Hello movie and superhero lovers,
A friend posted this meme:
It got me thinking, and I realized I class Marvel movies (all superhero movies really) into 5 categories: Excellent, Okay, Forgettable, Didn’t Age Well, and Bad. I’m adding Didn’t See Yet as a category too.
So here is my non-definitive ranking of Marvel MCU movies. Note that within the categories, they’re by release date not preference.
Excellent
These are the movies that balance fun, character growth, and a good story.
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Black Panther
- Captain Marvel
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Fun
These movies aren’t great but they certainly are a lot of fun to watch.
- Iron Man
- Thor
- Ant-Man
- Captain America: Civil War
- Doctor Strange
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Endgame
Forgettable
These are the movies that didn’t do anything terrible, but didn’t do anything memorable either.
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man 3
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Eternals
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Didn’t Age Well
Both of these were in my top tier for a long time, but rewatching them made me very uncomfortable. They have some great moments, but the jokes and treatment of women and minorities is not great.
Bad
Some of these movies are good except for something that really brings down their quality, and others are hot messes all the way through.
- Iron Man 2
- Thor: The Dark World
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Black Widow
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Didn’t See Yet
Not much explanation needed. I’m not a big fan of the Guardians and haven’t seen the third. Everything I’ve heard leads me to think it’s a little too heavy and dark for my taste. The Marvels just came out, but I’m hoping to see it soon.
Obviously, tastes are subjective.
What do you think?
Éric