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• Berkan Dincer, Michael Lee • Season 1 • Episode 44

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In this episode of The Drive-In Movie Podcast, hosts Berkan Dincer (Big Screen Berkan) and Michael Lee put some of their favorite movies, characters, and franchises through the ultimate test.

🏆 We create a World Cup-style bracket for the greatest superhero movies of all time, debating which films deserve to advance and which get eliminated.
🏴‍☠️ We do the same for One Piece characters, determining who reigns supreme in the Grand Line.
🎨 Next, we build a bracket featuring the best animated movies ever made, with some heartbreaking matchups along the way.
🎬 Finally, we rank the best movies of 2026 so far, crowning an early champion in one of the most stacked movie years in recent memory.

Expect hot takes, controversial eliminations, and plenty of debates as we decide who survives and who gets knocked out.

🔥 Hashtags

#MovieWorldCup #SuperheroMovies #MarvelMovies #DCMovies #OnePiece #OnePieceCharacters #AnimatedMovies #Pixar #DisneyAnimation #DreamWorks #MovieBracket #MovieTournament #BestMovies2026 #MovieRankings #MovieDebate #MoviePodcast #FilmPodcast #TheDriveInMoviePodcast #BigScreenBerkan #PopCulturePodcast #FandomTalk #GeekCulture #CinemaDiscussion #EntertainmentPodcast #YouTubePodcast

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to the Drive-In Movie Podcast. Now playing the FIFA World Cup. This is the podcast where Bearcon and I go watch a Blockbuster brand new movie. You want to say that again? I thought I recovered. A blockbuster brand new movie. This is the podcast where Bearcon and I go watch a brand new Blockbuster movie in theaters. And then immediately come to the car to talk about said movie from theater in a low studio equipment car. Right. Next week we will be watching Toy Story 5, but this week. This week, in honor of the FIFA World Cup, we are going to be doing some World Cup inspired brackets based on multiple different things. Movies, superheroes, animation, One Piece, etc. So we'll be finding our favorites uh characters and movies through various different genres, and we'd like you to participate with us. How are they gonna participate with us? You can let us know in the comments if we uh if we made the decision that you would have gone with war. Okay, okay. Cool, cool. Yeah, so this was supposed to be a disclosure day episode, but uh neither of us watched disclosure day. We were supposed to watch it, uh, but then it was potentially baby time for me. It was no there is no baby. This is a very stressful time for Varakon. He's about to become a father any minute, honestly. Don't say that while we're recording. Recording a podcast. It can be during the podcast. Let's not do that right now. But anyway, uh so we're gonna be playing some brackets. So the first bracket, Michael, are you ready? Absolutely. All right, we are gonna be deciding who will win the World Cup of superhero movies. Okay. Alright, are you ready? This is Marvel, DC. This is all the whole shebang. Okay. We have 16 movies, 16 contenders. Yeah. Matchup number one, Logan versus the Avengers. A really tough matchup because it's two very different movies. And there's a lot of history that goes into both of them, you know, and they're both very good films. Right. So, like for the Avengers, it was the build-up for from like everything from Phase One. Exactly. Which started off as like different franchises altogether. Right. You know, we we honestly like saw Thor and Iron Man in all of these movies when they were coming out as like completely separate um series, right? Only only really coming together during those little cameos at the end credit scenes. And when the Marvel uh movies were just getting started, it wasn't like uh a universal practice back then to even like stay for those post-credit scenes. No. Like back then, a lot of people were walking out before those post-credit scenes uh aired, you know? Right, right. And so it's like you could watch all of these movies up to the Avengers and not see like any crossover between. And then that movie like changed the game of the entire industry up until today. Yeah, the idea of these characters like being in the same film together was just so mind-blowing. And it was such a different tone, too. And then speaking of different tone, Logan was an incredibly different tone than any movie we'd ever seen before in this job. And it was a celebration, it was supposed to be a goodbye for Hugh Jackman's Logan, uh, Wolverine, but obviously that's not the case anymore. But it was still so good. I mean, they really like it. It should have been it could have been a best picture nominee. Look, it might have been a best picture nominee. Okay, as much as I appreciate the tone and like um the the general atmosphere of Logan, right, and like the conclusion of that story, I do think I'm gonna have to take Avengers over Logan just because of like the impact it had on the entire film industry. And the culture, honestly. I think Hugh Jackman should have been nominated for best actor for Logan. I should I think the movie is one of the greatest comic book superhero movies of all time. Yeah, but the Avengers set up like b uh so many When we've talked about like the greatest comic book movies of all time, the Avengers has never been part of the conversation. Yeah, but we But Logan always has. But we wouldn't have um Infinity War or Endgame or any of like or Spider-Man the Way Home or Sure, but like Logan if it's one movie versus one movie. Okay. I think it's Logan. If we're to okay, if you completely eliminate the impact that the movie actually had on culture, I could I could understand that the movie of Logan is better than the movie of the Avengers. But I think that the again I'm I'm considering impact as one of the But you're you're prioritizing impact over movie. I guess so. I guess so. I think it's stupid to say the Avengers is better than Logan. You know what? I I think you've convinced me that the movie that the movie Logan is better than the movie Avengers. Yes. And it's kind of like it's kind of like um the butterfly effect that the Avengers led to all of these greater things. Yeah, yeah. I'm not I'm not trying to dim diminish what the Avengers has done. Right. But like, come on now. We're talking about the World Cup of comic books movies. Okay, okay, okay. Alright, bang. Okay, so Logan is the first winner. Uh next, this is a little bit of a revenge matchup, to be honest. What is this? We have Spider-Man No Way Home versus Zack Snyder's Justice League. So the Zack Snyder four-hour cut of Justice League. And the reason why I say it's revenge, because they made a whole other Oscar category for Spider-Man No Way Home to win something at the Oscars. But they made it a fan vote, and Snyder fans literally robbed the fan vote. And so Spider-Man No Way Home lost to Snyder Cut, which is ridiculous. Can I can I confess something to you? You've never seen the Snyder Cut? I haven't even seen Justice League. That's not a problem because the Snyder Cut Justice League is still booty cheeks. Therefore, Spider Man No Way Home wins. Yeah. You're gonna have to agree with it. Bang! No, you stick stick you stick with me, Michael. You stick with me. I've never I haven't seen the competition so I'm gonna be able to do that. Say Spider-Man Noy Home is better than the Zack Snyder's Justice League. I'm gonna let you say it. Say it! I'm gonna let you say it. Say it! No, yeah, you're right. Give it to me. You're right!

