All Marvel Cinematic Universe Titles, Ranked

Now that we’re moving with headlong speed towards the end of Phase Three, and into the unknown maw that is Phase Four, I thought it might be interesting to rank all the various titles that make up the MCU. In this, I am not only including the films, but also the ABC and Netflix television shows (ranking each by season), as well as the long-lamented Marvel One-Shots. As of October 2018, that’s 46 movies, one-shots, and television seasons in the can. Pretty damned impressive!

Here’s the list, from least favorite to most favorite. I’ll try to keep this listing updated as more MCU things are released.

~~~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ~~~~~

~~~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ~~~~~

~~~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ~~~~~

~~~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ~~~~~

~~~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ~~~~~

~~~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ~~~~~

Marvel’s Inhumans (2017). Black Bolt and the Inhuman royal family are banished from the moon to Earth, while his brother Maximus takes the throne. I so wanted to like this. But the downgrading from feature film to low budget TV series really shows; bland sets, terrible CGI, and bad writing. They could probably redeem themselves with a higher-budget Season Two, but this was such a disaster that that ain’t happening. My review.

Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special (2022). Just painful to watch. The humor is cringey, the characters seem like caricatures of themselves, and it almost (almost) makes the Star Wars Holiday Special look good. I was expecting Harvey Korman to come out in drag at some point.

The Incredible Hulk (2008). Bruce Banner evades the authorities while Emil Blonsky becomes the Abomination. Meh. I never cared enough about Banner to really get emotionally invested in the movie, and the action scenes were mediocre.

Item 47 (2012). A Marvel One-Shot included on the Blu-Ray release of The Avengers. A pair of small-time criminals gets hold of a discarded Chitauri weapon following the events of The Avengers. A neat idea, but I never got a feel for the two main characters.

Thor: The Dark World (2013). Thor must fight Malekith and the Dark Elves who want to bring darkness to the universe (literally). It fails largely because the villain’s motives are so difficult to figure out, and he himself is largely wasted on the screen. My review.

The Consultant (2011). A Marvel One-Shot included on the Blu-Ray release of Thor. Agents Coulson and Sitwell sabotage an effort to get Emil Blonsky out of prison following the events of The Incredible Hulk. A clever idea, but since half of it was already seen as a mid-credits scene in Incredible Hulk, it felt unearned.

Agent Carter Season Two (2016). Now in California, Peggy and Jarvis unravel a mystery around “Zero Matter”. I confess I found this season to be quite disjointed, the villain completely uninteresting, and the central concept didn’t seem fully fleshed out.

Iron Fist Season One (2017). Long thought dead, Danny Rand returns as a mystical warrior who must take on the figures controlling his father’s corporation. Yes, it’s true, Danny himself comes across as a whiny bitch, and there’s way too much board room infighting and not enough mystical glowing hand fighting. But I think it set up some good things for later, especially showing dissension within the Hand.

Secret Invasion (2023). A rebel faction of Skrulls is determined to wipe out humanity and take Earth for their own. Such a waste. The promised “who is a Skrull, and who isn’t?” paranoia never materialized, Fury didn’t act like Fury for 90% of the show, the only time characters turned out to be “secret” Skrulls it was painfully obvious, the MacGuffin (only introduced in the last two episodes) made no sense, and the ending just sort of… happened.

