When I had my hip replacement surgery in October and was somewhat immobile, I decided to watch all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in timeline order, watching them in the order they would've fallen on their chronological timeline. This means the first movie I watched was the WWII based Captain America, the First Avenger, followed by the 1990's based Captain Marvel and so on and so on, until Spider-Man: No Way Home, which I finally watched on Sunday.
One side note, the first third of the Eternals clearly would take place before the first Captain America movie, but I started watching these before Eternals was even released into theaters, and I wasn't about to start watching one third of a movie here, and 10 minutes of a movie there.
Yes it took me three months to finish watching all these movies, but unlike many people today, I can't sit for 15 hours in a single day, even with hip replacement surgery, and just watch a screen. I love Doctor Who, the science fiction TV series, but I can only watch about 3 hours of that before I need a break.
Also I watched Eternals about a month before I watched the final Spider-Man movie because I wanted to wait for the theater crowds to dwindle in the age of Omicron. There were like 20 total people in the movie theater last Sunday. Perfect!
After reading a few lists which ranked the Marvel Cinematic Universe from worst to best, and disagreeing with those lists on certain levels, I decided to do my own ranking and put forward my worst to best list of the 27 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, a movie series which has forever changed movies as a whole.
I will not rank the Disney + series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not saying they're bad. Quite the contrary, I'd probably rank the Hawkeye series in the top five on this list. It's just not fair to the movies or the TV series to merge them. Most of these series are 6 to 7 hours long, meaning 3 movies. Of course their stories would be better flushed out. Making this only theatrical releases keeps it simple. I do HIGHLY recommend watching Hawkeye, WandaVision and Loki on Disney +, even if you are not a Marvel fan. Falcon and the Winter Soldier is good too, but a step below the others, and What If...? is really for the comic book nerd who loves these movies.
Without any further delay, let's get to the Countdown!
#27 - Thor: The Dark World
This movie is a mess. Going back and watching it again after having not seen it in 10 years makes me wonder if Marvel adopted some quality control measures to prevent a clunker like this from ever being released again. It's light years away from the complete stories you get in the more recent Marvel movies. It did give us the reality stone but very little else. Even Loki is dull. And I'm saying this as a person who freely admits Thor is my favorite Marvel character! It's just not good, but Marvel is not shying away from it. They've multiple times referred back to this movie throughout the timeline.
#26 - Iron Man 2
The worst in this franchise feels like quickly produced drivel. It gave us Black Window and War Machine, but it also gave us the lesson that you do not just grab a few pages from a few different beloved comic book story lines and try to paste them together without continuity.
#25 - Incredible Hulk
This is actually a good popcorn movie because it gives us the first real glimmers of what the Hulk, and the full cinematic universe, would become. It's one thing to have Iron Man and Obediah Stain to have a fight, but when Hulk and Abomination duke it out in Harlem...WOW! The beginning is fun, the ending is great, but the middle is not good.
#24 - Guardians of the Galaxy #2
I know the low ranking for this movie will get some people upset, but having gone back and watched it again this movie just doesn't have the quality story line, continuity, acting and overall completeness of the first Guardians. And as opposed to the first movie where them being brought together as a "family" worked, in the second movie, the often referenced "family" came off WAY TOO MUCH like Fast and Furious in space. In the first movie, the family bond was real, like Encanto. In the second, it was a cliche to get you to the next plot point.
#23 - Iron Man 3 - A better movie than its predecessor, but still far from the original. Tony's anxiety and manic nature works better than his blood poisoning/alcoholism from 2, but the movie does feel contrived at points. Feels like there are about 4 different plots going on at the same time, with none of them getting the time they deserve. Not bad, but unfulfilling.
#22 - Ant Man and the Wasp
For the record, Evangeline Lilly being an anti-vaxxer does diminish my respect for her greatly! You have the right to your own opinion on things, but I have the right to think you're a freaking idiot for ignoring science, choosing selfishness over the betterment of humanity.
That being said, I saw this before her anti-vaxxer status became widely known and it still has more misses than hits. Paul Rudd is fantastic in this film, having grown into his Ant Man character, but the rest of the main cast feels like they are mailing it in for a paycheck. Ghost wasn't really a great villain, and I spent most of the movie hoping to see Goliath come to the screen. He didn't. It's a crime there isn't a Disney + series being made about Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, and T.I.'s characters. They're some of the best in the entire Marvel universe.
