Photon Vs. Sinestro

 

I definitely think that this would be a cool match-up.  Their battle would also most likely provide the artist and colorist on the issue an opportunity to really step up with some impressive visuals.

Thanos Vs. Sinestro

 

I think this would be a pretty decent battle, especially if Thanos had no Infinity Gauntlet to fall back on.  Who do you think would come out on top?

Kang and The Legion of Doom

 

Loki ended up its two-season Disney+ arc in such a way that Marvel can easily either continue with Kang as a main villain or move on from him to a different franchise wide antagonist.  I haven't heard of any concrete plans as to what direction the studio will go in, and I imagine we won't until Jonathan Majors' court case is settled one way or another.  

Doctor Doom Vs. The Legion of Doom

 

This is a match up that I have been meaning to get to for a while now, it was just a matter of finding the right images. That's a pretty powerful Legion line up, but if there's anyone who can give them a challenge, it's Victor Von Doom.

Fantastic Four and Green Lantern in: "Judgment From Korugar!"

 

Time for another all-John Byrne cover.  Let's hope the upcoming MCU versions look at least half as cool as when Byrne illustrated them.

GL and The FF have met on the blog before  - the last time GL was under an evil control... before that, it was the FF that were possessed... but at least they were working together during their first meeting.

The Inhumans Vs. Sinestro

 

Sinestro was perfectly cast with Mark Strong and looked great in Green Lantern.  It's too bad the movie's various shortcomings meant there would be no sequel to explore his turn to evil.  The Inhumans TV show was ill-conceived on many levels, leaving Marvel to shift their big screen focus to The Eternals (which had issues of its own).  Let's hope that everyone on this cover gets another chance to shine in their respective cinematic universes.

Quasar Vs. Sinestro

 

I'm guessing it will be a while before Quasar shows up in the MCU.  He's a c-lister but I always liked him.  I guess if the Guardians of the Galaxy return for a fourth film with a revamped roster, he could fit in there. 

Secret Society of Super-Villains and Mephisto (And More!)

 

For this Anniversary Issue, I thought I would go with a theme of villain team-ups.  I was delighted to see Frog-Man appear in the trailer for Disney's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series. I can't wait to see how he is realized and I love that Marvel is digging deep into their character files for the show.  I can't help but laugh that Frog-Man will show up in the MCU before Mephisto, who remains a no show after multiple rumors.

Space Ghost Vs. Sinestro

 

I'm still hoping to see something new done with Space Ghost on the big or small screen.  Space Ghost: Coats to Coast was fun, but I am ready for a more serious depiction of the space faring adventurer.  DC's excellent Future Quest miniseries a few years back was a perfect template for a shared Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe.  I'd love to see some step taken to translate that to the movies or perhaps some new animated shows.  These characters are too cool to be left on the shelf.

Sinestro Vs. Doctor Doom

This could be a fun battle to see.  Both are very powerful villains that nevertheless are always seeking more sources of strength, and both are 100% convinced of their moral superiority over their opponents.  It would be quite the clash of power and ego!

Always happy to include the artwork of Gilk Kane.  He's my favorite Marvel cover artist ever.  I could never afford an original of one of his covers, but I did manage to purchase a sketch by him many years back: 

 

Spider-Man and The Secret Society of Super-Villains

 

This is a story I could see working.   Spider-Man has often been unjustly tagged as a criminal, and it would be cool to see him use that status to go undercover in the underworld - sort of a reverse Thunderbolts set up.  I'm sure there's some real life comic book equivalent of this plot, but I can't recall one right now.

Katma Tui and The Avengers

 I've seen character descriptions for the upcoming HBO Max Green lantern Corps series, and Katma Tui does not seem to be among them.  I'm OK with that if the reason for her absence is to save her for a live action appearance with John Stewart, when he finally gets his moment to shine in cinema.  I always liked their relationship in the comics.

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.

Captain America and Green Lantern

I think that Steve Rogers and Hal Jordan would work very well together.  Hal is known for his will power and Cap arguably has the strongest will of any hero in the Marvel Universe.  The real question is how long Sinestro would put up with being partnered with Arnim Zola!

Cap met the Alan Scott GL in STF #372 and then again in STF #719...

Katma Tui and Ms. Marvel

Continuing from yesterday's cover, we see that others have joined the fray. 

I spoke yesterday how Marvel's Captain Marvel movie had missed opportunities,and now it's DC's turn.  I'll still never understand why the Green Lantern movie did not focus on Sinestro as the villain rather than the much less interesting (and more goofy looking) Hector Hammond and the Space Fart known as Parallax (did they learn nothing from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Sillver Surfer and their approach to Galactus?)  I much preferred Mark Strong in the role as Sinestro than his take on Sivana in Shazam! (frankly, that felt like a more generic villain and nothing like the short weaselly Sivana that I knew from the comics), and I wish he had gotten the chance to more thoroughly explore the character.

Captain Marvel and Sinestro

I'm still bummed that we will never see this version of Mar-Vell in the Marvel movies  Not using him and reducing his story line down to a few sentences uttered by Annette Bening is one of the few real missteps that the MCU has made to me.  Even if they had to gender-bend the character, I'd still like to have seen at least one scene with a de-aged Bening showing peak Mar-Vell in outer space action

As you can see from the cover above, this is only part One of a Two-Part Epic - so make sure you come back tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!

Sinestro Vs. Man-Thing

I am not expecting any follow ups to Justice League in the theaters any time soon, given the critical and commercial reaction to the first outing.  While I think at least a soft reboot is in order, I have to admit that I liked the tease at the end of the formation of a Legion of Doom / Injustice League-type team.  I still hope that we will see a story line like that in the movies one of these days.

Thunderbolts Vs. The Secret Society of Super-Villains

Ever since I was a kid watching The Legion of Doom on Super Friends, I have always liked seeing villains joining together to make teams of their own.  It's cool to see so much power amassed together and the conflicts that arise when a group of evil, self-serving personalities attempt to work as one.  The Thunderbolts took the concept one step further by having the villains pose as heroes, and explored the effect that had on all of them - making it one of my favorite Marvel series.

Green Lantern and Beta Ray Bill

I had figured that the third Thor film would be the last one for a while, but with the positive reaction from critics and audiences, as well as the new status quo, I'm thinking another installment is looking more likely.  Beta Ray Bill was teased in Thor: Ragnarok as one of the champion statues on the Grandmasters arena, and now I am ready for a full fledged co-starring role for him.  The work with Hulk and Korg shows that the motion capture technology is definitely there to bring him to life, all it would take is finding an actor with the right voice to portray him.

Ch'p and Howard The Duck

Many a superhero fan began their love of comics with funny animal characters.  It's not surprising that animal heroes would strike a chord with them as they are a bridge between the two genres.  The question is, how realistic to depict them?  For me, it's different for each character - I prefer a more cartoonish Howard and a more naturalistic looking Ch'p.