could any of us? Fassbender is just

one of the best. So I'm going to have to go with

him. Amanda? Yeah, I mean, do we need to see

or say anything more about Michael Fassbender

as, you know, I mean, I think we said it all

earlier, and there's so many different facets

of his character that we see, so many emotions

that we see played out, and it's still a no contest.

I do agree with Dan that Doc Aqua was well done,

and Alfred Molina did a good job on that one,

you know, especially in the world of superhero

villains which oftentimes are the worst part

of the movies that they're in but I can't vote

against Michael Fassbender so it's going to be

unanimous for Magneto moving on as the number

two seed probably is expected to do and he'll

face the winner of the three and seven matchup.

At the three seed we have Tom Hiddleston as Loki

and at the sixth seed facing off against him

is Terrence Stamp Zod. So Dan How does this one

work? A lot of times I know people have looked

at Loki as probably one of the best of the villains

we've gotten as far as the MCU goes. And then

obviously Terrence Stamp is old school, so where

do you feel like this one boils down to? It's

tough because Terrence Stamp is doing a very

particular thing that works really well for Superman

2. He's just like... this, uh, he's hamming it

up in the best ways possible. Neil, before his

odd, he's really kind of taking the idea of a

super villain and, you know, playing it with

a capital S and the capital V where Tom Middleton

is doing that in a lot of moments, you know,

like, uh, especially in the Avengers. He's really

kind of, I think. Weedon's really making him

into that classic type of villain. But there

are some moments, especially within the Thor

films, where you get a little more depth to his

character, especially with Thor, the Dark World.

The moments that come to my mind are the ones

where he's dealing with what happens to his mother

and the relationship and the conflict with him

and his brother. So it's a little unfair because

they're both playing villains, but I think Loki,

based on the fact that he has more films and

more time, Tom Hiddleston was able to do a little

bit more and also was more of a modernization

of what happened with the superhero hero film

in general. Now, Terrence Stamp is great, he's

fun, but I think Hiddleston is... Probably the

maybe one of the best villains that Marvel has

had so because of that I'm gonna go with him

Here, I think that's the same logic for me I

think you know being the go -to villain as far

as all the Marvel films as far as he became the

He set the bar is what it seemed like and I don't

know if it's just because he was chosen as the

the villain in Avengers But I think it would

be regardless of that Just based on the Thor

films that he kind of set the bar as this is

what a villain can be and everybody else was

comparing all the villains in the future Marvel

films to him And I don't think any of them quite

really have lived, well, I don't know if that's

maybe too strong of a word, but in a lot of people's

minds, nobody has quite hit that same bar yet.

So I agree. I think this one would be a vote

for Tom Hiddleston as Loki too. It's also, I

like Tom Hiddleston, but I still think this is

maybe one of his best performances as Loki. a

lot of his other movies have kind of been a little

middle of the road type films and some of them

have been kind of doozy. So I'm going with Tom

Hiddleston as Loki against General Zod. Amanda,

what do you think? Yeah, definitely. I don't

even remember this General Zod. Is he the one

that gets trapped in that mirror thing with them?

Yeah. Yeah, that's really all I remember about

that. I think that Loki, like, Kevin said definitely

sets the the bar for villainry here. I think

he's the right amount of humorous the right amount

of Of an eagle maniac to where he was also able

to kind of play that line of Almost tricking

you like you didn't know what his true intentions

were you don't mean like you didn't know what

his motivations or or you know How bad is he

or or is he capable of turning and that type

of stuff? I thought he did a good job kind of

balancing that act. Didn't mean to cut you off.

Know their thoughts? No. Okay. Thanks. Alright,

Matt, what do you think about this one? Well,

I mean, the vote, the die is cast, right? It

is. But I do think that Terrence Stamp doesn't

have the presence that Michael Shannon had as

Zod. But, again, he's the more iconic version

of the character. He brought something to that

character that made that movie more enjoyable

than Man of Steel, easily. But, I mean, Tom Hiddleston

as Loki... I mean he's just one of the best villains

we've gotten in a movie like superhero or not

like just like that moment in Avengers where

like they're all like fighting and he's just

sitting there like I don't know like I love his

performance and I think uh you know it's it's

louder than stuff but I think sometimes it gets

overrated I mean I personally overlook it sometimes

and then anytime I just go back to I was like

oh man that is so good Alright, so that means

Loki is moving on and that means we only have

eight competitors left. Let's get right back

into it though, flipping back over to the hero

side. Our first matchup in the next round would

see Wolverine facing off against Deadpool. I

mean, how fitting is that? I couldn't have wrote

that up any better. I was thinking it was going

to be Wolverine versus Professor X, but either

way we get a good matchup here. Wolverine versus

Deadpool. Matt, I know you just kind of finished

us up here, but the die had already been cast

in that Loki matchup, so let's give you a little

bit more weight here. What do you think? We've

already kind of weighed out some of the good

and bad about these characters, but what would

tip the scale one way or the other for you when

it comes to Wolverine or Deadpool? Oh, man. Like...

