Which movie will be declared the best?

This week at SB Nation, we are diving hard into the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) given that Black Widow was supposed to have already debut in theaters. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the release date has been pushed to Nov. 6, meaning we have to wait just a bit longer to see how the MCU opens up its next slate of films after the epic, sprawling “Infinity Saga.”

The silver lining of it all is that it gives us a chance to be a little more reflective about the franchise that we have been able to experience over the last 12 years. Because we are sports fans thirsty for competition, we’re releasing The Ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe Bracket. Caroline Darney and myself spent the last month re-watching all 23 films and seeded them accordingly after debating our own personal rankings for a composite bracket.

The top seven movies in our rankings have byes to the second round on voting with the 10th through 23rd movies kicking things off on Monday. This is the quickest way for us to cut to the chase and put the best movies up against each other for the duration of the week’s voting.

We have done our part in setting up the bracket, but now we are calling on you to help us out and crown a champion. Voting will take place within this post and on the SB Nation Twitter (@SBNation) and Instagram (@sbnation) pages. The results will be updated each day until one film remains.

Monday’s first round matchups

Byes: (1) Avengers: Endgame, (1) Avengers: Infinity War, (1) Thor: Ragnarok, (1) Captain America: Civil War, (2) Captain America: The Winter Soldier, (2) The Avengers, (2) Guardians of the Galaxy

I Love You 3000 Region

(4) Ant-Man vs. (5) Thor: The Dark World

Ant-Man emerged somewhat late as one of the more likable heroes in the MCU, while Thor: The Dark World was a big reason why it took Marvel so long to make the titular character of Thor someone that audiences could gravitate towards in Thor: Ragnarok.

America’s Ass Region

(4) Captain America: The First Avenger vs. (5) Doctor Strange

It hurt us to have the first Captain America adventure ranked so low, but it was the first one that we watched, and it speaks to the quality of the films that came after it. Doctor Strange is another character that felt ranked low, but is more a testament to what was ranked ahead of him.

(3) Spider-Man: Homecoming vs. (6) Iron Man 3

Tom Holland’s solo film debut as the wall-crawling superhero is a delightful outing that pretty much nailed the modern high school experience and aesthetic with a tremendous plot twist to set up the third act of the movie. Iron Man 3 is just kind of...there. And the twist with The Mandarin is quite frankly mostly insulting.

I am Groot Region

(4) Thor vs. (5) Avengers: Age of Ultron

This one pits Thor’s first appearance up against Thor’s fourth appearance in the MCU. Chris Hemsworth’s blonde eyebrows in the first one are ridiculously distracting, but that does not take away from the fact that the movie is otherwise a pretty good time (outside of all of those Dutch angle shots, of course).

(3) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 vs. (6) The Incredible Hulk

Some would argue that the second Guardians movie is better than the first. Almost absolutely nobody would argue that the Edward Norton Hulk film is in the same breath as any of its peers in this universe.

Point Break Region

(4) Ant-Man and The Wasp vs. (5) Captain Marvel

The second film in the Ant-Man series is a heck of a lot of fun and has an argument to be ranked higher than the first one. Captain Marvel’s place in the universe makes significantly more sense when you watch in story order.

(3) Spider-Man: Far From Home vs. (6) Iron Man 2

The second Tom Holland solo outing here is another great movie with a very good villain and performances. The same cannot be said for Robert Downey Jr.’s second Iron Man film. One of these certainly outshines the other. While Iron Man 2 develops some important characters (looking at you, Rhodey), it doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of things story-wise.

How we seeded the films (Writer rankings in parenthesis)

Concessions were made in favor of debate/matchups

1. Avengers: Endgame (Anthony: 1, Caroline: 1)
2. Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony: 2, Caroline 5)
3. Thor: Ragnarok (Anthony: 8, Caroline: 2)
4. Captain America: Civil War (Anthony: 4, Caroline: 3)
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Anthony: 3, Caroline: 6)
6. The Avengers (Anthony: 5, Caroline: 8)
7. Guardians of the Galaxy (Anthony: 7, Caroline: 4)
8. Iron Man (Anthony: 11, Caroline: 12)
9. Black Panther (Anthony: 10, Caroline: 15)
10. Spider-Man: Far From Home (Anthony: 9, Caroline: 7)
11. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Anthony: 6, Caroline: 10)
12. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Anthony: 12, Caroline: 9)
13. Captain America: The First Avenger (Anthony: 13, Caroline: 11)
14. Ant-Man and the Wasp (Anthony: 14, Caroline: 13)
15. Thor (Anthony: 16, Caroline: 16)
16. Ant-Man (Anthony: 15, Caroline: 14)
17. Doctor Strange (Anthony: 18, Caroline: 17)
18. Captain Marvel (Anthony: 17, Caroline: 18)
19. Avengers: Age of Ultron (Anthony: 20, Caroline: 19)
20. Thor: The Dark World (Anthony: 19, Caroline: 20)
21. Iron Man 3 (Anthony: 21, Caroline: 21)
22. Iron Man 2 (Anthony: 22, Caroline: 22)
23. The Incredible Hulk (Anthony: 23, Caroline: 23)