21. Thor: The Dark World, 2013
This one was by far the roughest film to re-watch. The Dark Elves are the lamest villains ever and frankly kind of remind me of the Night King in Game of Thrones. Oh, cool you like the dark, GTFO. Everything about Thor's time on Earth in this movie just sucks, his relationship with Jane Foster sucks, Jane Foster's friend sucks, the after credit scenes on Earth suck. Also, they do a really shit job of explaining THE REALITY STONE. One pro: the music during the funeral scene is incredible. (Shoutout Brian Tyler, solid soundtrack).
20. The Incredible Hulk, 2008
Edward. Norton. Is. Distracting. He gets replaced later in The Avengers and I'm kind of glad he was. I get it, they were just starting to figure out what they were doing. (This was the 2nd film to come out in the MCU.) As a stand-alone, it isn't terrible but this might just me talking myself into it.
19. Thor, 2011
Again, everything on Earth is so lame, although it's a little more interesting seeing how people would react to a literal alien coming from the clouds. (Spoiler alert, it seems like people don't really care?) People always comment about how Marvel was able to turn around Thor but Hemsworth was never the problem. (Looking directly at you, Natalie Portman.)
18. Iron Man 2, 2010
"I want my bird," in Mickey Rourke's terrible Russian accent will always be funny. So glad they replaced Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle. Black Widow intro and Garry Shandling (RIP) as a douchebag politician are the best parts of this one. Ok and the Peter Parker cameo during the pretty cool fight scene at the end. Your basic character development chapter.
17. Iron Man, 2008
I know, I'm upset too. This movie just does not hold up very well. It's, of course, an incredible introduction to Tony Stark and the MCU. But I don't know if I was distracted by the way they displayed tech in 2008 or if Jebadiah Stane is just a boring villain, either way, I by no means dislike this movie. Also, Terrence Howard just doesn't seem to fit as future War Machine, and honestly we probably get him killed off completely in the series if they hadn't recast to Don Cheadle.
16. Ant-Man and the Wasp, 2018
I saw this movie as simply filler. Yes, I can guarantee that the quantum realm will be a big part of Endgame and they explain most of it in this film. And maybe I'm just lashing out that this one followed Infinity War. I think the way they brought in the Wasp was very well done, but unless the "secret organization" Walton Goggins' character is working for ends up to be OsCorp, what was the point of him even being there.
15. Captain Marvel, 2018
I wanted to like this more, I really did. Maybe it's unfair that I only have seen this once but it just seemed like Carol Danvers wasn't exactly tested in this movie. Like at all. She discovers her origin and that the Kree might not be so great and then almost just destroys Ronin's fleet immediately with no problems. I understand that she's one of the most powerful heroes in the universe but you'd think she would be put into a little more peril than hand to hand combat with Jude Law on Earth.
14. Captain America: First Avenger, 2011.
In 2011, I thought this would by far be the worst of the "new" Marvel movies. Nearly a decade later, this one holds up the best of the phase one movies and maybe it's because Chris Evans as Cap has the best character arch in the entire series. It's hard not to get emotional when he sacrifices himself in the end despite having a date with Peggy Carter.
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015
Look, it's tough to have the task of following up The Avengers with something fresh, I mean they just defeated an alien army for fuck's sake, how could anyone on Earth challenge them. They did what they could with
12. Iron Man 3, 2013
You might think I'm crazy but this is the best Iron Man film. Is Extremis kind of a weird flex? Sure. But what we see in this film is the beginning of Tony Stark's obsession with protecting the world, which he ends up fucking up royally in Age of Ultron. I know people were upset with the Mandarin swerve but guess what? The real Mandarin is still out there somewhere (unsure if this will ever be explored after Endgame), and I thought Ben Kingsley crushed it both in the fake Mandarin videos and as the pathetic drugged up actor hired to portray him. Also, this doubles as the only MCU Christmas film.
11. Doctor Strange, 2016
These are going to start getting really tough. I thought this was a fine introduction into the mystic arts and sorcerors, it just didn't grab me as much as the others did. Although Doctor Strange may be one of the best parts of Infinity War. I think the shallow, at best, relationships we see in this one kind of took me away from liking this more.