#21 - Captain America: The First Avenger
From this point forward, every movie on this list I'd recommend, even for the non comic book fan. They are all good stories and very approachable.
Marvel's first look at Captain America gets a lot of things right. The back story of a weakling from Brooklyn becoming the USA's biggest weapon in World War 2 is just fun. It works as a comic book movie and a war movie, plus the romantic connection between Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell is the best in the entire movie franchise. And the ending of this movie is great, with Cap waking up into a new world.
#20 - Spider-Man: Far From Home
I like Tom Holland's Spider-Man (more on that in a bit), but this movie has two things which are just hard to believe. Although they do a phenomenal job at bringing the classic villain Mysterio to the big screen, the concepts of these 'bad guys' as illusions is a REALLY grandiose overreach. It works FAR better when he is just going after Spider-Man by himself as opposed to a large metro scale crisis. Plus with most of this movie in Europe, how is it everyone in the tour group doesn't realize one of them has to be Spider Man? Especially after the events of the first movie in Washington DC! You're requiring a large portion of your cast to be a father figure in a Disney Channel sitcom; criminally stupid.
#19 - Captain Marvel
This was the movie where I realized what a juggernaut the Marvel Cinematic Universe had become. Captain Marvel is a secondary character in Marvel comics; a good character but one where most of her best stories are when she is part of a team. They made a movie only about her and it has become the top grossing female super hero movie ever, beating the DC Movie Universe's Wonder Woman, the most famous female comic book hero of all time, by 14 million at the box office.
The movie itself is formulaic but enjoyable. A person with tremendous power, who has been downplayed and dismissed, discovers her real powers and redeems herself. Brie Larson is very likable and the 1990's locale/music pays off perfectly.
#18 - Ant Man
As a comic book fan, I was somewhat bothered Ant Man and Wasp were not included in the original movie's Avengers cast, but I understand why they went with the six characters they did. At the end of the Marvel Cinematic Phase 2, right after Avengers: Age of Ultron, they released the Paul Rudd movie and it worked. It helps they got away from the super serious Hank Pym version (even too serious in the comics) and went with Rudd's Scott Lang. The special effects of shrinking and enlarging worked great, they had a really good villain in Yellowjacket, and (once again) Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, and T.I.'s characters somewhat steal the show.
#17 - Thor
This was actually the toughest character to bring to the screen in Marvel Phase one. Even though Iron Man, Captain America and Hulk are super heroes, they are humans who either built themselves their powers, were the subject of a successful experiment, or the subject of an unsuccessful one (in the Hulk movie, the origin moved away from a Gamma Bomb blast to a failed attempt to replicate the super soldier serum which gave Steve Rodgers his powers).
Hemsworth, who at the time Thor came out was best known for being Kirk's dad in the Star Trek reboot, filled the role great. It is a little ludicrous to hear some of the explanations of his existence, trying to call science and magic the same thing, but I give it leeway because this is supposedly a 'God' walking on the Earth. And there is some nice light comedy in there too.
#16 - Black Widow
Poor Scarlett Johansson. Without a doubt I think she would have the highest grossing female comic book movie of all time, but COVID came and threw the movie industry into a mess. Still Black Widow finished as the 4th biggest movie of 2021. The story actually takes place after Captain America Civil War, and follows Black Widow on her quest to deal with the Red Room, the spy group which recruited her and is still in operation. Her association with the Black Widows still haunts her. Great to see Marvel bring in some of the Russian heroes, but hands down, Florence Pugh's Yelena, the younger sister of Natasha, steals the show and is EASILY the best new Marvel character introduced since Endgame.
#15 - Doctor Strange
Casting in Marvel movies is amazing, and Benedict Cumberbatch is the second best casting in Marvel history behind Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Cumberbatch IS Doctor Strange, catching all his quirks and ticks, a perfect combination of bizarre world seriousness and dry humor. Add in a very enjoyable Benedict Wong and Mads Mikkelsen as the villain Kaecilius and it brings the 'difficult to understand' mystic concepts cleanly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
#14 - Eternals
This is another movie that when I heard Marvel was going to adopt it for the screen, I said "how?" Well they did it and it was really good (regardless of what critics said). Celestials, insanely large alien beings, show up and deliver to Earth the Eternals, a super hero team which is supposed to protect the emerging population from The Deviants, a species which seems intent on wiping out the human race. There is a little bit of 'Yada, yada, yada' in regards to where exactly the Eternals were during Thanos, and a bit of a predictable twist, but overall the studio boiled down a thick, complicated history and presented it cleanly. We also get the first look at the eventual Black Knight, the popular Avenger.
