Marvelous May – Captain Marvel vs She-Hulk

Welcome back to Marvelous May! Well, all of the first round match-ups have occurred, which means it’s time to see who moves on. And first up, the first two winners from the first round, both by unanimous decision, will take each other on in a battle of two members of the A-Force: Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, vs Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk!

I’ve already gone over both of these two, so instead, let’s talk a little bit about the team they’re both members of. In fact, Jen is the leader of the team. Originally, during the events of Secret Wars, the A-Force was a mass group of superheroines that protected a small island on Battleworld called Arcadia. I highly recommend checking it out, but the short version of what happened is that the group found themselves having to work under the Thor Corps, who are vehemently working for Doom and upholding his law. As such, things turn sour when one of the A-Force is arrested and sent to prison, and a girl named Singularity appears to Nico Minoru, AKA Sister Grimm. Eventually, the group discovered a conspiracy by Loki to take control of Arcadia, who, upon being found out, decided to open the way for the zombie hordes of the Deadlands to enter. The A-Force did their best to stop them, but ultimately, it was up to Singularity to save the day by using her own abilities to contain the zombies within her body and seemingly destroy herself in the skies above. However, this wasn’t the end, as she later appeared near Earth-616. With nowhere to go and finding herself quickly under attack, she brought together the five leading members of the team, who were her closest friends: She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Sister Grimm, Medusa, and Dazzler. Together, the six have now become the new A-Force, and are working together to combat other-dimensional threats to the world.

…Huh. Must not’ve have had shawarma there. 😛 Anyway, time to start voting. Make sure to let me know in the comments below who you think should win before May 15th, when one of these two will make it to the semi-finals. Also, feel free to read more about these two and their team in the links below, and come back when the next match-up of the second round commences. Ja né!

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Carol_Danvers_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Jennifer_Walters_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/A-Force_(Earth-16191)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/A-Force_(Earth-616)

Marvelous May – Rogue vs Jean Grey

Welcome back to Marvelous May! Today, we’ve got two X-Men facing off, with Anna Marie, AKA Rogue, vs Jean Grey, AKA Marvel Girl/Phoenix!

Rogue

…I would just like to say for the record that this is my favourite member of the X-Men, and for many years held the title of my favourite superheroine. What can I say? I have a known weakness for tough, southern belles. 😉 Anyway, Rogue’s back-story is a little complicated (although I think her competition for today has her beat in that regard), but long story short, after finding out she was a Mutant with the power to literally drain the life from anyone she touches, Anna Marie decided from then on to wear body-concealing clothes to prevent anyone from touching her skin. Of course, it seemed as though this also caused her to drain their psyche, and in the case of Mutants and other people with superpowers, gain their abilities for a fixed amount of time. As such, her foster mother, Mystique, who drafted her into the Brotherhood of Mutants, gave her a job: Grab Carol Danvers and DO NOT LET GO. Having turned the girl to evil by playing off her loneliness and bitterness, Rogue did just that, holding on for so long that she permanently gained Carol’s strength, speed, flight, and seventh sense (Carol eventually got better, though). However, there was an unexpected side-effect: She began to see Carol’s memories as though they were her own, and went to Professor Xavier for help out of fear of losing herself in these memories. Either out of a genuine desire to repay them for their charity, or because of Carol’s influence on her mind, Rogue was eventually reformed and became one of the X-Men. Over the years, she’s even managed to gain control of her Mutant power (and lose it again from time to time), and lost Carol’s abilities, causing her to basically start over from scratch. Regardless, she is a powerful and adaptable member of both the X-Men and of the Avengers Unity Division, AKA the Uncanny Avengers.