The Marvels (2023). Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan is the only high point in this film. She’s likeable and relatable, but the other two leads are wooden to say the least, the villain is completely forgettable (Ronan the Accuser would have been a MUCH better choice), and the tone varies wildly without rhyme or reason. There are some decent visuals (particularly the two alien cities), but some scenes are pure cringe-inducing. Two stars for Vellani, zero for the rest of the film.

~~~~~ Note: It’s worth pointing out that after this point, everything is in the “good” category as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a question of how good, in comparison to each other. ~~~~~

She-Hulk Season One (2022). Using a lot of humor and Deadpool-esque breaking of the fourth wall, this was a light, fun show. Until the ending. I’m sure it seemed really seemed like a good idea in the writer’s room, but it ended up undermining any sort of stakes or impact the show might have had. Everything in the last 9 episodes just got… what, erased? Re-written? We have no idea, and it’s irksome. Daredevil was good, but maybe over-used, and the introduction of Hulk’s son out of the blue at the end was too random to be enjoyable. This would have been much higher in the rankings if it had ended one episode sooner.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). On the bad side, I thought it was way too goofy. Not in the way Ragnarok was, where Thor was making funny quips, but in a way that actively detracted from him as a character, making him the butt of the joke. At times it felt like the MCU had finally descended into their “Abbott and Costello meet Thor” era. On the good side, Christian Bale was TERRIFIC as Gorr the God Butcher. He had an almost Joker-esque vibe at times. Plus there was real chemistry between him and Jane Foster, for the first time in three movies. Overall, I think it’s worth seeing, but be aware that if you’re looking for a serious, soul-searching examination of coping with loss, this ain’t it.

What If…? Season One (2021). Based on the old Marvel Comic series of the same name, the show explores different alternate scenarios from the characters and events of the films. So we see Peggy Carter instead of Steve Rogers get the super-soldier serum, what if T’Challa got picked up by the Ravagers instead of Peter Quill, etc. I don’t care for the animation style at all, and the stories themselves are very hit-or-miss, with more misses than hits for my taste. Still, when it’s good, it’s really good. Highlights are “What If… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?” and “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?”. Some, like “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” are downright insulting to the original.

Eternals (2021). A group of immortal beings has been sent to earth by the Celestial Arishem to protect humanity from the monstrous Deviants. However, it turns out their true purpose requires the annihilation of humanity in order to birth a new Celestial, Tiamut, The Eternals split and war with each other to either save humanity or the billions who will come into being because of the creation of a new Celestial. Terrific family dynamics and well-defined characters combine with a non-linear structure unlike anything the MCU has yet produced. It lacks a lot of the jokiness of recent MCU films, and really has a different feel from what has come before. I enjoyed this film a lot, even if the reviews weren’t all that positive. It really expands the cosmology and history of the MCU and sets up a lot of potential going forward.

Jessica Jones Season Two (2018). Jessica et al investigate the mysterious IGH, which was responsible for the experiments which turned her and others into super-powered people. While not bad, it suffered from the same problem as all the other Marvel Netflix series; it should have been ten episodes instead of thirteen, and the whole felt dragged out because of it. Too, I found the whole relationship between Jessica and her mother frankly dull. But it was made up for by the various side-plots with the rest of the characters, which I found really interesting. The high point was the appearance by David Tennant as Killgrave, but unfortunately it only lasted one episode (for reasons that aren’t quite explained).

Echo (2024). Maya from the very good Hawkeye show gets her own very mediocre spinoff. It suffers from deceptive marketing (the trailers leaned heavily on Kingpin and Daredevil; the latter only got a 30-second cameo), changing the main character’s power-set (in the comics, she’s called Echo because she can mirror an enemy’s fighting style, here she gets some nonsensical Indian magic powers), and really mediocre writing. What happened to the van full of machinegun-wielding killers at the end? No idea. The quirky family members were the best thing about this, and Vincent Dinofrio’s Kingpin stands out above all, as usual. But have they ruined the character going forward? Only time will tell.

