36. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

If there is a single film that has typified Marvel’s struggles post-Endgame, it’s Quantumania. Featuring the MCU’s least compelling duo, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly’s titular Ant-Man and the Wasp, Quantumania starts slow and never really gets going. The Quantum realm baffled audiences, leading to the film falling more than $100 million short of its breakeven point. While initially advertised as the introduction of the MCU’s next big villain in Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, the actor’s arrest and subsequent standing down by Marvel ultimately make the film barely worth watching.

35. The Incredible Hulk

The one everyone always forgets is part of the MCU, The Incredible Hulk was only the second entry in the burgeoning Marvel universe. It’s the only Marvel film that’s not on Disney+ as Universal Pictures holds the distribution rights, and it features Edward Norton as Bruce Banner rather than Mark Ruffalo. The Incredible Hulk isn’t much more than an origin story for one of the MCU’s longest-surviving characters. But given the distinct lack of Mark Ruffalo, it almost feels like it belongs in a separate timeline.

34. The Marvels

One of the biggest problems with the newer phases in the MCU is the fact that the films are not standalone endeavours and require audiences to do some homework before watching. It was already challenging enough to keep up with all the intertwining character arcs in the lead up to the Avengers films of the 2010s. Then the 2020s added multiple streaming series to the mix. Ms. Marvel and WandaVision were both required viewing to completely understand The Marvels, which spends so much time wrapping up storylines and teasing new ones that it barely has time to focus on its own.

33. Thor: Love and Thunder

Maybe Love and Thunder wasn’t as bad as we remember it, but after the triumph of Thor: Ragnarök, Taika Waititi’s follow-up was bitterly disappointing.

32. Iron Man 3

It is genuinely astonishing that two of the three MCU films about Iron Man are some of the weakest in the saga and he still managed to become the franchise’s most beloved character. Forgettable, and a disservice to the character.

31. Thor: The Dark World

While the original Thor is hardly a standout in the MCU, it is leagues better than The Dark World, a film that feels like it was made by a committee. The result is a plot-line that is no more engaging than something contrived by a 12-year-old superhero enthusiast.

30. Eternals

Kudos to director Chloe Zhao for trying something different, but by shifting gears to focus on deeper, existential questions and profundities, Eternals loses much of what makes Marvel films enjoyable in the first place.

29. Black Widow

Marvel was obviously hoping to capitalise on some of the leftover Endgame hype by giving Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff a fitting send-off. The Covid pandemic zapped a lot of that hype, with heavy delays (more than an entire year) relegating the film to a largely forgettable affair that simply arrived too late to interest audiences. It gets bonus points for introducing Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova.

28. Deadpool & Wolverine

We’re lower on Deadpool & Wolverine than most. Don’t get us wrong, there’s plenty of sharp jokes, commendable performances and intriguing cameos, but there’s not much of a plot to this two hour-long side quest. Plus, now that multiverses are in play, it’s harder to believe in the stakes in an offshoot like this one.

27. Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man works best as a lovable side kick in a team full of more popular superheroes. Some of the character’s best moments come in the Avengers films. His individual films are far less compelling. Ant-Man and the Wasp is filled with scientific jargon and techno babble that feels more Star Trek than Marvel. Releasing just a month after Endgame, this film was practically made to be inconsequential.

26. Ant-Man

Truthfully, none of the Ant-Man films are very high on our list, and it’s kind of crazy that the character got the green light for three individual films. That being said, the original Ant-Man is the best of the mediocre trio, providing a satisfying origin story for a character who didn’t really need one.

25. Captain America: Brave New World

Anthony Mackie was always going to have a tough time living up to the standard set by Chris Evans’ Captain America, so it’s excusable that Brave New World is quite handedly the worst Captain America film. That being said, it is better than most of what Marvel has put out since Endgame.

24. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

There was a time when it looked like Doctor Strange might become the MCU’s new leading character as one of the few survivors of Endgame who already had a standalone film come out beforehand. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gave Marvel pause, as it wasn’t the smash hit with audiences they clearly expected. Instead, it leaned into the madness of the multiverse and reduced its characters to action figures bickering in an empty, CGI wasteland.

23. Iron Man 2

Like Iron Man 3, the second instalment in the Iron Man trilogy is largely forgettable. Although, we do remember a cameo appearance from Elon Musk. The fact that the billionaire’s brief appearance might just be the film’s most memorable moment isn’t exactly a point in its favour. It is better than Iron Man 3 though.

22. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Don’t panic, but we’ve finally reached the stage of our ranking where the films are actually decent. While it is indisputably the weakest Avengers film, Age of Ultron is a fun, lower-stakes adventure that introduces some important new characters in an inoffensive fashion.

21. Captain Marvel

Has the statute of limitations on saying nice things about Captain Marvel officially passed? Although it was panned when it first came out, Captain Marvel is actually one of the stronger character introductions of new-age Marvel. It’s release date, shoehorned between Infinity War and Endgame despite being the second film in the MCU timeline, works against it.

20. Doctor Strange

This is where Marvel started on the road down the multiverse rabbit hole – a decision that has not paid dividends. Doctor Strange brought a lot of indecipherable sci-fi language and difficult-to-follow narrative devices to a franchise that didn’t really need them. Still, it is one of the better-looking films in the MCU, with the kind of CGI that felt advanced for its time.

19. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a breath of fresh air for Marvel after a mixed bag of results in the initial post-Endgame world. The action is more entertaining than in most Marvel films, and the cast of almost entirely new and lesser-known characters punch well above their weight in keeping audiences interested.

18. Thor

Say what you will about the low-budget look of some of this film’s scenes, but we thought it was a serviceable introduction to a character who has since become one of the most important in the MCU. Thor felt like a somewhat less serious detour from the drama of Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America’s introductions. And it was supremely entertaining watching Chris Hemsworth cosplaying as a Norse God learning the conventions of earth.