Jean Grey

Oh God, I’ve been dreading this moment. I now have to talk about Jean Grey’s back-story, and considering how many different deaths, revivals, and retcons that character has been through, it’s kind of a mess. Here’s the important part, though: She’s one of the original X-Men, having joined when the team consisted only of Cyclops, Angel, Beast, and Iceman. So, for those that have only seen the movies, yes, there IS history to the X-Men that didn’t involve Wolverine. lol She’s also the first major psychic of the team, excluding Professor Xavier, originally only possessing telekinesis, but eventually was revealed to possess greater raw psychic power than even Professor X himself. She can read people’s thoughts and emotions, put up telepathic defenses and cloaks, can detect and locate other Mutants, is capable of astral projection, can levitate herself or other people/objects, and can even brainwash and mind control people if she so chose. It was also made apparent that she was the avatar of the Phoenix Force, one of the most powerful Cosmic entities in the Marvel Universe, and grants her both the power to destroy at sheer INSANITY levels, as well as resurrect the dead, whether that’s others or herself (the latter of which has happened frequently, lol). Despite this, she apparently died for good back in 2004…until her time displaced younger self was brought to the present and has opted to remain there until she’s cleaned up some of the messes her older self and her friends made over the years, despite the fact that the longer she stays in the present, the harder it’ll make things for when she eventually has to go back to the past.

Well, that’s all for now. Be sure to vote on who you think should win this match before May 12th, when the winner takes on either Storm or Gamora. Until then, check out the links below to learn more about these two, and come back to see the first match-up of the second round. Ja né!

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Rogue_(Anna_Marie)_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Jean_Grey_(Earth-616)

Marvelous May – Storm vs Gamora

Welcome back to Marvelous May, and today, it’s X-Men vs Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, vs Gamora!

Storm

Descended from a line of African priestesses, Ororo Munroe lost her parents at a young age when a plane crashed into their home in Cairo. Afterward, she was trained by street urchins to be a master pickpocket. Wouldn’t you know it, she one day picked the pocket of one Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, who kept an eye on her over the years, as he sensed she was a Mutant. Eventually, her powers manifested to allow her to save the life of a young Wakandan Prince, who would later become Black Panther. She was then taken to Kenya to be trained to use her powers responsibly, and was believed to be and worshiped as a Goddess. This is where, during a time period where the X-Men needed new members, Ororo was found and recruited, taking on the name Storm. She possesses atmokinesis, allowing her to manipulate the weather to her liking. Wind, rain, lightning, and snow all bend to her command, as she can create or control storms, and use the wind currents to fly. Unfortunately, the events that resulted in her parents’ death left her with a horrible case of claustrophobia, and her emotional state ultimately effects how well she can control her powers. That said, when she’s in full control, few can hope to stop the sheer force and power of Storm.

Gamora

So, right off the bat, two things that people might not know about Gamora: She’s originally from an alternate universe, meaning she’s not actually native to Earth-616, and her full name is Gamora Zen Whoberi Ben Titan… … …Yeah, if it’s all the same with her, I’mma just call her Gamora. 😛 She’s the sole survivor of a race from her universe and someone brought her over to the mainstream Marvel Universe to save her. Problem? Her savior was Thanos, who molded her into a weapon, and a damned efficient one at that. She is considered the most dangerous woman in the universe, being trained to be an expert markswoman, a weapons expert, and a skilled martial artist, and all of that is on top of her natural abilities as a Zen Whoberis, which makes her super strong, super fast, and so on. Luckily for Gamora, she one day learned of Thanos’ ultimate plan: To kill the entire universe in a bid to impress Death…because Death is an actual person in the Marvel Universe, AND a woman, and he is trying to woo her by killing EVERYONE. Yeah, clearly, he’s not all there, but really, what would you expect from someone called the Mad Titan? She’s since switched over to the side of good, working with a few different heroes from time to time, until she eventually found her home with a rag-tag group calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a decision that seems to be working out for her, and has led to her being empowered by the Black Vortex, which gave her the ability fly, survive the vacuum of space, and basically access hammerspace. And hey, who wouldn’t wanna ride with an anthropomorphic raccoon with guns, a Captain Kirk wannabe, a giant tree with a three-word-long vocabulary, and the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion?

Anyway, be sure to vote on who you think should win this match by May 12th, at which point the winner will move on to take on the winner of the next bout. And be sure to check out the links below to read more about these two, as well as come back for the final match of the first round: Rogue vs Jean Grey. Ja né!

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Ororo_Munroe_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Gamora_Zen_Whoberi_Ben_Titan_(Earth-7528)