Alright! Today, in my longest and most ambitious post yet, I'm ranking all of the MCU's numerous, numerous movies and television shows that have dominated cinema for this past decade and a half ahead of The Marvels' release later this week. However, let's set a few parameters - this is going to be dealing with the things directly made by Marvel Studios, so no Daredevil, Inhumans, or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
We're also going to avoid things that could technically be considered part of the MCU due to multiverse shenanigans such as Sam Raimi’s, Marc Webb’s, and Sony’s Spider-Man movies (Because Morbius would obviously sweep). We're also excluding the One Shots (Team Thor) and the various Disney+ shorts (I Am Groot) for the sake of focusing on the "main" MCU and for the consistency of not comparing million-dollar movies with DVD extras... plus, this post already had 43 things to rank, that feels like enough.
With the boundaries set, let's begin.
4/10
43. Secret Invasion
Everything else - from the gloomy and uninspired visuals, refugees who are in the right until they start killing innocents, visual effects, dialogue, and "the villain has the same powers as the hero but is evil" finale combines every bland thing about the show into one giant gray mess that has implications, stakes, and consequences that viewers and future MCU products are sure to brush off. The best thing about it is seeing Don Cheadle wrangle with the knowledge that his character being a Skrull would have blown everyone's minds back in 2016, but is being relegated to a small-scale Disney+ show no one will watch.
42. Thor: Love and Thunder
It doubles down on the comedy that made Ragnarok endearing, but the result is that not a minute goes by without lame gags that come in three flavors of screaming goat, awkward stammering, or Korg narration, all framed and lighted in a way reminiscent of an SNL sketch parodying superhero movies. A shame, too, since there are otherwise cool ideas and imagery in the movie that would have worked phenomenally with a different tone (Such as a creepy god butcherer played by Christian Bale). It’s a classic example of taking the wrong lessons from success - People liked Ragnarok’s humor? Let’s dial it up to 100 so they like it 100 times more… the math checks out, right?
41. Black Widow
Audiences everywhere were blown away when Black Widow, a fantastically moody, emotional, and stylized spy thriller proved Marvel hadn't lost steam after the Infinity Saga and properly dealt with the trauma of Natasha's back story... for the first twenty minutes. After that, the goodwill of Nirvana covers and red lighting begins to fade and the generic blockbuster-isms take hold. While the large set pieces are bogged down by questionable visual effects, the biggest problem Black Widow faces is the question "Why make a Black Widow movie when Black Widow is dead?"
Given that we saw Natasha Romanoff die in Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow feels entirely pointless, a glorified One Shot to make up for the fact that she deserved this movie back in 2016. Aside from introducing her fan-favorite sister Yelena and absolutely butchering Taskmaster, nothing about Black Widow is particularly memorable. It's wholly unremarkable through and through, which makes the entire experience all the more disappointing.
5/10
40. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
After being the palate cleanser for two Avengers movies, everyone on the Ant-Man crew evidently wanted to switch things up... by being a glorified prelude to an Avengers movie. Concerned first and foremost with introducing Kang the Conqueror ahead of The Kang Dynasty, the titular Ant-Man and the Wasp are largely relegated to supporting characters, and the supporting cast of the Ant-Man movies are in turn relegated to one-dimensional shticks or wholly forgotten (RIP Louis).
Quantumania is a movie with a lot on its plate - namely the fact that it's three movies in disguise. One is a Kang origin movie, one is an Ant-Man threequel, and the other is about the Quantum Realm and its unspecial and vaguely annoying inhabitants. Unfortunately, none of them mix together well, and the fact that they're covered in a generous helping of green screen nonsense helps no one. The charm of Paul Rudd can only take you so far when a character arc ends with "It's never too late to stop being a dick."
39. Eternals
Ambitious to a fault, Chloé Zhao's attempts at a slow-burn, eon-spanning ensemble period piece that's also a superhero movie are mostly "okay." With a large cast of twelve main characters, the ensemble effect is more often than not, like the film itself, a mixed bag - some characters like Phastos, Kingo, and Karun make an enjoyable impression, but the numerous stone-faced and stoic leads somewhat negate their effects.
Additionally, a slow pace and lengthy run time smother cool moments and character beats, drowning things that were otherwise potent in a dichotomic swirl of naturalistic lighting and CGI monster dogs. The movie seems at war with itself, divided between the big ideas and themes it promises and its responsibilities as a four-quadrant superhero flick that needs a giant CGI battle at the end. But perhaps Eternals' biggest crime is that the movies it sets up - involving a Celestial god judging humanity's existence, Harry Styles on a rescue mission with a drunken troll, and Blade teaming up with the Black Knight - sounds infinitely cooler than the movie we got.