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Alright. The next matchup. We have The Dark Knight versus Captain America, the Winter Soldier. Dark Knight. Dark Knight. Easy. Easy. You could have said anything else. You could have said any other superhero movie, and it was and it was like. I don't think that there's a single movie that I would have picked over the Dark Knight. It might win the bracket overall. Oh I guess we'll we'll see. We'll have to see. We'll we'll see. I do think it's better than uh Winter Soldier, without a doubt. Yeah. Uh next matchup, we have Guardians of the Galaxy versus Spider-Man 2. Well, I like Guardians of the Galaxy versus. It's not better than Spider-Man 2. Spider-Man 2. It just won't be Spider-Man 2. I mean, what are you gonna say? You're gonna say Spider-Man 2 wins? We gotta say Spider-Man 2. Yes. Okay. Uh Avengers Infinity War. Okay. Versus the Batman. It's gotta be Infinity War. It's gotta be Infinity War, but this hurts you, doesn't it? This hurts so bad, dude. I love the Batman. But it's not better than Infinity War. You can. Infinity War has the advantage of the fact that like going into it, if you if you've been keeping up to date with the entire uh franchise and you didn't just start on Infinity War, like the Batman, there's no history to it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Infinity War, it builds on so much that the payoffs are so much deeper. Yeah, I agree. There's no way, there's no way it's still the most shocking moment in a comic book superhero movie, in my opinion, ever. I've been to so many Marvel opening nights, and at Infinity, and normally at a Marvel opening night, there will be a standing ovation. Just for like a move, like no people who are involved in making the movie are in the room. Michael. But people still feel the need to stand up and clap at the end of the movie. Michael, did you ever consider that they're standing up to leave the theater? Well, then why are they clapping? Then why are they standing there holding their ground and clapping? I don't think I've ever seen a standing ovation in a Marvel movie. I have seen a lot of cheer. I've seen several. Okay, okay, okay. But it I think it does have to be Infinity War. This is a cruel matchup for the first round. Let me finish my point. Okay. I've seen I've seen so many standing ovations at the end of Marvel movies. At the end of Infinity War, dead silence. Dead silence. Dead silence. Not even people turning to and this was this was like an Avengers movie. Right. At the very least, you expect people to be talking to each other, like, oh my god, did you just see that? Can you believe that? Absolute dead silence, shock and awe, jaws on the floor. Yeah. It was it was good. It was such a good moment. I want to remember, I want to go back around. We'll see what Doomsday makes us feel. It's it's like an uncomparable. Yeah. I'm curious what the the the cliffhanger of Doomsday leading into Secret Wars is gonna be like. Uh-huh. Ooh, chills. Ooh.

unknown

Ooh.

SPEAKER_02

Give it to me again. I guess we'll see. I I hope that they can uh they can bring back that feeling. My theory is that Doomsday isn't gonna be like a shock silence feeling, it's gonna be a rally. Like I think they're gonna like and I'm it's not gonna be better than Infinity War ending, but I do think they're gonna like throw in as many like superheroes that weren't in the movie prior to the like the very end to be like, look what's coming in one year. Right. I think that's how Doomsday's gonna end. Okay. Like, if we're gonna see Tom Holland at all in Doomsday, it's gonna be the last ten seconds. That honestly would make sense because um it does kind of feel like Infinity War, for example, too, is also kind of like um is part one of the conclusion of the Avengers franchise. Right, right. Right. And so it's like if Doomsday again is like a part one for this like two-part overall like multiversal conflict, right? Right. And then Secret Wars is like the you know, the conclusion, that would make sense. That'd be like on brand for them. Yeah. The next round is tough. What is it? It's Iron Man versus Black Panther. Okay. There's like, I think like it feels like you should say Iron Man, but is Iron Man actually a better movie than Black Panther? I really liked Iron Man. Iron Man actually inspired me to become an engineer. Oh, then we gotta do Iron Man. And I'm an engineer. Yeah, so okay, so Iron Man. I honestly think Iron Man changed my life. Okay, okay. Easy, easy, easy. Iron Man, okay. Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse for Superman 2025. I'm taking into the Spider-Ver. I think I have to agree with you. Superman 2025 was a good movie, but I don't think that it was like monumental. Into the Spider-Verse revolutionized animation. I agree. I agree. Plus, a Spider-Man movie that is genuinely an incredible movie is hard to beat, in my opinion. Yeah. Uh alright. The last one of the first round. This one's gonna be tough. Okay. Across the Spider-Verse versus Avengers Endgame. Oh, what? Oh, but I love Across the Spider-Verse. I'm personally, why would you that's I honestly like Across I think I'm in the minority for this. I like Across the Spider-Verse more than I like Indie Spider-Man. You're in the minority for this. I know. Um actually, I don't think you are. A lot of people do think Across the Spider-Verse is one of the greatest movies ever made. But there is like a vocal population on the internet that hates on Across the Spider. There's also a vocal population on the internet that does not like Avengers Endgame. Okay. I don't dislike Avengers Endgame, but I do think that Infinite Week is a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Um But I think it's like it's here's the thing. Endgame is so good when you watch it right after Infinity War, I think. And I think Across Spider-Verse is gonna be incredible when you watch it right before watching Beyond the Spider-Verse. I think it needs Beyond the Spider-Verse. Can I be can I say something crazy? I think I might enjoy watching Across the Spider-Verse more than Endgame. I've seen both of them a couple times now. And well, Across Spider-Verse is easier to say. I think on rewatches, I like Across Spider-Verse. I rewatched Endgame this year, and I was like, I really I think I want to go Endgame. You want to go across? I think I'm I'm like really torn on this. I don't feel confident at all in my decision, but I'm leaning towards Across Spider. Do we do rock, paper, scissors? I think we might need to. Okay, yeah, ready? Okay, we're going into rock, paper, scissors. We're going into PKs. Okay, okay. Oh! Okay. So then it's best out of three. Sure. It's PK's. Okay. Okay, we're doing shoot. Yeah. Right. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Okay, bearcon did scissors, I did paper, so bearcon was well. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Oh, one. Last one. Is it gonna be end game or is it gonna be a cross fireverse? Put your put your fist a little bit back. Okay. Alright, ready? Yeah. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Oh Avengers endgame for the win. Ah, in overthrow. Oh, wow, and PK's. Okay. PK's is a heartbreaking. To be honest, I would have been happy either way. It was a good, yeah. It was it was heartbreaking, but it was good. Okay. Second round. Okay. We have Logan versus Spider-Man No Way Home. I'm taking Spider-Man No Way Home. Spider-Man Noy Home is one of my favorite movies of all time. It gave me all three Spider-Man. I don't care about any cheesy dialogue problems it may have. I love it. I watch it every single year. No way home. It's not even hesitation for me. Don't make me go into PKs, Michael. Don't make me go to PKs. I might make you go into PKs. No way Home might make you go into PKs. No way Home, I think, is the best movie in the entire MCU. Is it better than Logan, though? Logan's not in the MCU. I do not care. I think No Way Hope is better. Let's go into PKs. No, let's go into PKs. You can't have Okay, fine. Push it, put it back towards you. Okay. Alright. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Okay, I get one for Logan. For Daddy Garfield. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. One to one. For my goat. For my goat, Toby Maguire. This is for this is for pizza time. This is for Bully Maguire. This is for all the frickin' marbles. Ready, Lockin! Rock, paper, scissors, shoot, locking! Sparbadoy Home Advances. Bang. Bang. I did not just do scissors every single time. Statistically. It's a little easy to do. But you should have thrown, you should have thrown rock. That's a little inside joke from Michael and I, uh, Dan Botui, friend of the podcast, is really bad at rocking. First rock, paper, scissors player. He thinks if you play scissors seven times in a row, that's good strategy. He's gonna win. If you lose in scissors seven times in a row, there's no way you'll predict the eighth time will be scissors. And then Dave will get mad at you for throwing rock again. Because he goes, he goes, but logistically, you should know that I'm not gonna throw scissors an eighth time. And I'm like, yeah, but you could have said that for the seventh time. The sixth time. We just kept doing it. You're gonna keep doing it until I stop throwing rock. At this point, like you won, you maybe would win once, and then I've won seven. At this game, and then like he finally does twitch, and he's like, see, I did it! I did it! I got I totally figured this game out. He thinks he solved the game of rock, paper, scissors.