Doctor Strange (2016). Brilliant neurosurgeon Stephen Strange is injured in a car accident and learns how to use magic. I found this one lacking, unfortunately. Strange himself is great, but Kaecilius is the real weak spot. Why is he doing what he’s doing? For that matter, what is he doing? Another weak MCU villain torpedoes the film, but Cumberbach’s performance pulls it out of “bad” territory.

The Punisher Season Two (2019). A random encounter leads to all sorts of mayhem, and there’s a nearly completely separate plotline featuring the return of the villain now called Jigsaw. I think this suffers from the same problem as season one; Punisher works better in a supporting role. The second half of the season definitely is better than the first, once you have some idea of what the hell is going on.

Daredevil Season Two (2016). Daredevil must fight the Hand with the help of his mysterious ex Electra. I have to say this got a bit tedious, as I want to see Matt and Foggy together, not at each other’s throats. But the introduction of the Punisher and the unexpected return of the Kingpin make up for a lot of deficiencies.

Ms. Marvel (2022). Jersey City Muslim teen Kamala Khan is sent “the bangle” (a piece of Kree technology) by her grandmother and it leads her to discover she has super-powers. She’s also a djinn. Oh, and a mutant. The show’s strong point is the Khan family itself, with the tightly wound mother, the too-eager-to-please father, the overly devout brother, and then the family in Karachi. Unfortunately, in giving us a good show about the interpersonal dynamics of a contemporary Muslim family, it forgot that it was supposed to be a super-hero show. The action seems tacked on, the djinn plot resolves itself way too quickly, and the final big battle against Damage Control is completely unbelievable. The whole thing was an excuse to get her into the next Captain Marvel movie to balance out the entirely unlikeable Brie Larson, and it shows.

The Punisher Season One (2017). Ex-soldier Frank Castle uncovers a conspiracy that was involved in the death of his family. Went a little too long, and I was hoping for more Death Wish and less Three Days of the Condor, but overall a worthy effort. I think The Punisher works better as a supporting character than a lead, though, just by his nature.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011). A Marvel One-Shot included on the Blu-Ray release of Captain America: The First Avenger. Agent Coulson stops a robbery at a convenience store while driving out to New Mexico for the events of Thor. Very clever, and fleshed out Coulson’s character a lot.

Agent Carter (2013). A Marvel One-Shot included on the Blu-Ray release of Iron Man 3. Peggy Carter proves her mettle by taking a case on her own. Very well done.

The Defenders Season One (2017). Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones band together to fight the Hand. Picking up on the factions-within-the-Hand thing introduced by Iron Fist was a good idea, and at least the motives of the bad guys were finally explained. Some of the interactions between the leads were just amazing, too.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Three (2015-2016). Focused on the Inhumans and the secret history of Hydra, which has been trying to bring the powerful Inhuman Hive to Earth from an alien planet by using the obelisk. I have to say I found the episodes on the alien planet intensely boring, but the rest of the season was great.

Black Widow (2021). A sort of prequel set between Civil War and Infinity War, this follows Natasha Romanov in her quest to destroy the Red Room and the army of Black Widows it has created. I thought there were pacing issues, especially in the first half, but I loved the family dynamic and the fight scenes were suitably spectacular. Comic relief by Red Guardian was very welcome. Was there a villain? Sort of two, but the one had no emotional connection to Natasha (that she knew about) and the other was really lame. A pale imitation of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Captain Marvel (2019). Kree warrior-hero Vers, aka Carol Danvers, arrives on Earth to fight the villainous, shape-shifting Skrulls, and encounters young Phil Coulson and Nick Fury along the way. But there’s more to her missing memory than meets the eye. My review.

Thor (2011). Thor is banished from Asgard to Earth, until he proves himself worthy of his hammer and defeats the usurper Loki. This is really great up until the Destroyer comes down to Earth. Since it’s essentially an automaton, it doesn’t really count as a villain, and I thought the menace was wasted. If Loki had sent a few frost giants instead, I think that would have been much better.

