My Marvel Movie Ranking | Pre-Avengers: Endgame

Guys, my brother and I are so hyped for Endgame. It’s not even funny.

I bought tickets an hour after they started selling them before going to class.

I plan on driving the hour home on Thursday to watch it with my brother before driving back to my dorm on Friday.

I am that person.

I would watch it on my own in Athens without driving back, but I always watch them with my brother. Last year, before Infinity War, my brother and I rewatched every single MCU movie. It was a blast! I decided to do this again on my own because there will never be another reason to watch all of them in a short span of time again.  Plus, I could write a blog post out of it. Win-Win!

I’m gonna be real with you, it wasn’t as fun as last year. That’s mostly because I had watched them all so recently; not because it was for writing. This blog post actually justified my procrastination because it turned watching superhero movies into a productive use of my time. (I literally used post-it notes to rank them as I watched them and meticulously thought about why I was ranking each one the way I did)

Anyway, this ranking is based on a lot of things: nostalgia, storytelling, character development, fight scenes…, so it’s not just my opinions, but take it with a grain of salt. This just seems like a fun post to look back on.

Let’s get into it!

(P.S. This ranking only includes MCU movies since 2008. There are many other Marvel movies and it would take way to long to rank them all).

And also, SPOILER WARNING. I’m just going to be ranting for the next couple thousand words.

Disclaimer – Movie descriptions are from IMDB


21.//Thor

“The powerful, but arrogant god Thor, is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.”

Image Source

When I watched this for the first time, it was fine. Not my favorite, but not terrible. But Lord, I was so bored watching it this year. Thor is such a cool character in the Avengers movies, but his first stand-alones aren’t that great.

First off, I do like all the side characters. I wish Natalie Portman hadn’t left the MCU, but I’m pretty sure my excitement about her being in this movie stemmed from Star Wars. Loki’s character development is the only good thing in the movie and makes Thor’s character development seem subpar. But then they screw the whole thing up because Loki’s actions in future movies make absolutely NO SENSE.

There was a reason he would’ve made a better king than Thor in the first movie. He genuinely cared, and studied for and trained to be a good king, which makes his actions before Ragnarok all the more surprising. In the first movie, he didn’t want to be a figurehead like Thor, but suddenly decided to sit back and watch plays about himself after Dark World as the nine realms fell into ruin?

Aside from that huge OOC development, the movie is just pretty boring. It didn’t feel as boring when I watched it last year but that’s because I hadn’t watched it since middle school and even then it wasn’t in my top fifteen.

20.//Iron Man 2

Image Source

“With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father’s legacy.”

I feel kind of bad putting this one so low because Black Widow was introduced in this movie and she’s one of my favorite superheroes. I think it was mostly the fight scenes that made this movie rank so low. I loved the beginning where Tony is fighting against the government trying to obtain his suits. All the arguments made sense and Tony was so funny.

The thing is that the villain was meh and the fight scenes were even worse. Part of it could be chalked up to the special effects at the time, but Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk had way better special effects than this movie. The plot was also kidn of generic. The movie was fine but not great.

19.//Guardians of the Galaxy

Image Source

“A group of intergalactic criminals must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.”

I know many people who actively hate on this movie, but I’m not one of them. I actually really like the Guardians as characters and loved them in Infinity War. It’s just that I don’t like their movies as much as other MCU movies. I think it’s the humor. This is a movie that was meant to be funny that I don’t find very funny. I really like the story, but it could’ve been executed better. My brother has a completely different opinion. He thinks these movies are hilarious and they’re in his top five.

I will say though that this was my favorite Guardians movie up until I rewatched them both this year. I thought the second one was stupid and silly and liked the story in this one better. There’s a lot more relevant backstory, but now that I’ve watched them back to back, this one isn’t as entertaining. I would still watch it again. Just not for another few years.

(Also, unpopular opinion, but I like adult Groot more than teenage and baby Groot)

18.//Thor: The Dark World

Image Source

“When Dr. Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful entity known as the Aether, Thor is heralded of the cosmic event known as the Convergence and the genocidal Dark Elves.”

I thought this was my least favorite Marvel movie, but after watching the original Thor, this movie is not that bad. It’s actually super entertaining. Thor is another character who was cooler in the Avengers movies than in his own movies (until Ragnarok), so this could’ve been a lot worse than it was. I actually enjoyed it the whole way through this time. The characters were great, we got to see more of Asgard, and there were quite a few laughs.

I loved the part where Loki turned into Captain America. I saw a twitter post recently that said Chris Evans acted so well in that scene that we forgot that it wasn’t Tom Hiddleston playing Loki. It’s so true! I remember not thinking of that the first time I watched it.

I also think the plot was better in this one than the original movie. The science/magic was cool. Jane, Darcy, Eric, and the new assistant Ian had a much bigger role in this one. Overall, I liked the movie, which is funny since I disliked it the first time I watched it.