SPEAKER_01

He just loses every time.

SPEAKER_02

Dan does it. He does this. He goes, let's play rock, paper, scissors. He goes, wait. And he goes, he's a thing. He spent two, I guess, solved two minutes thinking. He has to think about what he's gonna throw for several minutes before he can't spontaneously play rock, paper, scissors with Dan. I don't know if he knows how to play rock, paper, scissors. Like I know that. I don't know if he's like if he had never played before. Oh, it's so funny. Whew, it's so funny. Okay. This next one's a doozy. What do we got? But I do actually, you know what? I do want to finally say Dan Dan Botui is the worst Rock Paper Scissors player of all time. Oh, yeah. Let's just put that in. Okay. Okay. Uh the second round continues with the Dark Knight versus Spider-Man 2. I'm taking Dark Knight. I'm sorry, I'm taking Dark Knight. Okay. I know you're gonna pick Spider-Man. But Spider-Man 2. Do you remember how we felt when we re-watched Spider-Man 2? Yeah. Do you remember how we walked down and you're like, that movie ages better than probably any other movie we've seen with the Peter Parker story? I don't know if it ages. It evolves over time. I don't know if it ages better than The Dark Knight, though. The Dark Knight, I feel the same every single time I watch it. I appreciate Spider-Man 2 more and more every single time. And there's something new I can take away from Spider-Man 2 every time I watch it. I think I think you just have such an affinity for Spider-Man that you're picking Spider-Man over pretty much everything else. No, I'm like, I'm trying to be objective. I j I genuinely think Spider-Man 2 is a better comic book superhero movie than The Dark Knight. I think the themes of I think the themes of uh Peter Parker and his journey and the sacrifice of like I don't want to be Spider-Man anymore and going through that is way better than what we see in The Dark Knight, with which of course The Dark Knight is great. Don't get me wrong, it is amazing. Keith Ledger is iconic, but like Spider-Man 2 gives me an iconic villain. Spider-Man 2 gives me incredibly act incredible action sequences, incredible cinematography. I mean the transition between Spider-Man swinging and then revealing that it's just a reflection off Doc Ock's eyes, so good. But Bearcon, if you're comparing cinematography, you're comparing Spider-Man 2 to The Dark Knight, which is the first ever movie filmed for IMAX by Christopher Nolan. I'm aware. You can't bring up cinematography and then go Spider-Man 2 is better cinematographically. You can't say it's better cinematographically than the Dark Knight. I just think I just think Spider-Man 2 is on such a such a high tier. Okay, I if you're if you're going like plot for plot, right? Uh-huh. I would take the Dark Knight over Spider-Man 2. I think if you're going character for character, I would take, I mean, Heath Ledger's Joker easily. But Tom McGuire's Spider-Man is so much better than Christian Goldball. The only thing that maybe it has over it is like the a relatable story aspect. But that's so important. That's what makes it like stick with you to rewatch it. But that's one aspect out of like Spider-Man 2 is way more rewatchable than the Dark Knight. I would disagree with you. I have rewatched The Dark Knight so many times. I can re-watch Spider-Man 2 every single year. I cannot rewatch Dark Knight every single year. I every time I watch The Dark Knight, it makes me it makes me feel the same way as when I was like a little kid and I watched it for the first time in theaters where I was like, whoa, this guy, like Batman has so much unacher. I will say the Dark Knight is a better hero. I'll say that The Dark Knight is a better theater experience. I can agree to that. Um, but I think we should go to PK's. Oh my god, this is crazy. Go to PK's. Go to PKs. Okay. They're two. Can we admit can we agree though that like PK's is justified? Because they are two of the best comic movies of all time. I can understand why you would defend Spider-Man 2. Do you not think Spider-Man 2 is one of the greatest comic movies of all the time? Yeah, but I think Dark Knight clears. But that's what I'm saying. Like, so we're arguing two Titans. To where you can easily go to ten, you can go to ten people, five of them would say Spider-Man 2, five of them would say Dark Knight. But I really think if we analyzed it under a magnifying glass, I think if we said, okay, is it better? In which ways is it better than the Dark Knight? And then if we like counted how many ways it was, I think the Dark Knight would be better than Spider-Man 2 in more ways. Good thing we're not doing that. We're just going to PKs. This is crazy, bro. Hey, okay. Win win. Just win. Alright, alright, alright. Go more this way. Okay. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. One. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Spider-Man 2. 2-0. Swept. Not even close. The universe decided. I like this game. Be better at rock, paper, scissors. Alright. Um we have Avengers Infinity War versus Iron Man. Um, Infinity War. I think it's Infinity War. It's not even, it's not even like a question. Okay. This one could have been a really hard matchup if you were just better at rock, paper, scissors. Our next round we have Into the Spider-Verse versus Avengers Endgame. I think it's Into the Spider-Verse. I think Into the Spider-Verse is near flawless. It's near flawless. Okay. Its story is incredibly rewatchable. You don't need it to be followed up by a you don't need to watch Infinity War before watching it. You can just watch Into the Spider-Verse. Yeah. The animation is revolutionary. And I love the lessons of anyone can wear the mask and the journey Miles Morales goes to to becoming a superhero. Yeah, I get that. This would have been a harder matchup if it was a cross. If it was Infinity War or Across, yeah. Right. Um. But I think like Endgame, like I think Endgame is a little bit more like controversial in the sense of some people love it, some people don't really like it. I think Endgame has more mistakes. Yeah. Um, but it's just the highs of Endgame are so much higher than Into the Spider-Verse. But I think Into the Spider-Verse literally is arguably a perfect movie. Okay, let's take Into the Spider-Verse. How many Spider-Man movies do we have in the in the lineup stuff? How many Spider-Man movies are continued are are considered some of the greatest comic movies of all time? This I just want to say like I didn't make this list off personal preference. Like I like had this like source of like what the internet thinks are the some of the greatest comic movies of all time. Okay. In fact, actually one of them was left off, which I'm a little bit bitter about. The Incredibles should have been on this list. Okay. I would just want to say The Incredibles should have been on this list. I probably should have. Honestly, that's what I thought happened, but I guess I guess it randomized and it wasn't part of it. So okay. The conference, the semifinals. Are you ready? So how many are left? Four? Four. And three of them are Spider-Man movies. Yes. We have No Way Home versus Spider-Man 2. My favorite Spider-Man movie versus what I think is the best Spider-Man movie. This one's actually tough because nostalgia has such a heavy factor in this for me. Yeah. I'm going to I'm going to put aside what I think is my favorite and go with what I just said I think is the best one. I do think Spider-Man 2 is the best superhero movie of all time. I'm going to take No Way Home. Come on. I'm going to take No Way Home. Oh my god. Did you hear that? My car's going crazy right now. I didn't hear anything. Just lurched. You didn't feel that? That was probably just I don't know. Okay. You didn't hear it. You didn't hear it grind? It just was like That's the universe saying, how dare you not take Spider-Man 2. Stop disagreeing with me. I'm taking No Way Home. It's got all the Spider-Man in it. It did give it and it's got and it's got all the villains in it. So everything you liked about Spider-Man 2 is in No Way Home. That's true. It accompanies it takes everything great from Spider-Man 2 and adds to it. Well, okay. It doesn't do that, but it is my favorite. It is one of my favorite Spider-Man moves. So surely you saw some glimmer of Spider-Man 2 in the world. I will throw you a bone. As well as the Amazing Spider-Man? I will throw you a bone. Yeah. And I will say we can pick No Way Home. Okay. I won't shame you again in Rock, Paper, Scissors. Thank you. Alright. We have Infinity War versus Into the Spider-Verse. Infinity War. I think it has to be Infinity War. I really do. Yeah. So that leaves us with our final. To win the superhero movie World Cup, we have Spider-Man No Way Home versus Avengers Infinity War. Keep in mind, two MCU movies, and I've already said so far that I think No Way Home is the best movie in the MCU. I'm taking Infinity War. I'm taking No Way Home. We have to go back into PK. I think we do, because like it really this really is tough because like I do really love No Way Home. I also really love Infinity War. I can understand if you think Infinity War is a better movie. Objectively, it is a better movie, but anything can happen in the World Cup Finals. Sometimes the best team doesn't win. But Infinity War has Spider Man in it. Sometimes there's upsets. And sports. Okay. Ready? Yeah. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. That's one for me. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, that's two for me.