So these guys, they're both great. They both

do the job exactly as you want. Like... As much

as I gave Ryan Reynolds crap for X -Men Origins,

I mean, they're both in it, right? But, like,

they both are, as we've said, a bunch, and forgive

me if it gets tiring, they both embody the characters.

on the screen they're exactly who I would pick

if I you know like hey infinite budget cast who

you want these are the two I'm getting for that

movie like the for their various respective movies

I I love them both I think they're great but

here's the thing Ryan Reynolds has done it for

one and a half movies he's embodied Wade Wilson

this guy's this guy's Ben Wolverine nearly two

decades he is Wolverine and he gets them all

the way from like the scrappy little guy all

the way to the end where like it just hurts to

live like and and he gets that Like just he's

a powerhouse actor. He's an amazing performer.

I got to give it to Hugh Jackman on this one.

Amanda? So everything like Matt said. She says

exactly in agreement everything that Matt said.

So that means there's two votes for Wolverine.

Dan, would you like to decide this one or would

you like to keep it up for grabs? Well, my thought

process is I'm pretty sure Deadpool and the Deadpool

movie would vote for Wolverine in the would break

the fourth wall and vote for Hugh Jackman and

Logan and Wolverine. So I'll agree with Deadpool

and vote for Wolverine. Alright, that means Wolverine

is moving on. I would vote for him too if it

mattered. So that's a clean sweep. Wolverine

moving past Deadpool. The number one seed beats

the number five seed. The other matchup on that

side of the bracket sees our number two seed.

against our number six seed. We did have an upset.

I didn't realize that. But Superman beating Batman

was actually technically, I guess, an upset when

it came to the seeding. So now we have Iron Man

versus Superman. Amanda, your boy, RDJ going

against the Man of Steel. I mean, looking at

both of their legacies, it's crazy because everybody

sees Christopher Reeve as Superman. But everybody

also sees RDJ as Iron Man, but there's been no

other Iron Man. It's just Iron Man. Dora is Superman.

Even all the other renditions that we've had,

all the other actors that we've had as Superman.

Christopher Reeve is Superman. So as much as

I love RDJ, I think I'm going to give this one

to Christopher Reeve as Superman. Interesting.

You're a faithful to RDJ. That surprises me.

Dan, is it steel or iron we're going with in

this one? Well, part of thinking the performance

is talking about longevity. Well, four movies

in and Christopher Reeve was giving a Superman

four, which was, you know, him fighting a Superman

clone with Gene Hackman's voice on the moon and

throwing nukes into the sun. And, you know, giving

it like it was a pretty pretty, you know, he

reigned in performance. You know, Robert Downey

Jr. in his what? Nineteen. time so playing this

character and he's still nailing it out of the

park i think even with civil war we got a little

bit um you know he he brought even new elements

to the character somehow with with the relationship

with his parents and especially near the ending

and the way that work works out so because robert

downey jr. stayed more consistent through it

throughout a longer period of time i'll go robert

downey jr. all right one vote each matt we got

an interesting match up boiling down here for

this uh last side on the hero side so uh iron

man or superman oh man this is not what i expected

when you were going to come to me on this one

um like i i so i don't i don't want to blame

christopher reefer the the superman for like

that he didn't write that right And also, yeah,

he did help write it. He actually did help write

it. Oh, no. That's why it had the subplot of

him throwing Newton to the sun, because he would

only do the movie if they brought that into the

film. Oh, he's a super hardcore liberal disarmament

guy, huh? He was in the 80s, yeah. I can believe

that. I'm going to just assume that that's true.

I heard some people on the internet were talking

about it. I've heard things. Dan has never lied

to me. I really like what Amanda said about how,

I mean, there have been how many Supermans, but

there's only one Superman. Like, those movies

are iconic. I came back to them as an adult.

No, I came to them as an adult. I don't know

that I ever saw them as a child, but as an adult,

they still amazed and wowed me. I still love

them. They got the characterization of Superman

perfectly. But then also earlier, I said Robert

Downey Jr. He's one of the best actors that Hollywood

has in its staple right now. It's so... This

is maybe the hardest one, but I'm going to just...

Tenuously give my vote to Robert Downey Jr. on

this one. I could be swayed, but that's where

I'm going right now. See, I think even though

we say that, you know, when you think of Superman,

you think of Christopher Reeve, even though multiple

people have played, nobody has had the chance

to play Iron Man. So let's do what we, I mean,

Christopher Reeve, we're going back to the 70s.

So let's skip ahead 30 years into the future.

Let's say we've had, you know, one or two more

people play Iron Man. I think it's could the

argument could be made that we're still going

to say. RDJ embodies Iron Man. I mean, we can't

say for sure, but I don't know if it's fair to

make that argument in the sense that nobody else

has had a chance to play Iron Man either. I can't

picture somebody doing it better than Robert

Downey Jr., though. I could still see maybe somebody

doing a Superman that I would pick above Christopher

Reeve, maybe, eventually, if somebody actually

wrote a good script and somebody directed a good

movie. That could happen. I don't know. It's

not Christopher Reeve's fault he couldn't do

a better Superman movie because he couldn't work

anymore. No, no, I'm not saying that he didn't

do a good Superman. I'm saying that there's a

potential that somebody else could, if there

was a good movie out there and they found the

right person, we might have someone that we could

say, hey, that guy rivals Christopher Reeve.

I don't know if I'm... Why don't, why don't you

stop going on mites and go with what we've got

already? Okay, then I'm gonna go with, then I'm

gonna go with RDJ because I like every Iron Man

movie better than every Superman movie. Because

you're... Oh, man. I don't even know what to

say anymore. I do want to say that as much as

Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man has permeated our

culture, right? He's an icon to us at our age.

