Marvel Cinematic Universe Bracket Style - Part 4 (Semi-Final)
Down to the final two films in our MCU Bracket. Only one matchup left to crown the champion. Here is where we stood last week:
1) The Avengers v. 5) Captain America: Civil War
SAQ: Avengers = A; Civil War = A
CD: Avengers = B; Civil War = A
MSA: Avengers = A; Civil War = A
Readers Votes: Avengers = 50% - Civil War = 50%
A split among readers here and the first tie in the bracket. I can see why, the Avengers is the first film where we get our heroes together, interacting and building relationships through conflict and defeat. There's funny throw away lines throughout and the heroes develop a solid rapport leaving us awaiting their next team up. However, Civil War quite literally rips those forged friendships apart at the seams. The introduction of Ant-Man, Spider-Man and Black Panther to the Avenger Corps add extra layers of superpower to Civil War and excites us all for the future team up in Infinity War when Hulk and Thor rejoin as well. Civil War's plot is better, as evidenced by the masterful job executing a red herring for Zemo's master plan. During your first watch, up until about the final twenty minutes when Iron Man, Cap and Bucky enter the Siberian facility and see the other winter soldiers dead you are expecting Zemo to use them to physically over match the recently reconciled trio. Instead he opted for the long con and using his experience as an expert surgical soldier to precisely exact his vengeance. He eloquently summarizes his true plan as "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one that crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever." This is the simplistic genius of his plan. Zemo found a crack in the armor (Winter Soldier's pat mission to eliminate Tony
Stark's parents) and exploited it to its fullest extent. While that may have been the thread he tugged at it's true impact was dependent on internal flaws of the Avengers. Flaws Zemo was confident existed from studying his targets. The Avengers foundation of trust among each other was not solid and when torn between the choice of his life long friend, Bucky, or his new ally in arms, Tony, Captain America was in a no win situation and choose his buddy Bucky. Sure, he sent Tony a nice message on a burner in the mail pledging his assistance if needed but The Avengers will never and can never be what it once was. Cap's pledge does not rebuild Rhodey's spine, or bring back Tony's parents and it certainly cannot undo the damage to ego or rebuild the trust Tony now feels from the betrayal. Cap has his own betrayal to deal with feeling as though the team members that signed the Accords turned their back on what they truly stood for and are now no better than government drones. I don't think its a stretch to say that Iron Man and Captain America will never fully trust one another again and perhaps that will be impactful in their upcoming fight with Thanos. [This is a crucial development however which will elaborate on in my predictions section of next week's final MCU bracket post.] Many people feel the MCU lacks the critical strong villain component but I would argue that Helmut Zemo is a legit superpower or super suit short of being the strongest villain the Avengers have faced thus far and yet that lacking is also what makes him so dangerous. He would likely fail miserably depending on that sole power to over come the Avengers so he is left to fight them on a plane where he can even the odds, a plane of psychological warfare. He has nothing to live for beyond his vengeance and he is a precise, patient and practiced killer and that makes him as dangerous as any maniacal villain. The Avengers film lacks the depth and character complexity of Civil War and that is the main reason Civil War moves on.
7) Guardians of the Galaxy v. 11) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
SAQ: Guardians = A; Winter Soldier = A-
CD: Guardians = B+; Winter Soldier = A-
MSA: Guardians = A; Winter Soldier = B+
Readers Votes: Guardians = 65% - Winter Soldier = 35%
Rather fitting Paul Rudd gif to get us to the always amusing Guardians of the Galaxy matchup. Guardians' was masterfully delivered by James Gunn and all those he assembled in the cast and crew. Bringing an entire new and relatively unknown world into the MCU was no easy feat, but he did it and made it seem rather effortless. It is certain that Chris Pratt's born to be Star-Lord approach to the role and his all star counterparts' portrayals had something to do with that success. While the Winter Soldier film breathed life into the Cap franchise after a lackluster premiere film this original is a much tougher opponent than the sequel Winter Soldier dispatched in the first round. Guardians is slightly over matched in character development thanks to the conspiracy spiral depth of Winter Soldier but its stand alone quality and advancements of the overall MCU give it the edge needed to earn the victory here.
So our final matchup is all set, 5) Captain America: Civil War v. 7) Guardians of the Galaxy for the title of MCU feature film champion. Cast your vote for the winner here or in the poll below by May 24th. Then come back to find out who wins and read my predictions for Avengers: Infinity Wars premiering in only seven short days.