Iron Man 2 (2010). The son of Howard Stark’s former partner uses the ARC Reactor technology to become Whiplash, using Tony Stark’s bumbling rival, Justin Hammer, as cover. I really like this one, even though I know it’s not very popular. I thought Whiplash was a great villain, and Hammer was played brilliantly by Sam Rockwell.

Jessica Jones Season Three (2019). Back in form, with a worthy adversary in the serial killer Salinger, but really focusing on the conflict between Jessica and her adopted sister Trish with her newfound superpowers, which makes Jessica question her own superhero status. Has some real gut-punch scenes, and there are some nice scenes with the supporting characters. The bit with Luke Cage felt tacked on, though.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season One (2013-2014). Famously off to a slow start in the first half, but once the second half was able to pick up the Hydra storyline from the contemporaneous Captain America The Winter Soldier, things really took off.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Four (2016-2017). Featured storylines relating to Ghost Rider, the Life Model Decoys, and a computer-generated world in which Hydra rules called the Framework. I didn’t particularly care about Ghost Rider, but the LMD and Framework storylines were top-notch.

Iron Fist Season Two (2018). The series could go nowhere but up after the disastrous first season, and it used its second chance very well. It’s a distinct improvement over its freshman outing in every respect; the story was more coherent, the acting better (especially the lead, Danny Rand), the fight choreography was immeasurably better (high point – the tattoo parlor fight), and there were more tie-ins to the greater MCU. There are appearances by Misty Knight (who we first saw in Luke Cage) that really added to her character, the ever-present Turk makes yet another brief but nice and funny appearance, but Typhoid Mary (aka Mary Walker) steals the show as the bad guy employed by just about everyone at some point. I can’t wait to see if she shows up in Daredevil (which in the comics was where she was usually seen). We also get to see the comic-book Iron Fist costume a few times. The high point in terms of writing is the continuing personal arc of Rand’s childhood friend and fellow Rand owner Ward Meachum and his struggle against addiction and generally being an asshole. It’s a satisfying arc, and one of the best things about the season. This also marks the first time a show was 10 episodes instead of 13, and it shows. The usual drag in the middle was barely here. I hope they continue with the rest of the Netflix series this way.

Ant Man (2015). Scientist Hank Pym recruits burglar Scott Lang to stop his old colleague from rediscovering the secret of the Pym Particle, which can cause things to shrink and grow. Not quite a comedy, but close enough, using the heist film as a model was a great idea to change things up. My review.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Two (2014-2015). The now-fugitive agents of SHIELD fight Hydra’s attempt to learn the secrets of an alien obelisk and a Kree city. I think this was the high-water-mark of the series so far. Really interesting plots, and very well done all around.

Agents of SHIELD Season Five (2017-2018). Coulson and the rest of SHIELD go on a time-bending jaunt into the future where Earth is destroyed and the Kree control what’s left of the human race. I thought they did a lot of really cool stuff with this season, and it all fits neatly in with the rest of the Kree and Inhuman lore we’ve seen in the films, such as Guardians of the Galaxy. It remains to be seen whether Captain Marvel, which is going to be very Kree-centric, contradicts anything, but it was a great ride and handled the time paradox question very well. Plus, Gravitron!

Moon Knight (2022). Multiple personalities give an opportunity for multiple points of view in a clever story about mental health and how it intersects with the magical side of the MCU. A lack of real connection to the rest of the MCU is a minus in my mind, but it’s clever enough and Oscar Isaac does a great job juggling two completely different characters (plus a third in a post-credits scene of the final episode).

Wandavision (2021). Wanda Maximoff’s grief at the death of Vision in Avengers: Endgame leads her to drastic measures. She creates a world for herself based on classic television sit-coms, with her and Vision as a happily married couple. What starts off as quirky and idyllic rapidly goes downhill as it is revealed that she has really taken over a small town and mentally enslaved its inhabitants, and then the government tries to intervene to stop her. The real villain turns out to be wacky neighbor Agatha Harkness (it was Agatha All Along…), who is out to steal the power of the Scarlet Witch from Wanda. It’s muddled in places, and shies away from what could have been wonderful twists and turns, but once things start going off the rails, the show does pick up nicely.