Growing up, I heard my mom say things like, you

know, wear a helmet. I don't want you to end

up like Superman. That is a literal thing my

fucking mom said to me when I was like 12, which

is great. Great, mom. Good job. But I don't think

I'm ever going to tell my kids like, hey, you

don't want to be a drunk like Iron Man. Like,

so like just culturally, Christopher Reeves,

Superman has has definitely had a bigger impact,

especially in my life than Robert Downey Jr's

Iron Man. Are you switching your vote? No, I'm

not switching my vote. I mean, I can't believe

this is the one that you're you're being one

of the strongest reactions to being such a big

RDJ fan. I'm just trying to give the guy in the

wheelchair a chance, okay? Well, he has no chance

because he's out of this tournament. Ironman

moves on. He's also in heaven now, okay? So,

who's the real winner? I respect your choice,

Amanda. Thanks, Matt. Thanks for at least having

my back on the Superman choice. We're gonna move

on to the villainry as we get more villainous

ourselves. Let's look at the number one seed

facing off against the number four seed. Man,

he's taking down... Jack Nicholson's Joker. He's

taken down Danny DeVito's Penguin and now he's

coming after Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. He's

trying to single -handedly destroy 90s Batman

movies. And we got the Joker has played by Heath

Ledger against Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman.

Anybody want to start this one off? Matt, what

do you think? Oh, um, like again, like I said

earlier, I can't remember Michelle Pfeiffer's

Catwoman all that much. Um, I think if I think

this would be the one to cause Internet... Is

Internet Outrage gonna happen if Heath Ledger

just doesn't win this? Like, is there gonna be

one that he could go up against? Maybe Heath

Jackman? I don't know. I mean, I'm gonna give

this one to Heath Ledger because, I mean, it'd

be silly otherwise. I mean, did anyone at Batman

Returns beat Heath Ledger's Joker performance?

I say no. Except for maybe, maybe Penguin. I

don't know. I'm gonna say Heath Ledger. One vote

for Heath Ledger. Amanda, you've been in the

corner. Stop talking. I'll go with Heath Ledger.

So no more love for your 90s Batman? How can

you put anything up against Heath Ledger's Joker?

Any of these calibers? You know what I mean?

Like maybe like Matt said, who's gonna go up

against him? Like Wolverine? Wolverine can go

up against him? We'll see. Looking into the future.

So that's two votes for Joker. Dan, you gonna

make it three? Yeah, definitely. Alright, so

four votes for Heath Ledger's Joker taking out

the trio of 90s Batman characters. That means

we're going down to the other side of the bracket

here with Magneto, the number two seed, going

against Loki, the number three seed, and an interesting

matchup. Michael Fassbender's Magneto, Tom Hiddleston's

Loki. Amanda, let's start with you. I know you

like both of these gents. What do you think?

Oh man, let's see. Jeez, wait, Loki against who?

Michael Fassbender. Okay. Magneto. My brain just

totally stopped if you're talking about dudes.

You were just thinking about... I'm gonna go

with Michael Fassbender. I think that his arc

and everything that he's put in his performance

that we've... said eight thousand times now let's

record is is going to top uh Tom Hiddleston as

Loki that's not to take away from you know how

awesome Tom Hiddleston did as Loki but yeah I

think that the performance and so much more to

it with a fast bender so I can't make the same

argument as far as um That we made earlier as

far as there's been multiple Magneto's that we

could put in this grouping that you know Ian

McCallum did a fabulous job too, but there's

been nobody else has played Loki so Shouldn't

that give Actually, did you see the mask because

Loki was the god of mischief that had possessed

the mask So technically there has been somebody

else that played Loki He was the mask in the

mask and the mask is a comic book movie So sir

that's schooled here Dan you had some arguments

that you were saving for Magneto is now the time

to bring them out Or do you think it's not necessary

to go against Loki here? You think it's an easy

win? I'm gonna hold off. I don't think it's an

easy one, but it's it's it's I'm gonna go with

Fassbender over over it'll say it's tough because

I love both of these guys and they're both like

they're these characters and Have a lot going

for them. I think they've done a wonderful job

in their roles I think the reason I'm going to

go with Fassbender, though, is because I always

felt the relationships within the X -Men films,

there was just a certain, I don't know... to

them that are not there quite yet in the Marvel

movies. Loki's probably the closest there is

with his relationship with Thor, but I always

felt like the X -Men films and the Fastbender

characters, Fastbender's performance and the

Magneto character, they were just dealing with

more complex issues. X -Men by general, there

is a sense of realism that you don't have in

the X -Men films, so we'll just find that's not

necessarily what they're going for, but because

of that, I think Fastbender is able to give a

stronger performance. and he's dealing with a

lot more emotionally wise, because you're tying

a lot of what he's doing in with real life tragic

events from things like the Holocaust, obviously,

where his character originates from, or is heavily

influenced by. So because of that, I'm gonna

go with Fassbender. All right, Matt, what do

you think? Another vote for Michael Fassbender,

or are you gonna cast one towards the Loki side?

