While Marvel’s takeover of the film industry has been mostly facilitated by more-than-willing moviegoers with deep pockets, it hasn’t been without its detractors. Everyone from Martin Scorsese to PewDiePie has spoken out against the MCU’s formula-based storytelling and financially motivated strategy. But the numbers don’t lie; whether they’re technically “cinema” or not, these movies are speaking to a lot of people.
There’s yet to be an entry in the MCU that’s as universally mocked and maligned as a Batman & Robin, or a Green Lantern, or an Amazing Spider-Man 2. But across 23 movies, some have fared a lot better with critics than others.
23 Thor: The Dark World (66%)
It’s hardly surprising that Thor: The Dark World is ranked at the bottom, because it usually is. It’s the perfect go-to example of the Marvel cookie-cutter formula at work. Chris Hemsworth began to get bored with the character in this movie. Luckily, Taika Waititi’s zany sensibility was just one solo movie away.
22 The Incredible Hulk (67%)
Before Mark Ruffalo would become the MCU’s Bruce Banner, Edward Norton played the character in his only Marvel-mounted solo movie (so far), The Incredible Hulk. While Norton brings plenty of nuance to his performance, The Incredible Hulk does little to elevate itself above generic blockbuster fare.
21 Iron Man 2 (72%)
The problem with cinematic universes began to rear its head in Iron Man 2, as the focus on expanding the world and setting up a bunch of sequels undermined the movie’s own story. This problem would later be seen in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman.
20 Avengers: Age Of Ultron (76%)
Widely regarded to be the weakest entry in the Avengers franchise, Age of Ultron becomes kind of messy after introducing its villain. Ultron’s plan is too grand to cover in one movie, while Age of Ultron is more interested in bridging between various MCU sequels than standing on its own. Still, it has that great quiet interlude in the middle of the movie in which the Avengers all stay on Hawkeye’s farm.
19 Thor (77%)
While Taika Waititi would later lean into the colorful weirdness of the Thor comics, Kenneth Branagh leaned into their Shakespearean grandiosity in his initial solo movie for the God of Thunder. 2011’s Thor is a serviceable introduction to the character, but hardly goes above and beyond the established origin story formula.
18 Captain Marvel (79%)
Since it took Marvel over a decade to give a female superhero her own movie (and they gave it to a new character instead of going with the obvious choice, Black Widow), DC had already broken the ground it could’ve broken with Wonder Woman.
Still, Brie Larson was the perfect choice to play Carol Danvers and Captain Marvel’s nonlinear story helped to break up the familiar monotony of origin stories.
17 Iron Man 3 (79%)
Shane Black alienated a lot of diehard Marvel fans with Iron Man 3’s revelation that the Mandarin, Tony Stark’s mystical arch-nemesis, is just a beer-swilling soccer hooligan pretending to be a terrorist leader. Plus, Ike Perlmutter’s refusal to allow a female villain resulted in painfully obvious rewrites that messed up the threequel’s plot.
16 Captain America: The First Avenger (80%)
Joe Johnston introduced Chris Evan’s incarnation of Steve Rogers to the world in a suitably pulpy, action-packed WWII adventure. Evans, of course, stole the show as Rogers, making a jingoistic super-soldier into an endearing hero, while Hayley Atwell and Tommy Lee Jones give strong supporting turns.
15 Ant-Man (83%)
Peyton Reed did a fine job of telling Ant-Man’s origin story in a movie that’s fun, exciting, and warm-hearted. As a middle-of-the-road comedy and a high-concept heist movie, it does its job. But it’s hard not to wonder how much better it could’ve been in the hands of its original director, Edgar Wright, who was driven to quit by Marvel’s interference with his vision.
14 Avengers: Infinity War (85%)
After being teased in two post-credits scenes and a Guardians of the Galaxy subplot across six years, Thanos finally took on Earth’s mightiest heroes in Avengers: Infinity War. By focusing on the Mad Titan’s quest to collect the Infinity Stones, the Russo brothers managed to balance their massive ensemble and keep the plot moving along at a brisk pace.
