Taken as a whole, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an undeniable achievement in cinema. It began with a simple idea, thrown in after the credits of the first, risky movie: “You’ve become part of a bigger universe. You just don’t know it yet.” That idea blossomed into movies that crossed over with each other, sometimes with incredible results and other times with diminishing returns.
We decided to look back at the films in the universe and rank them from worst to best.You will likely disagree with our rankings.
34Iron Man 2 (2010)
Directed by Jon Favreau
If Nick Fury’s words to Tony Stark at the end ofIron Manwere a confident declaration about the intentions to create the “Avengers Initiative”,thenIron Man 2is tripping over your shoelaces and faceplanting.
Iron Man 2suffers from trying to do too much in the span of one movie, and no one seems to agree on what needs to take priority. Yes, there needs to be some time given to setting upThe Avengers, butIron Man 2does it awkwardly by introducing Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) but forgetting to give her a character. It tacks on the Coulson stuff, which is still a little stiff, butClark Greggdoes his best to make it work even though his dialogue may as well read: “Thor: Coming Next Summer!”
TheAvengersstuff could be forgiven if the A-plot worked a little better, but like just about every Marvel movie, it suffers from a weak villain with lousy motivation. WhileMickey Rourkedefinitely had some clout coming offThe Wrestler, directorJon Favreaujust got a campy performance out of the actor, who clearly thinks the material is beneath him, as opposed toDarren Aronofsky, who got the best performance of Rourke’s career.
This is to say nothing about Tony’s palladium poisoning and how it just so happens that his dad invented the one thing that could save his son’s life, built it decades before his son miniaturized it, and then hid the plans in a table. It makes you wonder if Howard Stark put any other revolutionary ideas in furniture.
The one consistently great aspect ofIron Man 2isSam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, and it makes sense considering he’s pretty much freed from the sinking ship of everything else going around him. He’s not caught up inAvengersbusiness, he’s pretty much making fun of Rourke’s lackadaisical performance, and he gets to look good doing everything. But when an actor who doesn’t even get top billing is the one who steals the movie, something has gone amiss. —Matt Goldberg
Iron Man 2
With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father’s legacy.
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33Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Directed by Alan Taylor
You can pinpoint the exact moment whenThor: The Dark Worldgoes from being a slog to being a good movie.The entire movie picks up at Freya’s funeral (killing off a female character to give your male heroes motivation is a tired trope, but it’s a deeply flawed film), but it takes a while for the film to get there. First, you have to go through Sad Thor cleaning up the Nine Realms, unceremoniously ditching Hogun for some reason, Jane meandering around Earth, Loki trapped in a cell, and yet another dull Marvel villain who suffers from a dearth of personality.
But after Freya’s funeral and Loki getting sprung from captivity, the film takes off and finds its energy. BetweenThorandThor: The Dark World, it’s not enough to have just Thor or even Thor and Jane. You have to have the relationship between Thor and Loki because that’s where these movies get their power. Even after Loki “dies”, his presence is still felt as a driving force for Thor and the movie keeps up the energy it found in their relationship.
It’s also clear that whatThormovies need more than anything is a sense of humor. The first half is pretty remote and dour, but the second half finds a pulse and throws in plenty of jokes and memorable little moments that give the movie a personality. Yes, it can be a little slapstick in some regards, butThorshouldn’t take itself so seriously. When the stakes are interdimensional, that’s about all the seriousness these movies can handle, and it’s better to let the God of Thunder just have some fun. — Matt Goldberg
Thor: The Dark World
When the Dark Elves attempt to plunge the universe into darkness, Thor must embark on a perilous and personal journey that will reunite him with doctor Jane Foster.
32The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Directed by Louis Leterrier
It’s almost unfair to includeThe Incredible Hulkon a list of MCU movies since it was clearly added to the Universe after the fact. There are a few second unit shots and additions to make it feel like it’s part of something bigger (like a quick glimpse of the “Stark Industries” logo), but it’s so clearly meant to stand on its own, and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. I’m not of the opinion that just because these movies are part of a shared universe they’re somehow lesser because they’re not actively sharing all the time.