38. She-Hulk: Attorney At Law
Combine the mixed episode-to-episode quality with the mixed quality of the heroine's CGI and you have a very odd piece of entertainment that works better as a thought experiment than anything else. The writers were very clearly aware that regardless of quality, She-Hulk would be hated by perpetually online trolls who dislike the very idea of female heroes (This self-awareness is apparent by the fact that the main villain of the series is literally that). When you have that working against you, why bother? Have fun with it and have She-Hulk twerk with Megan Thee Stallion and then end the series in an overly meta retcon of itself. It's a question of if there's a method to the madness or if it's just madness - perhaps the most adequate description is that it's a $225 million-dollar shitpost.
6/10
37. Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 had a lot going for it - Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer is wonderful, the Monaco race suit-up and the ensuing fight scene are iconic and undeniably cool, Don Cheadle as War Machine is a major upgrade from Terrence Howard, and Scarlett Johansson's introduction as Black Widow is pitch-perfect. However, those highs cannot compensate for the lows of seeing Iron Man pee in his suit.
Perhaps the first victim of franchise-first mentality, John Favreau allegedly had a much darker script that focused more heavily on Tony Stark's alcoholism and a more brutal Whiplash, but those aspects were pushed aside in favor of more of the big action scenes audiences liked about the first. While the remnants of the darker plotlines and explosions work well separately, they never cohabitate with the movie in the way one would like, and the overall product is everything you liked about Iron Man but just a little bit worse.
36. Captain Marvel
When it was released between two Avengers movies in March of 2019, Captain Marvel garnered lots of online buzz over its many firsts and online controversies - the first female-led MCU movie, the first “new to the MCU” MCU character to headline a movie that made a billion dollars, and all manner of review bombing that more or less defaced user-submitted reviews forever.
Was it deserved? No. The truth is, the movie’s not egregiously bad so much as it is egregiously unremarkable. It’s a solid origin story for the heroine, even if the first twenty minutes are unbelievably slow-paced. It hits all the right beats, has a good amount of comedy that works (Think chemistry, not writing), gimmicky 90s nostalgia, and we have to give credit where credit is due - the CGI in the movie is actually pretty great, particularly the de-aging effect used on Samuel L. Jackson. However, those are counterbalanced by a stoic lead, lame plot twists, and brutal massacring of Captain Marvel lore. It's a generic blockbuster but a solid movie nonetheless, and when the Eye of Toxic Fandom Sauron isn't on it, it's actually pretty enjoyable, if forgettable.
35. Thor: The Dark World
Since its release in 2013 (Holy smokes, this movie is a decade old?), Thor: The Dark World has been seen as the black sheep of the franchise for numerous reasons - the Dark Elf Malekith is one of the MCU's most generic villains, the cast of boring human characters return with a vengeance, a bland romance continued, an over-the-top finale that had everyone asking "Where are the Avengers?", and the lowest critical reception of any project until the aforementioned Eternals.
But overall, Thor: The Dark World is a likable but unremarkable adventure filled with cool imagery, a dash of humor, surprisingly emotional plot twists, and the always excellent Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki. Unfortunately, not even their chemistry can save the movie's downright boring Shakespearean efforts and muddled pacing, with the biggest saving grace being Avengers: Endgame and Loki retrospectively highlighting its emotional weight and impact on its heroes, giving the movie a new sense of life that just wasn't there in 2013.
34. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
The second of the special presentations made for Disney+, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a short and forgettable adventure about Drax and Mantis as they kidnap Kevin Bacon to try and better understand the true meaning of Christmas. While it seems more suited for AO3 or Fanfiction.net than a legitimate streaming service, the special has its charm as a one-and-done deal with a few solid laughs and emotional moments.
The biggest problem here is that it's simply not as good as some of the other entries on this list, and it's the eighth (!) MCU product of 2022 didn't make for a particularly memorable release. With so many things being released that year alone, The Holiday Special didn't justify its own existence past November 25th, 2022, being erased from the banks of the mind as if it were slander against Big Brother.
