Welcome to the 12th Annual CSBG DC/Marvel Character Tournament!This time around, you will be voting for your favorite DC or Marvel live action television series and TV movies. Amusingly, this was also going to be the tournament last year, so the delay has changed the list dramatically, as WandaVision, Superman and Lois and Stargirl all debuted AFTER last March! Notably, though, I will not be including Falcon and Winter Soldier, as its FIRST episode only dropped TODAY, so that seems like too little to actually cover for something like this. The rankings were mostly determined by the use of IMDB user reviews, which turned out to be EERILY in line with the voters back in 2019 when we did superhero cartoons (the first time I can recall a tournament where all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four). This time around, I made a few more changes, as it was just way too unreasonable for Batwoman, for instance, to be the lowest rated show out of ALL of the shows listed. So I made some judgment calls occasionally with the rankings.After the shows were all ranked, they were split into four different regions. In the early rounds, we'll do two regions a day. Here are the first two regions and the match-ups! Simply choose which show you like better. The voting concludes roughly 48 hours from right now!

WESTVIEW REGION

Our first matchup pits the recent Disney+ streaming series, WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Wanda Maximoff and Vision from the Avengers film, about Wanda's grief taking the form of a town transformed into a sitcom reality, against Power Pack, a failed pilot for a series starring the super-powered Power children, starring Nathaniel Moreau as Alex Power, Margot Finley as Julie Power, Bradley Machry as Jack Power and Jacelyn Holmes as Katie Power, that then aired as a TV movie on Saturday Morning TV.

Next up is Titans, a live action series that initially aired on the DC Universe streaming service but will continue on HBO Max, featuring a more R-rated version of the young DC heroes, starring Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), Kory Anders (Anna Diop), Rachel Roth (Teagan Croft), Gar Logan (Ryan Potter), Jason Todd (Curran Walters), Donna Troy (Conor Leslie), Hank Hall (Alan Ritchson), Dawn Granger (Minka Kelly), Rose Wilson (Chelsea Zhang), and Conner (Joshua Orpin) vs. Constantine, a short-lived NBC series starring Matt Ryan as John Constantine. After the series was canceled, Ryan reprised his role as Constantine as part of the CW Arrowverse.

Next is Arrow, the series starring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, a vigilante who slowly turned into the superhero known as Green Arrow. The series launched the series of interconnected superhero shows known as the Arrowverse (who are now trying to go by a different name now that Arrow's run has finished) vs. Birds of Prey, a short-lived TV series before the WB became the CW, featuring the Birds of Prey from DC Comics, specifically Ashley Scott as Huntress, Dina Meyer as Oracle and Rachel Skarsten as Black Canary.

Next is Human Target, the 2010 adaptation of the DC comic book character, starring Mark Valley as Christopher Chance, a security consultant who helps protect people whose lives are in danger by integrating himself into their lives (although not disguising himself as them, like in the comics). Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley play his associates, Detective Laverne Winston and Guerrero. The series ran for two seasons on Fox vs. Superboy, a syndication series produced by the Salkinds (the producers of the Superman movies) that ran for four seasons, with John Haymes Newton playing the title role in Season 1 and then Gerard Christopher taking over for Seasons 2-4.

Next is Superman and Lois, a new series that has only seen four episodes air so far, featuring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively, a married couple trying to raise their two teenage sons, Jonathan Kent (Jordan Elsass) and Jordan Kent (Alex Garfin) back in Clark's hometown of Smallville vs. Shazam!, Filmation's first live action series, which aired on Saturday mornings for three seasons, starring Michael Gray as Billy Batson, who would travel the country in a motorhome with his guardian, Mentor (Les Tremayne). When trouble arose, Billy could speak the magic word, "Shazam!" and transform into Earth's Mightiest Mortal, Captain Marvel (played by Jackson Bostwick in Season 1 and the start of Season 2 and John Davey for the rest of the series).

Next is Lucifer, starring Tom Ellis as Lucifer, who has given up Hell for Los Angeles, where he serves as a consultant with the LAPD. Laura German plays his LAPD contact and Tom Welling later joined the cast as Cain. The series ran for three seasons on Fox and then Netflix picked it up for an additional three seasons vs. Doctor Strange, a TV movie that was a pilot for a proposed Doctor Strange series, featuring Peter Hooten as Doctor Strange, a doctor at a psychiatric hospital who has a patient being used as a trap against the then-current Sorcerer Supreme. Strange then becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme.

Next is Luke Cage, the Netflix series starring Mike Colter as the title hero, as a former convict who was experimented on and given superhuman strength and unbreakable skin that he uses to fight crime in New York City. Simone Missick co-starred as NYPD detective, Misty Knight, and Rosario Dawson as the "Night Nurse," Claire Temple vs. Krypton, a series on SyFy starring Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El, Kal-El's grandfather who has to redeem the House of El and keep Krypton from descending into chaos.