The problem withIncredible Hulkis that it’s tonally so dissonant from the other movies, and it’s actually a bit of a downer. It’s a film that, when paired withAng Lee’s 2003Hulk, makes you wonder if the character can carry his own movie or if he needs to be paired with other superheroes to work to his full extent. Left to his own devices, you have a character who rejects his own superpower and feels ambivalent about it at best. You need other characters to draw it out as a force for good and to give the loner Bruce Banner a sense of belonging.
The Incredible Hulkis too early in the MCU to take advantage of this kind of dynamic, so it’s adrift, and as a result lacks the proper tone, voice, and attitude to quality as a proper Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. UntilWilliam Hurtpops up inCivil War, it’s the only movie where its actors don’t appear in other Marvel movies.Edward Nortonis acceptable as Banner, butMark Ruffalois so much better in a well-rounded version of the character. It seems like Marvel didn’t know what they had yet with Hulk, so everything is just slightly off-center.
That doesn’t makeThe Incredible Hulka “bad” movie as much as it’s a painfully mediocre onethat’s constantly trying to reconcile its tone and its lead character, and while it has yet to figure out the former, we’ve at least come to a good place with the latter. —Matt Goldberg
The Incredible Hulk
Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into whenever he loses his temper.
31Doctor Strange (2016)
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Doctor Strangeis a weird beast. It feels cobbled together in a way that it goes by the familiar beats of previous Marvel movies–notablyIron ManandGuardians of the Galaxy–but it also feels rote and uninteresting despite the trappings of putting its protagonist into a magical world. It seems like Marvel stuck close to a familiar playbook because they knew they were making a bit of a leap with “magic”, but when it came time to make that magic, it was fairly uninteresting.
I understand the difficulty Strange presents with magic because magic needs rules or else everything falls apart. That being said, the film leans far too heavily on the “cocky guy becomes a nicer guy” story Marvel has done before, and does so in a largely uninteresting way.Benedict Cumberbatchis fine in the title role, but there’s always a feeling of “been there, done that” with the movie even its eye-popping action scenes that feel either ripped fromJack KirbyorInceptionon steroids.
The film’s greatest strength is in its thematic subtext where Strange’s arc is learning that he has to be okay with being broken. Although I think the film could have leaned a little more heavily into this, I still like that the climax of the movie is Strange–a man who has spent his life fighting death–embracing death to save mankind. Yes, the willingness to sacrifice one’s life is a standard part of MCU heroics, butStrangedoes it on overdrive, and it actually means something to the character’s arc.
But overall,Doctor Strangeis largely disappointing.It wastes a terrific cast, features mostly uninteresting characters, and struggles to find the sense of whimsy of humor found in most other Marvel movies. Walking out ofDoctor Strangewas the first time I felt with a Marvel movie, “Yeah, I’m okay if we don’t get a sequel to this.” —Matt Goldberg
Doctor Strange
While on a journey of physical and spiritual healing, a brilliant neurosurgeon is drawn into the world of the mystic arts.
30Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Directed by Sam Raimi
As far as visuals go,Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessis exciting and spooky, employing the skills ofSam Raimiand leaning into the horror of the premise did a lot for this movie. Adding to thatDanny Elfman’s strong soundtrack, and a great performance fromElisabeth Olsenas Wanda/Scarlet Witch, it seems likeMultiverse of Madnesswas poised to be another hit following upNo Way Home. Unfortunately,the problem with this sequel toDoctor Strangeis that it feels very much like a vehicle toward the future of the MCU, rather than something that is embracing the moment that it is in. Jammed full of cameos, one of the scenes that they teased early on was the presence of an alternate universe Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), but the scene involving Professor X also brings with it the most cameo-heavy scene of the film. But instead of using these characters in any meaningful capacity, they are shown for the applause and excitement of the audience and then quickly and brutally killed off. Was that the one and only time we’ll seeJohn Krasinskias Reed Richards? Probably.
