The Marvel Cinematic Universe has drastically expanded over the years, and it’s been an honor to witness that masterpiece. The MCU now consists of 23 movies and 2 shows. Considering Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. aren’t canon, they won’t be in rankings. AOS’s status in the MCU is a little murky. While it’s in the MCU, it kind of isn’t. And all-in-all, it really isn’t worth mentioning. While seasons 1-3 were pretty great, the show really fell off a cliff after that.
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier isn’t done just yet, as there are still THREE more episodes that need to air. but it’s already better than nearly half of the MCU movies thus far. Without further ado, let’s get to business…
25. Thor: The Dark World
Not the most common least favorite MCU movie, but it’s definitely my least favorite. While the villain Malekith could’ve been so much more, I knew that wouldn’t be the case as soon as I saw what he looked like in the trailer, way back in 2012. Having a weak villain only enhanced its inevitable downfall.
24. Iron Man 2
Another movie with a weak villain in Whiplash, but Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer was an all around surprise. He nailed he roll, and somehow was a one-off after threatening Pepper Potts over a decade ago. Maybe we’ll see him again soon? *Whispers* Thunderbolts. One of the weakest sequels in the MCU without question.
23. Iron Man 3
Starting at 23, these movies aren’t nearly as bad as their predecessors, they’re just not as good as whats to come. The third movie in the Iron Man trilogy was entertaining, but again, it had a weak villain and threw a sucker punch at all the fanboys by giving us the fake Mandarin. Luckily this Fall’s Shang-Chi: And The Legend Of The Ten Rings will see the real Mandarin as the main villain.
22. Thor
Definitely the weakest origin movie in the MCU, but what kept it being great was the newfound tension between Thor and Loki. A tension that lasts for nearly a decade and gave us a PHENOMENAL team-up movie in 2012’s The Avengers. So for that, it’s more nostalgic than anything else.
21. Ant-Man
The most overrated MCU movie series, is the Ant-Man one. Quantumania seems like it’s going to be by far the best in the trilogy, thanks to he recent casting of Jonathan Majors as Kang (Nathaniel Richards) the Conqueror. Yes, he’s a future descendant of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, the founding members of the Fantastic Four. Ant-Man was just lackluster and was a heist movie. One of my least favorite movie genres, are heist films. I was hoping that an MCU version would be fun, and while it was, the movie just doesn’t flow well and takes a simple heist into being a potential world-ending threat, and makes no sense.
20. The Incredible Hulk
Now let me introduce the most under appreciated MCU film. A film that people want to right off from being in the MCU, but it’s in it. The first half of the film isn’t anything special, but the last half provides one of the more entertaining MCU battles and sets up infamous Hulk villain Samuel Sterns aka the Leader, played by the amazing Tim Blake Nelson, as a future Hulk foe. I think it’s a possibility that the Leader could be the Power Broker on The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Especially since the show will setup multiple spinoffs, and She-Hulk could be one of them, as Power Broker also happens to be a Hulk villain in the comics. Mark Ruffalo will be reprising his role as the Hulk in She-Hulk.
19. Ant-Man & The Wasp
Better than than the original film, but doesn’t really have a villain. Ghost throughout the entire film wanted to do good, and was doing what she thought was good all along. Actress Hannah John-Kamen is someone that I want to rejoin the MCU again, as Ghost. Without question in a possible Thunderbolts spinoff.
18. Captain America: The First Avenger
First Avenger, while it has its plot holes, I love the movie. That Twilight Zone-like ending where Steve wakes up 70-years-later remains, to this day, one of my favorite MCU scenes. Great beginning, to the best movie trilogy in the MCU.
17. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Joss Whedon is a horrible person. We’ve known come to learn that, but Marvel actors have remained quiet about him whereas DC’s Ray Fisher has talked this man out of a directing career. So that’s interesting. But Age of Ultron should’ve been great. Ultron was a strong villain who met a much too quick demise. James Spader did a great job at bringing the villain to life. The movie did introduce us to Vision, and provided us with some great character development.
16. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
While I say Vol. 2 is more entertaining than Vol. 1, the sequel definitely does not have as strong as a story than the first. The character development is strong, and makes you feel for Rocket, and it makes you get a newfound love for Michael Rooker’s Yondu.
15. Iron Man
I’d say this is the most overrated superhero movie, which might be my greatest hot take ever. The first act of the film is extremely slow, the buildup to Tony becoming Iron Man, to me, was an excruciating process that was unnecessarily dragged out. If this was a prequel movie to The Avengers, the drag out would’ve been fine. But the sense of “hype building” doesn’t seem needed AT ALL. Especially because this isn’t Batman. Before the MCU, Iron Man is about as commonly known by casual moviegoers as the Guardians were. Little to none.
