Movie Madness Championship: Batman vs. Darth Vader

Darth Vader squeezed Indiana Jones’s larynx with his mind and pulverized it in Monday’s Movie Madness battle. With 160 votes tallied at the moment I’m writing this, 107 of them have gone to the Dark Lord of the Sith. Now it’s time to determine who’s the baddest of the bad. Who will be crowned champion of The Bonus View’s Movie Madness Tournament O’ Death 2011? Darth Vader goes up against Batman in the ultimate battle of good versus evil. Who’s going to take the crown? There’s only one way to find out.

Before we go any further, I’d like to post a picture of the tournament bracket to see how far we’ve come. Take a little while to look over the bracket and reminisce about the fun times we’ve spent together weeding out the weaklings. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.

Okay, back to the task at hand. We’ve got a huge decision tonight. We want to know who’s going to be crowned the ultimate cinematic badass. Which character will take home the recognition of being the biggest and baddest person in the history of film? Let’s try to dissect this final matchup.

Batman – He’s had a tough road to these finals. He’s taken out fan favorites like Han Solo and the Joker, while dealing crushing blows to Alice and Buzz Lightyear. Now here he stands, cape unfurled, in the finale staring down at his toughest match yet. Batman has gotten this far without any superpowers of any kind. (I was actually surprised that the Final Four was comprised of three people who didn’t have any superpowers and only one who did.) Perhaps we value raw humanistic talent over supernatural powers. Perhaps this gives Batman an edge against a villain who can crush a throat with his mind. Or perhaps Batman is doomed this time around.

Darth Vader – If movies have taught us anything, it’s that good ultimately wins no matter what. That could be a very big help for Batman in this situation. However, Vader’s abilities seem to outweigh Batman’s strengths. Could this be one of the first times that evil ultimately triumphs over good? It’s certainly possible, given the fact that Vader is one of the baddest men to ever walk the universe. He’s a formidable foe. He’s a villain unlike any of Batman’s nemeses. He’s Darth Vader, need I say more?

Final Word: The good triumphing over evil lesson we’ve been spoon-fed by movies for decades seems to lean towards Batman in this final, epic battle of supremacy. On the other hand, we’re talking about a fight to the death. Do we really think that Batman, as amazing a fighter as he may be, could truly defeat Darth Vader in a face-to-face matchup? Truthfully, I think Batman is too overmatched here. Vader has almost every conceivable edge. What do you think? Show us with your vote.

Darth Vader vs. Batman

  • Darth Vader (59%, 80 Votes)
  • Batman (41%, 55 Votes)

Total Voters: 135

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17 comments

  1. Alex

    Darth Vader has better theme music. At least better than the Christian Bale version’s theme music.

  2. Gotta go with Bats, if he can beat Superman then he can beat Vader plus Vader’s half robot. I’m sure WayneTech has something that could interfere or hack that twisted mix of man and metal.

  3. rudy

    My vote goes to Batman.

    The key in battle with him is preparation. As the world’s greatest detective he would eventually end up discovering that there are creatures that dampen force powers (as used by Grand Admiral Thrawn) and would eventually obtain one. With no Force powers fight goes easily to Batman.

  4. HuskerGuy

    Just for kicks I asked my buddy who would win. I thought his scenario was funny enough to share.

    “For this battle let’s leave it a 1 on 1 fight – no back up. The fight goes like this:

    Vader is crying his whiny eyes out about his beloved “Padme” on a park bench when he feels a disturbance in the force. It’s Batman sneaking toward him along the rooftops next to the park. Suddenly out of the darkness a barrage of Batarangs fly out and bounce harmlessly off of Vader’s helmet. Annoyed he stands up an mutters through his breath mask “Who goes there?” Batman, who has silently descended upside down behind Vader, hisses “I’m Batman”. Startled, Vader spins around and starts Force choking the pi$$ out of Batman. Batman, in a last ditch effort tries to punch Vader in the nads. He breaks his fist due to the fact everything below Vader’s waist is “more machine now than man.” Lord Vader, tires of batman’s insolence and ignites his light saber. In one downward swing he cut’s Batman in half. The long way. He the Force pushes the two halves in separate directions and decides to get an ice cream cone.”

    • Pedram

      I have one problem with your argument. How the heck would he eat that ice cream cone? He surely wouldn’t take his mask off on public, and by the time he gets back to his meditation chamber it would be all melted.

      • EM

        Ever since the dining-room scene in The Empire Strikes Back, I’ve imagined he could just push some foods through the grille in his mask, and surely ice cream would work for that purpose. I suppose he could do the same with crushed cone pieces. This is probably why he wears that inner cape: it’s very convenient for wiping his mask clean!

  5. Colin Melton

    I have to go with Batman. Darth Vader lost in a
    fight with Luke, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was able to cut off his hand and legs when he was at the height of his power. No way he is taking down
    Batman

  6. JoeRo

    The Caped Crusader can win, if and only if, he has someone else to help him out. Be it Alfred, The Green Arrow (re: Andi), ysalimiri (for you rudy), or any incarnation of Robin/Nightwing, he’s going to need to bring his friends to take down the original man in black.

    Vader wins.

  7. EM

    Note that a win by Vader is consistent with good ultimately winning, since Vader ultimately turns to good. Unfortunately, that happens a little too late to help Batman.

  8. Pedram

    This contest, by definition, was always about who is the baddest. Going with that criteria, Vader takes the cake in this one. Did anyone ever really stand a chance against him in the tournament?

  9. I was too late to vote, but I love HuskerGuy’s description of the fight! 😀 Given Vader’s power and skill, that would be the long winded version of events, where Batman stood the most chance. 😉

    And for those who said Luke defeated him, remember that he was essentially giving in to his son, because his heart really wasn’t in the battle. And then he went on to take down the Emperor. As for when Ben defeated him, you gotta remember that in his prime Ben was a pretty powerful hero in his own right, and if you think about it, that wasn’t Vader in his prime. He would have proceeded from there to his true training with the Emperor. So Vader’s peak of killing prowess was most certainly as ‘Darth Vader’, as seen in the original trilogy. 😉 So he wins, hands down, icecream and all!

  10. Batman may be the greatest hero but he could not match up with Darth Vader and the Force. Even a ninja’s skill is too overwhelmed by the power of the force. That is unless Batman would be accompanied an ysalamiri. Then give the edge to Batman.