SPEAKER_02

That's actually real I'm actually really happy with that because the two movies that I really wanted to win overall were either Infinity War or The Dark Knight. Okay, well. So I got one of them. You got one of them. You got one of them. Okay. Well, that's our own. That's our superhero uh bracket. Yeah, are you ready to lock it up? Let's know what you would have picked for any of these if there were any major upsets for you. I want to say that I think the Incredibles would have made it to the semifinals. Okay. Just saying. Are you ready for the next bracket, Michael? Yeah, of course. Alright. We're going to go ahead and dive into One Piece. Oh, okay. Are you ready for the song? Alright. The One Piece World Cup. Who's the better? Who are the The One Piece Character World Cup? Okay, we're judging characters in the first 130 episodes of One Piece. Okay. You ready for the matchups? Yes. Alright. The One Piece World Cup. Round one. Ace versus Captain Kiro. Oh, Ace. What? Are you kidding me? Easily Ace. Did you make this? No, randomized. But you picked the characters. No, randomized. You picked random characters. I picked random characters from the first 130 episodes of One Piece. Okay. I mean, okay, so some of these matchups aren't even going to be close. Maybe. We'll see. Okay. We'll see. But uh I think Ace is so much cooler. There's no competition. It's no competition. He would kick your ass. Alright, round two. We have Luffy versus Buggy. Luffy. Luffy. Although, no, it's Luffy. It's Luffy. Alright. Bon Clay versus Mihawk. I'm taking Mihawk. It's gotta be Mihawk. He's one of the warlords. Bon Clay started growing on me about episode 130. Right. But Mihawk was cool from the jump. I mean, I feel like anytime Mihawk is on screen, it's like, I know I'm in for such a cool sequence. Or even mentioned. Even just his name carries so much weight. I care so much more about Mihawk than I guess. He's got so much jazz, you know? He's so jazzy. He's got he's just jazzed up. He's such jazz. Alright. The next round, or continuing the first round. Nami versus Wapple.

unknown

Nami.

SPEAKER_02

Nami. Are you kidding me? No, we had first. It's Nami. It's Nami. Of course it's Nami. I'm just saying, like, once upon a time, we didn't necessarily care that much about Nami. Captain Kuro over Waple. Are you kidding me? At least when Luffy fought Captain Kuro, it was close. Hey, just it may get hard. Okay? Okay. Alright. Uh Crocodile versus Usopp. Oh, what are we basing this off of? I think any factor. You can base it off. I think it's cool factor. I think it's wind factor. I think it's attachment factor. It's a funny factor. Usopp's funnier, but I think that's the only one. But Crocodile's so much cooler. I still Usopp, like, I like it. I like the personal like character journey moments for Usopp.

