Why it matters who wins in pop culture debates

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We’re about to close the door on our first Who would Win Week, a five-day celebration of popular culture’s oldest and most persistent question: “Could my favorite thing kick your favorite thing’s ass?”

Disputes over who would win have a history of toxicity (e.g. the console wars, Star Wars era ⁠ – the list goes on), but when conducted responsibly and with a healthy dose of levity, the debates can have diverse fanbases bring together in fun and even enriching ways. At best, fictional matchups encourage us to share what we love about our favorite characters and entertainment, and learn what others love about things we’ve overlooked or written off. They let us ask the important questions, like: Magneto or Professor X, who is the better sex ed teacher?

With Who Would Win week, we wanted an excuse to highlight what makes us happy and what matters most to you all. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite showdowns for your reading pleasure:

We think you’ll love the entire Who would Win Week collection, whether you want a scientist to determine which slime is the king of slimes or you need a degree Gilmore Girls “Best Friend” Debate.

And good news! If you’re reading this Friday night, you still have time to help us choose the most powerful character of all time. Our Who Would Win Twitter bracket culminated with the battle of the millennium: Yuri Katsuki versus Kirby.

This week on YouTube | “Margit the Fell Omen, the Elden Ring’s first boss gatekeeper, is a real jerk. Players may encounter him early in their playthrough before they’ve really explored Limgrave and gotten the good loot, but Margit presents a challenge even for seasoned, high-level Souls veterans. So what makes Margit a challenging fight, and REALLY is it the hardest first boss developer Fromsoft has ever built into a Soulsborne game? Polygon’s very own Pat Gill, Soulshead at it all, examines Margit’s moves and puts him to the test.”

Three stories to read

a witcher medallion with glowing red eyes lying on snow

What we know about the newly announced Witcher game | Gwent Director Jason Slama will oversee the new Witcher sequel, which will be the first to be built in Unreal Engine 5. One of our favorite Witcher experts, Cian Maher, explained where the next game can (and should) go after the end of . The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Inspired by Turning Red, artists love to crawl | We spoke to art ists about theirs it

ve for and connection with Mei’s fantasy drawings.

Game developers help evacuate Ukrainian families | “For our team, the real work is the game developers [is] still a secondary priority,” Yaroslav Singaevskiy, Lead Game Designer Red Strike, Polygon said via email, “because our main efforts have been aimed at defense needs — mostly volunteering. We still hope so [the] The war could end in weeks, not months, and we are making every effort to do so.”

Four things to see

young sunja in pachinko, sitting and staring thoughtfully into the distance

Pachinko on Apple TV Plus | pachinko was one of our favorite books of 2017. Thanks to some bold departures from the source material, its adaptation is fast becoming a favorite TV show of 2022.

Bridgerton Season 2 on Netflix | You may have missed the first season of the soapy masterpiece on Netflix. Or maybe you forgot the plot of the last 15 months. In any case, we have prepared an introduction Bridgetonthe main storylines of , so you can dive head first into Season 2.

Atlanta on Hulu | It’s been almost four years since Donald Glover & Co. released a new episode of Atlanta. Now we’re getting the third and fourth seasons in the same year. That’s the good news. The not so good news: It’s the final seasons.

17 Great Martial Arts Movies to watch at home | Yes, we’ve recorded a few movies starring Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but we think you’ll also love the movies that have less famous names and more kick-ass fights.

Also everything new in streaming: We wish you a very happy donkey forever to those who celebrate.

Four games to play

Kirby sucks up a fox in Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Kirby and the forgotten land | Kirby’s new adventure can get a bit repetitive, but come on! Look at that little pink blob! How can you resist the cuteness? Available for Nintendo Switch.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderland | Polygon recommends | The Borderlands franchise became a smash hit out of one simple premise: Diablo with guns. But after a decade, the series had become predictable. The Tiny Tina spinoff – with its D&D theme – is just enough to revitalize the Borderlands formula for at least one more adventure. Available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.

Core Keeper | Years after sandbox survival sims boomed on Steam (so much fizz!), developer Pugstorm has made just enough changes to bring something fresh to the genre. Available through Steam Early Access for Windows PC and SteamOS.

Ghostwire: Tokyo | MBMBaM‘s Justin McElroy returns to Polygon to review one of the weirdest AAA games in years. Available for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC.

Free game of the week

Behold a neon pinball machine emitting demonic energy. This is Demon's Tilt

inclination of the demon | In the mid 90’s Windows included a free pinball game called space cadet. inclination of the demon is what would have happened if the designer of space cadet contain the full text of the Necronomicon in the readme file. Available for free on PC through the Epic Games Store until March 31st.