7/10
33. What If…?
Marvel's first animated series is ambitious to a fault - on one hand, we have visually exciting and emotional episodes such as "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" that's as dark and twisted as one would hope and a genuinely interesting alternate version of the movie it's based on. But due to the anthology nature of the series, some weeks you get "What If... Zombies?!" where they take Marvel Comic's most tragic and disturbing storyline and combine it with the MCU's take on every zombie horror trope ever, all squeezed into thirty-one illogical minutes that's barely kept afloat by Spider-Man.
While the need for an overarching plot is highly dubious and the voice acting downright atrocious, What If...? is more often than not an enjoyable watch, although not a necessarily great one. Some of the premises are uninspired, the repeated Avengers fridging becomes very old very quickly, and the strange jelly-like animation looks either remarkably slick or uncanny. When it's fun it's fun - and when it's mediocre, it's the definition of mediocre. But at least it's not expecting you to take notes for a future Avengers movie!
32. Hawkeye
31. Ant-Man and the Wasp
While Ant-Man was a very likable adventure back in 2015, audiences everywhere were still reeling from Avengers: Infinity War's cliffhanger ending, and a sequel with a similarly peppy and low-stakes vibe wasn't really as interesting compared to the high-end stakes that had come just months before, critically being reduced to a "palate cleanser" to tide us over until the next Avengers flick (Then untitled!).
However, the movie is not without its charm - there are some clever size-related hijinks that ensue, the villain's phasing power is visually compelling, and the unceasing charm of Paul Rudd does wonders for the otherwise forgettable plot and auxiliary characters. There are admittedly far worse ways to spend two hours, but, given its placement here at #31, there are at least 30 better ways. Oh! But we can't overlook the inclusion of the beautiful treasure that is Michael Peña as Luis - the defining feature of the Ant-Man flicks and the MCU's greatest original character.
30. Thor
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor," a statement delivered early in the movie by Anthony Hopkins as Odin, begs the question Thor answers: What happens when Thor isn't worthy? Cast out from the gilded Asgard, Thor arrives on Earth and learns humility with the help of Jane Foster, regains his honor, and comes back to fight the Ice Giants and defeat his villainous brother Loki.
The first Thor movie, with its mixture of Shakespearean gravitas and gilded visual luster, was all captured splendidly on the Dutch angle that rules the movie. While the tone is a bit self-important for a movie with such clunky dialogue, it remains the quintessential Thor movie through its wonderful production design and costuming, although the wooden romance and attempts to explain magic as science are just plain boring.
29. The Incredible Hulk
The MCU's first and only Hulk film, The Incredible Hulk is a marginal improvement over the 2003 Ang Lee flick, but not particularly special in its own right. While it's interesting how well they were able to capture the sad tortured nature of the character perfectly in this film and then never again, The Incredible Hulk is an interesting but routine take on Marvel's second most popular hero.
Edward Norton as Bruce Banner is a highlight of the film - he's scrawny and scared while also confident, although his romance with Liv Tyler's Betty Ross is forgettable and forced (Especially when she's still talking in the ethereal Elven way). The score of the film is a highlight as well, particularly when Bruce jumps out of the plane to fight Abomination - his turning into the Hulk is played as a moment of tragedy rather than a heroic beat, and the following fight is the only time the MCU has used the Frankenstein visuals of the character. It's mostly forgettable though, and Abomination and the Leader are underwhelming. All in all it's good enough to watch, but Hulk ultimately works better as a supporting character.
28. Iron Man 3
Iron Man had fought a lot of foes by his third film - terrorists, Russian bird enthusiasts, and giant space whales - but Iron Man 3 had the battle of the century as Tony Stark fought his crushing PTSD from sending a nuclear bomb into space and killing thousands of aliens in the most efficient xenocide since Ender's Game. The film that follows is a more grounded and low-stakes tale than anyone would have expected, barely featuring the Iron and focusing on the emotional vulnerability of the man.
It's not exactly an art piece though, as the few action scenes that are here are incredibly slick. Iron Man saving people from a crashing plane will forever be impressive, his microwave tricks ingenious, and seeing the Iron Patriot armor was all very cool. However, it's balanced and negated by the Mandarin, who was so effectively realized as a post-9/11 terrorist that "he was a paid actor and the real Mandarin is a glowing American businessman" didn't even recognize as a twist but instead a stain on an otherwise fun movie.
