Man-Bat Vs. The Lizard (Round Two!)

 

When Bob Greenwade, a patron of this blog, suggested this battle, I figured it was a strong enough match up to demand  a second appearance - so here it is! Thanks, Bob!  They first tangled in STF #2606.  I have to say that I'd be rooting for Man-Bat in this fight.  While both character started out as respected scientists that were altered by self administered experimentation, Kirk Langstrom  always seemed like the more redeemable of the two to me.

Machine Man and Cyborg in: "The Extinction Algorithm!"

 

I'm not sure what The Vision's status will be following Wanda/Vision on Disney+, but whatever becomes of him, the MCU definitely has room for another robotic character.  I say it's time to bring in Machine Man!  He has the same appeal as Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation - an artificial man that longs to understand what it is like to be a real one.

Machine Man and Cyborg previously met in STF #2725...

Wonder Woman and Captain Britain

Wonder Woman 1984 has been pushed back yet again, now slated to open on Christmas Day.  A holiday theatrical release worked well for Aquaman, so maybe that's not a bad strategy.  There is another big movie opening up in that time frame, the new version of Dune, but I think that WW is the bigger draw for audiences.

 

Gumby and The Martian Manhunter

 

I watched the new animated Superman: The Man of Tomorrow, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that The Martian Manhunter plays such a large role in it. In addition to telling the Story of Superman's heroic debut, it established that J'onn J'onzz had already been operating on Earth in secret.  Lobo is also thrown into the mix - a character that never did much for me in the comics, but works well in this story.

Thanks to Mike Shirley, a Patron of this Blog, for suggesting this green hued pairing!

Ragman and The Falcon

 

As much fun as it might have been to pretend to be a hero like Batman or Iron Man, with unlimited resources to aid in your battle against crime, I have to say as a kid I identified a lot more with characters like Ragman.  Here was a guy who had almost nothing and operated out of a junk yard, but that didn't stop him from trying to do the right thing.  As someone with limited means, it was nice to know that not all heroes were millionaire playboys.

The Atom Vs. The Vision

 

Uh oh - it looks like once The Vision rid himself of the Manhunter Virus, he made himself vulnerable to an internal attack from Professot Ivo! I think he needs to invest in some better malware protection!  It's a good thing that Ray Palmer is willing to evaluate and repair Marvel's robotic characters.... even if he has to do it the hard way!

Johnny Thunder and Thor

 

There were definitely some teases for Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt to make an appearance on the next season of Stargirl.  There's the magic pink pen that was included among the JSA artifacts that Courtney discovered, and younger brother Mike has name dropped his friend Jakeem.  Hopefully we will see him show up, and the TV effects budget will be enough to effectively bring Badhnesia's most famous genie to life.

Hawkman and Iron Man in: "Mission to Venus!"

 

You have to love that the spacecraft used to travel to Venus is basically a big lightbulb!  Hopefully these two will be able to withstand an attack by a land octopus and Venusian bird of prey!  Ah, the Golden Age!

This is the third team-up on this blog between these two - they previously met in STF #2828,  and then again in STF #2301...

The Defenders and Superman in: "Crime in a Bottle!"

 

I was hoping that the DC Fandome event would shed some more light on the future of Superman in the movies.  There was some speculation that an announcement of The Man of Steel's involvement in Black Adam or even a solo sequel would be made, but alas no mention of such things.  DC Fandome continues this coming weekend, though It looks to be focusing more on the TV, print and gaming aspects of DC Comics.  Henry Cavill keeps teasing that he id not done with the role, but I'd like to know some more specifics as to what that will mean.

Superman met an earlier version of The Defenders in STF #2849...

Hellboy Vs. Darkseid

 

I have to admit, I wasn't always a big Darkseid fan.  I was not hugely into Jack Kirby's Fourth World tales as a kid, and the biggest impact that the ruler of Apokolips had for me was his appearances taking on The Legion of Super Heroes in the Great Darkness Saga.  What really got me interested was Superman: The Animated Series.  Through the extended story arc there and then continuing in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited,  I finally understood what the big deal was.  It will be interesting to see how he is handled on The Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie.

