This summer I finally got around to seeing all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that I missed. With a complete list of all the films, I thought I would rank them from best to worst.
They will be divided into three tiers: Top, Middle, and Bottom.
TOP
 |
1. Avengers
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Iron Man
4. Avengers: Infinity War
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
6. Avengers: Endgame
7. Spider-Man: No Way Home
8. Deadpool and Wolverine
9. Captain America: Civil War
10. Fantastic Four: First Steps
11. Captain America: The First Avenger
12. Thor
13. The Incredible Hulk
PHASE 1 MOVIES: 5
PHASE 2 MOVIES: 2
PHASE 3 MOVIES: 3
PHASE 4 MOVIES: 1
PHASE 5 MOVIES: 1
PHASE 6 MOVIES: 1
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MIDDLE
14. Spider-Man: Homecoming
15. Spider-Man: Far From Home
16. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
17. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
18. Doctor Strange
19. Avengers: Age of Ultron
20. The Eternals
21. Black Panther
22. Thunderbolts*
23. Ant-Man
24. Captain America: Brave New World
PHASE 1 MOVIES: 0
PHASE 2 MOVIES: 2
PHASE 3 MOVIES: 5
PHASE 4 MOVIES: 1
PHASE 5 MOVIES: 3
PHASE 6 MOVIES: 0
BOTTOM
25. Iron Man 2
26. Iron Man 3
27. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
28. Captain Marvel
29. Thor: The Dark World
30. Black Widow
31. The Marvels
32. Ant-Man and the Wasp
33. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
34. Thor: Ragnarok
35. Thor: Love and Thunder
36. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
37. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
PHASE 1 MOVIES: 1
PHASE 2 MOVIES: 2
PHASE 3 MOVIES: 3
PHASE 4 MOVIES: 5
PHASE 5 MOVIES: 2
PHASE 6 MOVIES: 0
So based on my ranking, a few observations:
It seems like most of the great MCU movies were in Phase 1. This makes sense, since these films had to lay the foundation for what was to come afterwards. Any big misstep in the process, and everything could get derailed.
Most of the middling movies were in Phase 3. This also makes sense since this is where Marvel was reaching its apex. They could coast a bit on its own popularity, but it needed to work enough to keep people coming back.
Most of the lower-tier movies were in Phase 4. This also makes sense for a few reasons. After Endgame, Marvel had to do a sort of reset of the main story arc. This meant that the stories carried less urgency. Also, this is where Marvel really started experimenting, sometimes inserting culturally divisive content into a a strong brand. This was also the time when the Disney+ TV shows came out. While it started strong, it also diluted the power of the brand and made it difficult for people to follow the movies. If you didn't watch the shows, could you get the full effect of The Marvels and Thunderbolts*?
The good news is that Phase 6 has started off strong with Fantastic Four: First Steps. The bad news is that the movie did not do amazing at the box office. Perhaps that will change with the next Spider-Man and Avengers movies.
Thoughts?
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