14. Spider-Man: Homecoming
My excitement to see Spider-Man in the MCU was blown to a great proportion, an extent that felt too big after seeing Homecoming. While I enjoy the movie a lot, I don’t appreciate them making Tony Stark Uncle Ben. That’s my only complaint, and it’s too big to make this a top 10 MCU movie on my list.
13. Guardians of the Galaxy
This movie grew on me, in them. I enjoy the friendly banter between team members, and the story is strong. The search for an Infinity Stone while trying to beat Thanos’ armada, without seeing much of him, was a perfect decision by James Gunn and Kevin Feige.
12. Captain Marvel
I really liked Captain Marvel. The twist on Yon-Rogg was pretty neat, making him a villain in the end and the underlining villain that setup Carol Danvers’ origin. Making the Skrulls good-guys was an interesting route. Well, this faction of Skrulls at least. The Disney+ series Secret Invasion will surely introduce us to evil Skrulls. One of the better origin stories in the MCU, and I’m glad it was for a female superhero. To say it was long overdue, would be the understatement of the century.
11. Doctor Strange
Benedict Cumberbatch is one of the top 20 actors out there right now, and his portrayal of Doctor Stephen Strange remains to this day, as one of my favorite superhero portrayals of all-time. He’s just TOO perfect for the role. Kaecilius is definitely not a great villain, and brushing off Dormammu in the first film, presumably, just didn’t feel right. But it sets that stage for magic within the MCU is a really great way.
10. WandaVision
The first Disney+ MCU series was a great one. While it started off excruciatingly slow, it had a 4-5 episode stretch that was arguably my favorite part of any MCU project to date. The ending was great and Wanda becoming the Scarlet Witch, was executed really well. But the fact that the show garnished a handful of theories, and none of them became true after the seeds were planted throughout the series for them, was a massive letdown. And a letdown that doesn’t let the show rise up the ranks on my list here.
9. Thor: Ragnarok
Ragnarok was a pleasant surprise. I know my Thor source material, but I’ve never been that big of a fan in the comics. But Taika Waititi knocked it out of the park! Pulling in quote the supporting cast lead by a phenomenal script, made it my favorite “comedy” within the MCU.
8. Spider-Man: Far From Home
The second Spider-Man film within the MCU was definitely the best. While I, again, don’t appreciate how Peter Parker relied on Stark and is depressed every now and then in the film, it was fine. Definitely better than Homecoming’s handling of the relationship. Mysterio was a great villain, and tying him to Stark was a neat twist that will have a ripple effect on the MCU moving forward.
7. Black Panther
The best origin movie within MCU was without question Black Panther. The film is still groundbreaking and so imperative even 3-years later. T’Challa was perfect, and it was a gift seeing the late legend Chadwick Boseman portray the hero. Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger was a great villain, and one of the best thus far.
6. The Falcon & The Winter Soldier
Even though this show is halfway done, with 3-more episodes to come, it’s really my #6. It’s a beautiful character study of both Bucky and Sam. Bucky has become a top 5 MCU hero of mine and I have a feeling that by the end of the season, he could be in my top 3. The show is setting up some potential spin-offs, and I have a few theories that I think might happen by the end, have been subtly alluded to already.
5. Avengers: Infinity War
Infinity War was a beautiful begin of the end, or really the end depending on how you look at it. It helped by laying the groundwork to wrap-up some characters, had some beautiful action sequences, and have certain characters their time to shine.
4. The Avengers
This is probably more pure nostalgia than anything, but this film to this day is one of my favorite MCU movies. Seeing a live-action Avengers team on screen, was just amazing. And they assembled it beautifully. The way the team comes together, how certain characters don’t like others, but then are a happy “family” by the end of the film, was done really well.
3. Avengers: Endgame
The endgame of the MCU was a masterpiece. Nothing shy of perfect. They dealt with certain things is a great way, and wrapped up characters even more perfectly. Tony’s end came full circle. He went from being a self obsessed egotistical a-hole, to being the man that single handedly saved the universe. Discovering time travel, creating the good-guy gauntlet, and then snapping the bad guys away was perfect.
2. Captain America: Civil War
This one might be a hot take. And while it’s hard for me to at times watch this movie again because I don’t want to see my heroes divided, that’s some of the beauty in it. They took a classic comic book story, which was 100x different by the way, and they made it into a phenomenal movie that sticks with you forever.
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This isn’t just my favorite MCU movie of all time, but it’s my favorite spy movie ever. Period. Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson provide some of their best acting work ever, while Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie enter the MCU with a bang. Robert Redford also enters the MCU, and is a sick twisted Hydra goon and makes me want more of Hydra some point soon.