March Madness: Superhero Smackdown (Sweet 16)

March Madness brings our fun annual WTOP entertainment bracket.

This year, it’s a superhero smackdown between comic book characters!

The First Round saw major upsets like Thor hammering Iron Man.

Now, we enter the Sweet 16 of the best superheroes and super villains.

Vote below and check back Friday to see who advances!

(Voting requires Twitter, so create an account even if it’s just for two weeks)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">First up we have 1 seed Superman, freshly off of easily beating Aquaman, going against 9 seed Thor. Thor was able to beat Iron Man in round 1 and now faces off against, arguably, the most iconic hero of them all.</p>
<p>— WTOP (@WTOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1377235431117496320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
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1/8

Superman vs. Thor

First up we have 1 seed Superman, freshly off of easily beating Aquaman, going against 9 seed Thor. Thor was able to beat Iron Man in round 1 and now faces off against, arguably, the most iconic hero of them all.

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's the 4 seed Black Panther vs. 5 seed Wonder Woman. The King and the Princess both narrowly beat their opponents and now face off in what should be a closely fought battle.</p>
<p>— WTOP (@WTOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1377235432463826955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>

2/8

Black Panther vs. Wonder Woman

It's the 4 seed Black Panther vs. 5 seed Wonder Woman. The King and the Princess both narrowly beat their opponents and now face off in what should be a closely fought battle.

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">2 seed Batman took care of Starlord easily while the 7 seed Wolverine just eked out a win when up against The Hulk.</p>
<p>Will Batman and his arsenal be able to overcome one of the greatest heroes X-Men has seen.</p>
<p>— WTOP (@WTOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1377235433885724677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>

3/8

Batman vs. Wolverine

2 seed Batman took care of Starlord easily while the 7 seed Wolverine just eked out a win when up against The Hulk.

Will Batman and his arsenal be able to overcome one of the greatest heroes X-Men has seen.

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">And to finish of the Superhero side of the bracket, its the 3 seed Spider-Man going against the 6 seed Captain America. In the battle of New York City heroes, who takes this matchup?</p>
<p>— WTOP (@WTOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1377235435198484486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>

4/8

Spider-Man vs. Captain America

And to finish of the Superhero side of the bracket, its the 3 seed Spider-Man going against the 6 seed Captain America. In the battle of New York City heroes, who takes this matchup?

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

5/8

Joker vs. Harley Quinn

On the Supervillain side of the bracket we have Joker vs. Harley Quinn. These two have been tangled up with each other since they both turned evil. Can Harley overcome the Joker's tricks?

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's the 4 seed Magneto taking on the 5 seed Darkseid. In the battle between these two, which one will remain standing?</p>
<p>— WTOP (@WTOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1377235438117748739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>

6/8

Magneto vs. Darkseid

It's the 4 seed Magneto taking on the 5 seed Darkseid. In the battle between these two, which one will remain standing?

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

7/8

Thanos vs. Venom

The next matchup has Thanos vs. Venom. While Venom beat Bane with ease, will he have the same success against one of the most feared rulers in the entire galaxy?

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The last matchup sees our only major upset come through as 11 seed Loki, fresh off of beating Killmonger, goes up against the great Lex Luthor.</p>
<p>— WTOP (@WTOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1377235440751755265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>

8/8

Lex Luthor vs. Loki

The last matchup sees our only major upset come through as 11 seed Loki, fresh off of beating Killmonger, goes up against the great Lex Luthor.

— WTOP (@WTOP) March 31, 2021

Jason Fraley

Hailed by The Washington Post for “his savantlike ability to name every Best Picture winner in history," Jason Fraley began at WTOP as Morning Drive Writer in 2008, film critic in 2011 and Entertainment Editor in 2014, providing daily arts coverage on-air and online.