Ranking Every Marvel Movie

The rankings below reflect all 21 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Films which have been released to date. I tried to eliminate any spoilers, in case you haven’t seen them all. I’ll update this list as new movies are released. Forgive me while I nerd out:

     21. The Incredible Hulk

Bruce Banner gets injected with some green shit and becomes the Hulk. There, I saved you two hours. You can skip this movie without missing a thing.

     20. Thor: Ragnarok

This is the most disappointing of all the MCU movies. The storyline is there. The characters are there. The villain is legit. But it just falls flat on its face. Thor is transformed into an unfunny douche from the start, which makes zero sense for his character. His character arc has been to overcome his arrogance to be the leader Asgard needs, and instantly he’s cocky as ever. If this movie was remade, and Thor was cast as he is in every other movie, it could be great.

     19. Iron Man 3

This is an OK movie, just not enough Iron Man for me. Similar to Ragnarok, Iron Man ends up being kind of dumb which results in disaster. His relationship with a kid in this movie does foreshadow his action in Spider-Man: Homecoming, though.

     18. Avengers: Age of Ultron

I love Avengers movies, which you will notice as you continue to read. However, Ultron just isn’t a very good villain. And James Spader wasn’t the right guy to use in that role. With that said, this is a must-watch film as it sets up future events. The Avengers are still pretty cool here.

     17. Doctor Strange

Note: I enjoyed every movie from this point to #1.

I could see people taking issue with this ranking. Doctor Strange is a good movie, and he’s a really powerful Superhero. Some of the Sci-Fi was just a little too over the top for my taste (and yes I get that’s ridiculous as I’m ranking Superhero movies).

     16. Captain America: The First Avenger

The movie that establishes Captain America, who is essentially the leader of the Avengers. A bit slow to start, but the story is important, and the character is as important as anyone moving forward. His path to taking down Hydra begins here, and it’s pretty entertaining.

     15. Ant-Man

I think Ant-Man would get a lot more love if he had a cooler name. These movies are really fun! None of the events in the movie are critical to the rest of the MCU, but his interaction with Falcon is memorable and mentioned in Civil War. The Ant-Man films offer a bit more comedy than other MCU films, but they are well done. He’s a cool character and Paul Rudd does a great job.

     14. Guardians of the Galaxy

Another really fun movie. I thought the comedy here was pretty good (Drax is funny as hell).  Star Lord’s path to leading the Guardians is really interesting, and I couldn’t wait for these guys to meet the Avengers. Thanos is introduced in this movie, which ends up being a big deal moving forward.

     13. Ant-Man and the Wasp

I thought this movie was really well done. It has plenty of action, played on emotion at times, and it was really funny. They don’t try to make Ant-Man more than he is, which is nice. We know he’s not going to be the guy that single handedly saves the world, and that’s ok. He’s a super entertaining role player in the MCU. I also thought the villain, Ghost, was awesome. The post credits scene is very important, as it offers some insight into a future Avengers movie.

     12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Quite possibly the most impressive thing Marvel has accomplished is somehow making a guy who can literally say 3 words into a funny character. Baby Groot, and later teenage Groot, is fucking awesome. Star Lord and Yandu’s story is fantastic, and Kurt Russell is great as Ego. Movies are supposed to be fun, and this one definitely is. Also, I don’t know what this says about me, but Gamora is kind of hot, right?

     11. Thor

This is the introduction of the God of Thunder. Thor is a bad motherfucker, but he has to overcome his arrogance to achieve his full potential. His adventure as he tries to navigate through earth is great. Not to mention he’s a pretty aesthetically pleasing individual… I mean good lord his biceps are as impressive as his hammer. Anyway, he’s one of the coolest Avengers, and this establishes just that.

     10. Captain Marvel

It was a tall task for Marvel to introduce a character, one that was billed as the most powerful superhero in the universe no-less, this late into the MCU story line, but they did a great job establishing this character. Captain Marvel offered a compelling story, and was a massively entertaining film. It does a fantastic job using 90’s nostalgia and applying themes of female empowerment – without it dominating the feel of the movie. At one point Captain Marvel says “I’ve been fighting with one hand behind my back this whole time, imagine what I can do now that I’m free.”  That’s a powerful quote that, in my opinion, speaks to feminism while also making sense (and adding) to the film’s plot. This movie introduces the character, gives the audience an understanding of her personality/persona, and establishes her as powerful force in the MCU. The impressive part is that is does all this without going over-the-top or being too unbelievable. There are still important questions to be answered, but this was a solid start, and I’m counting down the days until the opening of Avengers: Endgame.