27. WandaVision
WandaVision was a cultural touchstone for a brief moment in 2021 - remember Mephisto? Agatha all along? The mystery box setup, literal red flags, and sitcom gimmick were all intriguing factors for the first Marvel Disney+ show. After a spell is cast on a small suburban town, Wanda, Vision, and two children are living out the perfect sitcom life, with each episode corresponding to a decade of television. The cast, especially Elizabeth Olsen, were all game for the oddities and the sitcom riffing, plus a fantastic Halloween episode never hurts any TV show. It was also great to see Evan Peters as "Quicksilver" again, especially in a rollicking comic costume.
However, after reaching an emotional high in the penultimate episode as we see the trauma Wanda has gone through to get her to this point, the series jumps the shark for the finale and goes full-scale CGI skybeam bonanzas with a government official who readily shoots at children. Tack on "They'll never know what you did for them" as a half-measure to try to end the series on a heroic note, and WandaVision butchers the arc of the century (Avenger turned multiversal threat) as well as its own unique premise through its bland resolution.
26. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
After creating the perfect character-oriented downfall for Wanda in WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took the only natural progression - shifting the cause of her villainy solely to an evil little book she found. Que the spaghettification of Reed Richards, Professor X getting Man of Steel'd, blend it with Sam Raimi quirks, and top it with an abrupt third eye and you get Multiverse of Madness, where Doctor Strange is trying his darnedest to protect living MacGuffin America Chavez from the dreaded Scarlet Witch.
This is the type of multiverse movie where the madness is restricted to an alternate New York where red means go and green means stop... it's not very inspiring. Equally uninspiring is Doctor Strange's role in the film, where he plays second fiddle to not only Scarlet Witch but also the Illuminati of cameos whose deaths, lore, and musical cues are far more interesting a tale than that of Doctor Strange in the Madness of a New York Where Pizza Comes in Balls.
25. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies are some of the finest offerings the MCU has to offer - the third falls a bit short, somewhat by accident. It tries to be the end-all finale for the Guardians, but by this point, Drax is no longer a Destroyer, and trying to give him a serious ending feels unearned after being the franchise's comic relief for seven years. The bloated runtime (Two hours and thirty minutes) and finale (Evacuation is not the most exciting premise) don't help the movie either, and the first act has one too many jokes bogging it down.
On the other hand, seeing the Guardians go up against their greatest threat yet in the form of High Evolutionary, and the result Rocket Raccoon origin story is heartbreaking and beautiful. Adam Warlock is absolutely hilarious, and the ending - set to "The Dog Days Are Over" by Florence and the Machine - is so resolutely the end that it's easy to overlook the faults of the movie. Vol. 3 is funny, visually engaging, and brimming with new ideas - although it's also an informative lesson on the benefits of restraint.
24. Spider-Man: Far From Home
After being blipped for five years and losing his mentor figure, Peter Parker is back in high school and facing more questions than ever: "What's the status of the Avengers?" "Is he leading them?" and "Does MJ like me?" All of these are, of course, coinciding with the titular far from home school trip to Europe, where Spidey has to fight villains like Hydroman, Molten Man, and a master of illusion called Mysterio.
However, Spidey is missing something when not in his native environment. Queens is where he belongs, and plopping him in front of the London or Rialto Bridge makes it feel more like a B+ episode of the 1994 Spider-Man where the writers needed to give New York a rest before Kingpin could blow it up again. In that way, Far From Home feels a bit superfluous, like a one-shot with all the Spidey action you'd want but without the setting that Spidey works best in. Add on that the mid-credit scene is more interesting than the rest of the film (Setting the stage for a Spider-Man film without secret identities) making Far From Home all in good fun, but not as good as its predecessor or successor.
23. Moon Knight
22. Ms. Marvel
Iman Vellani IS Kamala Khan. She's the definitive portrayal of the character, cheerful and bubbly and unbelievably nerdy about the superhero business - and if interviews are any indication, Vellani is the exact same in real life. Her enthusiasm for caped crusading is infectious and elevates the whole series, even when the writing doesn't deserve it. The other major standout is the last six minutes: After struggling the entire series to like the person she sees in the mirror, first in regular clothes and then in cosplay, Kamala finally dons her costume, looks at the mirror, and smiles. It's a simple but beautiful lesson on what superheroes should be.