Werewolf by Night (2022). A one-time special shot in black and white (mostly), it gives us a look into a new aspect of the MCU, where a society of monster hunters gathers to select a new leader. The titular werewolf is there of course, but the star of the show is Man-Thing, who looms over everything. No great world-shattering events happen, but it’s a nice addition and expansion of the MCU.

Luke Cage Season One (2016). Ex-con Luke Cage uses his impenetrable skin to clean up Harlem, including the criminal Cottonmouth. I loved most of this, but thought Cottonmouth was a pretty weak villain who only seemed to be a bad guy because he was a bad guy. I thought the city councilwoman Mariah Dillard was a much better villain, and hope to see more of her.

Ant Man and the Wasp Quantumania (2023). The title characters and family are drawn into the Quantum Realm, which is beautifully brought to life as a completely alien environment. Jonathan Majors (Kang the Conqueror) steals every scene he’s in, and it’s altogether an enjoyable romp. It’s definitely not a perfect film, though; especially in the third act the CGI-heavy film turns into CGI mud at points, and the ending has a deus ex machina twist that makes you wonder why the audience had to wait so long to see it happen. Plus MODOK was just terrible; silly looking and silly behaving; you can forgive the former, because he’s silly looking in the comics, but the latter robs him of any real menace he might have had. Flawed, but still enjoyable.

Iron Man 3 (2013). Suffering PTSD after the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark must fight the Mandarin who is waging a war of terror against the United States. I love the concept of AIM playing both sides off one another, and I thought the Mandarin twist near the end was great (I know I’m in the minority). My review.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (2017). Star Lord meets his father, Ego the Living Planet who then must be stopped before he destroys all life in the galaxy. This is just marvelous, building on the relationships of the first film, and adding greatly to it.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). I REALLY enjoyed this film. It was like a combination of Journey to the West, House of Flying Daggers, and King Lear. The wire-work fights were terrific, the pacing was light-years better than Black Widow, and the theme of family was really well-done. It’s hurt by some third-act problems, but it’s still a very good entry.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Too much contemporary political commentary for my liking, plus the plot suffered from obvious changes to avoid hewing too closely to modern events with a global pandemic, but the interaction between Sam and Bucky more than made up for the shortcomings. Plus Zemo was terrific, and seeing Madripoor was a nice treat.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Artificial Intelligence Ultron is out to destroy the Avengers and help evolution by wiping out humanity. I found Ultron to be a really great villain, and I hope they bring him back someday (just saying that he left one of his robot-selves behind at the Battle of Sokovia would be enough).

Agent Carter Season One (2015). Peggy Carter helps prove Howard Stark’s innocence with the assistance of his butler, Jarvis. I really loved this one; 1946 New York was brilliantly brought to life, and the writing and acting were great.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). 90-pound weakling Steve Rogers is turned into supersoldier Captain America and fights the Red Skull and Hydra during World War 2.

Daredevil Season One (2015). Blind lawyer Matt Murdock fights the villainous Wilson Fisk and ninjas. The writing here is some of the strongest in the MCU, and the choreography of the fight scenes is justly praised.

All Hail the King (2014). A Marvel One-Shot included on the Blu-Ray release of Thor: The Dark World. Trevor Slattery is interviewed in prison following the events of Iron Man 3. The best of the One-Shots, both hilarious and at the same time redeems the Mandarin as a real (non-Trevor Slattery) villain that could be brought into the MCU in the future, showing just how much world-building and MCU-expanding these one-shots can do. And the scene at the end with Justin Hammer is just amazing.

Spider Man: Far From Home (2019). Peter Parker is on a school trip to Europe and Spider-Man must help SHIELD fight against an inter-dimensional peril while managing his burgeoning relationship with MJ. Great overall, with the continuing evolution of the relationships between the characters (even if they all happened to conveniently be “snapped” at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, and they gloss over it). The surprises at the end (including a totally unexpected cameo) are worth the price of admission, but I am still looking forward to the return of Mysterio.