17.//Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2

Image Source

“The Guardians struggle to keep together as a team while dealing with their personal family issues, notably Star-Lord’s encounter with his father the ambitious celestial being Ego.”

I didn’t like this movie as much the first time. I preferred the serious tone of the first one compared to the slaphappy humor in volume 2. Drax went from a tragic character mourning the death of his wife and daughter to a bumbling idiot. He already made the movie funny by not understanding sarcasm and taking things literally. They didn’t need to make him ask dumb questions and laugh at inappropriate times for him to be a funny character.

In fact, the character development in this movie for everyone was out of sorts. In a lot of ways, they seemed like completely different people.

Even so, the movie was pretty entertaining. I loved the scene between Gamora and Nebula, where Nebula is trying to kill her sister, but Gamora saves them. Then we hear about how Thanos tortured both of them and how he would cut off pieces of Nebula and replace them with metal every time she lost a battle. It was a very emotional scene and added a lot to their characters and further developed their relationship with Thanos in Infinity War.

The relationship between Yondu and Peter was sweet but seemed out of nowhere. I wish they had shown more of that in the first movie because it would’ve made Yondu’s death more emotional.

Overall, it was fine. I keep thinking of the part where they all leave Rocket to watch Gamora while the rest of the Guardians go with Ego, and Nebula says, “You’re leaving me with him?!” and now they’re the only Guardians left post snap 🙁

16.//The Incredible Hulk

Image Source

Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into, whenever he loses his temper.

Even though I love Mark Ruffalo, I don’t think he could’ve pulled this movie off the way Edward Norton did. I can’t imagine him running and jumping off of buildings as Bruce Banner.

Because there have been Hulk movies before, the MCU decided not to do his origin story. The beginning credits show a montage of how Bruce Banner became the Hulk then we jump to two years later and see Banner in hiding from the U.S. government in Brazil working in a factory.

I actually love the trope of hiding from the government and trying to get things done without being caught, as you will see in later rankings. We already know that Bruce doesn’t find a cure for the Hulk at the end of the movie because he has to go on and become an Avenger, but the plot was really good. The main villain was fine and forgettable, but Thunderbolt Ross continued to be an antagonist in future movies.

I also love that we don’t hear Bruce speak English until we’re thirty minutes into the movie. I didn’t even notice that he had been speaking Portuguese and Spanish the whole time until I heard his American accent later on. I thought that was cool.

Overall, this is an underrated movie. The special effects were pretty good for the time this movie was made and I loved watching Bruce Banner run from the government.

15.//Doctor Strange

Image Source

While on a journey of physical and spiritual healing, a brilliant neurosurgeon is drawn into the world of the mystic arts.

I know that people love this movie a lot, but I have a question for you. Would you think it would be good if Benedict Cumberbatch wasn’t the main character? I love Sherlock and was excited to see him in the MCU, but this is not my favorite movie. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Doctor Strange in Infinity War and the special effects in this movie were absolutely amazing. Marvel was very creative in the way they went about this, but I just didn’t like the plot that much.

For one, half the movie is exposition. Literally. I checked. Origin stories themselves are a form of exposition, but they at least have their own plots. This movie doesn’t introduce the main plot until we’re an hour into the movie. It made sense considering the narrative, but that made this movie rank lower for me.

It also didn’t feel like a superhero movie. When I’m in the mood to watch a superhero movie, this doesn’t come to mind. The first hour felt kind of like magical Karate Kid.

I’m making it sound like I don’t like the movie. I really do. It’s just that I like other MCU movies better. Though, I genuinely can’t get that mirror dimension fight in New York out of my head. That was honestly one of the most creative special effects fights I’ve ever seen.

Also, this movie proves that the time stone can bring people back from the dead because Wong was killed in the Doctor Strange movie and was brought back to life without any cosmic consequences. This could work for Gamora, Loki, and Vision (the people who actually died). I’m pretty sure the snap put everyone in the soul stone or in an alternate dimension, and I don’t really count those as deaths, anyway.

14.//Iron Man

Image Source

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.

Aaah…the one that started it all. I’m going to be honest, Iron Man isn’t my favorite superhero. Tony Stark is an amazingly complex character, but he’s not my favorite. This movie was really interesting and I liked the plot. It’s a bit slow and hasn’t aged very well, but I think it still holds up.

My biggest problem with it is that it’s pretty racist, which is understandable considering the time this movie came out (before Osama Bin Laden’s assassination), but that doesn’t make it okay.

13.//Iron Man 3

When Tony Stark’s world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.

