In March, ScreenAge Wasteland will have its 3rd annual Movie Madness tournament to determine the greatest superhero movie.
Similar to the NCAA March Madness tournament that starts with 64 teams and ends with one winner standing tall, SAW is going to have 64 of the best superhero movies battle it out.
The great thing is you — our beloved Screenagers — will be able to help determine the winner by voting in the matchups!
You will have to check back when voting begins on March 1, 2023, to see what the matchups are for each region. The movies were picked by an intricate scoring system in order to get the best of the best superhero films with minimal opinions or bias involved (or something like that). The top four movies to grade out the highest are your four #1 seeds in each region.
Check out the entries already announced in other regions to see possible Final Four matchups:
The Kevin Feige Region | The Stan Lee Region | The Dark Horse Region
The DC Trinity Region
Superman: The Movie (1978)
Director: Richard Donner | Writer: Mario Puzo | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford, and Margot Kidder
Superman develops a romance with Lois Lane whilst battling the villainous Lex Luthor.
Batman (1989)
Director: Tim Burton | Writer: Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, and Michael Gough
Batman comes into conflict with his archenemy The Joker.
Batman Returns (1992)
Director: Tim Burton | Writer: Daniel Waters | Stars: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, and Michael Gough
Batman comes into conflict with wealthy industrialist Max Shreck and deformed crime boss Oswald Cobbleplot / The Penguin, who seek power, influence, and respect regardless of the cost to Gotham City. Their plans are complicated by Selina Kyle, Shreck’s formerly-meek secretary, who seeks vengeance against Shreck as Catwoman.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Director: Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm | Writer: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves | Stars: Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, Stacy Keach, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bob Hastings, Robert Costanzo, and Mark Hamill
Batman reconciles with a former lover, Andrea Beaumont, while facing a mysterious vigilante who is murdering Gotham City’s crime bosses.
Batman Begins (2005)
Director: Christopher Nolan | Writer: Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer | Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, and Morgan Freeman
Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and fights to stop Ra’s al Ghul and the Scarecrow from plunging Gotham City into chaos.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Director: Richard Donner | Writer: Mario Puzo, David Newman, and Leslie Newman | Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure, and Terence Stamp
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
Director: Dave Bullock | Writer: Stan Berkowitz | Stars: David Boreanaz, Miguel Ferrer, Neil Patrick Harris, John Heard, Kyle MacLachlan, Lex Lang, Lucy Lawless, Phil Morris, Kyra Sedgwick, Brooke Shields, and Jeremy Sisto
In the 1950s, a new generation of superheroes must join forces with the community’s active veterans and a hostile US government to fight a menace to Earth.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan | Writer: Jonathan and Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman
Vigilante Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who seeks to test how far Batman will go to save the city from chaos.
Wonder Woman (2009)
Director: Lauren Montgomery | Writer: Michael Jelenic | Stars: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Marg Helgenberger, Oliver Platt, and Virginia Madsen
A modern man’s trespass on the island of the Amazons enables an imprisoned war god to escape and Princess Diana wins the responsibility to recapture him.
Watchmen (2009)
Director: Zack Snyder | Writer: David Hayter and Alex Tse | Stars: Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson
A group of mostly retired American superheroes investigates the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy that challenges their moral limitations due to the complex nature of the circumstances.
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
Director: Brandon Vietti | Writer: Judd Winick | Stars: Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, John DiMaggio, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Isaacs, and Wade Williams
There’s a mystery afoot in Gotham City, and Batman must go toe-to-toe with a mysterious vigilante, who goes by the name of Red Hood. Subsequently, old wounds reopen and old, once-buried memories come into the light.
All-Star Superman (2011)
Director: Sam Liu | Writer: Dwayne McDuffie | Stars: James Denton, Christina Hendricks, and Anthony LaPaglia
After being poisoned by sun radiation, a dying Superman decides to fulfill his lifelong dreams while Lex Luthor has his own agenda.
Wonder Woman (2017)
Director: Patty Jenkins | Writer: Allan Heinberg | Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, and Connie Nielsen
The Amazon princess Diana sets out to stop World War I, believing the conflict was started by the longtime enemy of the Amazons, Ares, after American pilot and spy Steve Trevor crash-lands on their island Themyscira and informs her about it.
Shazam! (2019)
Director: David F. Sandberg | Writer: Henry Gayden | Stars: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Djimon Hounsou
Teenager Billy Batson is chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam to be his new champion by saying the name “Shazam”, allowing him to transform into an adult superhero with various superpowers. Billy and his foster brother Freddy Freeman must discover Billy’s new powers in order to stop the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Director: James Gunn | Writer: James Gunn | Stars: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis
Several convicts join a task force known as the “Suicide Squad” in exchange for lighter sentences. They are sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese to destroy all traces of the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror before it falls into the local government’s control.
The Batman (2022)
Director: Matt Reeves | Writer: Matt Reeves and Peter Craig | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell
Batman uncovers corruption while pursuing the Riddler, a serial killer who targets Gotham’s corrupt elite.
What do you think of the films in this region? Do you have any predictions regarding which film will make it to the Final Four?
