Welcome all, to the annual showdown in the realms of Eriador and beyond! Yes, it’s that time of year when hobbit must fight wizard, dwarf must battle elf, and man must face … erm … well, maybe himself.
Because this year we’ve thrown something new into the mix for March Madness. We thought it would be interesting to see if Sherlock could outwit the most cunning of dragons; or if Rudy has more heart than Samwise. What would fastidious Oscar Wilde make of the slovenly Master of Lake-town? Can Dwalin out-wrestle Dougal Mackenzie?
That’s right – our brackets contain actors in both their Tolkien roles, and a role they play in another film or TV show. So Luke Evans appears both as Bard and Gaston; and Billy Boyd is there both as Pippin and Barret Bonden (from ‘Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World’). This means that some battles will be between two characters from Middle-earth, some between two ‘outside’ characters, and some will be a mix; and yes, actors could find themselves facing an alter ego.
Are we crazy? Is there absolutely no way that the ape Caesar would stand a chance against Gollum? Is Magneto clearly no match for Gandalf? That’s for YOU to decide! Voting starts today – and the madness will run until April 5th. Here is the schedule for rounds:
- Round 1 – March 19th – March 22nd 10:00pm ET
- Round 2 – March 23rd – March 25th 10:00pm ET
- Round 3 – March 26th – March 28th 10:00pm ET
- Round 4 – March 31st 10:00pm ET
- Final Four – April 1 – April 3rd 10:00pm ET
- The Final – April 4 – April 5th 10:00pm ET
The brackets are divided as follows:
- Division I – The Lord of the Rings Fellowship, and counterpart roles
- Division II – The Lord of the Rings outside the Fellowship, and counterpart roles
- Division III – The Hobbit Company (wizards, dwarves, and hobbit), and counterpart roles
- Division IV – The Hobbit Lake-town and villains, and counterpart roles
Voting is simple – just click on your choice in each dual, below. You can only vote once – but feel free to share, and rally people to your cause! Speculate on the message boards, and head on over to Facebook to take part in some ‘exit polls’, and see who is predicted to win.
It’s all in fun – how you choose your choice of winners is entirely up to you. But if you’re keen to see someone in particular go all the way to final victory, start campaigning now!
Let the games begin!
Voting in Round 1 will remain open until March 22nd at 10pm ET. At that point, we’ll calculate the winners and post the next round on March 23rd. Follow after the break for a complete bracket image (download it), and to vote on all of our Round 1 match-ups! [Round 1 Bracket]
Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness 2018 is here!”
- Aidan Turner
- Andy Serkis
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Bernard Hill
- Billy Boyd
- Cate Blanchett
- Christopher Lee
- David Wenham
- Dominic Monaghan
- Elijah Wood
- Evangeline Lilly
- Fans
- Graham McTavish
- Hobbit Movie
- Hugo Weaving
- Hugo Weaving
- Ian Holm
- Ian McKellen
- John Bell
- John Noble
- John Rhys-Davies
- Karl Urban
- Lee Pace
- LotR Movies
- Luke Evans
- Manu Bennett
- Martin Freeman
- Miranda Otto
- Miscellaneous
- Orlando Bloom
- Richard Armitage
- Sean Astin
- Sean Bean
- Stephen Fry
- The Hobbit
- The Lord of the Rings
- TheOneRing.net Announcements
- TheOneRing.net Community
- Tolkien
- Viggo Mortensen
Aidan Turner is set to star in the BBC’s new adaptation of Poldark — the series of novels written by Winston Graham in the 1940s and 1950s. 
Ringer kiwifan has told us that Aidan Turner’s new mini-series “Poldark” will be heading to the small screen very soon. Aidan’s co-stars include Eleanor Tomlinson (Death Comes to Pemberley), Heida Reed (Silent Witness), Ruby Bentall (The Paradise), Jack Farthing (Blandings), Kyle Solder (Anna Karenina), the late Warren Clarke (Red Riding), Phil Davies (Whitechapel), Beatie Edney (Poirot) and Robin Ellis, who played the title role in the original 1975-77 BBC adaptation of Winston Graham’s acclaimed novels.