8/10
21. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
20. Werewolf by Night
The second Special Presentation for Disney+, Werewolf by Night is a black-and-white film about monster hunters who receive a mysterious invitation to Bloodstone Manor, where an enigmatic host initiates a hunt for a monster hidden on the premises. The catch? One of the hunters is a werewolf there to free the monster. Brilliantly directed by Michael Giacchino (Who composed your favorite Pixar movies and The Batman), Werewolf by Night was a refreshing short tale of friendship in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
However, there's not much to say about it beyond that - with only forty-five or so minutes to make an impact, it's unlikely to leave an impression. It's a shame, too, since what's here is highly enjoyable and delightfully vintage and dark, obviously made with passion. But like The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the release date is also an expiration date, and the special presentation comes and goes without much of an impact.
19. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Often viewed as the gold standard for mildly realistic spy thrillers starring superheroes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a pretty good and wonderfully choreographed adventure for the man out of time. After finding out his wartime friend Bucky Barnes has survived the past seventy years and is now working for HYDRA as the titular Winter Soldier, Captain America must try to save what's left of his old friend in the midst of a government takeover that threatens the entire world.
The best thing about The Winter Soldier is by far the action sequences. Between knife flips, car bombs, Quinjet takedowns, and elevator fights, The Winter Soldier set the bar for the MCU's choreography, a bar that has still not been surpassed, natch. However, it's occasionally boring, started an unfortunate trend of grey-on-grey cinematography, and generally feels like a job that would be better handled by the full Avengers.
18. Captain America: The First Avenger
Like Iron Man and Thor before it, Captain America: The First Avenger is the quintessential origin movie. With the Second World War as a backdrop, The First Avenger sees a kid from Brooklyn named Steve Rogers sign up for an experimental procedure to transform him into the first in a planned series of super soldiers that will help win World War II. It's slick, full of gadgets, fun supporting characters, and has a tragic ending that defies the blockbuster norm (Mostly out of commitments to The Avengers, but still).
Perhaps the most surprising thing about The First Avenger is how well it portrays WWII, with ample and realistic feeling boot camps, tanks, motorcycles, plane action sequences, and a wartime-inspired costume. It almost passes for a genuine war film, albeit one where the hero gets to wear a sparkly blue outfit and punches a red skeleton man. Unfortunately, the movie sags a bit in the middle after the montage, and the aforementioned red skeleton man is a disappointingly generic take on Captain America's archnemesis.
17. Ant-Man
Within the first five minutes of Ant-Man, we learn several things about the world Scott Lang inhabits. One is that he was just released from prison and wants to see his daughter. Two, he has a best friend named Luis, whose girl left him (3), mom died (4), and dad was deported (5), but at least he got the van (6). It takes all the things you liked about star Paul Rudd's previous comedies (Anchorman) with the high-tech gadgetry of superheroes and a heist element no one quite expected.
Ant-Man is fun and efficient, a comedic heist movie that could have relied solely on Paul Rudd's charisma like its sequels did, but instead has enough clever jokes and size-related gimmicks to truly earn the title "Ant-Man." While the movie would have likely been revolutionary if Edgar Wright had directed (He exited due to creative differences), the overall product is a competently made and emotionally fulfilling tale that keeps the stakes small and the themes broadly apparent.
16. Avengers: Age of Ultron
There was a time, in the summer of 2015, when Avengers: Age of Ultron was widely lambasted and seen as one of the worst Marvel films yet. While there are some aspects the movie did lack: The "Age" of Ultron lasts three days, Quicksilver is underused, and the attempt to make Ultron fit into Joss Whedon's patented quip script is... well, it's bad. James Spader is a threatening voice, but making the all-knowing AI forget the word for "children" has got to be one of the worst jokes put to screen.
Age of Ultron, however, is also an improvement on its predecessor in several ways. The lighting and production design are leagues better, the scope of the movie is bigger, and the costumes are all streamlined and revamped to better fit the world. While it's still undercooked and could have benefited from a bit of genuine edge/horror, instead setting for a by-the-numbers world-saving adventure.
15. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
With a longer runtime, bigger scale, and more pop culture references, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the ultimate sequel: Everything you liked about the first, but just a little bit worse. After the first Guardians, only one question remained - what exactly did that line about "Celestial ancestry" mean? Well, enter Kurt Russell as Ego the Living Planet, Star-Lord's adoptive father who wants to reconnect after 26 years. But everything is not as it seems, and a grander mystery slowly unfolds that threatens the entire universe.
