Let's settle this once and for all: DC vs. Marvel Tournament

That's a vote for Daredevil if I've ever seen one.

Neither one of these movies is particularly good.  Tim Burton is going Full Burton on Batman Returns, and you never go Full Burton when making a Batman movie.  He's gotta save that sort of thing for personal projects, like Edward Scissorhands or Frankenweenie.  The dialog is awful, the story is awful, and there are too many villains.  While the Director's Cut of Daredevil has a plot that makes sense (unlike the theatrical cut), it's still got that bloody playground fight in it.  This scene demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding by the writer of comic books.  When two superheroes meet for the first time, they do indeed always wind up in a fight.  In this case however, these are not two superheroes.  These are two alter-egos, and their entire purpose is to act like normal people, NOT get into a sparing match in the middle of a crowded playground.  This is what costumes and rooftops are for!  The dialog is awful, the story is generic, and at the end of the day I just don't care.

It's a wash.  They're both equally bad, and cancel each other out.  I refuse to endorse either movie.

THE FINAL VOTE:
Daredevil
I don't have to explain myself to you.  Yeah, you.  You know who you are.

The Score
Batman Returns:  5
Daredevil:  4



Daredevil tries to shock Batman by saying "One day, I'll be you."  Batman, unwavered from his murderous ways, just pulls out a bomb, straps it to Daredevil, and blows him up while DD screams "MARTHAAAAAAAAAA!"  Batman felt no remorse.  It was a bomb, not a gun.  And he had just tied Marvel with DC's comeback after Marvel's win streak.

DC:  5
Marvel:  5
Draw:  1

ROUND 12!

IN THIS CORNER


Superheroes:  Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman,  Efrim Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth
Supervillains:  Stacy Keach as the Phantasm, Mark Hamill as the Joker, Abe Vigota as Salvatore "The Wheezer" Valestra, Dick Miller as Chuckie Sol, John P. Ryan as Buzz Bronski
Civilians:  Dana Delany as Andrea Beaumont, Hart Bachner as Arthur Reeves, Stacy Keach as Carl Beaumont, Bob Hastings as Commissioner James Gordon, Robert Costanzo as Lieutenant Harvey Bullock
Run Time:  1 Hour 16 Minutes
Director:  Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm
Writer:  Alan Burnett (Ducktales:  The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp), Paul Dini (Double Dragon), Martin Pasko, Michael Reaves
Music:  Shirley Walker (Final Destination)
Cinematography:  N/A
Tomatometer:  84%
IMDB:  7.8
Story:  A mysterious villain called the Phantasm is haunting Gotham, killing mob bosses, and letting Batman take the fall.  As the city goes on a manhunt for the caped crusader, Bruce Wayne meets a woman from his past that may know who the Phantasm is.

Pros:  Hands down the best Batman film made up until that point.
Cons:  The last two should have been half as good as this, but weren't.

AND IN THIS CORNER


Superheroes:  Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm, James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Famke Jensen as Jean Grey, Alan Cummings as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Anna Paquin as Marie/Rogue, Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman, Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro, Daniel Cudmore as Pete Rasputin/Colossus
Supervillains:  Brian Cox as Colonel William Stryker, Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Kelly Hu as Deathstrike, Bruce Davison as Mystique (Senator Kelly)
Civilians:  Cotter Smith as President McKenna
Run Time:  2 Hours 13 Minutes
Director:  Rapist Bryan Singer (X-Men)
Writer:  Michael Dougherty (Godzilla:  King of the Monsters, Krampus, Trick 'r Treat), Dan Harris, David Hayter (X-Men)
Music:  John Ottman (The Usual Suspects, Lake Placid)
Cinematographer:  Newton Thomas Sigel (X-Men)
Tomatometer:  85%
IMDB:  7.4 
Story:  While relations between humans and mutants are at their highest tensions after a mutant attack on the President of the United States, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters is attacked by soldiers led by William Stryker, who has scavenged parts from Cerebro and kidnapped Professor Xavier, intending on using him to kill every mutant in the world.  Meanwhile, the X-Men are scattered and forced to seek out help from Magneto and Mystique to save Xavier.

Pros:  I remember this one time Rebecca Romijn was doing a press tour for this movie and she was talking about the make-up for Mystique and she told a story about how one of her body/stunt doubles farted in the make-up and it sent a make-up bubble up to the small of her back.  That was pretty funny.
Cons:  Was directed by a rapist.

FIGHT!

...fuck.


I really love X2 but...I don't think I can vote against Mask of the Phantasm. Every word of Bruce's graveyard confession is seared into my brain.

Phantasm.

It feels made just to hurt me.

Return of the Joker is fabulous, but it's direct to video and won't be a part of this tournament.

X2

I'm one of the dozen or so people in the world who actually saw Mask of the Phantasm at a movie theater.  It's certainly the best Batman movie of the 1990's.  On the other hand, X2 is a fantastic movie and easily the best X-Men movie of the 2000's.  I feel that Mask of the Phantasm is probably the better film overall, but I can't deny that I've watched X2 far more often than MotP.  It's action scenes, particularly Nightcrawler at the beginning and Wolverine at the mansion keep me coming back.  I don't think I've seen Mask of the Phantasm more than four or five times.

X2

At school they gave us a 3-ringer-binder sized poster and a bookmark. And played the movie on our CCTV as soon as it come out on VHS. Very bizarre.



People here haven't watched the vast majority of those movies.

X2

Which one are those?

There are a couple of anime in the 80's that were based on Marvel's Tomb of Dracula and Monster of Frankenstein comics.