Ranking the MCU Films (So Far) part 3

Dare I try to do the nearly damn impossible and rank the film entries in the MCU?
It’s a very daunting task, because how do you choose between some of these? Is recency bias really a thing? Thunderbolts* over Iron Man? Black Panther not in the top 10? What the f*** am I even doing?

The important thing to remember with the below list is that these are ranked not by cinematic achievement or a carefully plotted out chart or an algorithm to determine what are truly the best MCU entries. These are based solely on how much enjoyment I derive from them. You might think I’m a madman, or that finally (FINALLY!) somebody truly gets you, but regardless of whether or not you disagree with my choices (I’m sure Erik will have a completely different breakdown) I hope you enjoy reading!

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Ranking the MCU Films (So Far) part 2

Dare I try to do the nearly damn impossible and rank the film entries in the MCU?
It’s a very daunting task, because how do you choose between some of these? I made this list from scratch three times, and it changes shockingly little, so I’m sticking to my guns, I suppose!

The important thing to remember with the below list is that these are ranked not by cinematic achievement or a carefully plotted out chart or an algorithm to determine what are truly the best MCU entries. These are based solely on how much enjoyment I derive from them. You might think I’m a madman, or that finally (FINALLY!) somebody truly gets you, but regardless of whether or not you disagree with my choices (I’m sure Erik will have a completely different breakdown) I hope you enjoy reading!

You can check out part 1 here!

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Ranking the MCU Films (So Far) Part 1

Dare I try to do the nearly damn impossible and rank the film entries in the MCU?
It’s a very daunting task, because how do you choose between some of these? It might have been easier to do a tier-ranking list, but what are you gonna do?

The important thing to remember with the below list is that these are ranked not by cinematic achievement or a carefully plotted out chart or an algorithm to determine what are truly the best MCU entries. These are based solely on how much enjoyment I derive from them. You might think I’m a madman, or that finally (FINALLY!) somebody truly gets you, but regardless of whether or not you disagree with my choices (I’m sure Erik will have a completely different breakdown) I hope you enjoy reading!

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CZ#55: One World Under DOOM! – Podcast

Click here to listen to the latest episode!

“Doom is wisdom. Doom is power. Doom is prosperity. And only Doom can save you.” – Dr. Doom

Chris and Erik talk all things Dr. Doom – from his debut in the pages of the Fantastic Four to “Secret Wars”, speculation about “Avengers: Doomsday”, and the latest Marvel Comics Event: “One World Under DOOM”!

Also on this Episode:

  • The first 4 teasers to “Avengers: Doomsday”
  • Mount Rushmore: (non-FF) Dr. Doom adversaries
  • Pitch Ideas: “Age of Doom” (Chris) and “Iron Man and Doctor Strange in Freaky Friday” (Erik)
  • The Best / Worst Dr. Doom adaptations
  • Essential Reads: Dr. Doom!

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Issue #44: Replacement Heroes – Podcast

Comic Zombie #44 – Replacement Heroes – Podcast

“We need new heroes. Ones suited for the times we’re in. Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning.” – Sam Wilson, Captain America (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier)

Chris and Erik talk about some of their favorite “Replacement Heroes” in comics!

Characters include:

  • Batman Beyond (Terry McGuinness)
  • The Superior Spider-man (Doc-Ock)
  • Sam Wilson / Bucky (Captain America)
  • Azrael / Dick Grayson (Batman)
  • Mile Morales (Spider-man)
  • Rhodey (Iron Man)
  • Damian Wayne / Tim Drake (Robin)
  • Barry Allen / Wally West (The Flash)
  • Hal Jordan / John Stewart / Guy Gardener / Kyle Rayner / Jessica Cruz (Green Lantern)
  • Jane Foster / Eric Masterson (Thor)
  • X-23 (Wolverine)
  • And more?!

Also on this Episode:

  • Trailer Review – “Captain America: Brave New World”
  • Trailer Review – “Batman: The Caped Crusader” (Animated Series)
  • Trailer Review – “HellBoy: The Crooked Man”
  • Speculation about James Gunn’s “Superman”
  • Our ‘Mount Rushmore’ picks – DC Writers (1:25)

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Top 100 Villains 10-6

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Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does, or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

(Click here for our Top 100 Heroes List!)

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Issue #41: Revisiting the MCU: Phase Three (Part 2 of 2) – Podcast

Revisiting the MCU: Phase Three (Part 2 of 2) – Podcast

“Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it’s here. Or should I say… I am.” – Thanos

Chris, Erik, and Zack (⁠⁠⁠Podcasters Assemble⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Effin Cultured⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠The Neat Cast⁠⁠⁠) assemble once again to *finally* finish off The Infinity Saga!

MCU Phase 3 Movies (part two):

  • Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
  • Captain Marvel (2019)
  • Avengers: Endgame (2019)
  • Spider-man: Far From Home (2019)

Be sure to listen to our previous MCU episodes as well:

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

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Top 10 Avengers Teams

In the past 60-ish years there have been a lot, and I mean a LOT of people assembling as Avengers. The roster has been in a constant state of evolution and change since the fourth issue, when they re-introduced Captain America to the Marvel universe, and issue 16, when they replaced everyone but Cap with a former Iron Man villain (Hawkeye) and two of Magneto’s lackeys from the Brotherhood over in X-Men (Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch)!

Because there have been oh-so-many rosters over the decades, it’s fun to debate which are the best ones. Of course, as always it comes down to personal preference; for instance, I’ve got the West Coast Avengers on this list, but I’m sure many would disqualify them just based on the name. To each their own. That said, what follows are my picks for the 10 best Avengers rosters ever assembled.

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5 Coolest Moments From… Civil War, part 1

Civil-War-Comics

Marvel tends to have a lot of ‘event’ stories. It’s true. It’s a thing.

These stories are typically team-up or vs books, and often take place in their own mini-series with tie-ins occurring in the regular monthly books (and often additional mini-series, as well). Often big, status quo changing stories that feature some of the top writers and artists in the industry, some people are sick to death of them, and others can’t get enough of them. Personally, I tend to fall towards the latter, but I think even the most jaded fan would agree that, as far as Marvel event stories go, Civil War is the big daddy of them all (the only other argument I will listen to is 2015’s Secret Wars).

Written by Mark Millar with art by Steve McNiven (huge shout out to Dexter Vines and Morry Hollowell for their inking and coloring) this story is chock full of crazy. There are 7 issues and each one is packed full of big moments and jaw-dropping action. These event books are often marketed as ‘nothing will ever be the same!’, and for a while, at least, that was certainly the case here.

Picking only 5 moments of awesome from Civil War is really, really hard. So, because I’m a total fraud, I decided to split this list into 2 parts and do 5 moments in each part. Here are the first 5 coolest moments from Marvel’s Civil War.

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Top 15 Rivalries

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Comic books are filled with rivalries. Some are friendly, like Archie and Jughead, and some are… not so friendly. While the friendly ones are fine, and can often inject plenty of drama into stories, it’s the really vitriolic ones that grab our attention and are typically the ones we remember the most fondly. With that in mind, below are my top 15 rivalries in comics. Plenty of these rivalries have had backstories fleshed out after the first time we saw them, like our first entry, but for ‘first altercation’ I’m going with the first published fight or confrontation between them, and not the backstories that were later filled in.

Who makes up your favorite rivalry? Did they place on the list? Let us know!

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