9. Iron Man

Iron Man may be my favorite Marvel character. I love his character arc. The Iron Man suit, and it’s evolution, has been really cool. This movie presents its origins and ties in a few other important characters in the MCU.

8. Thor: The Dark World

Note: I thought every movie from this point to #1 was GREAT.

I’ve read a few articles reviewing/ranking the MCU films, and this one never gets any love. Apparently I’m on an island with how much I liked this movie. It invokes a great deal of emotion, as it plays on the importance of family. Loki might be my favorite villain in the MCU, and his storyline throughout the Thor and Avenger films is outstanding. It’s difficult to every fully understand his motives, because he’s evil at heart, but does seem to want to help his family at times. This is played out perfectly here, as Thor’s family, along with Asgard, is at risk of being torn apart.

7. Spider-Man: Homecoming

SO MUCH better than the Spider-Man movies that came before it, and I thought those movies were fine. The story line is fantastic, as Tony Stark becomes the father figure and role model for Peter Parker. These two guys are great together, and Tom Holland is so damn good as Spider-Man. This has everything I want out of a movie. I can’t fucking wait to see the next Spider-Man movie.

6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

This is ranked here because Captain America is awesome, and the Winter Soldier is a certified, grade-A, no doubt about it, bad ass son of a bitch. He’s probably the coolest looking villain we’ve seen, and he’ll kick your ass in a second. The revealing of his identity is also fantastic. Captain America continues his struggle between doing what’s right, and what’s best for the people, which are not always the same thing.

5. Iron Man 2

Just a damn good superhero movie. Really good action, a great superhero, and a legit villain. It’s not the most sentimental and thought provoking movie, but it’s a lot of damn fun. Iron Man proves he belongs as an Avenger.

4. Black Panther

The setting (Wakanda) is unique. The superhero is unique (king of Wakanda). The villain is unique (pretty much just a regular dude with a score to settle). These things make this movie stand out. It doesn’t feel like most Marvel movies. It’s really, really well done, and the storyline is great. The origins of Black Panther, and the protection of his land are truly intriguing. Also, Michael B. Jordan absolutely kills it as Killmonger. One of my favorite characters in all of the MCU.

3. Captain America: Civil War

This is basically another Avengers movie with Captain America in the title. And as you can tell by my top 3, I was all in. It’s just hard to include damn near every Marvel superhero in one movie and it not be great. I especially liked how Spider-Man and Ant-Man were used in this one. Also, this is where we first meet Black Panther. The chase scene he is involved in is really cool. Not to mention, the struggle between the two sides, led by Captain America and Iron Man, will have lasting effects on the MCU.

2. The Avengers

The 4 main superheroes (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk) have all been introduced with their own movies, and here they come together for the Avengers Initiative directed by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. They are forced to stop Loki from ending civilization after he obtains the Tesseract. The fight that ensues (takes place in New York) will keep you on the edge of your seats. The Avengers are a freaking awesome group of superheroes, and this movie is so damn good. And once again, Loki kills it.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

Just an all-around fantastic film. Avengers movies will generally be good, as they are action packed with almost every MCU Superhero, but Infinity War brings in more emotion that we’ve seen yet. The scene with Iron Man and Spider-Man near the end of the movie just about had me in tears. (“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good.”) Thanos is probably the best villain we’ve seen, and he’s sure as hell the most powerful. It’s so much more than a regular Superhero film where the good guys eventually win. Much like the Dark Knight films (which are maybe my favorite movies ever), victory (??) comes at a serious price. The sequel is set for 2019, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it.

 

My suggestion: watch every movie, in order, just like I did. But skip The Incredible Hulk. Seriously, that movie is shit. I used the link below to get the movie order:

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/watch-every-marvel-cinematic-universe-movie-in-the-right-order/21/