Cameos aside the show narratively picks up after the events of bothNo Way Homebut also ofWandavision. As one of the most thoughtful shows from Disney+,Wandavisionwas a deep exploration of grief and love and overcoming grief without losing that love. It gave us an incredibly nuanced performance not only from Olsen but also fromPaul Bettanyas Vision. The conclusion of the season was sad but felt like closure. Unfortunately, everything gets walked back inMultiverse of Madness. With her hands on the Darkhold, Wanda has fully become corrupted by it. She is willing to kill anyone, even children, in order to find a universe where her sons are alive and she can take them (even if it means taking them from another version of herself). It takes a fully dimensional character and flattens her into a villain. Given how well Marvel has treated villains who lean more into being an anti-hero, like Loki (Tom Hiddleston), it’s puzzling why Wanda lost that opportunity. There is no real redemption for her at the end of all of this. She dies, the ultimate penalty for her crimes, even if it is freed from the darkhold’s possession.
On top of all of this, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is all snark and sarcasm, and while this might have played well early in the MCU, after meeting so many snarky characters, Strange comes off more as an asshole than anything else. He doesn’t inspire heroics and instead it’s more up to his supporting characters like Wong (Benedict Wong) and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) to pick up the slack. For what it’s worth, both Wong and Gomez are enjoyable and we appreciate the introduction ofBruce Campbellas Pizza Poppa. —Therese Lacson
Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl from his dreams who can travel across multiverses, to battle multiple threats, including other-universe versions of himself, which threaten to wipe out millions across the multiverse. They seek help from Wanda the Scarlet Witch, Wong and others.
29Ant-Man (2015)
Directed by Peyton Reed
When you consider that it had a rough pre-production,Ant-Manturned out far better than it could have. That being said, it still feels like a film that’s caught between two visions, and the vision it settled on is the less exciting of the two. That’s not trying to show favoritism towardsEdgar Wright, and I’m eager to see what directorPeyton Reedwill do when he has full run of the show onAnt-Man and the Wasp, but his version ofAnt-Manfeels like it’s been stripped down to My First Heist Film.
It meets the genre requirements, but it meets them in such a simplistic way that it feels like the greatest achievement is so thatKevin Feigecan point toAnt-Manas an example of saying “We don’t make superhero movies; we make heist movies,” and then comparesCaptain America: The Winter Soldierto a 70s political thriller even though it’s only like those movies in the loosest sense of the genre possible. It’s fairer to say thatAnt-Manis a superhero movie through the lens of the heist genre, and once you’ve checked your expectations, it’s fairly enjoyable.
And yet (no pun intended), there’s a feeling thatAnt-Manshould go bigger. It has terrific stakes—a father wanting to earn his way back into his daughter’s life—and it’s a nice palette cleanser after the “Something big is going to drop from the sky” climaxes of the previous four MCU movies. And yet it doesn’t give us a particularly complex character with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) is a nothing villain, and the Quantum Realm could have been a really exciting, psychedelic place, but instead it’s just a pretty kaleidoscope.
Thankfully, the movie ultimately hints at something grander just around the bend, andwhile the firstAnt-Manmay not achieve everything it wanted to, it succeeds as a minor Marvel filmthat still manages to charm despite some glaring shortcomings. —Matt Goldberg
Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, pull off a plan that will save the world.
28Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Ant-Man and the Waspis pretty much like the firstAnt-Manin that it’s perfect for background viewing. It doesn’t really demand your full attention becauseit’s just a silly, goofy romp, and sometimes that’s more than okay.We don’t always need the world-ending stakes of anAvengersmovie, and for its part,Ant-Man and the Waspdoesn’t even really have antagonists for the most part. It’s a caper movie where the MacGuffin is a building, and then you have Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly bouncing off each other.
The flip side is that there’s nothing particularly memorable about the movie. Peyton Reed does a good job playing with the relative size of the characters and objects, and it’s a nice story about a family trying to reunite after 30 years apart. And yet for all the emotional stakes, it’s a film that also takes nothing, including itself, seriously. It’s likeThor: Ragnarokminus the impressive visuals–always going for the gag at the expense of everything else. There’s nothing really bad about the movie, and goofball comedies have their place, so this is one I won’t mind revisiting even if it will start disappearing from my memory the moment the credits roll. —Matt Goldberg
Ant-Man and the Wasp
As Scott Lang balances being both a superhero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.
27Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniais onlyslightlybetter than the otherAnt-Manfilms on this list because of how it improves on concepts that the first two films only occasionally played around with. Director Peyton Reed’s third adventure with Scott Lang focuses far more on the relationship between Scott and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) than the previous films, and plays more with the size-changing craziness than we’ve ever seen before. For quite a bit ofQuantumania, it seems like this might be the realization of this concept’s true insanity, especially when the entire cast shrinks down and becomes trapped in the Quantum Realm. PreviousAnt-Manfilms doled out the weirdness, butQuantumanialooked like it might be the first film to completely give in to it.
Well, that is untilJonathan Majorscomes along and completely steals the film, introducing the MCU to Kang the Conquerer, the next big bad for the foreseeable future of the MCU. Majors is excellent inQuantumania, and it’s hard to not get excited about what his involvement in this universe could mean for the next few phases. Yet Scott Lang’s adventure and Kang the Conquerer’s introduction both feel like they’re from two different films, crammed together for the sake of setting up future films.There’s a lovely story about a father and daughter finally ending up on common ground, it’s just a shame it comes in a film that has to do a ton of other setup as well.—Ross Bonaime
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne are dragged into the Quantum Realm, along with Hope’s parents and Scott’s daughter Cassie. Together they must find a way to escape, but what secrets is Hope’s mother hiding? And who is the mysterious Kang?
26The Marvels (2023)
Directed by Nia DaCosta
In recent years, it’s been easy to get bogged down in superhero fatigue. Every movie and TV show seems to exist to set up five other projects, and with so much history to these characters, it can often feel like a distant memory when these worlds were enjoyable. And whileThe Marvelscould’ve easily suffocated under the weight of how much there is to remember about this trio of heroes, directorNia DaCostafocuses on the fun of galaxy-hopping adventures with three actresses that have great comedic timing.The Marvelsdoesn’t have the best villain, asZawe Ashton’s Kree warrior Dar-Benn, gets lost on this journey, but that gives Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) the opportunity to let loose and have a ball together.
It’s been a while since the MCU has been as straightforward and fun as this, from this group swapping whenever they use their powers, to visiting a planet where the primary language is sung,The Marvelsisn’t the deepest MCU film, but it’s okay to just have some fun sometimes.—Ross Bonaime
The Marvels
Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.
25Black Widow (2021)
Directed by Cate Shortland
I really wish this one was better. We waited so long for Black Widow to get her own movie, and it was too little, too late. The central problem is that because the movie arrived so late in the MCU that Natasha had already died inAvengers: Endgame, so a prequel story was already drained of stakes. To revisit Natasha’s family life felt like ceding ground rather than illuminating anything new about the character. If anything, it felt like Black Widow was kind of a backdoor pilot of sorts to introduce Yelena (Florence Pugh) rather than do justice to Natasha.
The saving grace here is that Pugh is so good as Yelena. The plot of Black Widow is whatever (the concept of liberating other women should feel more immediate, but withinBlack Widowit almost plays like an afterthought to everything else going on with the clumsy family dynamic the film is trying to manage), but when you’ve got Yelena bouncing off other character or kind of poking fun at the very concept of superheroes and the Avengers, you’ve got a strong new character to play in the MCU, and you’re excited to see where she goes from here.
But whileBlack Widowmay be a good launchpad for Yelena,it’s sadly an off-key swan song for Natasha.It’s also confusing why Marvel, if they were so intent on doing a Black Widow prequel, didn’t make the movie about her defection to S.H.I.E.L.D. and friendship with Barton rather than this weird bridge chapter betweenCivil WarandInfinity War. Of course, the answer is that this story needs to be told for Yelena’s sake, not Natasha’s, and it leaves a bitter taste to see a longtime character, particularly a woman, discarded so casually. —Matt Goldberg
Black Widow
Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises.
