After countless weeks of watching the full MCU, here is my MCU ranking as of the Pre Infinity War Era. A lot of these were tough to place (and yes there are ties!) and some were easy. My main criteria were:
- Did I like it?
- My initial thoughts of the movie during the first viewing
- What is my rewatch-ability of it.
Without further ado, let’s get this going!
13) The Incredible Hulk
It’s not like this is the worst movie ever; but compared to the standard that the MCU has cultivated, this is definitely at the bottom of the barrel.
12) Thor: The Dark World
At first I liked this movie; then I rewatched it. This was too long and too slow. You could make a case that this is worse then The Incredible Hulk, but when I was watching the whole MCU it felt like it had just a little more entertainment/rewatch value. Just a little more.
11) Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange was a good movie, just didn’t hit home with me. Also, I think some MCU Fatigue was setting in at this point. It was just another origin story.
10) Iron Man 2
I actually like this movie. I know I am in the minority here, but I liked it. Though compared to other MCU movies, I had to give it a low ranking. Also it is super long, like way too long. But if it was on TV I would totally stay on the channel to watch it.
9) Thor
Just another standard origin move. Entertaining enough to justify finishing the movie, but not enough to want to watch it again. Loki was definitely the shining spot of the movie and the one that kept things interesting. Also I totally don’t buy Thor and Jane, some superhero stories don’t need a love interest shoehorned in.
8) Iron Man 3/ Avengers: Age of Ultron
The first tie on this list. On my first watch I hated Iron Man 3; and then when I had to rewatch it for the marathon I realized it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. It would have gotten a way higher ranking if it wasn’t FOR THE IDIOTIC MANDARIN TWIST. What even was that?!
And Age of Ultron just wasn’t as good as Avengers. Too much world building, why did we need the side story of Thor in a cosmic hot tub?
Both were good movies but just didn’t have what it took to go higher on the list.
7) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 / Captain America: The First Avenger
Good movies. That is all, and really that’s all they had to be.
6) Spider Man: Homecoming
Peter Parker was actually young and witty. Totally bought that he was in high school. Plus it featured one of the better villains in the MCU. It was a good action comedy. But I feel like I’ve seen this five times already.
5) Ant-Man
Great movie! Michael Pena steals every scene he is in. If he wasn’t in it I doubt the movie would be this high in my ranking. Pretty standard origin movie, but a great ride!
4) Iron Man
This is the movie that kicked it all off. And it did an amazing job. Just a great popcorn summer blockbuster movie. Pop it in the blue ray if you want to see things go BOOM for a couple of hours.
3) Thor: Ragnarok
The movie that finally made a Thor solo outing worth it. And a movie where Thor was better than Loki! Who said the third movie couldn’t be the best. A few flaws but it was just so much fun that you can easily forgive it.
2) Avengers/ Guardians of the Galaxy
For the life of me I couldn’t choose. I would rewatch this two moves any time (really any from the top six). And they are the same movies, right? The stories are about a handful of individuals that have to learn how to work as a team.
1) Black Panther / Captain America: The Winter Soldier/ Captain America: Civil War
These three movies represent the cream of the crop of the MCU. They either bring deep meaning and provoke deeper thoughts then the others (Black Panther and to a smaller magnitude The Winter Soldier) or its just a not stop thrill ride like in Civil War. Either way these three movies are amazing.
I know I ended my top spot in a tie. I couldn’t decide, it really depends on the day which one is better. And really either one of these movies could go up or down the ranking at least 1 spot on any given day.
What is your ranking? What would you put at the top spot? Leave a comment below.
J.E.Rowland 