SPEAKER_03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02

I still I I Crocodile is a big cooler, though. Cliche villain. I think I gotta take Crocodile. I'm uh here's my take. Usopp is the is the weakest of the Straw Hats, not just physically, but from a character perspective. But he's necessary. He's necessary. He's necessary. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad he's there. I don't wish they would write him out of the show, but he's my least favorite out of the straw hat. This is like even like And Crocodile's my favorite villain. I think I like Crocodile. I'm taking Crocodile. I'm taking Crocodile. I'd always take my favorite villain over my least favorite hero. Yeah. Yeah. Like, come on. Smoker versus Arlong. Smoker. Smoker? Smoker. I'm taking Smoker. Arlong was so much fun. Like Arlong was like, I'm a little bit nostalgic about Arlong. Smoker is at least my second favorite character. I do love Smoker. He might be my favorite character now. I'm going to go Smoker. Even though Arlong goes Smoker. Thank you. I'll go Smoker. Even though Arlong's cool, I just don't think any very few people compare to Smoker. Okay. Chopper versus Vivi. I'm taking Chopper. I'm taking Chopper, too. Tony Tony Chopper. He's so cute. Come on. And like we can love Chopper. We got a long ride with Chopper. To me, Chopper is the top of One Piece. Tough joins the gang in season two late, and then she's the perfect addition. Yeah. It feels like she was there the whole time. Yeah. Chopper joins the crew, and all of a sudden, like immediately, I'm like, you are a straw hat. I love you. Like I can't imagine the straw hat crew without you. Yeah. Okay. The last round of the f the first matchup. Okay. Or the last matchup of the first round. Yeah. Zorro versus Sanji. I'm taking Zoro. Yeah, that's easy. But I do know. Sad to see Sanji go in the first round. Some people like Sanji more than Zorro. So I'm wondering if Sanji has episodes in like later arcs that tell us more about him or like make him deeper as a character or something like that. Because, like, for example, AJ, Sanji's like his favorite character. Really? Yes. Interesting. AJ's a friend of the podcast. Yes, and he's caught up on One Piece. Yes. Okay. So I'm like wondering why Sanji's his favorite. Interesting. Versus Zoro. Okay. Well, are you ready for the second round of the One Piece character World Cup? Yeah. That's where it's gonna get started getting tricky. Okay. Ace versus Luffy. I'm taking Ace. I kind of want to take Ace. I'm taking Ace. I like listen. We love Luffy. We love Luffy. But I think fire is so much cooler than stretching. I don't care. If it's if it's a like a jazz competition, if it's a jazz off, Ace has more than a shit. Ace has the jazz. Yeah. Ace has all the jazz. Alright, alright. Ace might be our sleeper pick for the bracket. Mihawk versus Nami. I'm taking Mihawk. Mihawk. And Nami's getting chopped. Nami's cool. I love Nami. But Mihawk's so this is turning into an aura content. I'm basing a lot of this off a cool factor. We're literally basing all this off a cool factor right now. Gosh. Okay, okay, okay. We have Crocodile versus Smoker. I'm taking Smoker. I'm picking Smoker too. I think we just said like Crocodile is the best villain so far, but like I'm so much more invested in Smoker. And honestly, Smoker is kind of like an op to the Straw Hats. Yeah. Even though they have a mutual respect. Yeah. Like Which only makes it better. Smoker is kind of, he's not a villain, but from the Straw Hats perspective, he's kind of their villain. Kind of. Kind of. He's hunting them. Yeah. He's like the only one that's kind of has a through line so far. Yeah. I don't know if that's the right word, but you know what I meant. I I know what you mean. Yeah. This one's gonna be emotionally tough. Uh oh. Chopper versus Zorro. Oh, this is emotionally tough. Why do I kind of want to pick Chopper? You want to pick Chopper for the vibes. Like, we we love Zorro. We rode, we ride or die for Zorro. Like, pre pre entering the Grand Line, Zorro was my favorite character. After entering the grand line, I don't think they're utilizing him as much. I think they I think they may realize like where this is becoming a Zorro show and shouldn't be a Zorro show. After after he killed like a hundred Baroque Works members in Whiskey Peak, they he really took a backseat for a long time. And since then, all he's really done is like hunt a couple dinosaurs. And I I don't even think he really did a ton in um in the snow village. Oh yeah. Well, when they stopped to get Chopper, and then in Alabasta, he fought uh that one he fought Mr. One. Yeah. And that's all he's done. So I so in in the grand line, he's done two things. Yeah. I honestly think Smoker has had a better, like, um has had better screen time. Okay, so we're going Chopper then. I'm I'm gonna ride with you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I because I love Chopper and I love a good underdog.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Uh it's shocking to see Zorro come out. If you asked us this two months ago, I think we have no hesitation would have picked Chopper. Pre pre-entering the grand line, I think we put a pick we would have picked Zorro. Shoot, I think pre-Alabasto we would have picked Zorro. Even by Alabasto, I was like, Zoro hasn't had a moment in a minute. Okay, okay. But but now I'm really excited to see how they utilize Tony. Because he's still relatively new. So I'm I'm really um excited to see how they utilize Chopper. Alright, well, are you ready for the semifinals? Yeah. Ace versus Mihawk. This is tough. This is tough. I I don't know if this is recency bias. You want to pick Ace? But I want to pick Ace. Because it's been a long time since we've seen. I kinda wanna pick Mihawk. Yeah, but like Mihawk, like I think I like that we haven't seen Mihawk that much because anytime I think when Mihawk comes next, there's like a mess. I'm just like, this is special. This is gonna be special. I kind of want to pick Mihawk. I think we need to go into PKs. PK's? I think we need to go into PK's. Oh my gosh. Ace, I think, is my third favorite character. I think my top three at this point are Smoker, Chopper, and um and uh Ace. Alright, well, I'm going Mihawk. I love the mystery of Mihawk. Alright, closer back. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Dang, that's one for Ace. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. That's one for Mihawk. Hey, Michael. What? I'm a warlord, bitch. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot! Mihawk wins. Mihawk wins. Man, that was so tough. I don't even like I kind of lost the ability to speak there for a second. Okay, who's next on the lineup? Alright, so Mihawk is in the final. Medium in the final will either be Chopper or Smoker. Smoker. Smoker. Okay. Moving on. Moving on. Mihawk versus Smoker. Smoker. I think we give it to Smoker because I said Mihawk. I think it was a better, like what he's sprinkled in. I think it's better, but like we love Smoker. Yeah. I love what Smoker is in the show. I love the respect. I love the character aspects of it. I'm excited to see what's next. Yeah. Wouldn't that be crazy? Would do you think Smoker would join the Straw Hats one day? I could see it. Honestly, I could see it. Like way down the line. I think I think it's possible that Smoker joins Straw Hats. Zoro was a pirate hunter before he joined the Straw Hats. He was literally known as like the pirate hunter or the pirate killer or something like that. Smoker has like the same reputation. So it's not unheard of for someone like that to join the Straw Hats. Yeah. They're not your normal pirate crew. Yeah, that's true. And Smoker's starting to show some respect for the Straw Hats. He's like, I actually kind of like these guys. It's I think it's totally possible. I think it's possible too. Yeah. Okay. That's a good that was a good bracket. Yeah, that was. So Smoker won the One Piece character World Cup. Yeah. Crazy. Alright. We have two more brackets. Okay. Um the next one. Best animated movie. Who's going to win the best animated movie of all time, World Cup? The animation world cup. Are you ready? Yes, absolutely. Alright, round one. The Wild Robot versus Ratatouille. I think it's a Wild Robot. I think it's a Wild Robot 2. A lot of people are gonna hate that right out the gate. I think Ratatouille doesn't care. I think Ratatouille has a lot of nostalgia factors, the thing. Yeah, I just think The Wild Robot's a better, like, it's a better story. I think it's I think the rat the lesson in Ratatouille is great. I love the score of Ratatouille. But Wild Robot's such a beautiful movie, man. Yeah. Alright. And The Wild Robot touches more on family than Ratatouille, and it's that's just hard to beat. Man, there's gonna be a lot of upsets in this one. A lot of heavy hitters are gonna be out in the first round. People love so many of these movies. Of course there's gonna be upsets. Every time a movie loses, it's gonna be an upset. Shrek versus the Iron Giant. The Iron Giant. The Iron Giant. But like Shrek losing in the first round? Yeah. That's wild. It was a bad matchup, but the Iron Giant matchup, one of my favorite movies of all time. Sometimes that's just how it goes. Okay. Spirited away for versus Coraline.