G.I. Robot and War Machine

 

Robert Downey Jr. recently reiterated that his time as Tony Stark is indeed done, and he is not even planning to return for voice overs.  Does Don Cheadle still have movies on his contract?  This could be a good opportunity for War Machine  and James Rhodes to be more fleshed out in the movies as he will be the premiere Armored hero in the MCU going forward.

Sub-Mariner and Batman & Robin

 

It's been a constant rumor that Namor would be introduced as an antagonist in the Black Panther sequel, focusing on relations between the advanced societies of Wakanda and Atlantis.  With the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, nothing is certain as to how the story will move forward now.  When you factor in the delays already caused by productions shutting down, it looks like it will probably be quite a bit longer before we see the Avenging Son make his live action debut.

Batman and The Sub-Mariner met a couple of times back in my Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues days - once in 2010, and then again in 2011...

Howard the Duck and Guardians of the Universe

Howard the Duck is fleetingly seen among the cavalry of heroes in the big final fight of Avengers: Endgame.  There's nothing that says he went back into outer space with The Ravagers once the battle was over, so there's no reason he can't still be on Earth and available to pop up in another movie or show down the line.  He's had some fun interaction with She-Hulk in the comics, it might be a kick to see him appear on her Disney+ show once it gets up and running.

 

Daredevil and The Spectre

 

There has been plenty of speculation as to how Marvel will bring Daredevil into the MCU.  Charlie Cox was very popular on the Netflix series, so many fans would be happy to see him continue in the role.  Will Marvel keep him on board, along with his supporting characters and established continuity, or perhaps keep him as an actor but as another version of DD that isn't connected to the first series?  Maybe they don't want to confuse things and will bring in a new actor to play the man without fear.  What do you think they will do?

Wonder Girl and Ghost Rider

 

There are few heroes with as convoluted a back story as Donna Troy.  I've lost track as to what exactly her official origin is these days. I see that she has shown up on the Titans show, which angle did the writers use there?  I know she looks pretty comics accurate, I'll have to check out that show one of these days.

New Mutants Vs. Doom Patrol

 

Well, after numerous delays,  New Mutants has finally been released to theaters.  It has only been getting middling reviews, but I like the characters so I am sure that I will check it out as a home rental at some point.  It looks to be a pretty low budget affair, with minimal use of powers and filmed on a single location.  Then again, Lockheed looked really cool on the commercial, and I am interested in how the Demon Bear is handled.  Has anyone gotten a chance to check it out?

The Greatest American Hero Vs. Godzilla

 

The Greatest American hero was a favorite show of mine but I will confess to some frustration with it.  Like Lost, it was a show that set up some big mysteries that were never properly addressed by the series' end.  Unless I missed an episode, we never did find out the actual full extent of the suit's power, where the spaceship that provided it came from, and who were the aliens behind it all.  I hoped we would have a TV movie later on that would answer these questions, but, alas, such a thing never came to pass.

The Thing Vs. Sinestro

 

Sinestro is of course referring to the Power Ring that Ben Grimm wielded on a cover from my MTIO: The Lost Issues days back in 2011...  One of the fun things about having done this blog for so long now is that I can go back through the archives and pick up on some old plot threads.  While I still like to feature new team up combinations it's also fun to mine STF continuity with returning teams, family relations and romances, plus to feature multi-part stories.  I'll try to keep up a mix to hopefully help maintain interest.

Warlock and Lieutenant Uhura

 

I remembered when Warlock was first introduced in The New Mutants, and thinking he was an odd fit for the team.  He quickly became a favorite of mine however.  No other artist has been able to quite capture his alien nature the way that Bill Sienkevitch did.  Art Adams was one that was able to provide a pretty cool interpretation, though, as is seen on this cover. 

Doctor Fate Vs. Baron Mordo

 

Chiwetel Ejiofor is a talented actor, but he didn't get much to do in the first Doctor Strange movie as Baron Mordo.  The post credits sequence set him up for bigger things in the sequel, and hopefully that comes to pass.  Still, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness looks to be jam packed with  The Scarlet Witch and other heroes joining in, not to mention the rumors of another villain like Mephisto or Nightmare in the mix.  Let's hope there is still room for Mordo to get his due.