Before I go see Avengers: Endgame on Sunday, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks watching every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in order of release, except Captain Marvel because I had to see it in theaters. But how do I, an idiot with too much time on his hands, rank them? Let’s go.
21. Thor: The Dark World. In terms of the MCU, it's only real significance is introducing the term "Infinity Stones" and the Reality Stone. Apart from those, it's largely ignored by the other movies for good reason. It's quite a mess, tonally all over the place, and easily the low point of the series.
20. Iron Man 2. Easily the weakest of Phase One. Still not a bad movie, the last act is really good, but it's a noticeable step below the rest. Too much political talk, really drags it down.
19. Iron Man 3. This is just one of those movies that doesn't click. The pieces are mostly there, but the convoluted villain setup is what keeps this from being great. Fun, but not quite all together.
18. The Incredible Hulk. Not nearly as much of a quality drop as I remembered, but there is this spark that's just missing in comparison to the other Origin movies. It’s still plenty of fun, the big monster clash is good and you can actually see it, but that X-factor is missing.
17. Avengers: Age of Ultron. I blame the opening sequence of the team taking down a Hydra base. If the team is all together at the start, you lose that sense of Ultron being this great threat that warrants The Avengers coming together to save the day. Shame, because Ultron's a fantastic villain.
16. Captain America: Civil War. This is a disappointment on a rewatch. Some stuff is really good, like the introductions of Spider-Man and Black Panther, the villain, and parts of the big fight scene. But the action is bogged down by shaky cam and quick cuts, which really hurts it.
15. Captain Marvel. The first act, before she gets to Earth and starts interacting with Nick Fury, drags on for me, and the action can be a bit of a mess. But I love the 90s aesthetic and soundtrack, the acting is great, particularly Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn… and I want that cat.
14. Thor. This is where we actually got more of what the MCU is capable of, a bizarre meld of sci-fi, fantasy, and Shakespearean drama that somehow manages to come together into a good package. After Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk had the series on shaky ground, Thor got it back on track.
13. Spider-Man: Homecoming. This is the best Spider-Man movie yet. I love Michael Keaton as Vulture, how Peter Parker feels like an actual kid, how it isn’t another origin story… my one issue is early in the movie, they do that trope of “I can totally get my best friend Famous Guy to show up at your party!” I hate it on sitcoms and I hate it here
12. Ant-Man. I love a good heist flick, and this fits the bill. Sure, the villain is a bit weak, but this one's just fun. A lot of imagination went into this, very funny, a personal favorite. And I’ll love Michael Douglas in just about anything.
11. Thor: Ragnarok. I like silly Thor. I just enjoyed how wacky this was. Shakespearean Epic Thor can’t work without a director like Kenneth Branagh, and The Dark World was a mess, so going goofy with it gave it a fresh take.
10. Ant-Man and the Wasp. It’s a lot like the original one, but with a better villain, more imaginative uses for the shrinking and growing tech, plus you add Laurence Fishburne and Michelle Pfeiffer to the cast? This is what a sequel should be, building on the first and improving in every way.
9. Doctor Strange. Holy crap, this is a visual masterpiece! I do love the cast and the use of magic and mystic arts leads to some insane kaleidoscopic effects and action sequences. I just wish Mads Mikkelsen had more to do.
8. Captain America: The First Avenger. When you have a hero as iconic as Captain America, you have to do it right, and they nailed it by not being afraid of a little cheesiness. But they balance it by making it clear what the character stands for. Right off the bat, you establish how important Steve Rogers is, and why the team needs him as a moral center.
7. Guardians of the Galaxy. Humor, imagination, a rockin' soundtrack, and a frickin' tree. What more could you want? It's amazing how it took a group of no-name Marvel characters and turned them into mega stars.
6. Avengers: Infinity War. To be honest, as a film, I really don’t have any complaints. Well paced, well acted, extremely well balanced considering the sheer number of characters. This movie is just heavy. Its a big, massive gut punch of a movie.
5. Iron Man. Where it all began. The sheer risk of this movie doesn’t get talked about enough. Iron Man was a C-tier hero, and Robert Downey Jr. was still largely a Hollywood pariah due to his addiction history. In a fictional and a very real sense, if Iron Man fails, there is no MCU.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It takes a lot to get me to tear up at a movie, and this managed it. I didn’t outright cry like in Toy Story 3, but the ideas of family and seeking approval and your place in the world really resonate with me. Wrap it all up in another fun sci-fi adventure with a great selection of tunes, and you’ve got yourself a damn good time.
3. Black Panther. This is a cultural phenomenon inside of another cultural phenomenon. There is a reason this movie broke the Awards barrier for Marvel, and that is because the sets, the costumes, the production, all of it is so immersed in African cultures. Yeah, story, acting, directing, that’s top-notch, but this movie shines in the amount of care given to portray Africa.
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Sure, superheroes are cool, but mixing them up in a spy thriller results in a movie that works on every level, and the actual adaptation of the comic storyline might be the best yet. This is the best of the standalone MCU films.
1. The Avengers. Somehow, someway, it all came together. An unthinkable idea resulted in an unprecedented success, so much so that everyone else tried to do the same thing, and failed miserably. To me, this is still the most fun movie for me to just put on and enjoy. And that’s why I consider it the best of the MCU.