SPEAKER_01

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Spirit Away is technically, like, technically so sound and one of the greatest animated films in the world. I'm thinking Coraline. It should be Spirit Away. I love it. It should be Spirit Away, Michael. It should be Spirit Away. No, that's like, again, probably one of my top three favorite movies. I know. And I've rewatched it so many times. But it should be Spirit Away. I'm taking it. We're gonna have to go to PK's. We're gonna have to go to PK's. Let's see how much you ruin it into Coral. Move your arm back closer to you. Okay. It's about the You want to move it one inch. I can't let people say that this is real. It's here and you want it move here. Okay. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Statistically, one paper three times in a row and I'll now. One to one, ready? Yeah. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoots. Oh. Coraline wins! Okay, just the first round, buddy. Alright, alright. Just the first round. Alright, alright, alright. I'll take it. Coraline made it out of the first round and Shrek didn't. This a lot of people are gonna be upset by this, but I think you and I are gonna be we're gonna be on the same page. Okay. Toy Story 3 vs. Coco. Coco. Yeah. I'm sorry. I don't if you like Toy Story 3 over Coco, I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, I think a lot of people do think Toy Story 3 is the best movie in the Pixar Sphere. I would disagree. I used to. I used to agree. I've rewatched Toy Story 3 twice since making a statement like that, and I'm like, no. The middle act is just too rough for me. Coco, I think, is my is the best Pixar. I used to cry every time. Like it's so emotional. The music's fantastic, the animation's brilliant. I don't think it has a weak point. I really don't think it does either. Yeah. Okay. The Incredibles. Oh, no, okay. I misread this. The Incredibles versus Up. The Incredibles. Yeah, I'll take the Incredibles. The Incredibles. Come on. The Up has a perfect first five minutes and that's it. You've made a You've made a great point about this that I've actually used to other people. Because I used to think Up was also better than I do now. Like I used to think Up was an amazing, fantastic, like revolutionary movie. And then you point out it's literally like the opening montage that you're thinking about. Because then you said, What's the villain's name? And I was like, I couldn't tell you. Yeah. I couldn't tell you what the villain's name is.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I'm like, that's actually a great point of the uh like highlighting that I I don't even think about the rest of the movie. When you say up, all I all I'm picturing is that opening montage. Yeah. Uh I think this one historically should be something, but I think you and I are also going to be aligned. How to train your dragon versus Beauty and the Beast. How to Train Your Dragon. I mean, come on. I'm trying to convince Allison to let uh test drive be playing when our son is like lifted. Oh, the the music? Yeah. Test flight. Yeah, okay. Test drive. Test drive. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Um that one might be like a difference of opinion. Like, I could totally understand why someone would say Beauty and the Beast is also revolutionary. It's like the height of like Disney's like Renaissance. It is one of the three anime films nominated for Best Picture. Like, I get it. Yeah. But I personally I think it's How to Train Y Dragon. How to Train Your Dragon makes me feel so alive. It really does. And Beauty and the Beast doesn't. Oh, this is a heavy hitter. What is it? Lay it on me. The Lion King versus Toy Story. I think you gotta go with the Lion King. I think Toy Story literally actually revolutionized animation. But I think it's Lion King. I'm taking Lion King. We're on the same page with that one. Toy Story is not doing well in this bracket, unfortunately. I think it had some bad matchups. I think so too. Uh Spider-Man into the Spider-Ver. Okay. Versus Wally. Into the Spider-Verse. Into the Spider-Verse, yes. A lot of people will probably be upset. AJ, who we mentioned, will probably be upset, but Into the Spider-Verse literally is a perfect film. I feel like Wally has a cult following. I don't know if that's like a universally agreed on or like a majority opinion that Wally is better than a lot of other movies. Right. I I would agree with that. Um, okay. Round two of our animation world cup. Okay. The Wild Robot versus the Iron Giant. No!

SPEAKER_03

No!

SPEAKER_02

I think I think the Iron Giant is a beautiful film. No, dude. But the wild robot, I think, to me, means so much more to me story-wise. I think it's better. I'm sorry. It's really tough. I thought we were friends. It's really two movies about two robots. I wouldn't even know the wild robot without the Iron Giant. You're right. You're right. There wouldn't be one. I didn't cry when I watched the Iron Giant. I cry every single time I watch The Wild Robot. Oh no, dude. I just love the whole thing. We're going into PK. I don't care. We're going into Peter. I think it's justified. Okay, ready? Yeah. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. That's one. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. That's one. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.

SPEAKER_03

I'm sorry, Michael. The water room, but like you can admit that you and I walked out the water room, but we were speechless, man.

SPEAKER_02

I get it, yeah. We were speechless, man. I get it, I get it, I get it. Alright. Oh, gosh. Okay. Coraline versus Coco. Be so serious, Michael. Coraline versus Coco. Coco is the better movie. Be so for real, Michael. Okay, okay, okay, okay. I will take nostalgia out of it. I will take nostalgia out of it. You literally said Coco has no flaws. And I will I will agree with you on Coco. Thank you. If nostalgia isn't a factor, it's even if nostalgic was a factor, it'd become taking Coraline then we'd think. Thank you. Goodness gracious. Okay, The Incredibles. Oh no. First, how to train your dragon. It really hurts me. I love how to train Dragon War, but The Incredibles is a better movie. We need to think about that. Hold on. In what ways do you think Incredibles is a better drag uh in what ways do you think The Incredibles is better than How to Train Your Dragon? And I'm not trying to like The Incredibles, first of all, The Incredibles can like is a heavyweight in the animation category and the best superhero movies of all time category. But best superheroes. It's a great story. It's a tremendous story. It's a tremendous score. It's a great villain. And honestly, I want to give the Incredibles the edge because I actually think How to Train Dragon 2 is better than How to Train Dragon. That's true. This would have been tougher if it were How to Train Your Dragon 2 versus the Incredibles. Yes. Okay, I'll pick the Incredibles too. Bang. Okay. The Lion King versus Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse. It's into the Spider-Verse. Come on. Alright. The semifinals. Are you ready? Yes. Okay. The Wild Robot. Uh-huh. Versus Coco.

SPEAKER_03

I'm taking the Wild Robot.

SPEAKER_02

We're going into PKs. I think both movies make me cry. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going into PK's. Ah, Coco does have the music. But the Wild Robot has a story. They both have the story. I think the Wild Robot has an incredible voice acting cast. They both have incredible voice acting casts. I think Wild Robot hits me more. Personally, it hits me more. I think we need to go into PK's. I think we do too. Gosh, okay. Move your fist back, Michael. It's literally it's literally right in front of the camera. That's perfect. Where it is right now is perfect. It's literally right in front of the camera. Okay, ready? This is the same exactly. You were so particular. Yeah. Like literally was here versus here. Come here. Lock in. It's right here! Lock in! Rock, paper, scissors, shoot! Shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Not even one victory for Barracon. Swept. I'm sorry, the Wild Robot. Coco wins. I like to apologize for the first time. Coco goes in the finals. Coco is in the final. The Incredibles versus Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse. I think I'm taking Into the Spider-Verse. And I know that you're probably gonna take the Incredibles. But I'm taking it. I think we're gonna need to go back into PKs. I like Into the Spider-Verse because of the movie. They're two arguably perfect movies. You've mentioned every single um strength that Into the Spider-Verse already has. I've also mentioned the strengths of the Incredibles. I know, but I the fact that now it's like I don't even know. The Incredibles is so good, I think it shames the Fantastic Four, which is what The Incredibles is based off of. Oh yeah. The Fantastic Four was And like Spider-Man, like Spider-Man fully honors Spider-Man. But like for The Incredibles to be so good, it shame it's better than the Fantastic Four is insane.

