Ranking the MCU films

In honor of the opening of Avengers: Endgame in theaters this weekend, I wanted to take a short break from the more serious social-political topics and focus on something a little more fun. Even though this topic may be more fun and entertaining for some, it does not fall short in being controversial. So here is my ranking of the MCU Films:

Disclaimer: I have seen all MCU films apart from Thor: The Dark World (I know, I need to get my life together—It will happen this summer). Because of this, I will omit The Dark World from my ranking. Secondly, I am ranking these films based on my personal enjoyment, and my thoughts are completely subjective. Also, spoilers (not including Endgame)

Without further ado.

#20 The Incredible Hulk

It is rare when I dislike films. This is not only one of my least desired MCU films, it is one of my least favorites in general. Do not get me wrong, I do not think the film is done poorly, and if it was not a part of the MCU, I might like it better. I am just not a fan of reboots, and I much prefer the 2003 version of The Hulk. This, coupled with the inconsistency of casting within the same universe, causes this film to be at the bottom of my list.

#19 Thor

From this point on, I thoroughly enjoy the films on this list, and Thor is no exception. I enjoyed the movie when it first came out. But other than that, there is nothing too special about it. I like the character more in the Avengers movies than I do in his own.

#18 Iron Man 2

Again, I remember enjoying this movie when it first came out, but I do not remember anything about it—even though I have watched it at least four times.

#17 Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ultron is not a bad movie at all. It is fun to see the Avengers back in action, and the addition of Vision is fun. Ultron is not a compelling villain through, and it is my interpretation that Ultron was alive for only a few days. I do not think that his reign was an “age.”

#16 Iron Man 3

It appears that this is not a fan favorite. However, I enjoyed this movie and I personally appreciated how Tony Stark had to deal with PTSD after the events of Avengers I. We do not see this enough in superhero movies, which we should. It makes sense that Iron Man would have to work through some personal things after going through that traumatic experience in New York. If our focus is on this, rather than the actual plot, the movie might be more enjoyable.

#15 The Ant-Man and the Wasp

This movie was a perfect palate cleanser after viewing an emotionally drama filled Avengers: Infinity War film. Unfortunately, this is the only purpose the movie served for me. I guess Ava is cool, and it is important to know that Scott is trapped in the quantum realm.

#14 Thor: Ragnarok

When I first saw this movie, I did not like it. And when I saw Infinity War (the same day), it only added to my dislike for this movie. This is because I can sum up this entire movie in one sentence: Thor lost his hammer, but he does not need it anyway. This is ironic because days (?) after of Thor’s “self-discovery”, he realized he needed a “Thanos-killing” kind of weapon. When I watched the film a second time, I enjoyed it more. It was nice to see Bruce Banner in the film as well. When considering the movie on its own, it is quite pleasant as it grew on me with each subsequent viewing.

#13 Ant-Man

I saw this one quite late, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it. It was a pleasant surprise for me. The fact that this was a heist film is a bonus. This movie is “small” in nature (I’m sorry, I could not avoid it!), which can be very refreshing. The relationship between Scott and his daughter is just adorable. If this film had a better Villain who did not scream ‘evil for the sake of being evil’ right at the start, it might have been ranked higher.

#12 Doctor Strange

It was nice to see how magic worked in the MCU. This film is stunning from the visual perspective, and I thought the inclusion of the Time Stone was well-done. The reason why this film is not ranked higher is because Doctor Strange’s arc throughout the film seemed close to Tony Stark’s arc in Iron Man I. Too close.

#11 Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.

It is unfortunate that the first Guardians was as successful as it was. It put high expectation on this movie. I must admit, I disliked the opening sequence on the first viewing, but it grew on me. The comedy really landed well with me, although I know it was hit or miss for most. The concept of the antagonist as a planet was executed as well as it could have been.

#10 Captain Marvel

Rounding out the top ten is a movie that has had mixed reviews. However, the box office does not lie. This movie was a success. This film reminds me of Captain America: The First Avenger because of its utilization of the flat character arc. And like The First Avenger, the film can be easily overlooked because Carol “does not have an arc.” She does have an arc, however: the flat arc. The negative and positive character arcs deal with how the character changes throughout the story (the positive character arc is the most common and coveted). Essentially, the external world has an impact on the character. With the flat character arc, however, the character has already found their inner truth. Thus, the importance of the story is not how the character changes throughout their journey but, rather, how they cause the world around them to change. I believe this is the case with Captain Marvel. If we viewed the movie from this perspective, it might be more enjoyable to watch.

As an aside, it seems apparent to me that Marvel Studios attempted to take what they did with Black Panther and apply the same formula to Captain Marvel. Both protagonists represent a particular minority group, both films were the predecessor to a highly anticipated Avengers film, and both debuted during the month in which their particular minority group was being recognized in hopes of equalizing the social-economical norms of today (Black History month in February and Women’s history month in March). With this being said, I believe Black Panther was more successful for this reason: Black Panther does not need the MCU in order to be a good movie, whereas the MCU has greatly benefited from the world of Black Panther (Cap’s Shield, Age of Ultron, Vision, and the location for the climax of Infinity War, to name a few). Captain Marvel, on the other hand, relies on rules of the universe already shaped by the MCU as it attempts to connect dots and questions within the MCU. Essentially, Black Panther can be disconnected from the MCU and still work, whereas the MCU is forced into the story-line of Captain Marvel. Nevertheless, Captain Marvel was a good and successful MCU film.