Agents of SHIELD Season Seven (2020). A wild ride of time-travel adventure to wrap up the series as a whole. The writers are really at the top of their game, with stories that aren’t nearly as gonzo crazy as some of the earlier seasons, but entirely entertaining. The entry of Agent Souza from the Agent Carter show was a brilliant move, and they bring up previous plotlines in a very satisfying way as they make their way from the 1920’s to the present day. If they had to ruin the Thanos tie-in at the end of Season 5, this would have been the way to do it.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3 (2023). While I found the choices of music don’t stand up to the first two movies, this one hits the right tone with both the humor and emotional grounding. Almost all the characters are given real arcs, and some of the flashback scenes are positively gut-wrenching in their pathos. A wonderful send-off.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). A bunch of misfits band together to keep Kree renegade Ronin the Accuser from getting an Infinity Stone to Thanos, the Mad Titan. The first true comedy entry in the MCU, it’s the writing and the characters that make this shine. Ronin is so-so as a villain, but certainly better drawn than many. My review.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Asgard is attacked, and Thor and Loki must team up to destroy Hela, but the eccentric Grand Master has other ideas. Bright, colorful, and funny; if this is any indication of the direction of the cosmic side of the MCU going forward, it’s a good sign. My review.

Captain America: Civil War (2016). The Avengers are torn apart by a government plan to require super-heroes to register themselves. The airport battle remains one of the standards by which other fight scenes are measured, and for good reason.

Jessica Jones Season One (2015). Alcoholic superhero-turned-PI Jessica Jones fights Killgrave, a man who can control others’ minds, including hers. This is a really great piece of work, and the psychological angle of Jessica’s trauma from her time with Killgrave is really well-expressed. And he’s just a great villain himself. And dead by the end, of course. Because Marvel.

Luke Cage Season Two (2018). The second season improves on the first in every way, while managing not to have to make the stakes huge while embracing a theme of family that remains meaningful throughout. The crime war in Harlem is fantastically portrayed, and Bushmaster is a terrific foe on a par with Black Panther’s Killmonger, and the villainous Black Mariah is better and more well-rounded than ever. The addition of Danny Rand late in the season actually saved it from the usual “three episodes too long” syndrome that plagues all of the other Netflix shows – in fact his performance here makes me much more sanguine about a new season of Iron Fist.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). The race is on to save Janet Van Dyne (the original Wasp) from the Quantum Realm. Much smaller stakes actually makes this a much better movie; they’re out to save one person, and not the planet or the city. Great humor and impeccable special effects. My review.

Black Panther (2018). The king of high-tech Wakanda must regain his throne from Killmonger, an exile who wants to wage war on the world. Really great world-building and visuals, and another strong villain. Ulysses Klaue as a supporting villain is just superb, too, but his death wastes a potentially great long-term bad guy. My review.

Black Panther Wakanda Forever (2022). Yeah, I’m putting it right above the first one, and Namor is the reason. The Sub-Mariner (although never called by that name) is one of the great protagonists of the MCU (much better than Killmonger, in my opinion), and Talokan is wonderfully realized. It’s not a perfect movie, but it does justice to the Black Panther franchise, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. And the several tributes to Chadwick Boseman (both in-universe and out-) were well-done.

Loki Season One (2021). The timeline variant Loki from Avengers: Endgame gets immediately arrested by the Time Variance Authority, a numbing bureaucracy dedicated to protecting “the sacred timeline” from the ravages of free will creating branches. That Loki is spared, in order to help the TVA capture yet another variant Loki who is wreaking havoc across the timeline. Some of the episodes get a little talky-talky, but on the whole the mystery is well-contrived, I liked the characters, and they are certainly setting things up with the Multiverse for future shows and films. Alligator-Loki and Classic Loki (other variant forms, the latter with a comic-accurate costume!) are a treat, and the surprise appearance of Kang the Conqueror (or at least one of the infinite versions of him) at the end was well-done.

