Captain America, Thor and Channing Tatum's Jenko battle it out on Twitter to win Best Hero on Sunday.
By Ryan J. Downey
Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"
Photo: Warner Bros.
Harry Potter spent several movies (and books, of course) battling Voldemort, both indirectly and in face-to-face confrontations. Katniss Everdeen's skill with a bow and arrow has kept her alive against considerable odds. Captain America has fought bad guys (like his arch-nemesis the Red Skull) in various incarnations since World War II, whether with the Invaders, the Howling Commandos or the Avengers. His teammate, Thor, has gone up against all manner of sinister foes across all the nine realms, not the least of which being his half-brother, the mischievous Loki. Jenko, from the big-screen version of "21 Jump Street," not only had to contend with drug dealers, but there was the whole "politics of high school" drama too.
But right now, all these heroes are facing their most fervent, vocal, communicative, evolving and passionate adversary yet: Twitter.
The MTV Movie Awards first-ever social voting category, Best Hero, has harnessed the power of Twitter like Marvel supervillains harnessing the power of the Cosmic Cube to determine which of the big screen do-gooders (many of them ripped from the written page) is truly the people's champion.
It's been up-to-the-minute action worthy of some of their biggest adventures, with the instantaneous might of the microblogging medium allowing each of them to rise and fall in the ranks constantly as fans tweet their favorites with special hashtags. Harry Potter and "Hunger Games" hero Katniss have been in the closest competition for the top spot, each with well over 100,000 votes as of this writing. Katniss, of course, is just starting her movie franchise stardom even as the onetime boy wizard has grown up and moved on after last year's final "Potter" installment.
"The Avengers" mopped the floor with the blockbuster "Hunger Games," usurping the novel-based movie's throne to become the #1 movie of 2012 thus far (and rising through the top five in the all-time list as well). However, the Best Hero category may have split the Avengers fan vote by pitting two of Earth's Mightiest Heroes against each other. Captain America has been a distant third with his pal Thor even further behind at #4.
Jenko from "21 Jump Street," the smash comedic take on the '80s TV show of the same name about a group of cops who go undercover in high school, has his work cut out for him. He's trailing behind all the other heroes, but in fairness, he doesn't have the same historical power of his foes. Channing Tatum also had to walk in the shadow of Johnny Depp (who — spoiler — reprised his TV role in a brief cameo) in "Jump Street," though it won favor with critics (85 percent on the Tomatometer!) and fans ($136 million at the box office! For an action comedy! In March!) alike.
Channing Tatum, of course, is also nominated in the Best Kiss category thanks to his steamy lip-lock with Rachel McAdams in "The Vow." But when we sat down with him on Thursday, he told us he's confident that a certain franchise has that category in the bag. "It doesn't matter. The 'Twilight' kids always sweep it," he told MTV News when he sat down for the "Magic Mike" MTV Sneak Peek Week event. "They sweep it every time."
He was kind enough to personally thank MTV News' @JoshuaHorowitz and the small but dedicated army of #VoteJenko fans himself from his own Twitter account, @ChanningTatum.
Twitter user @lesleycherrypie voted Jenko, "Not only because he's hot, but that is a big part of it." @CaraFoshizzle quoted several of her favorite lines from "Captain America: The First Avenger" as she tweeted her vote for Mr. Steve Rogers. @HarryPotterings pleaded, "Please #VOTEPOTTER before the voting closes! It's one of our last chances to win an award for our childhood." @CleverGranger said, "Katniss 'won' The Hunger Games, but Harry 'saved' the wizarding world. Who's the true hero now?" Quotes from "The Hunger Games" have flooded the Twitter-verse, as well. @MaryamA115 said, "She's getting closer! 2nd place now. :D"
Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET.
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