Well, I mean, I think that this is... These these

two guys have done an amazing job and I would

watch them be a villain in any movie like Even

different characters. I think they both would

do an amazing job. I think they're they're great

guys And I love the movies that they're in like

I love all of the movies that they're in. Yeah

Thor 1 is just kind of weak but that's that's

script Loki's great in it, but I think just between

Loki being the amazing villain of Avengers 2

and then being that like, hurt man in Thor 2,

in Avengers 1 and Thor 2, I think I'm gonna go

Tom Hiddleston on this one. Like, I think I like

him a little bit better as Loki. Interesting

so one vote over towards Loki I am so tempted

to join you Matt because I do think that I Like

so much of the what like kind of what we talked

about before how he's able to balance You don't

know whether you can believe him what his motives

are What is in it and Tom Hiddleston does a real

great job of masking that kind of hiding his

intentions And I do think he has some with some

good moments, you know with family wise some

some depth to his character that we don't get

a lot like Dan was saying in the MCU But Michael

Fassbender has all of that too. So it's it's

Almost I mean I could see these two almost in

a final. It's comes down to I guess a personal

preference I am going to vote for Man I will

vote for Loki too and Can I say tiebreaker now

then or? Who or do I have to wait for you to

offer it? I don't know I guess the rules weren't

set for that. So, if you're offering it. Yeah,

I mean, I feel strongly enough about this one.

Okay. Not the penguin. So you want Loki to move

on? I do. Woo! Upset for that round, Loki over

Magneto. Dan, are you surprised by that? A little

bit, because I didn't expect that. I don't know.

I can see both of them. I can see the argument

for both. I'm torn. I still don't even know if

my vote was in the right direction. It wasn't.

I wanted to reserve a few things, but I guess

I might as well throw it out there. Maybe people

will change their mind. I don't know. Go for

it. I think there are just moments of acting

that Fassbender is able to demonstrate within

that franchise that I think are... or at just

another level, specifically looking at X -Men

First Class in which you have a really small

moment where he is just trying to move this satellite

with the help of Xavier. And it's like this small

kind of just bit, you know, it's not necessarily,

you know, he's not changing the world here. He's

just trying to learn how to control himself.

But it's a one shot completely on his face and

you within that you see a little bit of a kind

of mini flashback to where when he was as a child

this euphoria he's able to demonstrate and it's

just it's just like that right there is acting

with a capital a just him just being able to

kind of demonstrate so much with so little and

in a touching way, and able to make Magneto and

Eric Lencher, this guy that eventually basically

becomes a terrorist into just a really sympathetic

character, when he's basically hunting down Nazis.

And the anger that's there compared to what you

see, just almost the childness that was lost

coming back. I don't see anything to that level

with Tom Edelson in the Avengers films. Yeah,

he's fun and he has some moments of pain, especially

dealing with what happens with his mom, but that

dichotomy of that character isn't as, I think,

drastic as Fassbender is able to demonstrate

within that franchise and within, especially,

First Class. I don't know if that changes anybody's

mind, but I did want to throw it out there because

I do feel like it's worth saying, I guess. If

you look at both characters, though, both of

them were taken away from their real parents.

And look what each of them did with that. One

became a spoiled brat who decided to do some

shit to go against the family who took him in.

And the other sought revenge and annihilated

those who came up against him who were really

villains who guys who did awful shit to a lot

of people so I just think that Magneto became

a better villain for better reasons than Loki

I think another thing maybe that I wasn't considering

for Magneto might be the fact that we've seen

him he's He's not necessarily a hundred percent

villain at all times. But is Loki? Well, I guess

you could make that argument for both of them.

But you do get a lot of times where Magneto is

kind of, uh, it's not, he's not just being evil

for the sake of being evil, um, because there

are a lot of times where it does help or does

do positive things or make decisions that are

in the best interest of people or different -

Not people, mutants. Mutants, et cetera. Sorry.

Matt, are they, are they suing you at all? I

mean, like, Dan's not wrong. Like, Fastbender

is an amazing performer. Like, if this is just

which one of them gave a better performance,

I mean, I might have to give it to Fastbender,

but like, if we're talking character, I think

I still like Hiddleston's Loki just a smidge

more. The other moment that I thought, Dan, you

were going to go to, and I think you were kind

of going to a couple different moments, but the

moment where they show him in... What was it?

Was that in Apocalypse of the Beginning? That

they show him with his family, where his wife

and his daughter... that moment whatever film

that was in but that moment was super powerful

as well and being able to just see like him trying

to leave all of that behind and still kind of

be drugged back into it and the vengeance and

everything else that came because of that. I

can see the arguments on both sides and I can

see maybe there's Loki or Tom Edelson being that

character more. I think I'm getting persuaded

enough to switch my vote to Magneto though. Just

because of the depths that Michael Fassbender

was able to go in a couple of those instances

where Loki might still be able to do that if

he's involved in a future film but we haven't

seen it maybe to that level yet. So I'll flip

my vote to Magneto. Um, and we'll switch that

result and we'll have Magneto move on with a

vote of three to one. So, in the most close contest

we had yet, Magneto versus Loki. That means there's

only two more contests to bring out our final

two. We got Wolverine versus Iron Man as the

first one. Amanda, Wolverine or Iron Man? Oh,

shit. You voted against Iron Man last round.

