Kelly Lawler, Brett Molina, and Brian Truitt

USA TODAY

Who’s the baddest villain of them all? USA TODAY’s The Mothership podcast wants to find out.

We’re pitting 32 villains from movies, TV, comics and books against each other to determine who's the best of the worst: Agent Smith from The Matrix or Hans Gruber from Die Hard? What about the Joker vs. Catwoman? And what would happen if the Wicked Witch of the West went up against Voldemort?

All through March, you can vote online at life.usatoday.com or on USA TODAY Life's Twitter feed to advance your favorite villains to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four and Championship rounds of our bracket.

The hosts of The Mothership have their own thoughts on which villain deserves to take the crown. Read their arguments and listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud.

THE JOKER

The Clown Prince of Crime is proof you don't need magic or superpowers to become one of the most complex, dastardly villains in pop culture. For nearly 80 years, he has served as the perfect foil to Batman, testing the Dark Knight's resolve in ways that would have broken other individuals. He killed Robin. He tortured Commissioner Gordon and paralyzed his daughter Barbara (aka Batgirl). Whether it's by acid-spraying flower or explosive jack-in-the-box, the Joker kills and maims simply to amuse himself. As Heath Ledger puts it in his classic role as the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight: "Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos." Want to mess with someone this unpredictable? — Molina

Mark Hamill shows us what Trump would look like as the Joker

There's a Method to Jared Leto's Joker madness

VOLDEMORT

Is there a recent villain as iconic as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? The big bad of seven Harry Potter books and eight movies is one of the most widely known and feared villains today. The rest of the villains in our bracket should be very, very afraid. The Horcruxes are both a strength and a weakness, making him almost immortal. He’s got a load of followers and, by the seventh book, the entire magical government in his back pocket. And he can do incredible and terrifying magic. Just think of his duel with Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix or the Battle of Hogwarts. The scene where he is resurrected in Goblet of Fire remains one of the darkest moments in the Potter series. Though the movies tried to capture the snake-like visage J.K. Rowling described, it’s the inhumanity of Voldemort that makes him so compelling. — Lawler

You've probably been mispronouncing 'Voldemort'

Trump is like Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort, says Rosie O'Donnell

DARTH VADER

The most iconic bad guy from the biggest movie franchise ever doesn't need a magic wand: The man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker has a lightsaber and a mean streak that stretches the entire galaxy far, far away. Twisted by metal and madness, Vader has been the face (or helmet, as it were) of cosmic villainy since 1977, Force-choking Imperial officers who give him lip in the original Star Wars, leading a vicious ground assault on the Rebels' base on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, and throwing the Emperor down a long shaft like a boss in Return of the Jedi. There was a little redemption involved, but, come on, he asked son Luke to rule the galaxy with him. The galaxy. What a dad! The Force is oh-so-strong with this one. — Truitt

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Diego Luna on meeting Darth Vader: 'You just hope you don’t pee on your pants'

Vote in the rest of our Round 1 matchups in the tweet thread below.

And hear more about the other villains in our bracket in this week's episode of The Mothership podcast.