Xian
Rootwalla

Posts: 41
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« on: January 13, 2012, 11:53:44 AM » |
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So we have promotional art for the following match-ups, whether or not they actually happen in the books:
Hawkeye v. Cyclops Luke Cage v. Beast Ms. Marvel v. Rogue Daredevil v. Archangel Spider-Woman v. Gambit Thing v. Colossus Iron Man v. Magneto Spider-Man v. Iceman Black Widow v. Psylocke Thor v. Storm Hulk v. Emma Frost
So who are your predicted victors based on the Marvel staff will do and who are your picks (whether your favorite, who you think should win, or both)? Rampant speculation to follow:
Predictions [HvC] - Cyclops. Cyke is more significant to the story so he can't be KO'ed in a first round fight. Expect something similar to his Schism fight, where the choreography is more complex than likely. [LvB] - Luke. He's popular and a win would raise his stock further. Also, he's a hot-head whereas McCoy is more prone to pacifism... so taking out a voice of reason helps escalate the conflict. [MvR] - Carol. Another character that Marvel keeps trying into raise in profile. While Rogue is definitely more popular, letting Carol "win" would be dramatic payback for all the grief and complication Rogue has added to her life. [DvA] - Daredevil. Bendis was trying to make it a big deal that Matt joined the Avengers so here's another way to raise his stock... however, Warren just came out of an Uncanny X-Force arc which might feel undermined if he loses (making Archangel seem like less of a threat). If this is the mind-wiped Angel, then we can give it to Matt pretty easily. [SvG] - Gambit. I think Marvel's moved on from trying to push Spider-Woman especially with both Venom, Scarlet Spider, and Ultimate Spider-Man all in play simultaneously. Plus Gambit is due for a comeback (like the other 90s characters like Venom, etc). [TvC] - Colossus. Thing will show all the heart in the world, but he's going to lose and they'll blame it on Cyttorak upgrade leaving the status of Marvel's big bruisers still contentious. [IvM] - Magneto. The X-Men need some big guns surviving to balance the overall fight and to legitimize Scott's X-tinction Team concept. Plus Magneto's martial and extremism helps drive conflict. Iron Man can too, but having already played the heel in Civil War they don't need to retread that. [SvI] - Spider-Man. Simply more important to the story. Putting Spidey and Wolvie on the New Avengers was the return of the Avengers to significance in the Marvel Universe. [BvP] - Black Widow. She needs an exposure and legitimacy boost for the upcoming Avengers film. [TvS] - Thor. Whether the real one returning or his stand-in, this will be a status boost ("He's really back!" or "As powerful as the original!")... unless the goal is to show the stand-in ISN'T as powerful as Thor (which would make a lot of sense given his significance in Fear Itself, you might want his replacement to be less powerful and thus less influential on the outcome of AvX). [HvE] - Emma. She has more to contribute to the story than Hulk and having Hulk- where events like War World Hulk revolved around him- in play tips too much towards The Avengers than Emma. On the other hand, having Emma taken out would do more to drive Cyclops and take a pretty powerful telepath off the table and Hulk can just job as bruiser / tank meaning less story impact.
So out of 11 battles, the Avengers take six and the X-Men take five assuming another round of fights coming. The marquee match, in my opinion, is Iron Man vs. Magneto... since these are pillars of their respective teams. Then Hulk vs. Emma and Thor vs. Storm being potentially important. Despite me saying a lot of this was meant to raise the profile of individual characters, I think it's also meant to raise the X-Men as a whole back to their 90s status, which means legitimizing them, but not necessarily letting them win. We might see a lot of good fights that ultimately fall in the Avengers' favor but which push the X-Men into a corner (which is their lot / role as a persecuted minority) and forces them to use some tactic which evens things out or gives them the win as a matter of plot.
Picks [HvC] - Cyclops. There are ways for Hawkeye to win, sure, but at the end of the day, Scott just needs to look at Clint (though, in the promo art he's failing to look at him as per the trope....) [LvB] - Beast. Yes, Cage is very strong and tough, but I think Beast's strength is undersold, not to mention his speed, agility, and intelligence. Beast is smart enough to not make it a mere fist fight. [MvR] - Rogue. I can't keep straight what her powers are since they've shifted so much, but at the end of the day she's Ms. Marvel plus an additional vampiric ability. [DvA] - Archangel. Super sonic (that's right, faster than Daredevil's main mode of sensory perception) poisonous razor blades with a healing factor versus an acrobat who can "see" 360.... [SvG] - Spider-Woman. Gambit would probably take this if not for Jessica's pheromone ability and Remy's incredible randiness. [TvC] - Colossus. Cyttorak. [IvM] - Magneto. Iron Man with prep can do a lot (like rubber armor in "Magneto Not A Hero"), but the sheer magnitude of Magneto's powers gives him the win. Asymmetric, sure, Tony can win... but under those conditions anyone can win over anyone. [SvI] - Iceman. Being essentially a psychic consciousness that can jump golem-like into any moisture, this is Bobby's battle to lose. Spidey's main chance would be lateral thinking / super-science sort of approach to get Bobby to depower and get KO'ed while flesh and blood, but assuming the stakes are high Bobby shouldn't fall for something like that. Besides, this is reaching to find a vulnerability for Bobby while Peter has far more traditional vulnerabilities Iceman can directly attack. [BvP] - Psylocke. Super spy versus super-powered ninja. [TvS] - Thor. High-end magic versus unscientific science. Storm's powers certainly are powerful (consider ALL the things one manipulates in order to control weather), but she doesn't apply them scientifically... she still thinks as a goddess and invokes winds, rains, and storms (rather than forcefields, directed energy, etc)... meanwhile Thor is a god who invokes the power of gods. If Storm used her high end abilities more technically, I might give her the edge, but instead she's only a pretender while Thor's legitimately supernatural. [HvE] Hulk. With prep and distance and time, Emma could probably get in there and do something (Cable, a far less technical telepath, was able to brute force his way into Banner's brain once) but otherwise Hulk is on top of her and breaking her. For a while Emma's diamond form was short-hand for invulnerability, but more than a few times since then we've seen that she's breakable.
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