Now you're coming back around RDJ? I don't know,

cause Wolverine has been one of my favorite characters

for so long. Like, when I was little, I didn't

even know about Iron Man. Like, he wasn't a thing

to me. But, uh, Wolverine was. He, uh, you know,

I loved watching the 90s cartoon. And I was never

really one to read comics but the all those 90s

cartoons really solidified a lot of these comic

book characters as You know something that I

was interested in so When we did get this live

-action version of X -Men I was super freaking

stoked and Hugh Jackman was everything that I

wanted in Wolverine and from the first movie

I Loved him loved his character. So as much as

I love our DJ as much as I think Iron Man is

super freaking cool In this matchup, I'm still

gonna have to go with Wolverine Dan is this one

a slam dunk? Even though it's a one versus a

two and it should be I guess it should be our

closest matchup But is it more of a slam dunk

for Wolverine or what do you think? Hmm. I don't

say slam dunk it per se it's tough Because they

are two very different different characters,

you know where Wolverine doesn't you know, he's

not that he's the muscle not muscle, but you

know He brings the brutality where Tony Stark

brings the entertainment, you know, he's he doesn't

really you know He has humorous moments, but

they're not necessarily jokey moments are meant

to be jokes exactly like so it's You know, it's

tough and I'm You know, obviously don't want

to do the thing where I feel like I'm picking

something because it's more fresh in my mind,

but it's hard not to. And it's also, there's

just that, to Hugh Jackman's credit and to the

credit of the films I've been making, he's been

able to tell that story complete. There's been

some bad parts of it, no doubt, X -Men origins

and what have you, but. Like I said, even when

the movies have been bad the his he's been great

and you know, he Look going back to even like

the first X -Men film and you know, which was

which had what probably a Michael Badger compared

to what they are now There's a lot of a lot of

issues with that first X -Men and film, but he's

not one of them and It's tough They're both great,

but I just think that Hugh Jackman kind of going

back so much of the argument that I was making

with Fassbender, there's just he's been able

to deal with a little bit more seriousness and

then looking at just Logan and now that to me

is maybe he's ending it at a high note and maybe

he... 20 the Robert Downey jr. Will get there

eventually his stick does stick does get a little

bit tiresome I don't think it's as effective

as it first was and even I think Robert Downey

jr. Says he has not given as good of a performance

as he's done into the first time at Every time

after that hasn't been as strong. I think he

even admitted that where I don't necessarily

see that with Hugh Jackman So I think I'll go

Hugh Jackman All right, so that is two votes

for Wolverine. Matt, we started this whole process

all agreeing a lot. Are you going to go back

to that or are we going to have some dissenting

opinions here towards the final? Oh, I'm going

to have to be the voice of dissension probably

from here on out and just get voted down every

time, which is fine by me. I know that I've got

weird tastes in everything. I think that's interesting

that Dan said Robert Downey Jr. said himself

that he's probably giving less towards the end

than he is at the beginning because I feel like

one of his best performances was Civil War, the

most recent. I think he was amazing in that.

Again, that might actually not be true. It may

be just something I've heard on the internet.

He's really trying, he's politicizing these brackets,

this Dan guy. Alternate performances is what

I'm saying. That beginning, where he's young

and his dad, he does such a good job there, being

a different character, this disaffected youth

who doesn't have any love for his parents. To

being like this guy who's like an old man who's

like upset about how his parents died like Even

just in that movie his performance swings and

it is very moving like I I really love him as

Iron Man and though I might not vote for him

as Iron Man every single time these brackets

like I think here I think he edges out Hugh Jackman.

I mean, I do... Hugh Jackman's most recent performance

is right there on my mind. It's an amazing performance.

It's one of his best of any movie, regardless

of a superhero or not. But I think I'm going

to try to not be swayed by just having seen it

recently and give it to Robert Downey Jr. Just

a titch. The interesting thing between these

two is obviously we're getting two that have

played the character for so long. You know and

so many repeat performances, so we do have a

pretty Substantial body of work. I think the

argument could be made that maybe Robert Downey

Jr. Had Or maybe Hugh Jackman. I mean Wolverine

is inherently more of an interesting character

right than Iron Man in in General I mean or maybe

an easier sell to the public because more people

knew about Wolverine than they knew about Iron

Man So I don't know what that says about anything.

Maybe nothing but man I'm trying not to let the

most, the time period, obviously we just saw

Logan play too much a factor in that, but I think

that is possibly what sways it towards Hugh Jackman

a little bit because it just added so much more,

you know, a whole nother layer to that character,

which we maybe will get in the future from Robert

Downey Jr. in Iron Man. I do agree with Matt

that he had some great moments in Civil War.

But is he as consistently great as Hugh Jackman's

been cuz like Dan was saying and our Amanda one

of them said You know even in the bad x -men

or Wolverine movies Hugh Jackman is still good

with that character He pours everything into

it every single time Maybe Robert Downey jr.

Is not I'm torn on this one. I know I'm I'm still

not sure where I'm gonna cast my vote shoot I

think I will slightly, just by the same margin

that Matt you're saying Iron Man, I will say

the same margin but in Wolverine style. I think

it maybe was an easier character to do. I don't

know if that even makes sense, but I think he's

poured everything into it regardless of what

the film has been and he just keeps adding layers

to it all the way through to the end. So I'll

vote Hugh Jackman for Wolverine. That means that

our other matchup... Interesting too, because

Magneto, you know, Michael Fassbender's had three

films to play that character and then we have

our only character that has only been played

in one film that's still alive in this tournament,

as I guess at least, which is Heath Ledger's

Joker against Michael Fassbender's Magneto. Amanda,

last battle on the evil side here. Joker or Magneto?