#13 - Avengers: Age of Ultron
From this point up on this list, every movie is not only a good movie, but fun.
Ultron comes in as the lowest ranked Avenger movie for reasons which are not really their fault. After the first Avengers film, there was going to be a need to branch out into the other superheroes fans wanted to see. Between the origin story of the Avengers and the Battle Royals which are Infinity War and Endgame, this movie had to branch out into other Avengers. Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Vision and War Machine all make their first Avenger's appearances, but to do so they had to drastically alter the backstories of many of the characters. Doesn't mean the movie isn't fun. It's 1000 pounds of fun, with Iron Man taking on Hulk and Captain America fighting Ultron in South Korea.
It's just not as clean as the other movies with a finale which got hurt by the need to get so much character development wrapped up.
#12 - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The martial arts comics of the 70's were a bit racist, but they did bring super cool Asian culture to America. Every kid when I was growing up wanted to do karate or kung-fu, and these comic books (and Bruce Lee) were the reason.
The 1970's racism is why altering the origin story from the original, in this case, was the right thing to do, and perfect. Simu Liu is fantastic as the title character, and the fight scenes are insanely good. I like how they bring the movie into the Marvel Universe via a similar mysticism of Doctor Strange (with some cool cameos) and Awkwafina is a freaking national treasure!
#11 - Iron Man
The movie which finally made Hollywood step back and ask "why have we long ignored the Avengers?" The Avengers for many years were considered to be garbage properties from Marvel, with Spider Man and the X-Men viewed as far more developmental. Iron Man changed everything. A monster hit with the absolute perfect casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. The rest of the cast is top notch. The development of the character does not lack any holes, and Pepper Potts is addictive. Still a long way from what the movie franchise would eventually become, it paved the way from what (at that point) was an insane concept for a movie franchise (more on that to come).
#10 - Spider-Man: Homecoming
I went back and forth on which Spider-Man movie to rank higher. Homecoming, Tom Holland's first movie in the title role (after a memorable appearance in Captain America: Civil War) is just a great film, putting Peter Parker in high school, still trying to figure out how not to be the nerd with his insane powers, and fighting another classic villain, Michael Keaton's The Vulture. Heck this movie even made The Shocker cool! In the end it's a great story of proving yourself, not just relying on accessories to dictate who you are. Comparing the WOW factor, I did rank it behind...
#9 - Spider-Man: No Way Home
Movie schools for the next 100 yeas should teach this movie for how to bring in a ton of characters into a film without diluting the film too much (part of the problem with Ultron). I don't want to say too much about this film because it's still in the theaters and a lot of people still want to see it. Doctor Strange shows up and the movie gives us our first real look (well outside of the Loki and What if...? TV series) of what is going to be a driving element of the next Marvel movies, the multiverse. This movie completely resets the franchise but in a way which is so gratifying for Marvel's biggest fans. Go see it.
#8 - Captain America: Civil War
This is another movie which can be taught to show people how to introduce a lot of characters without diluting the film too much. In the aftermath of Age of Ultron, and after a terrible accident while on a mission in Africa, the Avengers are being brought under control. It's a simple concept: 1) understand your powers are too much to be trusted for you to make the call on when to use them, or 2) insist the best people to decide how and when to use your powers are the people with the powers. This is a Pollyanna-ish view on this issue (Amazon's TV series The Boys takes a different angle, asking "why aren't more people reigning these corrupt super heroes in?"), but the end result is some very entertaining fights, first at an airport in Germany and then in an abandoned Russian base. It's a classic comic book come to life.
And although it is a team movie, with the major introductions of Black Panther and Spider-Man, it's still a Captain American movie, where we dive deeper into his friendship with Bucky, the Winter Soldier.
#7 - Avengers: Endgame
This movie is just plain fun, the blockbuster to hold all other blockbusters up to, in order to weigh their entertainment value. The time heist plot and final extended battle scene are insanely good. I will never forget the sound of the audience when Captain America picked up Thor's hammer and started to beat Thanos with it, or the the loud cheers from the crowd when he utters the iconic "Avengers, Assemble!"