Finally, we have Batman, the hit ABC TV series starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward that became a sensation in 1966, with two episodes each week, with the first episode ending with a cliffhanger and the second one resolving the story, leading to the series appearing TWICE in the top 10 TV series for the 1965-66 TV season. The series lasted three seasons, with the third season introducing Yvonne Craig as Batgirl as it reduced to just one episode per week vs. Wonder Woman, the 1974 TV movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby as Diana Prince, a sort of super-spy who didn't even seem to have super powers, likely based on the era where Diana Prince lost her powers and stopped wearing her Wonder Woman costume. The movie was a failed pilot for a Wonder Woman series starring Crosby, but it somehow worked as a pilot for a more standard Wonder Woman series starring Lynda Carter that followed a couple of years later.

HELL's KITCHEN REGION

Our first matchup features Marvel's Daredevil, one of the only Marvel Netflix series that actually lasted three seasons. The show followed the blind lawyer, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), who gained super abilities when he lost his sight and his law partner, Frankin "Foggy" Nelson (Elden Henson) and their client turned secretary, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) as Matt becomes the superhero vigilante known as Daredevil to take on the Kingpin (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) and the evil Hand vs. Legends of Superheroes, two TV specials that were kitschy looks at superheroes, with the first one being a retirement ceremony for an old (made-up for the series) superhero that was interrupted by the Legion of Doom and the second one being a superhero roast. The specials' main claim to fame is that it reunited Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin.

Next is Runaways, a series on the streaming service, Hulu, starring Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin, and Allegra Acosta as the title characters, children of a crime organization known as The Pride, who go on the run when they discover that their parents are evil, using their various abilities that they gained from their parents. The show lasted three seasons. vs. Defenders, a miniseries that brought the four Marvel Netflix series together on to a team, with Charlie Cox's Daredevil, Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, Mike Cotter's Luke Cage and Finn Jones' Iron Fist teaming up together to take on the Hand, who had resurrected Daredevil's former love, Elektra, to use her as a weapon.

Next is Stargirl, a series starring Brec Bassinger as a teen who discovers that her stepfather (Luke Wilson) used to be a sidekick to Starman, one of the members of the Justice Society of America. The cosmic staff that belonged to Starman works for the teen, so she believes that he might be her long-lost biological father. She becomes Stargirl (and her stepfather debuts a suit of armor that he uses to keep an eye on Stargirl) and slowly begins to rebuild a brand-new Justice Society of America. The series debuted on DC Universe but is moving to The CW vs. Powerless, a sitcom set in the DC Universe that aired on NBC for a season starring Vanessa Hudgens ad Emily Locke, Director of Research & Development at Wayne Security, where they build devices that help people make their way in a world filled with superhuman beings.

Next is Agent Carter, which saw Hayley Atwell reprise her role as Peggy Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger and the One-Shot short film that showed Carter as a founding head of SHIELD as she deals with being a woman agent at the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) during an era where women were not typically seen as peers by the other agents. It ran for two seasons on ABC. vs. Spidey Super Stories, which was a show-within-a-show on the 1970s kids educational program, the Electric Company. Spider-Man would fight against villains while helping to teach kids to read, as he would only speak via word balloons.

Next is Gotham, a series set in the years following the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, as we see early in his career cop, Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) each come to terms with their destinies in Gotham City, with Gordon set to clean up the Gotham City Police Department and fight against the slowly developing super criminals in the city while Bruce begins his journey to becoming a superhero. The series ran for five seasons on Fox. vs. Iron Fist, a Marvel Netflix series that saw Finn Jones playing Danny Rand, a spoiled rich kid who disappeared for 15 years but is now returning to New York City to reclaim his family's company while hiding the fact that he is now basically a magical martial artist with the power of the "Iron Fist."

Next is Jessica Jones, the other Marvel Netflix series to reach three season, which stars Krysten Ritter as the title character, who had tried to make it as a superhero before she was then terrorized by the villainous Killgrave. Once he was finished with her, Jessica dealt with her trauma by drowning her sorrows in alcohol as she becomes a private investigator. However, when Killgrave returns, Jessica is forced to confront her past and perhaps take on a more heroic future, as well. vs. Mutant X, a syndicated series produced by Marvel but not based on any Marvel comics. It was about a team of genetically mutated heroes who seek out other "New Mutants." It lasted three seasons before being abruptly canceled.

Next is Smallville, which starred Tom Welling as Clark Kent, who discovered his super abilities as a teenager and the rest of the series is following Clark and his friends as he slowly but surely embraces his destiny as he becomes Superman by the end of the series. The series lasted for 10 seasons on The CW vs. The Flash, a short-lived one season superhero show starring John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen, the Flash, that aired on CBS in 1990, during a period where superhero shows were an extreme rarity on network television. Shipp would later play Barry Allen's father on the current Flash TV series.

Finally, we have the Adventures of Superman, the first television series starring a superhero, which starred George Reeves as Superman and Phyllis Coates/Noel Neill as Lois Lane and ran for six seasons (Reeves' death halted future seasons). The show was unique in that it began shooting in color well before most television sets had the ability to show color, as the producers figured it would help the show in second-run syndication. The series was produced by DC itself, with DC editor Whitney Ellsworth in charge of the production vs. Generation X, a failed TV pilot for a series that aired as a TV movie that starred Emma Frost (Finola Hughes) and Sean Cassidy (Jeremy Ratchford) as the heads of a school for mutants.