The biggest draw of Vol. 2 is the soundtrack. Thirteen absolutely radical songs are spaced throughout the soundtrack, playing at key and emotional points throughout the movie, the standout of which is easily the opening "Mr. Blue Sky" which plays while Baby Groot dances around a battlefield. The thing that gets Vol. 2 to #15, despite its faults and indulgence in humor, is the heart. The father-son bonding between Yondu and Star-Lord is perfectly done throughout the movie, all leading up to an extremely emotional send-off, the first and only in the MCU.
14. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier isn't the best or most well-paced series. It doesn't have the best action or plot twists and by all accounts, it feels like a movie sliced into six episodes to fuel Disney+ viewers. However, it does something nothing else on this list really tries to do: Have a clear and relevant theme (Cough She-Hulk cough). The passing of the shield from Steve Rogers to Sam Wilson was bound to incite questions about racism, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier does a great job of it thanks to likable leads and a terrific turn from Carl Lumbly.
While it's not perfect by any means (Why can't an Avenger get a bank loan?), the villains are laughably terrible (Refugees in the right transformed into hospital-exploding terrorists), and the finale combines all of it into an awkward four-minute speech ("You gotta do better!"). But the good outweighs the bad, with Zemo and John Walker being some of the strongest characters Marvel has put out, and the resulting character arcs for its titular characters as genuinely emotional and heroic. It's not perfect, in fact, it's quite far from it, but there's so much genuinely good stuff in here that it's hard not to admire.
13. Captain America: Civil War
As good as any mash 'em and bash 'em playdate with action figures, Captain America: Civil War has the madcap plotting of a child playing with LEGOs and deciding Captain America and Iron Man should fight, but done in such a serious manner that it almost seems like it will have repercussions despite the crossover ending with them being pen pals and declaring there are no hard feelings. Still, it's unfathomably cool to see heroes like Ant-Man, Spider-Man, and Black Panther teaming up with the Avengers for the first time.
Speaking of which, what incredible introductions for the MCU's two best late additions. Tom Holland and Chadwick Boseman come out swinging as these iconic characters and are both pitch-perfect in the roles (Complete with a pre-murdered Uncle Ben!). Chadwick Boseman in particular is fantastic, with the solemn gravitas and weight of responsibility layering the performance tenfold. It's just unfortunate that the entire movie is filmed in shades of gray.
12. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
After fumbling the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, Marvel Studios was out for redemption with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The Mandarin returns in full form this time as a well-developed villain, the leader of the Ten Rings who pushes his son to become the greatest martial arts expert in the world. Luckily for the audience, his son Shang-Chi has a heart of gold and rebels against his ninja father, teaming up with the dragon of Ta Lo to stop his dad and save the world.
Bar the "save the world" part that gets too big for its own good, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a highly successful and entertaining adventure into the wuxia world. The choreography is tight and snappy, the title theme is beautiful, the urban setting of the first half is extremely exciting and visually creative, and the title character is one of the most interesting leads to come out of the MCU's fourth phase. It's just that the finale and CGI get a bit too big for their own good towards the end, killing a finale that was already interesting from the father/son conflict.
11. Iron Man
Inspired by the profitable explosions of Michael Bay's Transformers and responsible for launching Robert Downey Jr. to stardom, the MCU's first film is not only one of its best but also the reason it continues to exist. While it's mostly standard superhero stuff (Hero fights villain with the same powers), it's the definitive Iron Man origin story and led by one of the best character-actor matches of all time.
It's chock full of anger, with the main character's brashness causing nearly every conflict in the film and setting up the MCU's definitive character arc (Forgetting that he mostly completed his arc by the end of Iron Man 3). The Iron Man suit is undeniably cool, largely being a practical effect, and the first suit-up wherein Tony Stark blows up terrorists will never not be cool. Alas, Iron Monger is a forgettable villain and the regurgitation of the plot formula has caused the movie to become less special over time.
10. Doctor Strange
Armed with the Helmet of Nabu and the Tower of Fate... er, the Eye of Agamotto and the Sanctum Sanctorum, Dr. Stephen Strange must defeat the forces of evil after a humbling lesson in the mystic arts from the Ancient One and Baron Mordo. Doctor Strange is a visual special effects spectacle, taking the mind-bending gravity-shifting of Inception and combining it with the world-ending stakes of the superhero genre, all grayscaled with orange magical highlights.
Led by Benedict Cumberbatch, still trying to figure out the American accent, one of the coolest things about Doctor Strange is the inherently interesting origin of the character: an arrogant neurosurgeon gets into a car crash, wrecking his hands, and has to go on a journey of self-discovery and learn humility, and, since it's a superhero spectacular, save the world with his gnarly powers. Add on one of the most inventive endings to any 2010s blockbuster and it's almost a slam dunk... if only the main villain was something more than "has the hero's powers but evil."
