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TNIAAM Marvel Not-So-Secret Wars 2021: Who will be worthy?

It’s Marvel Week around these parts. Time to see who wields the hammer this year.

Thor Ragnarok : Paris Premiere At Le Grand Rex Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Last year, in lieu of a basketball season for the Syracuse Orange we tapped into our affinity for pop culture and comics to fill the COVID sized gap in the sports year. That led to the TNIAAM Marvel Civil War. With the drop of Black Widow last week and the finale of Loki this week, now seemed as good a time as any to refresh that bracket. I give to you, the 2021 TNIAAM Marvel Not-So-Secret Wars.

To determine the best Marvel Comics character, we’ve broken the field into four regions, as you can imagine. In this case, we opted for the Byrne, Romita, Starlin and Buschema Regions, each of which named for Marvel royalty, with a nod to the artists this year.

  • John Byrne, legendary artist of X-Men and Fantastic Four fame, he helped shape the Marvel universe with Chris Claremont, hence his heading the “Mutants” bracket.
  • John Romita (and John Romita Jr.), long time artists for Marvel, with senior best known for his impeccable work following Steve Ditko on Amazing Spider-Man and junior having drawn most major Marvel titles at this point, from ASM to Uncanny X-Men.
  • Jim Starlin, heading the “cosmic” bracket, gave fresh legs to Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock, and others, created Thanos, Drax, Gamora and Shang-Chi (among others) and drew for the Infinity Saga. I think that’s a solid CV.
  • John Buschema, the Eisner Hall of Fame member, ran The Avengers and The Silver Surfer to much success over the years. He’s helming our all-Avengers side of the field.

Without further ado, the bracket:

This is where the staff ended up after long and hard deliberations. As a note, this is geared toward the actual comics, not necessarily the movies. But pick as you wish.

Anyway, have at it and we’ll keep you updated on where the votes lie after the first round!

MCM London Comic Con Photo by Ollie Millington/Getty Images

Buschema Region:

Some highlights in this region

  • The #8/#9 game of Black Widow and Sam Wilson should be a barnburner.
  • Steve Rogers against Bucky Barnes seems destined in the stars.

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 92%
    #1 Hulk (Bruce Banner)
    (39 votes)
  • 7%
    #16 Quicksilver
    (3 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 59%
    #8 Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
    (25 votes)
  • 40%
    #9 Sam Wilson
    (17 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 76%
    #5 Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
    (33 votes)
  • 23%
    #12 Vision
    (10 votes)
43 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 81%
    #4 Iron Man
    (35 votes)
  • 18%
    #13 Ant-Man (Hank Pym)
    (8 votes)
43 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 88%
    #6 Black Panther
    (38 votes)
  • 11%
    #11 Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
    (5 votes)
43 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 90%
    #3 Captain America (Steve Rogers)
    (39 votes)
  • 9%
    #14 Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)
    (4 votes)
43 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 80%
    #7 Scarlet Witch
    (34 votes)
  • 19%
    #10 She-Hulk
    (8 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 95%
    #2 Thor (Odinson)
    (41 votes)
  • 4%
    #15 Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
    (2 votes)
43 votes total Vote Now
The El Capitan Theatre Hosts Marvel Studios’s “Avengers: Endgame” Opening Day Marathon Event Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Starlin Region:

Some highlights in this region

  • Possible second round father-son matchup on the #1 and #8 lines.
  • Look out for Rocket against Gamora in the ever dangerous #5 vs. #12 game.
  • Pulling for the criminally underseeded Bill on the #11 line.

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 90%
    #1 Loki
    (38 votes)
  • 9%
    #16 Nebula
    (4 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 76%
    #8 Odin
    (32 votes)
  • 23%
    #9 Mantis
    (10 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 54%
    #5 Gamora
    (23 votes)
  • 45%
    #12 Rocket Raccoon
    (19 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 47%
    #4 Adam Warlock
    (20 votes)
  • 52%
    #13 Groot
    (22 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 54%
    #6 Star-Lord
    (23 votes)
  • 45%
    #11 Beta Ray Bill
    (19 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 80%
    #3 Silver Surfer
    (33 votes)
  • 19%
    #14 Valkyrie
    (8 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 43%
    #7 Nova
    (18 votes)
  • 56%
    #10 Drax the Destroyer
    (23 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 97%
    #2 Thanos
    (41 votes)
  • 2%
    #15 Moondragon
    (1 vote)
42 votes total Vote Now
Madame Tussauds New York To Launch A Wax Figure Of “Wolverine” Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Madame Tussauds

Romita Region:

Some highlights in this region

  • The bottom half of the bracket has all sorts of family ties, Jean vs. Scott, Emma Frost waiting in the next round and Cable, future and current Summers son, a possible cinderella a the #10 seed.

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 97%
    #1 Wolverine (Logan)
    (40 votes)
  • 2%
    #16 Betsy Braddock
    (1 vote)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 51%
    #8 Beast
    (21 votes)
  • 48%
    #9 Rogue
    (20 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 31%
    #5 Kate (Kitty) Pryde / Shadowcat
    (13 votes)
  • 68%
    #12 Professor Charles Xavier
    (28 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 43%
    #4 Storm
    (18 votes)
  • 56%
    #13 Deadpool
    (23 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 84%
    #6 Emma Frost
    (33 votes)
  • 15%
    #11 Magik
    (6 votes)
39 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 82%
    #3 Jean Grey (Marvel Girl)
    (33 votes)
  • 17%
    #14 Cyclops
    (7 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 60%
    #7 Nightcrawler
    (24 votes)
  • 40%
    #10 Cable
    (16 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 82%
    #2 Magneto
    (33 votes)
  • 17%
    #15 Iceman
    (7 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now
Tuners Display Their Customized Creations At The Tokyo’s Auto Salon

Byrne Region:

Some highlights in this region

  • Longshot for a Spider-Man on Spider-Man matchup if Miles Morales can get things moving early as an underdog.
  • Likely best friends matchup in round two on the bottom of the bracket, with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm likely head to head.

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 95%
    #1 Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
    (39 votes)
  • 4%
    #16 Luke Cage
    (2 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 36%
    #8 Black Bolt
    (15 votes)
  • 63%
    #9 Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
    (26 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 66%
    #5 Daredevil
    (28 votes)
  • 33%
    #12 Punisher
    (14 votes)
42 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 75%
    #4 Doctor Doom
    (31 votes)
  • 24%
    #13 Miles Morales
    (10 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 70%
    #6 Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic)
    (28 votes)
  • 30%
    #11 Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)
    (12 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 77%
    #3 Thing
    (31 votes)
  • 22%
    #14 Moon Knight
    (9 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 72%
    #7 Sue Storm (Invisible Woman)
    (29 votes)
  • 27%
    #10 Namor the Sub-Mariner
    (11 votes)
40 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who wins this matchup?

This poll is closed

  • 92%
    #2 Doctor Strange
    (38 votes)
  • 7%
    #15 Blade
    (3 votes)
41 votes total Vote Now

Polling closes for all four regions on Sunday Night night at 9 p.m. ET.

Seeding and selection was a collective effort of various #DisloyalIdiots including myself, Andy Pregler and John Cassillo. Send any and all ire our direction.