MCU MADNESS: A Tournament to Determine the Champion of the Infinity Saga

We are living in very interesting times and people are looking for a sense of normalcy. Usually around this time of year, millions of people are participating in one of America’s great sports traditions… filling out brackets for the NCAA Basketball March Madness. Well, The Direct is here for you, introducing the MCU Madness Tournament: A bracket-based gauntlet to decide the champion movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's 23-film Infinity Saga. Over the next few weeks, we will be asking readers of The Direct to vote between MCU movies and eventually crown a champion. Let's take a look at our current bracket...

CLICK HERE FOR FULL-RESOLUTION IMAGE OF THE CURRENT BRACKET.

SEEDING

We have seeded all 23 MCU movies based on their IMBD ratings. The top 9 seeds receive a first-round bye while the 10-23 movies battle it out in round one. Here are the official rankings that decide our seeding. 

1. Avengers: Endgame (bye)

2. Avengers: Infinity War (bye)

3. The Avengers (bye)

4. Guardians of the Galaxy (bye)

5. Iron Man (bye)

6. Thor: Ragnarok (bye)

7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (bye)

8. Captain America: Civil War (bye)

9. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (bye)

10. Doctor Strange

11. Spider-Man: Homecoming

12. Spider-Man: Far From Home

13. Avengers: Age of Ultron

14. Black Panther

15. Iron Man 3

16. Ant-Man

17. Ant-Man and the Wasp

18. Iron Man 2

19. Thor

20. Thor: The Dark World

21. Captain America: The First Avenger

22. Captain Marvel

23. The Incredible Hulk

SCHEDULE

First Round: March 20- March 22

Sweet 16: March 24- March 31

Elite 8: April 3- April 6

Final 4: April 8 - April 10

Championship: April 12

VOTING

Fans can vote on TheDirect.com at the bottom of each matchup page. Be sure to create an account on The Direct in order to play along! 

ROUND 1

FULL RECAP

#10 Doctor Strange vs. #23 The Incredible Hulk

#11 Spider-Man: Homecoming vs. #22 Captain Marvel

#12 Spider-Man: Far From Home vs. #21 Captain America: The First Avenger

#13 Avengers: Age of Ultron vs. #20 Thor: The Dark World

#14 Black Panther vs. #19 Thor

#15 Iron Man 3 vs. #18 Iron Man 2

#16 Ant-Man vs. #17 Ant-Man and the Wasp

SWEET 16

FULL RECAP

#1 Avengers: Endgame vs. #16 Ant-Man

#2 Avengers: Infinity War vs. #15 Iron Man 3

#3 The Avengers vs. #14 Black Panther

#4 Guardians of the Galaxy vs. #13 Avengers: Age of Ultron

#5 Iron Man vs. #12 Spider-Man: Far From Home 

#6 Thor: Ragnarok vs. #11 Spider-Man: Homecoming

#7 Captain America: The Winter Soldier vs. #10 Doctor Strange

#8 Captain America: Civil War vs. #9 Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2

ELITE 8

FULL RECAP

#4 Guardians of the Galaxy vs. #5 Iron Man

#3 The Avengers vs. #6 Thor: Ragnarok

#2 Avengers: Infinity War vs. #7 Captain America: The Winter Soldier

#1 Avengers: Endgame vs. #8 Captain America: Civil War

FINAL 4

FULL RECAP

#1 Avengers: Endgame vs. #5 Iron Man

#2 Avengers: Infinity War vs. #3 The Avengers

CHAMPIONSHIP

FULL RECAP

#1 Avengers: Endgame vs. #2 Avengers: Infinity War