Why does it come below Avengers: Infinity War. I thought about this for awhile. I think it's because they end up leaning on three fringe characters (Nebula, Rocket and War Machine) too much. That and the Thor gag ended up becoming annoying, until the final battle. Plus how many endings did that movie really end up having?
#6 - Guardians of the Galaxy
When they announced this movie, I thought Marvel was over reaching. This was a fringe hero group from their own archives, based in space, and with more bad story lines than good (just being honest). What ended up on the screen was a freaking treat. Visually stunning, packed with character development, a top notch script, and special effects which make you want to go to space. They hit it out of the park! When this movie became a hit it made me realize Marvel had come across a formula where they could feasibly turn any fringe characters from the comic book pages into their own movie series, something they've now done repeatedly.
#5 - The Avengers
I remember going into the movie theater with my son to go watch this movie. It blew my mind what Marvel had done up until that point. They launched four movie franchises just to get to this one movie. And it worked! Six characters who all had their individual personalities origins and storylines come together to form a pretty unstoppable team. Although a lot can be said about the fight between Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, as well as the final battle for Manhattan, it was the fight between Hulk and Thor on the flight deck of the helicarrier which had every comic book fan staring wide eyed at the screen like a ten year old.
#4 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I'm stunned this movie places so low on many other lists. I think this is one of the best spy movies I've ever seen. Captain America trying to restart his life stumbles upon major corruption within SHEILD itself, and in the process discovers his long lost buddy from 70 years earlier. The fight scenes are very well staged, the plot is tight and paced very well, and FREAKING ROBERT REDFORD! This movie is one of my favorites.
#3 - Avengers: Infinity War
I'm not going to be the contrarian, the guy who screams "this is better than Endgame because of the tragic ending." This movie is incredibly well paced considering the scope of all they are trying to bring together. Every battle scene is well coordinated, the plot is relatively complete, and the passion comes through in this movie. Infinity War was crafted by people who loved comic books and wanted this to be an homage to everything great about them. And yes, sometimes you lose. I particularly LOVE the fight scene on Titan with Iron Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and the remains of the Guardians of the Galaxy verses Thanos. They actually won that fight! Thor needs to stop beating himself up in Endgame because it really was Starlord who cost the universe everything!
#2 - Black Panther
This movie is just amazing from top to bottom. Chadwick Boseman is the perfect hero the world needs, Michael B. Jordon is the best villain since Loki, and the story is remarkably relevant today. If you have a gift to share with the world, do you share it or do you force it on others? Is the villain really wrong for wanting to avenge centuries of mistreatment by the rest of the world? How do you make a film which does not ignore historic injustice while focusing on the brighter future we can all have together? I'm a white guy. I think it's irresponsible for me to talk authoritatively about the clear cultural relevance of this film to the Black community. What I'll say is Black Panther completely destroyed the idea films with a majority black cast could not be massive blockbusters, and Black Panther is one of my favorite heroes.
#1 - Thor: Ragnarok
Yes I end this list as I began it, with Thor, but this movie if FAR more than just him. When they announced Ragnarok was coming to the big screen, I let out a huge ho-hum. I remembered how disappointed I was in the last Thor film. When saw Taika Waititi was picked to direct I said "well I guess no one else wanted to do it." Man was I wrong.
This movie is perfect. From the beginning where he battles lava demons and a dragon to the sounds of Led Zeppelin, to the meeting with Doctor Strange, to meeting his sister (a stellar Cate Blanchett as Hela), to being cast out to the brightly colored garbage world of Sakar to meet Jeff FREAKING Goldblum (in top Goldblum form), to the arena battle with the Hulk, to forming the Revengers with Loki, and finally the battle on the Rainbow Bridge with Led Zeppelin back. Unbelievable! There isn't a wasted scene, line or cast member. It's so visually pleasing it's hard to understand why it didn't win a lot of awards. The Hulk/Thor arena fight is the battle we all wanted to see, and will go down as (in my opinion) the best action scene in all of Marvel. This movie was so unexpected and fulfilling. I still get shivers watching it today, for about the 40th time. With this movie, Marvel could allow Iron Man and Captain America to leave, placing the future leadership of the Avengers onto Thor's capable shoulders. Can't wait for Love and Thunder.
There you go!
Disagree if you like. I'm not a know it all movie guy, just a fan. You can watch most of these movies and have a good time. Enjoy.