That's crazy hard. Let me first. As it should

be. Geez. Ledger or Fastbender? I like Michael

Fastbender better as an actor. And I think that

we saw... You know more more arc in his character

more back and forth as his character But we also

like you said got more movies with Michael Fassbender

But can you even see an arc in the Joker because

he he is who he is no matter what? So man, I

don't know Need a second. Yeah, Dan help her

out. Give her some sleigh one way or the other

I mean, there's no doubt that Heath Ledger His

performance is probably one of the most iconic

of all time and maybe transcends the genre of

comic book films like the movie Dark Knight does

itself. There are just small bits within that

performance. I think you can pull out every time

you watch it that are missed. Just some of the

things he does, ad -libs and his actions. Even

just his body movement, it's just on point, everything

he's doing. With that said, I think I'm gonna

go fast, Bender, which maybe it's because of

my being an X -Men homer or what have you, but

like I said, I just think that when I'm looking

at performance and looking at character, looking

at the idea of who embodies the character more,

as Matt mentioned, the Joker that Heath Ledger

is doing isn't necessarily, it's a different

type of Joker, it's a different take on Joker,

which we've all seen. No. Fassbender is doing

a Magneto that we, you know, it's earlier than

we see in the comic. It's not one that's really

portrayed in the comic, so he's given a little

bit more wriggle room, but it's exactly kind

of what I would expect the character of Magneto

to be in those stories if there were ever a comic

about it. Now, he has that fierce attitude. He

has just this... Anger that is just driving him

like but still like he has moments where you

can see that just this He's a person who's been

beat up by life and dealt with this true tragedy

every step he goes from his parents dying in

a concentration camp to his kids being killed

accidentally and just no matter what he does

bad things happen and he's been able to make

those moments work even in an X -Men apocalypse

like you mentioned Kevin and some of the performances

he shows within that especially in the first

half when he's worth his family it's fantastic

and He's even communicant and stuff as well.

So, you know Ledger's performance is great and

probably, you know, people just assume It's like

the best of all time and I can see that it's

certainly a great supporting performance and

that they take anything away But if I'm looking

at both the embodiment of what I would see in

a character what I would expect for that character

the performance the the longevity like every

little checkbox like fastbender has it and I

think it just to me I just feel more moved by

what he's doing. I'm more terrified by what Ledger's

doing, because that's kind of what the character's

going for, but maybe just personal preference

or what have you. But for me, it's Fastbender.

Matt, Amanda said she could still be swayed.

Would you like to swear in one way or the other?

Oh, man. No, I think Dan's had a lot of great

points. And I do think that the amount of movies

that they've been in should be a factor here

because Heath Ledger did one and then he might

dropped out of this world. But if he had done

another two or three or six movies, would it

still be impressive? Like like cuz like how much

room does that character have to grow? How much

could he have grown or would it just be like?

Oh, it's that Joker again, huh? We're just doing

dark gritty anarchist Joker again, huh? Like

I think he did an amazing job with the one movie

and and you know, no one can take that away from

him No one's ever go, you know anyone who's gonna

try to take that down is just being an internet

person that we don't like but Fassbender has

has like he's he's gone through emotional depth

like like Dan has pointed it out like time and

time again every time Fassbender comes up against

someone Dan's got another thing to whip out and

and and and I think he's right I think Fassbender's

just better I think he embodies that character

exactly how I would want and it has given us

exactly what I would want So I'm going that's

my that's my vote I think for me what it comes

down to is like I said, I think it was almost

like the final round before Loki versus Magneto

like I think I would have voted for either one

even maybe a head of ledger and it's not to take

anything away from his performance I think it

was great but like you said does it embody the

Joker the character that you would think of maybe

not um does it have as much of an arc or depth

like Amanda was saying that that character is

that character so I mean what can it do It's

still a great performance and it still is what

makes that trilogy, I think, as highly regarded

as it is. But I really think Magneto and Loki

are both possibly the better villains as far

as my take on, I guess, the portrayal of the

villain. But so I think I'm sticking with Magneto

on this one. I think if he beats Loki, I think

he beats Joker as well. So I think we were talking

about who could take Joker down. I think Magneto.

would have the best chance. Amanda, have we convinced

you or do you want to shed some love over to

Heath Ledger? No, I'm definitely going to go

with the Fassbender. The Fass. All right, so

looks like we have our finals matchup set. Then

we have Wolverine versus Magneto. I don't know

what that says about comic book movies in general

and who's able to do what with their characters,

but that's a matchup that we have. Dan, what

do you think? Wolverine or Magneto? This is really

hard because you can kind of, you know, there's

a lot of similarities with what they've been

able to do with both characters and I never would

have thought that Heath Ledger would be shut

out in the semi -final round, but there you are.