13 Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (85%)
The second Guardians of the Galaxy movie suffered from the same problem as the second Kingsman movie. The first one was such a game-changing breath of fresh air that simply by maintaining that fresh tone, the sequel felt like it was just more of the same. Still, James Gunn packed the sequel with memorable moments and earnest character development.
12 Ant-Man And The Wasp (87%)
While neither of its two villains ever develop enough to feel like substantial characters, Ant-Man and the Wasp is still a rollicking piece of entertainment. Peyton Reed left behind the heist movie construct of the first movie and instead went for more of an Elmore Leonard-esque crime caper.
11 Doctor Strange (89%)
Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange is one of the MCU’s most formulaic origin stories and Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of the Sorcerer Supreme started out as a second-rate Tony Stark, but the movie has more than enough eye-popping visual effects to make up for it.
10 Captain America: Civil War (90%)
Often called Avengers 2.5 among the fan base, Captain America’s third solo movie Civil War incorporates a huge chunk of the MCU ensemble and focuses as much on Tony Stark as it does on Steve Rogers in the pair’s disagreement over the Sokovia Accords.
Civil War has some of the MCU’s most emotional moments, particularly the uncharacteristically intimate final fight, and it introduced moviegoers to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and the late, great Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther.
9 Captain America: The Winter Soldier (90%)
The Russos secured themselves a five-year stint making increasingly important Marvel movies after giving Captain America his greatest standalone adventure with The Winter Soldier. Packed with inventive action sequences, The Winter Soldier calls back to the paranoid political thrillers of the ‘70s with big-budget gusto.
8 Spider-Man: Far From Home (91%)
Faced with the unenviable job of following up the payoffs of Avengers: Endgame and proving the MCU could last beyond Tony Stark’s death, Spider-Man: Far From Home acts as both a heartfelt Endgame postscript and a fun-filled superhero adventure in its own right. Jake Gyllenhaal steals the show as the villainous Mysterio.
7 Guardians Of The Galaxy (91%)
James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy was the movie that proved that Marvel had truly become a powerhouse that could attract moviegoers with its brand alone. If they can make a lucrative franchise out of a talking tree, then the sky is pretty much the limit.
6 Spider-Man: Homecoming (92%)
Jon Watts was faced with the daunting task of rebooting the Spider-Man movie franchise for the second time in a decade with Spider-Man: Homecoming. By drawing on John Hughes’ high school comedies for inspiration, his Spidey franchise started out with a unique aesthetic, while Tom Holland proved he could effortlessly carry his own movie.
5 The Avengers (92%)
Joss Whedon’s initial Avengers movie was a bold undertaking. There was no guarantee that this ambitious crossover would pay off. For all intents and purposes, a movie that teams up a god, a cryogenically frozen World War II super-soldier, and a big green monster shouldn’t have worked.
But against all odds, in the summer of 2012, The Avengers essentially became Star Wars for the Marvel generation.
4 Thor: Ragnarok (93%)
Chris Hemsworth was just about fed up with the boring role of Thor before Taika Waititi came along and turned him into a comedy character. For some reason, it took Oscar-caliber filmmaking talent to figure out that a colorful action-adventure movie about space Vikings should be fun.
3 Avengers: Endgame (94%)
One of the most highly anticipated movies of all time, Avengers: Endgame managed to subvert fans’ expectations with a follow-up to Infinity War’s cliffhanger ending that no one saw coming, despite the many fan theories that were formulated in the months leading up to its release. Ultimately, Endgame plays like a massively satisfying series finale episode.
2 Iron Man (94%)
Jon Favreau got the MCU off to a great start with 2008’s Iron Man, which introduced Robert Downey, Jr.’s pitch-perfect portrayal of Tony Stark with mostly ad-libbed dialogue (and even an ad-libbed ending). While it was overshadowed by fellow comic book movie The Dark Knight, Iron Man remains a high benchmark for the MCU.
1 Black Panther (97%)
So far the only entry in the MCU to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther quickly became a global cultural phenomenon when it hit theaters in 2018. By immersing viewers in the world of Wakanda, telling a fresh kind of “hero’s journey” story, and providing poignant social commentary rarely found in Marvel movies, Black Panther became a must-see blockbuster that shattered every box office record in its path.
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