SPEAKER_03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02

Also, again, you and I've talked about this so many times. We've talked about the best like superhero movies of all time. In our top five, Inton Spider-Verse has never been in it. Uh-huh. But The Incredibles has. Has it never been in it? I th we we've always talked about it. We've never talked about it. I mean, you all said it yourself. You would rather cross Spider-Verse over Into the Spider-Verse. Well, yeah. But The Incredibles is in the conversation of the best superhero movie of all time. So how does that make sense? How could Intid Spiderverse beat it then? Because we're talking, we're not talking best superhero movies right now. We're talking best animated movies. But the fact that they're both superhero movies, I think that comes into play with how good they are. But I don't think that the Incredibles took any risks when they were making the movie. I think Into the Spider-Verse, again, as we've mentioned in the last couple brackets, changed the game. Sure, but again, for the Incredibles to be just so perfect in its own like, even the animation is somewhat different from the rest of Pixar. Like it is, it stands out animation-wise from the rest. Okay, what do you what do you think is better about the Incredibles than Into the Spider-Ver? Because I think honestly the villain is is probably. I think Kingpin is better than I think they're pretty comparable. I think Syndrome is better than Kingpin. I think I don't think that but by how much? I think if anything, they're really close. Kingpin was an intimidating villain, bro. He was intimidating, but syndrome was like syndrome was like the whole the whole aspect of wiping away supers so no one is super, or making everyone super so no one is super, is so good. Yeah, but the That's so good, Michael. Kingpin just like, I want to see my family.

SPEAKER_03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02

That's all Kingpin wanted to do. It's personal syndrome was like something that was going to affect the entire world. But the mess Kingpin wasn't trying to affect the entire world. But the underlying message of Into the Spider-Verse was so strong of like anyone can wear the mask, it's a leap of faith. Of course. Yada yada yada. Of course. Versus like Incredibles, they were all they were always super. They were born super, but they were rejected by society. But they it was just a comeback. The kill count in Incredibles is wild. It's ruthless. Yeah, but what PK's. We gotta go to PK's. I think it's fair. Kill count isn't like a an aspect of a film. No, but like for a Disney movie, it's an aspect of a film. You can't say that the Incredibles is better because they killed more people. And the moat is incredibly iconic too. Like the whole aspect of it is just so dirty. So is so is Spider Noir. So is uh Spider Pig. So is Okay. Is this is this fist in the right place for you? No, it could go a little bit back. You are so crazy. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. One. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot, two, sweat. Not even one. The Incredibles versus Coco. I've said The Incredibles Coco Incredibles is higher on my ranking than Coco is. The Incredibles is the second best Pixar movie. But Coco's five. But The Incredibles is better! It's Coco! The Incredibles is the best Pixar movie of the movie! The Incredibles is the best Pixar movie of Olive! According to you!

SPEAKER_03

Score, story, villain, characters! All of it is better! All of it is better! Even close! All of it is better! Stupid! Coco is the most emotionally, emotionally taxing film I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_02

Really? No, probably not.

SPEAKER_03

Here lies Michael, June twelfth, twenty twenty-six. Run my paper scissors shoot! Run my paper scissors shoot!

SPEAKER_02

That's one for me, that's one for me, that's one for me, Rubby Pigment scissors shoot! That's one for me.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, okay, okay. Remember me! Run my paper to the shoot! Run my paper to the shoot! Run my paper shoot! Run my pick in the shoot! I'm sweating. This is the first time Michael's ever blown out of my hand of me.

SPEAKER_02

One more bracket. I win, I I win the last round of like every bracket. That's crazy. Wait, what was the superhero winner? Uh so far our winners. Infinity war. Infinity war. I won that one. We agreed on smoker for one day. Smoker and then Coco. And Coco, okay. Alright, man. I'm still sweating. I know. Alright. The last bracket of our World Cup episode. Yep. The best movies of 2026. The 2026 Movie World Cup. So far. Alright. The first matchup. Michael versus Send Help. It's Send Help. I like Send Help. It's gotta be Send Help. Send Help is one of my sleepers of the year so much. Send Help surprised me. I liked it way more than I thought I was going to.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. The Bride versus Mandalorian and Grogu. I didn't like the Bride. I would agree with that statement. I think it's a Mandalorian and Grogu. I'm taking that. And even though The Mandalorian and Grogu wasn't great, I there were a lot of parts of the bride where I was like, I don't understand like what you're saying. Because she's talking in like poetry and she's talking as like Mary Shelley for some reason, and they don't explain why the author of Frankenstein is like embodying herself through the bride. What's going on? I just wanted to check your mic again. Oh, okay. Still good. Okay, cool. Sorry, we're all set. No worries. Yeah. So I'm yeah. I think we're agreed. Okay. Uh Super Mario Galaxy versus Power Ballad. This one's a little tougher. They're both like pretty okay. Yeah, but like I think we solved Power Ballad more. Yeah, I think I agree, but there's aspects. I loved like looking out in the Galaxy movies. Cameos are always fun. Yeah. Camos are fun. Easter eggs are fun. Yeah, Easter eggs. I did appreciate a lot of aspects of Super Mario Galaxy. Yeah, yeah. Are we would we ever re-watch Power Ballad? I don't know if I've I'd ever re-watch Super Mario Galaxy. But like I feel like it's a little bit more likely than Power Ballad. Like, I I I haven't watched um I haven't rewatched the original Super Mario movie. I kind of want to go to bat for Super Mario Galaxy. I don't feel strongly enough to go to PK's for this. So if you really feel strongly about Super Mario Galaxy, I can't. I think we let Super Mario Galaxy win. Okay. Crime 101. Versus the Sheep Detective. Sheep Detective. The Sheep Detective. Sheep Detective is legitimately one of the best movies of the year. Just saying. Well, it's pretty good. It's pretty good. It's up to it. And Crime 101 was such like a whatever movie. It's like, it's like, I don't even know if it was mid. It might have been just below mid. Just below mid. Okay. Project Hail Mary. Oh. Versus Goat. Project Hail Mary. Yeah. Masters of the Universe versus Mortal Kombat 2. It has to be Masters of the Universe. It's Masters of the Universe. Thank you. If we had seen Mortal Kombat 1 or appreciated the IP more or something like that, I don't even think like I don't even think you don't think. I don't even think that would have been. I think Masters of the Universe, like, I loved that it knew it was on serious. You don't think anyone. I'm sure someone out there. I think Masters of the Universe, there's so many more, like hell yeah moments. I mean, I didn't know anything about Master of the Universe's IP either. Yeah, but it wasn't a sequel. No, but it m Mortal Kombat didn't you didn't really need to know anything else. Like it's pretty. Well, I mean, when they went into like that other dimension, and then they were like, hey, remember when you fought that other guy in the first movie? Now we need you to join our team. I was like, what are you talking about right now? Yeah. I don't know. I I I still think it's Masters of the Universe. Okay. Scream 7 versus Hoppers. Hoppers. Easily. Scream 7 was like, you have to know that was my introduction to the franchise. Yeah. And so much of it relied on knowledge of the previous movies. But like we still like they did a good job, like telling us, like, hey, this thing that happened, this is a good thing. We disagree with this on every every time there's a new addition to a franchise, I'm always like, well, I didn't watch the material. It's just preference. Like you because like these are two movies where like we both didn't know anything about it. I've always been like, you gave me enough details to where like I didn't like I don't really feel like I need like I got the gist. But then you could do that with any movie in any franchise. Sure. And you could be like, oh, I get it, because they just said that, hey, remember when that happened in the other movies. They don't do that in the Marvel movies. They kind of do. They go, wait, you guys fought before, and they're like, Yeah, we did. But like, even then, I don't know. I s I think we still agree though, it's uh It's Hoppers. It's Hoppers. Uh we could disagree on like how you enjoy movies from IPs you've never seen before. That's a different conversation. Yeah. Which we already had in a previous episode. The Devil Wears Product 2 versus 28 Years Later, the Bones Temple. The Bones Temple. Yeah, so good. So good. Alright, round two. Send help versus the Mandalorian and Grogu. I can't believe I'm gonna have Send Help beat a Star. I'm taking Send Help. I cannot believe good job, Sam Raimi. You did it. You cooked. Yeah. Okay. Super Mario Galaxy versus the Sheep Detectives. Jimmy Hugh Jackman, the Sheep Detectives. Easy. Absolutely. Easy. Project Hail Mary versus Masters of the Universe. Masters of the Universe. I'm totally kidding. We're about to go into PK for the first time for that. This bracket is surprisingly easy, so you and I we've agreed a lot. Yeah. And the one we didn't agree on was like both of these movies are kind of whatever. There's no nostalgic weight holding us back so far in this bracket. Uh Hoppers versus the Bone Temple. I think it's the Bone Temple. It's so different, dude. It's so different. I could not think of two more different movies. I think it's the Bone Temple. I honestly think that's a tough comparison. It is a tough comparison. Because in what ways do you think that the Bone Temple is better than Hoppers? Wait. The Bone Temple at the end when Killian Murphy had his cameo and they didn't explain anything, did you feel confused? No, because I saw the original movie. Oh, yeah. Okay, never mind. Never mind. Never mind. If I hadn't seen it. But they were like, remember this guy? Remember this guy? It's like you should have already known who he was. But then so you so you don't think that there is a single example of like a movie in a franchise where if you haven't seen the rest of the franchise, you wouldn't understand what's happening. I think you wouldn't understand. I don't think you would have understand Killian Murphy if you didn't know already know he was in the original film. Okay. So you think that is an example of the of like you have to watch the previous movies in order for that to make sense? Yes. And you don't Or you have to have some type of knowledge of it. Right. And you don't think that's the case for movies like Mortal Kombat 2, where they straight up say, like, they kind of explain the context in dialogue. Yes. Okay. That's that I think that's a good example then. Because I I agree. I don't think they actually did say in that movie in that cameo. You're just supposed to know who. And I was in the first movie. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Uh I think this is the semifinals now. We have Send Help versus the Sheep Detectives. Ooh. I ooh, these were both sleepers. They were both sleepers? I enjoyed both these more than I thought I would. I this was really hard for me, actually. I think I'm taking sheep detectives. I think I want to take Send Help. Why? Sheep Detectives made me like emotionally feel a lot. Yeah. But Send Help, I think, was like I just think it was done so well and it was so exciting and stressful. I will prefer a movie that stresses me out more than just like a heartfelt movie. I appreciate the depth of the characters and the emotional like revelations that sheep detectives had versus Send Help was like pretty much just a revenge plot line. Yeah, but it was done so well. It was it was done really well. But I I appreciate I surprisingly I think Sheep Detective has a little bit more like anything. I don't think other movies are gonna be movies I rewatch later. I may rewatch Sheep Detective. I uh but that's not that's more for like because I want Allison to watch it. But I also want her to watch Sun Help. So I'm like, I think these are just like I'm going off of which theater experience is better for. Alright, we're going into PK's. PK's, okay. Is this good fit fist placement? A little bit back. Okay. I'm doing this. You don't have to do this. You can Well, I'm already, I'm already in. Alright, alright, alright. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Uh, that's one. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Send help for Michael, because he's booty cheese at rock, paper, scissors.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, no, I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_02