#9: Captain America

Captain America is one of the best examples of a flat character arc. He is unchanging, unwavering, and will not compromise on his beliefs. We see this all throughout the Captain America trilogy. However, the success of The Winter Soldier and Civil War takes root in Cap’s inaugural movie. This movie would lay down the groundwork that contributes to the character that we know and love today.

#8 Spider-Man: Homecoming

I was a little burnt-out after the reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. When my friends mentioned that Spider-Man would join the MCU, I literally stormed out of the room because I was not a fan (of course I did this for dramatics). But thanks to the work of Civil War, my pessimism turned into optimism. This movie was everything that I wanted the first two iterations to be. Tobey Maguire was a good Peter Parker but not a compelling Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield was a great Spider-Man but not a good Peter Parker. Even though Maguire will always hold a special place in my heart as the “OG” Spider-Man, Tom Holland is the perfect balance in capturing the nerdiness and quirkiness of Peter Parker, but also the awesomeness and fantastical abilities of Spider-Man

#7 Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1

I was not interested in viewing this movie at all. Truthfully, I had put off watching it until the I seen the guardians crew in Infinity War. After watching the movie though, I was filled with regret because I had missed out on a wonderful ride for this long. Essentially, Guardians, Vol I was able to accomplish what the first Avengers film did without the need to be preceded by five films in order to set up characters.

#6 Iron Man

What can I say? This was the movie that started it all, and this was the movie that got me into watching superhero comic book movies. It had the right amount of action, character development, and romance which would lead to a formula that Marvel would basically use in subsequent movies. Although it can be said that nearly every MCU movie has casted their protagonist perfectly, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is one of the greatest role-castings of all time. I don’t think he is up there with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, or Mark Hamill, but he is very close.

#5 Captain America: The Winter Soldier

This was a successful sequel to Captain America. This movie works well as a political thriller and Cap’s character shines through! This movie is packed with good story telling as we follow Cap after the events of The Avengers

#4 Captain America: Civil War

The reason why we knew Infinity War was even possible was because of the success of this film. Somehow the Russo brothers were able to juggle many characters, spike fan interest in solo films of new characters, finally deal with negative repercussions of the events of earlier MCU movies, while still being a film in which Cap was the main driving force throughout. This is impressive.

#3 Avengers

Cross over episodes were always fun as a kid, and it was certainly fun to see that idea played out on the big screen. This movie was one of the first to connect multiple films of differing characters that now participated in the same universe together, a universe that was consistent and made sense. Also, I don’t think there is a shot that will give me more chills than the 360 shot of our heroes in New York.

#2 Black Panther

Admittedly, this movie will always be hard to rank. If it is ranked high, people will say “It is only because it had a black director, cast, etc.” However, if the movie is ranked low, people will claim that it is ranked this way because blacks were the only ones to like it or it “just was not a good movie.” Of course, these opinions, including mine, is subjective. But I want to give the reader four reasons in why it warrants the #2 spot for me.

· As I mentioned in my discussion of Captain Marvel, this movie does not need the MCU for it to be a good movie. The world building is spectacular and admit it, we all wished Wakanda was a real place.

· The box office numbers do not lie. Blacks only make up 12.4 percent of the U.S. population. If it is true that Black Panther was only successful because “black people went out to see it,” Marvel Studios is doing something very wrong from a business perspective.

· Let us pretend for a moment that Black Panther was only successful because of the mostly black cast and production team. Is there another film out there that a) has an unapologetically black lead and supporting cast, b) the black lead is in a position of power, c) the culture presented is celebrated (and not made fun of), d) the story is not just presented for comedy or cheap jokes, and e) men and women are presented in an equal light? Can we name even one?

One?

I will wait.

· Lastly, I was NEVER annoyed when ANY character was on screen (unlike Rose from The Last Jedi). In fact, I wished that every character got more screen time because I enjoyed them so much. There is only one other movie I can say this about, and that movie has the #1 spot.

#1 Avengers: Infinity War

This movie delivered on so many levels. The film somehow juggled all its characters while telling a complaining story from Thanos’ point of view. After all, this was his movie. It had the right amount of dark themes juxtaposed with light humor. The ending was breathtaking. I have never walked out of a movie theater feeling heartbroken like that before, and I loved it. I know a lot of people compare it to Empire Strikes Back, and I do think it has some similarities. With Empire, the heroes suffer a significant setback, but they don’t lose entirely. Darth Vader does not have complete control of the galaxy. The Rebels are not defeated. And Luke does not turn to the dark side. Whereas with Infinity War, Thanos won straight up. In his mind, the war is over. He accomplished everything he set out to do, and now he can sit in the sunset with his stupid grin. This is why Infinity War will hold a special place in cinematic history.

How would you rank the MCU films?

As with all my blogs, this is solely my opinion. I do not want to pretend to have the absolute “right answer.” I am speaking to myself as much as I am speaking to others. It is okay to disagree with me, and I welcome discourse. My only request is that every word of each blog is weighed heavily and considered before agreeing or disagreeing with the points presented in each entry. Please keep in mind that I am a Christian, so my beliefs and opinions will be influenced by my faith. I will upload blogs every Friday. If you would like to suggest a topic for me to cover, you can do so via Facebook or twitter. You can follow me on twitter @mjeromebell #themiddlegroundblog

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