Man, this is tough. I really don't know where

to go with this. But I think I've been riding

the Fastbender train since beginning. and I would

say if you're trying to find the cracks in the

armor, which it's getting harder and harder,

but I would say the one big crack is that Hugh

Jackman has been in, like, Fast Fender has not

been in as many bad movies as Jackman has been

in, and like I said, it's not necessarily Jackman's

fault. I mean, like, Origins, I mean, The Wolverine

was, I actually liked that movie, but it has,

the ending is kind of... Awful. X -Men 3, where

Fastbender, X -Men Apocalypse is probably one

of the weaker ones too, but... Day of the Future

Pass, in both that and First Class. Man. I'm

even debating that point as I'm saying it out

loud. I'd like to say that you're living up to

your other show. You're talking in circles, sir.

I am. I am. Actually, you know what? I'm going

to change it. I'm going to go Jackman. I was

going to go Fastbender, but as more as I think

about it, my only argument was that he's in worst

movies, but that doesn't even work, really, because

it doesn't really pan out that way. But I think

Jackman... gives him the slight edge because

he's got he's been able to do much more with

the not much more but more with the character

and I think he's had but he's the economy of

the character Wolverine from his like berserker

rage to his like more Mentor father relationship

he's able to have with someone like Laura and

Logan that but he's hit both of those And I mean

he lives out to everything Wolverine I could

ever want you know as someone who loved the 90s

X -Men series the only thing I could ever say

bad about him in those performances maybe he

thought he's too tall and You know something

that he can't control so I'm gonna go with Surprisingly

gonna go with Hugh Jackman and Logan Amanda if

you could only see one more movie Featuring and

it would be either featuring Wolverine or Magneto

Which movie would you rather see? Yeah, that's

that's kind of not fair because if we're getting

the same kind of Logan it would be super Painful

to watch him be in pain all over again so I'd

like to see more Michael Fassbender as Magneto,

but I'm okay with his ending with Logan. I think

it rounded out, you know, really well for me.

But as far as like what my pick would be, man,

that's kind of hard because what we saw with

Wolverine, we saw so much be brought to his character,

new stuff be brought to his character, but yet

still stayed true. We see Magneto, it's always

the same kind of um predictable pattern here

it's like he's a bad guy now he's a little bit

good but now something happens and he's right

back to being bad how many times do we need to

see him go back and forth bad to good bad to

good bad to good um so maybe in that sense i

i think we'll do i'm going to give it to to wolverine

because we know what we're going to get from

logan we see him still grow but we don't have

this annoying back and forth all the time am

i good good am i a bad guy no he's just like

matt said before he's not a good guy. He's a

bad guy that just happens to do some good stuff

to people that are worse than him. Something

we haven't done so far through the tournament

is look to see how they got here. Wolverine took

out J. Jonah Jameson as played by J .K. Simmons.

Followed that, he took out Deadpool by Ryan Reynolds

and then Iron Man by Robert Downey Jr. If we

flip it to the other side, Magneto took out Doc

Ock. Perhaps the best spider -man villain we've

ever gotten then he took out Loki perhaps the

best Marvel Villain that we've ever had and then

he took out Heath Ledger's Joker possibly one

of the best DC villains we've ever had Matt,

what do you think Wolverine or Magneto? So I

get what Amanda's saying About he's bad. He's

good, but I think there's so much more nuance

to that like i feel like you know like in days

or not not days um in uh first class where he's

like he's like legitimately wants to do the best

for people for for mutants um like and then he's

like he's crushed like you know he comes from

a bad place but he still wants to do good um

and then he's still just the world is bad to

him and so he's going to be bad back because

that's the way that works and but then also in

the like apocalypse where it's like he's calmed

down he's gonna be a he's gonna be a good guy

now uh like he's not gonna be a hero but he's

gonna be a good man like and and and just like

that scene where his family dies and he just

you know he he wigs out like is so good i wish

he would have had more time to to settle down

more time to be a good guy but i mean that's

not on fastbender like he you know as much as

i disagree with that choice uh story wise i i

think he brings to the table what needs to be

brought to the table and makes it work Like if

you say hey, who do you want to see one more

time? I'm going to say Logan I'm going to say

Hugh Jackman but that might just be because I

don't want that to be done with and I'd like

I Feel like I like Wolverine more as a character

than Magneto, but that might just be I like heroes

more than villains But again, we're talking what

actor plays this character in what movies and

and I think I'm voting for Fassbender on this

one Alright, so Matt votes for Fassbender on

this one. Dan, what was your official vote for

Wolverine? Yes. Dan, are you sticking with Wolverine?

I know at first you were voting Fassbender. I'm

gonna stick Wolverine for now. Oh man. Alright,

so that's two for Wolverine, one for Magneto.

Yeah, I think Magneto's had the more impressive

run through the tournament with taking out...

Loki, Doc Ock and Joker. So he's got that going

for him. I think there is a lot of nuance like

you're saying Matt, but I don't think you can

take away some of the nuance performances in

Wolverine, but maybe that's There's not as many

moments unless you count Logan really I guess

But I need to rewatch some of the original X

-Men films. I haven't seen some of those in a

long time It's interesting because you have an

antihero with Wolverine and With Magneto, it's

almost like I don't know anti -villain like it's

almost like they're both kind of Going back and

forth some I mean they both do both good and

bad things So it's kind of an interesting comparison

to try to break that down I think You also have

two incredible actors. I mean, Hugh Jackman and

Michael Fassbender are both insanely talented

actors, so you can't take anything away from

either one of them on that front. Wolverines

had more movies to work with, so there's going

to be some bad ones mixed in there as well as

some good. But even in just three films, you

could probably say that there's already been

one somewhat subpar film in the Magneto and Michael

Fassbender films as well. Which... actor more

portrays that character I don't know if I think

Fassbender you might be able to make the argument

that he could be playing a different character

and still be able to take make some of those

moments work and still be able to bring the performance

to whatever villain he was playing I don't think

you can say that to Hugh Jackman it's like Hugh

Jackman and Wolverine are synonymous almost at

this point So maybe that would sway me somewhat

towards Wolverine. Which performance would I

rather see more? I'd rather see more Michael

Fassbender as Magneto. But that's maybe not fair

because we've seen the arc now for Wolverine

and it's kind of come to a natural stopping point.