Send help to the final.

SPEAKER_01

Brian Cranston. Uh, Julia Louis Dreyfus, I'm so sorry. Hugh Jackman. Oh no, I failed you all.

SPEAKER_02

Project Hail Mary vs. the Bone Temple. Project Hail Mary. Project Hail Mary. Project Hail Mary's gonna win the whole thing, I'm calling it right now. Yeah. For the final of the best movie of 2026 World Cup, Project Hail Mary vs. Send Help. It's Project Hell Mary. Project Hail Mary. I don't know if anyone should pick any different movies than we did. Like I think we had the perfect bracket for this. I think I think this I don't really think it was really that debate. And Send Help, she technically I would have been upset either way. The only other thing that should have been on this bracket is was Obsession. The reason why Obsession's not on this bracket is because I've seen it. Michael hasn't seen it. I haven't seen it yet. I'm yet. Ask me the question. Okay. Project Hill Mary versus. No, no, no, no, no. Ask me the ask me the our question. Yeah. Oh, but I won't. Okay. I don't get to give Michaels. Whatever. How many, how many Michael? I've given you weeks to watch this movie. Barricon, how many Michaels are you giving Obsession? Nine. So you should have watched it. Okay, how about this? Obsession versus Project Hill Mary. So Project Hail Mary. So Project Harry. In my letterbox, Project Hell Mary is number one. Obsession's two. Woo! But they're close. No. Project Hell Mary's even close. I've seen Project Hill Mary five times. Okay. I will not watch Obsession again. It's solidly, it's solidly ahead. Okay. My rule of movies rewatching is three. And so I've seen it five times, it's pretty solidified.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

I'm very excited for the second half of the year, though, because Toy Story 5, Spiral Raiding Day, Dune Part 3, The Odyssey, Avengers Doomsday, all could all could potentially win this bracket. Like this bracket is going to look very different when we do this at the end of the year. There are still so many heavy hitters left in the year. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We're just getting started. Live action Wolwana could win.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It could. It could. It won't. Also, like we did watch, I did, I did not include Forgotten Island in this. It's not out yet. I know. But you and I have seen it. Yeah. But we didn't see it finished. But I just want to say we saw an unfinished version of Forgotten Island and we both still loved it. Oh yeah. We saw it when they were like moving around like blocky style. Yeah. The background isn't done. Yes. Like the lighting is terrible. I just want to throw that in there so that they know. It's and it's still a good movie. Yeah. I think that's our episode. I think that's our episode too. Yeah. That was a lot of fun. Bang. I love brackets. Thanks for driving in with you. Maybe we do more brackets. Let's just do more brackets. If you're watching this right now, if you're listening the day this episode released, Michael and I are currently watching Toy Story 5. As we speak. As we speak. If you're watching this when this episode releases, like right when it releases. Yeah. Which means we are going to be filming our review of Toy Story 5. That review, without spoilers, will be available for our Patreon members exclusively. Oh my God. Um before. A week before. And enjoy it. That's going to be our last episode until we take a break for me having a baby. Right. Bearcon's going on paternity leave. I'm going on paternity leave. But also, like, I'm going to be watching some animes on my paternity leave. And I think we're going to be talking about and more anime stuff beyond just One Piece on the Patreon itself. So if there's an anime you want me to watch, let me know. Congratulations, y'all. We got Bearcon on anime. Yeah, we got anything like that. I kind of want to know. Yeah. I want to know what's out there that's better than One Piece. Be sure to follow us at the Drive in Movie Pod on socials. Um follow us and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and we'll catch you next time. See ya.