17: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Wakanda Forever was put in a difficult spot by the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. It was never going to surpass its predecessor, but it does a reasonable job of completely replacing a character under such abrupt circumstances, while also honouring Boseman’s legacy. And although the death of Black Panther does seem somewhat clunky amid an overall bloated narrative, that’s easy to forgive. Namor is also one of the best villains in the franchise.

15. Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy released at a time when the MCU was starting to look a little one-dimensional with its seemingly set in stone cast of characters. Then, GOTG showed us that the franchise could look different, with a fun soundtrack, irreverent script, and its own visual style and attitude. It leaned into some of the less serious elements the other films tended to ignore and introduced a new group of characters that seamlessly found their place among their more established counterparts.

14. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Marvel isn’t exactly known for offering a refreshing take on a well-worn character, so it was surprising when the sixth film about Spider-Man since 2002 found enough new beats to still feel like an original take on the superhero. There aren’t many Marvel films that are teen dramas either, making Homecoming one of the more unique entries in the MCU.

13. Thunderbolts*

A sign that Marvel may finally be heading in the right direction again, Thunderbolts* shakes up the franchise’s usual formula with a crew made up of a bunch of practically unknown characters. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes both return, along with Ghost, Red Guardian, US Agent John Walker and Taskmaster. It’s not exactly an all-star team, but they have irresistible chemistry, making some of the film’s more emotional moments hit home.

12. Spider-Man: Far From Home

Far From Home is where Tom Holland’s Spider-Man went from Marvel’s beloved kid to the future anchor of the franchise. Jake Gyllenhaal enters as the villain of the week and delivers. MJ and Ned also endear themselves further. What’s not to like?

11. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Releasing right after a prolonged run of mediocre Disney+ series that had fans wondering if the end of the MCU was near, GOTG v3 arrived and reminded us that Marvel could still be fun. The film admirably handles the farewell of both the Guardians crew and director James Gunn, who took his last bow before defecting to DC.

10. Captain America: The First Avenger

The first chronological entry in the MCU is also one of the best origin stories of the extensive cast of characters. We see Steve Rogers go from scrawny kid to Captain America himself, while punching a few Nazis along the way.

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America’s films are easily the most consistent of all the character studies. There isn’t really a week link like there is for Iron Man or Thor, and all three of Chris Evans’ Captain Americas make our top ten. The Winter Soldier sees the return of Bucky Brooks, a worthy foil and eventual addition to the Avengers team.

8. Thor: Ragnarök

For all intents and purposes, Thor was dead and buried after the character’s first two films were universally deemed mediocre at best. Then Taika Waititi came along, reinvented the Thor formula and provided a blueprint for what the future of Marvel could be. Even among a cinematic universe that spans 36 films, Ragnarök still stands on its own stylistically.

7. The Avengers

You just had to be there.

It might seem silly now, given the size of some of the franchise’s ensembles, but there was a time where the consensus was that cramming this many superheroes into a single film was overly ambitious. But Avengers pulled it off, finding a solid balance between the interconnected storylines of the MCU’s headlining characters.

6. Iron Man

The first entry into the MCU, before it was even known as the MCU, is a classic. Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy showed us that superhero films could be serious, and films like Iron Man showed us that they could still have some fun. There’s a good chance that if this film wasn’t well received, the entire superhero genre would look different today. Given that the other two Iron Man films turned out so terribly, we also have to give credit to Marvel for pulling this one off.

5. Black Panther

Black Panther is unlike any other Marvel film in that it actually has something to say about the world outside of the MCU. In another feat that is rare to the MCU, each important character is complex. The thematic conflict at the film’s heart between Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther and Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger is nuanced, and despite all this seriousness, the film is still remarkably fun to watch.

4. Captain America: Civil War

The most Avengers-y of the non-Avengers films in the MCU, Civil War struck a good balance in the superheroes-to-story ratio. Just about every hero in the franchise appears – including first appearances from major ones like Black Panther and Spider-Man – but Civil War is still unmistakeably about Captain America. It wraps up Steve Rogers’ story in a nice little bow and gave us one of the only instances of good guys vs good guys in the entire franchise.

3. Spider-Man: No Way Home

Essentially a tribute to all Spider-Men, past and present, No Way Home is again, one of the more ambitious entries in the MCU, and one that sticks the landing. The viewing experience was on par with that of an Avengers film, with returning characters from all corners of Spider-Man’s history. A number of them were given closure, with unfinished storylines laid to rest and an intriguing premise for Spider-Man’s future laid out before us.

2. Avengers: Endgame

Sure, Endgame inevitably went down the expected route of the good guys winning – even if it required some multiversal trickery to get there – but it was never going to end any other way. The film still does a fantastic job of saying goodbye to many of the MCU’s most popular characters, with particular care given to each one, while also wrapping up more than a decade of films in one fell swoop. With some better planning, and if money-making wasn’t the most important incentive of Marvel films, the franchise could have – and probably should have – ended here.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

Upon reflection, this is the only film in this 36-film franchise’s catalogue that has an unambiguously unhappy ending. Many of the other films have bittersweet conclusions or sacrifices for the greater good, but Infinity War is the only one where the bad guy actually wins. And perhaps that’s what makes it the best Marvel movie. It does what you least expect, wiping out half of the superhero crew in one tearjerking moment. Of course, that moment is slightly cheapened by the fact that most of them would return in the very next Avengers film, but that’s not important when assessing this one on an individual level.

Infinity War is the most ambitious of any MCU film. It has the biggest ensemble of any MCU film. And audiences come away from it feeling differently than any other MCU film.