9/10
9. Avengers: Endgame
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| Nice finale... it would be even better if it wasn't grey on brown on grey. |
The grand finale of eleven years of unprecedented storytelling and one of the biggest cliffhangers ever, Avengers: Endgame is an hour of recovery, an hour of fan service time travel, and then a grand finale where every hero meets on the gray ruins of Avengers Compound to fight one last faceless CGI army before the main Avengers either die or retire.
Speaking of which, how fantastic is it that, despite 40+ named characters appearing, the movie still focuses on the original six Avengers? It truly ends the way it started, all the way up to "I am Iron Man." Aside from the three-hour runtime, Hawkeye's mohawk, and shaky grayscale CGI, Avengers: Endgame is a satisfying, shocking, and emotional end to the journey of the most ambitious movie franchise ever with some of the most cheer-worthy moments put to film (The Portals sequence still delights).
8. Loki
The best Marvel Disney+ show, perhaps the best Disney+ show in general, Loki is a loopy and time-twisting adventure into the world between worlds, where an alternate universe Loki has been apprehended by the TVA, an interdimensional agency devoted to finding rogue "variants" of characters who break from what the timeline dictates. It's cool, clever, and has one of the best musical soundtracks of any Marvel project.
While the six-episode length is never enough time to truly feel like a television show and not a prolonged movie sliced and diced to fuel Disney+'s subscriber count, Loki just works. The dialogue between the titular character and Owen Wilson's Mobius is always fun to watch, Tom Hiddleston speedruns the character development to get him back to antihero form, and the general gimmickiness of the TVA elevates the entire series beyond standard superhero fare.
7. Black Panther
Back in 2018, the cultural behemoth that is Black Panther was released on the world, making over a billion dollars and cementing the character into the minds of audiences everywhere. Personally, I had a great investment in the film - he was my favorite character back in the Earth's Mightiest Heroes days, and I'd been waiting for his solo film ever since. Luckily, it's the definitive Black Panther movie, and Chadwick Boseman perfectly embodies everything that makes the character great.
Chadwick Boseman is the best thing about Black Panther by far - he is, after all, the Black Panther. Even when the CGI is weirdly bad, when the finale devolves into "hero meets a bad guy with same powers but a different color," or when his sister yells "What are those!" at his shoes, Chadwick Boseman remains committed, bringing the best performance of any MCU film. The soundtrack is equally brilliant, with Mandalorian maestro Ludwig Göransson creating some of the genre's most iconic themes. The action and direction are all beautiful, the movie has just the right balance of humor, and Michael B. Jordan's villain turn and subsequent battle for Wakanda are all fantastically done.
6. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Mayhaps the best thing about Homecoming is just how funny it is. It's genuinely one of the funniest (And relatable) teen films ever made, even when the character has to swing off of the Washington Monument or is crushed by a destroyed building. The one thing that truly knocks it down is the bloated and impossible-to-see finale, whose dark lighting and action ambitions get too big for what was thus far a perfectly small-stake movie. But when the Spidey suits look that good, can we really complain?
10/10
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy cemented Marvel Studios as the go-to blockbuster king all the way back in 2014, taking a plucky C-list comic group and turning all of them into A-list movie stars, propelling each cast member to blockbuster fame and the movie to over $700 million worldwide (More than the Superman movie released a year prior!). If anyone doubted Marvel before, well, they weren't bound to make that mistake any time soon. Seeing a talking tree team up with a raccoon has that effect on people.
The secret to it all? The movie has heart. It's a genuinely heartfelt story from director James Gunn, starting with Peter Quill being abducted by aliens after running away, scared of his cancer-ridden mother's dying hand, and ending with him finally taking the hand and defeating the villain through his newfound power of friendship is one of the best hero's journey to be churned out of Marvel Studios. Add on a mixtape's worth of groovy 70s music, hilarious comedy that works, and fantastic visual effects, Guardians of the Galaxy proves that the real lesson was the friends we made along the way.
4. Thor: Ragnarok
However, as funny as Guardians of the Galaxy is, perhaps no Marvel movie will ever be able to top the shock that was Thor: Ragnarok. After two movies chock-full of Shakespearean drama and brooding stakes, Thor: Ragnarok eschews all of it for a story where Thor ends up a gladiator on the planet Skaar, forced to fight the Hulk before returning to Asgard to stop Hela, goddess of death and his older sister, from destroying everything.
