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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:
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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!
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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
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92%
#1 Hulk (Bruce Banner)
(39 votes) -
7%
#16 Quicksilver
(3 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
This poll is closed
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59%
#8 Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
(25 votes) -
40%
#9 Sam Wilson
(17 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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76%
#5 Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
(33 votes) -
23%
#12 Vision
(10 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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81%
#4 Iron Man
(35 votes) -
18%
#13 Ant-Man (Hank Pym)
(8 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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88%
#6 Black Panther
(38 votes) -
11%
#11 Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
(5 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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90%
#3 Captain America (Steve Rogers)
(39 votes) -
9%
#14 Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)
(4 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
This poll is closed
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80%
#7 Scarlet Witch
(34 votes) -
19%
#10 She-Hulk
(8 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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95%
#2 Thor (Odinson)
(41 votes) -
4%
#15 Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
(2 votes)
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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.
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Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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54%
#5 Gamora
(23 votes) -
45%
#12 Rocket Raccoon
(19 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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54%
#6 Star-Lord
(23 votes) -
45%
#11 Beta Ray Bill
(19 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
This poll is closed
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80%
#3 Silver Surfer
(33 votes) -
19%
#14 Valkyrie
(8 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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43%
#7 Nova
(18 votes) -
56%
#10 Drax the Destroyer
(23 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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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
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97%
#1 Wolverine (Logan)
(40 votes) -
2%
#16 Betsy Braddock
(1 vote)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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31%
#5 Kate (Kitty) Pryde / Shadowcat
(13 votes) -
68%
#12 Professor Charles Xavier
(28 votes)
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Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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82%
#3 Jean Grey (Marvel Girl)
(33 votes) -
17%
#14 Cyclops
(7 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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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
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95%
#1 Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
(39 votes) -
4%
#16 Luke Cage
(2 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
This poll is closed
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36%
#8 Black Bolt
(15 votes) -
63%
#9 Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
(26 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
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75%
#4 Doctor Doom
(31 votes) -
24%
#13 Miles Morales
(10 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
This poll is closed
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70%
#6 Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic)
(28 votes) -
30%
#11 Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)
(12 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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Who wins this matchup?
This poll is closed
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72%
#7 Sue Storm (Invisible Woman)
(29 votes) -
27%
#10 Namor the Sub-Mariner
(11 votes)
Poll
Who wins this matchup?
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.