Loki Season Two (2023). Picking up immediately where the last season left off, we see a greater expansion of the mythos of the TVA, more time-travel shenanigans, and a fitting final ending for the God of Mischief. I wish they had done more with Sylvie, but the introduction of Victor Timely was great. There was no real villain throughout, however, and that left it feeling a little unanchored.

Hawkeye Season One (2021). Retired Avenger Hawkeye is in New York City with the kids, and getting ready to celebrate Christmas back home. But then a reminder of his Blip persona, Ronin, surfaces, and he gets caught in an ever-escalating series of chases and fights with the Track Suit Mafia and their mysterious boss, who turns out to be Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin (played by Vincent D’nofrio, reprising the role from Daredevil). In the meantime he gets a new partner/sidekick, Kate Bishop, and has to deal with Yelena Balova (from Black Widow) who’s out to avenge her sister’s death. It’s a fun romp, with a lot of action, some nice misdirects, and the overall theme of bringing closure to both Clint and Yelena from the death of Natasha Romanov. Wonderful stuff, and ties in firmly with several films (including Spider-Man No Way home!).

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). High school nerd deals with his newfound superpowers, while being mentored by Tony Stark. Tom Holland is good, but it’s Michael Keaton’s Vulture who gets the most praise for his easy menace and clear motives. My review.

Avengers: Endgame (2019). The Avengers have been defeated, and now they have to pick up the pieces. Although it features the biggest battles yet, and is a perfect end to all the films that have come before, those battles are just a little too big to properly serve the characters in the way that the airport battle in Captain America Civil War did. Still, it’s an enormously satisfying movie, and rises to unheard-of levels of fan service. Which I say as a good thing.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Absolutely incredible. Doctor Strange and America Chavez travel through the multiverse to stop the villainous Scarlet Witch from destroying everything in order to be with the children that only exist in other universes. It’s bright, and colorful, and there’s tons of cameos that are sure to make Marvel fans squee. If you’ve only seen the trailers, you don’t know what’s coming. My spoiler-free review.

Iron Man (2008). The one that started it all. Kidnapped in Afghanistan, Tony Stark creates a prototype Iron Man suit from scraps. The montage where he’s making the Mark II suit is one of my favorite scenes in the whole MCU.

Daredevil Season Three (2018). Wow. Just wow. After the lackluster performance of Season Two, and a rather ‘meh’ Defenders, Season Three totally blew me away. Wilson Fisk is back, and demonstrates why he’s one of the stand-out characters, let alone villains, in the MCU. Not only is the tension almost unbearable in places (in a good way), there are real surprises which ratchet up the feeling of paranoia, the middle doesn’t sag, and we finally get Matt and Foggy together in a way that they don’t hate each other.

The Avengers (2012). Nick Fury of SHIELD brings together a team of superheroes to fight Loki and regain the powerful alien tesseract. The scenes of them getting to know each other are great, and Loki stands out as one of the great villains of the MCU. Wish they’d stop killing them all the time… My review.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The Mad Titan Thanos is after all six Infinity Stones, and the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and other heroes try to stop him. Just an all-around awesome movie, and a worthy denouement of the whole series up to this point. My review.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). This is THE Spider-Man movie, bringing in both Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield, along with their villains, from five different films, plus wrapping up the plot and characters from the last two MCU Spider-Man films. What should seem bloated is breezy and fast, with wonderful character moments and a moral arc for our Peter Parker that is worthy of the franchise. It also manages to make the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man into a really great character, which I would have thought was impossible. Plus it sets up a whole new era of Peter Parker’s life. My spoilery video review.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). Captain America must fight the super-assassin Winter Soldier, while uncovering a Hydra conspiracy inside SHIELD itself. Tense political thriller mixed with superhero adventure, plus the great reveal that threw the whole MCU on its side. Great stuff. My review.

________

Note: Not included yet are Cloak and Dagger Seasons One (2018), and Two (2019) and Runaways Seasons One (2017-2018) and Two (2018-2019) which I haven’t finished watching yet. Still (as of 2023).