So do you really want to see more of that? So

this is when you're talking. Yes. Trying to come

to a conclusion here. I just, like if you were

doing a tally mark, if you were doing a score

sheet, like for every tally you have on Wolverine's

side, you could make a tally on Magneto's side

for something completely different. So it's really

hard to try to say which one performed it or

portrayed the character better. I think the better

performance, yeah, maybe Fassbender, but the

better character maybe Jackman. I will vote for

Wolverine as maybe the better one. Pretty convincing?

No. Yeah I'll vote for Wolverine because why

not? I think he's got the longer track record

so maybe that works in his favor as the ultimate

deciding factor and like you said it didn't matter

if it was a good or bad film he was still putting

his all into it and he's still that character

and I don't I can't see anybody else playing

that character. I can see somebody else playing

Magneto. His name is Ian McKellen. So, for whatever

that's worth. Alright, that means there's three

votes for Wolverine, one vote for Magneto. Which

means our ultimate winner here in this comic

book madness is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Dan,

any final thoughts on the whole process? Yeah,

maybe a little obvious, but yeah, it was tough.

It was tough. I'm not gonna lie Yeah, it felt

bad about boarding in fastbender, but you know

what he fought a hard battle He took out the

juggernaut that was Heath Ledger's Loki So maybe

he was just too wounded to move on from that

so All right, Matt. Did it go the way you thought

it would go? I know you didn't know this was

something we were doing today, but when I mentioned

it, were you thinking Wolverine and Fassbender

and the Joker? Are those the first three that

came to your mind? Definitely Wolverine and the

Joker were going to be fan favorites. That said,

I think I called it before the semifinals when

I was like, yeah, I'm going to be the dissenter

for the rest of these and I'm going to lose.

And that's exactly what happened. I don't feel

terrible because both options at the end were

good. They were both good options. I do wonder

if we came back to this in a year or two years

or three years if we would have the same outcome.

Like how much of this is because of Logan being

such an amazing movie and that with time if that'll

change. But I don't regret my votes and I don't

regret the winner. Yeah, it wasn't that much

of a dissenting opinion because I could have

easily voted in your way and quite a few of those

as well. So I don't think you were too far off.

It comes down to maybe just the slightest of

margins for certain things. I mean, superhero

films get the bad rap. A lot of people want to

crap on them just because that's cool to do for

certain circles. And I think a lot of times the

performances don't get enough credit. that they

deserve. Did this kind of highlight for you how

many good performances we've had over the years

in comic book films? Yeah, definitely. It's hard

to fathom them all together and decide whether

we've had these, you know, worthy performances

and seeing them, you know, smattering them together,

put together like this in this fashion and these

face -offs definitely showcases some of the better

ones. And just for the record, obviously, some

people might be wanting to comment on the website

or different things about, hey, how could you

leave out this person or how could you leave

out that person? We knew it was going to go long

enough with 16 people, but there were so many

people that we were trying to break it down.

I think, Dan, at one point we had over 30 different

people we were trying to narrow it down from.

So there's lots of other possibilities. There's

other good performances out there. Maybe we could

do something like this in the future or like

Matt said, years from now, when there's even

more films or be more candid. But, you know,

for example, we don't have any of the Spider

-Mans involved in this. Maybe because nobody

can decide who their favorite Spider -Man is.

It seems like everybody has a different opinion

on that. And we're about to get a new one this

year. So maybe we would strike up another debate

when it came to that. But there's a lot of good

performances out there, even the ones that we

didn't maybe highlight in this tournament. But

hopefully we got some of the best or some of

your favorite ones. If you agree or disagree

with how it came down, if you want to share how

your votes would have been or where you think

we got it right or wrong. There's a lot of different

ways to get in touch with us. First of all, you

can go to the website www .geekcastradio .com,

find the episode post, comment there. I promise

we will reply and we can start up the conversation

there. You can also email at feedback at geekcastradio

.com. Just put the Cinema Geeks in the title

so that they get it to us. And you can also visit

the Facebook page by searching Geekcast Radio

Network and stay up to date with all the different

releases we do and all the different blogs we

post. You can also interact with us at Twitter.

The show handle is at CinemaGeekCast. My Twitter

is at OptimusSolo. Amanda, your Twitter is? At

HardCandyMandyEyesNoLives. Dan, your Twitter

is? At MovieRemote. And Matt, your Twitter is?

I'm at FriendlyScent. All right, so hopefully

you enjoyed this little break in this fun March

Madness style episode. We'll be back very soon

with some more Hayao Miyazaki, some more video

game films, and getting closer to our number

one film of all time in our top 100 countdown.

But that is it for us. Be sure to check in next

week for another chance to listen to the Cinema

Games.