#MakeThisBattle Feedback - Sept 21st

EpicLLOYD has been looking through the match-ups selected for feedback for the current round of makethisbattle and we now have feedback for you! Thanks for your patience.

So let's see what he thought of this new bunch of ideas...

Sappho vs Maya Angelou [submitted by Dragonsblood23 & Dante Walton]

Maya Angelou has been someone I've been interested in getting into a battle, as the idea of having a poet involved in an ERB is really cool. I've honestly never heard of Sappho outside of suffering Sappho, so I'd need to do some deeper learning. But, the gut feeling from what I've read so far is she's probably a little too obscure to pair with Maya Angelou; to get any real traction with the wider fanbase. But will look a bit further into Sappho.

Homer the Poet vs Homer Simpson [submitted by mblpns & spoiler]

Very fun. It's nice to see a match-up for Homer Simpson besides Peter Griffin, which has been the go-to option over the years. If we did this one it'd probably need to be animated which I also like. We could bring all of Homer's characters to life in a fun cartoon style that would be a nice offset to the Simpson's side. Plus the gore and violence of Homer would offset the comedy of the Simpsons nicely. I'm digging it.

Richard Nixon vs Shaggy Rogers [submitted by Bran Rogers]

I'm a full stop on Shaggy unless HeadMonk plays him, in which case we can start pre-production on this tomorrow! ;)

Mulan vs Boudicca [submitted by Slicer & swegmaster]

Mulan is a fun one. A new movie has just been released this month and it's a character that would drive eyeballs. Plus having a strong female character from the far east is something we've been sorely missing. Likewise, Boudicca seems to be sort of the Joan Of Arc - of Wales. Which is pretty cool. We could bring her story to light in a fun way. She's not got the same name recognition of course but it's a solid match-up idea.

Henry Ford vs Optimus Prime [submitted by Mortal]

Interesting. The more I think about it the more fun it gets. It's a great mix of history and fiction. Well known characters. A challenging one to pull off visually for sure but that makes it even more rewarding. I'm a yes on this, if we can make it work. But, that is a big 'if' I guess. Transformers in an ERB would be pretty hype for people I think. And Henry Ford being a bug name in the automobile industry is a good fit.

Gajah Mada vs Hannibal Barca [submitted by FoxDoc & Leo M. R.]

I wrote a report on Hannibal in 10th grade and have been intrigued ever since. Him featuring in a battle seems awesome. Albeit we already did the other Hannibal and when people hear the name Hannibal I think their first thought would be the serial killer. But, I just want an elephant in a battle. Gajah Mada is someone I think the world should know more about. He seems badass. Once you find out they both rocked the elephants, I think it's a winner. 

Billy Joel vs Elton John [submitted by 2Hats]

Looks good on paper and I think it would be super popular. We'd have all the piano and song reference jokes but both guys have plenty of drama to tap into too. I think to do this right though, we'd need to get some singing in there. Kinda like how we did with Freddy Mercury. I think there's enough material to make it a hit. But, there are a lot of potential musician vs musician battles and is this the 'one' we should do next? Not sure.

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"Monk's Hot Takes" - our manager offers some extra words!

We may have come to the end of the road for Shaggy Rogers. I'm a big fan personally. But I don't think I could pull off the role unless I go on a dedicated year long health kick. Whereas Pete is just perfect already! But the reluctance from Pete & Lloyd seems steadfast on Shaggy, Scooby or Mystery Inc. It's a shame cos I think he'd be super fun in an ERB. 

I guess the concerns they have about Shaggy, I personally have with Homer Simpson. While he's known worldwide I think portraying him animated we'd have big issues with copyright to overcome. And if we went with a live action version we'd somehow need it to avoid feeling cringe. It's a hard one to envisage pulling off. Is there an amazing impressionist or look-a-like out there that we could tap into? If so, I like Homer vs Homer. But otherwise it feels like a tricky one to make work. 

Gajah Mada would be a new name to most people (other than Civilisation V players), even though he's a big icon to the people of Indonesia. I personally think both him and Hannibal need to face bigger names to make a match-up work. I'm not sure we need two "elephant generals" facing each other. I prefer just one elephant guy. (Don't hate me foxdoc!) I just think having two dilutes the effect for me a bit. Maybe some form of Far East royale could work. Maybe even Mulan vs Gajah Mada? It's an interesting challenge. At least Gajah is on Lloyd's radar now. He certainly wasn't on our radar before.

Vote for your fave from this selection here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/41827327

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As ever - a new round of MakeThisBattle now begins!

The theme this time is "Acting Up" - we're looking for match-ups that feature at least one person who's primary vocation is as an actor or actress.

Apart from a small handful of battles (e.g. Monroe, Eastwood etc) we've generally always concentrated on featuring the characters that actors portray rather than the individuals themselves. Are we missing out on something? Or is it simply the case that the tv and film characters are more interesting than the the people who portray them? Lets find out shall we!

You can ignore the theme completely if you prefer. But, when selecting the match-ups for feedback we will select 2 or more suggestions that match the theme.

Same rules apply. Seven match-ups in total will be selected. Three suggestions per person. You can post them in the comments below, email them to erbpatreon@gmail.com or post them on the Discord server in the dedicated '#make-this-battle' channel.

Deadline for submissions is... 5pm PT on Tuesday 29th September