Marvel Cinematic Universe Bracket Style - Part 5 (Championship)
It's the final countdown! Less than twenty four hours until the premiere of Avenger: Infinity War. Also its the final countdown for our bracket and what a matchup; the jam packed superhero squabbles of Civil War
pitted against the modern but major underdog who exceeded all expectations in the Guardians of the Galaxy. These two films have made it through some stiff competition defeating the amazing Avengers 1 & 2, Black Panther, Iron Man 3 and more. How will they fare against one another?
5) Captain America: Civil War v. 7) Guardians of the Galaxy
SAQ: Civil War = A; Guardians = A
CD: Civil War = A; Guardians = B+
MSA: Civil War = A; Guardians = A
Readers Votes: Civil War 50% - Guardians 50%
Readers are clearly but unsurprisingly split on these two epic marvel features. I love everything about Guardians. Chris Pratt is my favorite actor right now and has been since the film came out in 2014. He followed up Guardians by reviving interest in dinosaurs through Jurassic World and single handedly made legos cool again too before spending a lifetime spinning through space with J-law in Passengers (such an underrated and unappreciated film by the way). In short, no one dislikes Star-Lord. His supporting cast is great too, Bautista's Drax is inspired and many stories have been written about how it revitalized his career too. Zoe Saldana strikes a chord not just with Star-Lord as the brutally skilled, seductive and mysterious Gamora. Rocket and Groot are the best duo of the bunch and Bradley Cooper's "talk real good" as our heroic trash panda. Even their support cast is spectacular; Michael Rooker who plays a masterful Yondu Udonta in both films, Lee Pace's Ronan is a powerful enemy and others lend aid too. However, despite its over achieving at the box office, awesome narrative, and key elements added to the MCU storyline, Guardians still falls short of the finish.
Civil War is going to get the edge in my book between these two. It just brings such a powerful rotation of our superheros into the mix and sets the schism stage for the next phase of the Avengers that it outweighs the contributions of Guardians slightly. There is also such a depth of character development even beyond the chief growth of Cap and Tony. So here is how our final bracket shakes out.
Predictions for Avengers: Infinity War
1) At least five of our Avengers heroes will die. Unfortunately, I see Captain America, Vision, Iron Man, Hawkeye and wait for it, in a surprising twist Gamora.
No surprise in the first two, they each are clearly seen in the trailers in rather distressful poses against Thanos and his minions. Iron Man is a 50/50 in my mind but the fact that removing him clears the field for the new age avengers like Black Panther and Spider-man to step into more prominent leadership roles it just makes me suspect it will happen. If he survives this first installment I suspect it will be due to the role he'll play in some time travel elements to recruit some other fallen friends from borrowed timelines to help save his own from Thanos. Hawkeye just seems like an expendable but still heart hurting loss due to the introduction of his family in Age of Ultron. Gamora's death is another 50/50 at best. If she does die it'll be to help Thanos in his search for the soul stone, rumored to appear at the murder of a loved one. If she does not it'll be due to a heroic sacrifice by Nebula or possibly a Peter Quill protective move as well. Other possible deaths I would not be shocked by are Loki, Heimdall, Mantis, Scarlet Witch, Okoye or M'baku (not both but some Wakandans will likely be lost in that battle) and The Collector as well if Thanos finds him before the Guardians do. Loki likely may continue his frequent charade of feigning death early only to appear later unexpectedly. The short version of this prediction is that there will be a large number of good guys in the ground by the end of the film.
2) Adam Warlock appears in the end moments and is the sole possessor of the Soul Stone.
This theory makes sense from the introduction of Adam at the end of the second Guardians film as the vehicle of vengeance for Ayesha leader of the Sovereign. The comic story line show Adam as one of the few beings capable of competing on Thanos' power level.
3) Time and Space will certainly get bent out of shape a bit.
We know our heroes currently possess four of the infinity stones (Blue/Space stone is with Loki on the Asgardians ship; Green/Time stone is with Dr. Strange; Purple/Power Stone with the Nova Corps; Yellow/Mind stone in Vision's forehead). I believe in some capacity they will need to implore at least one or two of these together to attempt to defeat Thanos. I could envision Dr. Strange pulling out the Eye of Agomotto and attempting to run a loop of all scenarios the fight against Thanos and how they play out. Same goes for Shuri figuring out how to utilize Vision's mind stone outside of his connection with it while still sustaining Vision. Shuri could probably make some amazing weaponry if she gets her hands on an infinity stone.
4) Thanos will possess all but one of the infinity stones by the end of the film. I'm banking that the soul stone (in possession of Adam Warlock) will be the elusive one standing between the prune faced villain and eliminating half the universe's population.
5) Hulk, Doctor Strange and Thor will account for the deaths of all but one of Thanos' Black Order goons. They are goons but they are powerful however, only one of them will make it to the next film and I believe that will be Ebony Maw.
No matter what Thursday's premiere holds I think we will all be in for yet another sensationally successful Chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So get your tickets, popcorn and Milk Duds ready!