It's unbelievably hilarious, keeping the inherent epicness of the character and blending it with the inherent silliness of the story into an odd mixture of world-ending comedy. It's not just that the movie's funny or is visually fantastic - it's also the pinnacle of Thor's journey. Here we see him finally become the god of thunder, mend his bond with Loki, and cut his hair in a complete revamp that turns him from "the boring one" into your new favorite Avenger. Ragnarok is also surprisingly emotional and perfectly connects to the broader cinematic universe, more or less nailing every potential the shared universe style has to offer.
3. The Avengers
I'm not entirely sure anything will beat just how special seeing The Avengers was for eight-year-old me. I was raised on Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and had followed the prior five films closely, and seeing them all team up to stop Loki from destroying New York and taking over the world was everything I could ask for as a kid. It's the quintessential Avengers movie, revamping their origins for the 2010s with a huge finale and tons of quotable lines.
Now, if it had to be knocked for anything, the aforementioned lighting would be it. It really does feel flat, like a television show or green screen room, and Captain America's costume is a major step down from his WWII attire. Everything else? Perfect. It's hilarious, inventive, chock full of cool action, and finally saw the fully realized cinematic universe gimmick. Mark my words when I saw that The Avengers is the most important film of the 2010s and its impact has barely been realized.
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home
However, what sets No Way Home apart from your average nostalgia cash grab isn't the fan service or callbacks, which it definitely has. No, three is a magic number, and there are three things that keep No Way Home on its feet: One, the story is always rooted in Peter Parker dealing with the responsibility of his actions; two, the returning characters aren't cameos but are instead supporting characters who strengthen Peter's arc and their own; and three, the returning villains and heroes have roles that not only expand but also retroactively enhance their original films. Even when Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man truly earns his "Amazing" moniker here, No Way Home succeeds because the story is a highly emotional and personal one of stakes, sacrifices, and everything else that makes superheroes great.
For Marvel's most famous and iconic character, adaptations and bars have been raised to a level higher than any other comic character save Batman - however, No Way Home is mostly able to overcome this, even if it ultimately ends up as the third-best Spider-Verse movie. It's not perfect - Sandman and the Lizard are really underdeveloped due to COVID-19 filming restrictions, the CGI is a bit off, and the movie doesn't really kick into gear until Electro shows up. However, it also cements Green Goblin as the archenemy of Spider-Man, giving Willem Dafoe a chance to shine and hurt the hero in a way the genre hasn't seen since Heath Ledger's Joker, and the ending is so melodramatic and over-the-top in a way only the superhero genre could pull off.
1. Avengers: Infinity War
While it does have the benefit of being the culmination and thus doesn't need to spend a ton of time on set-up and introductions (Instead fulfilling these expository roles through new character interactions), Infinity War remains semi-grounded through the big bad Thanos, a mad Titan on a one-man quest to balance the universe after his own planet died from starvation. When trying to stop universal hunger by killing half of the universe proves unpopular, there's only one team that can stop him: The Avengers... and co.
Ten years of storytelling, Thanos baiting, and Infinity Stones popping up in various places led us down the path Iron Man started us on - The Infinity War. The Avengers were divided after Civil War, Black Panther had just become a global phenomenon, the Guardians were beloved, they had the best version of Spider-Man, and Thor was at his peak power level after the events of Thor: Ragnarok. Infinity War truly took almost everything that had built up prior only to destroy it and declare that there would be "no resurrections this time." It truly feels like the fully realized dream that Kevin Feige had back in 2007, a large and fantastic world where superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange can meet up for the biggest Saturday morning crossover episode of all time.
The scale, scope, and epic nature of Infinity War, and the resulting character interactions, action sequences, nuanced villain, musical score, twist ending, visual spectacle, humor, and pitch-perfect characterizations, were all the product of ten years of pent-up ambition. Everything was coming full circle, and as the circle came to a close only then was the full picture revealed. It's fun, funny, full of memorable lines and characters, and it has so many cheer-worthy moments that it's hard to pick a favorite (That being said, Thor arriving in Wakanda is my favorite). It was and is the best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Phase One Average: 7.7
Phase Two Average: 7.8
Phase Three Average: 8.3
Phase Four Average: 6.9
Phase Five Average: 5.3
Overall Average: 7.3
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