10. Ant-Man, 2015
From the outside looking in, Ant-Man for sure would seem like the lamest of the MCU heroes. But they absolutely nailed this one by casting Paul Rudd as Scott Lang. He has genuine chemistry with everyone from the get-go, which was apparently tough for Marvel to nail down in the earlier movies.
9. The Avengers, 2012
This movie rules, there's just no way around that. For the first time ever, we get to see The Avengers come together and they do so spectacularly. It's also the first time we really witnessed just how great movies in the MCU could be. While the rest of phase one was fun, this is really what everyone was waiting for and did it ever deliver.
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, 2017
Sure, you can look at this as a pure filler film and character development. It doesn't exactly advance the main MCU story at all. But that still doesn't make it a bad movie. What James Gunn has been able to do with fringe Marvel characters (as far as pop culture goes) and turn them into their own franchise on their own is nothing short of impressive. The soundtrack in this film might actually be better than vol. 1, and we do get major setups for the future of the cosmic side of the MCU (what's up, Adam Warlock).
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2017
You will never find a better person to play Peter Parker than Tom Holland. (Sorry Tobey but you were 30 when you played a high schooler and it was weird.) Nerds everywhere rejoiced when we found out Spider-Man was finally going to be included in the MCU and his "homecoming" did not disappoint.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, 2014
Things are going to get VERY tough to rank from here. After two Thor movies failed to show us how cool space could be in the MCU, GOTG brought us a vibrant, funny space adventure that could rival Star Wars (I'm not joking). This was a pretty big gamble by Marvel and they hit big time with pretty perfect casting throughout. Not only do we get amazing music but also an ACTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF INFINITY STONES and why everyone in the universe could be after them.
5. Thor: Ragnarok, 2017
What an absolute turnaround. And we really have GOTG to thank for it. Ragnarok was the perfect way to close the book on Asgard (RIP) while also being one of the funniest MCU films ever. Thor has better chemistry with Valkyrie in 5 minutes than in 4 combined hours with Jane Foster. Also, anytime you feature Jeff Goldblum you will be in the top 5 of any list, let's be honest.
4. Captain America: Winter Soldier, 2014
This is the point in MCU watching where I turned from simply having fun watching a comic book movie, to thinking "holy shit, these are actually good movies." Thrilling from beginning to end (I think these might have my favorite credit graphic of any MCU film), we see the end of SHIELD as infiltrated by Hydra and Captain America on the run as a fugitive (not the 1st time it turns out). Even if you knew Bucky Barnes was the mysterious Winter Soldier, the reveal still captivates you. This also has the best movie score in any of the movies, which is kind of a big deal for me.
3. Black Panther, 2018
This movie only got better the 2nd time I watched it. The visualizations pop, you have a sympathetic villain (played excellently by Michael B. Jordan), and Wakanda is presented as a real-life place. The way the soundtrack moves from traditional African themes to more American themes as scenes shift from T'Challa and Erik Killmonger was expertly done. I hope we continue to see Ryan Coogler's work in the MCU because that dude can really make a movie.
2. Captain America: Civil War, 2016
How do you get an Avengers movie without it being an Avengers movie because no one on Earth could possibly stop them? Well, you make them fight each other. From introducing the Sokovia Accords, Black Panther, and amazingly Peter Parker to revealing a Helmut Zemo as trying to unravel the Avengers by revealing the secret of Winter Soldier; the entire premise is so well executed. This, of course, is only the beginning of the end.
1. The Avengers: Infinity War, 2018
Anytime you can make nearly three hours fly by for a viewer, you have succeeded as a filmmaker. This film brings (nearly) every character you have met so far who is still alive together for one purpose, defeating Thanos. Serious question, is Thor's arrival at Wakanda the greatest scene in film history? Makes you think. And the ending still has me a little shook. Where do we go from here?
The Capolino: Roast Beef, Pepperjack, Hot Peppers, Horseradish Sauce
Overall: 9.4/10
*This weekend will undoubtedly be the ruin of me, mentally and emotionally. Starting it off this high only to have to go through both Endgame and the Battle of Winterfell within a 72 hour period would be enough to break anyone. See you all on the other side.
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