I thought that this was going to be my least favorite Iron Man movie judging by reviews, but it was actually my favorite. I loved seeing Tony deal with the PTSD after the attack on New York. I know that people found that boring, but I thought it added a lot to his character. I really enjoyed hearing Stark narrate the story and see everything come together, full circle (and the end credit scene showing that the entire movie was just him telling the story to Bruce in Avengers Tower made me laugh so hard)

Image Source

Pepper and Rhody absolutely shined in this film.  I loved the part at the end where Tony and Rhody were at the oil plant and Tony can’t shoot a gun worth his fortune but Rhodes is getting each target every time. There’s a part where Tony says no one can shoot the light down at that angle, but Rhodes shoots it down in one shot. It was really funny.

Pepper was also a much less passive character in this movie. I hope they use her more in Endgame.

Also, did you know that Pepper Potts isn’t her name? It’s actually Virginia Potts. Pepper is a nickname.

12.//Ant Man

Image Source

Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

I’m super excited to see Ant-Man in Endgame. He deserves more love than he gets.

I enjoyed that this superhero movie is also a heist film. It didn’t follow the traditional superhero formula. I liked the dynamics among all the characters and the humor sprinkled here and there. If the movie had a better villain, this film could have been ranked higher.

My friend watched this for the first time at my house a few weeks ago and had never realized that some ants can fly. She thought I was messing with her when I said it was true and not something the movie made up.

11.//Spider-Man: Homecoming

Image Source

Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.

I didn’t watch this film until after Infinity War. It was the only move I kept off my list because I vowed never to watch another Spider-Man movie unless he was black. I’m too loyal to the original Tobey Maguire ones. Those were amazing superhero movies back when superhero movies sucked.

Anyway, I avoided both the Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland Spider-Mans up until last year when I found out they were finally making the Miles Morales Spider-Man. My brother also pestered me about it for months before I relented.

I watched both of the newer Spider-Mans at around the same time, and I have to say that I like them both. But I think that’s a testament to the fact that Spider-Man is my childhood favorite superhero, both in the T.V show and comics, not them being better than the original movies.

I don’t like that the MCU reduced him into a sidekick type character because he’s supposed to be around the same age as Captain America and Iron Man. They were on a level playing field and Spider-Man has always been a much stronger superhero than them (hence the many movies).

For me, this film felt like a high school movie, not a superhero movie. It was really funny and I laughed way more watching this film compared to Guardians, but it just didn’t feel big enough. Don’t get me wrong it’s a good film, but it messed up the entire MCU timeline (It takes place two months after the civil war which came out in 2017, five years after The Avengers, but Homecoming said it was 8 years later, while every other movie had been stating years following the movie release timelines).

I liked it significantly more watching it a second time. The villain in this movie was amazing. He was well-developed and his actions made sense. There were a lot of things that I didn’t notice the first time, like the fact that Tony sold Avengers Tower after the civil war. It affected the course of the movie, but that information didn’t register with me. I brought it up to a few of my friends and they hadn’t noticed that either. It’s kind of sad when you think about it. Tony moves to the compound because half the Avengers are in hiding and two of the original Avengers are missing. He was the only one left.

I also don’t like that Tony designed Peter’s suit. Peter Parker is supposed to be this genius physicist fully capable of making his own suit. I also don’t like that this Spider-Man makes his own web fluid. It’s supposed to come out of his wrists. Why would he call himself Spider-Man if it weren’t for his web powers? Sure, he knows he got the powers from getting bitten by a spider, but his only natural powers in this one is that he can climb walls and is stronger. He doesn’t even have spider-sense, but they randomly tapped it on in Infinity War.

Whatever. It’s a good movie and I genuinely do enjoy it. I just like the other Spider-Man movies more.

10.//Captain Marvel

Image Source

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

I had very low expectations for this movie, but it somehow managed to be in my Top 10. I’ll start with the things that I didn’t like in this movie and end with the positives. For one, I thought she was overpowered. Fight scenes are one of my favorite parts of superhero movies and the final battle felt underwhelming. Hawkeye and Black Widow have had much more entertaining fight scenes than the ones in this film. Marvel got their point across by showing she’s powerful, but the ending felt anticlimactic.

Now to the good stuff. It was great seeing Coulson and Fury as young S.H.I.E.L.D agents. I loved how well thought out the plot was. I loved the thing with Carol’s dog tags and how she was called “Vers” for the first half of the movie because that part of her dog tag was all that survived the explosion. I enjoyed how everything came together in end, but my brother and I were extremely mad about the tesseract suddenly appearing because it messed with the timeline of Captain America: The First Avengerbut we realized that Mar Vel probably got it from Howard Stark after he retrieved it from the ocean looking for Steve, instead of the Tesseract being passed down to Fury through S.H.I.E.L.D. (But it seems a bit more farfetched and more complicated than it needs to be.)

I loved that the entire movie was full circle. Marvel took a big risk introducing a whole new superhero less than 90 days before the release of the finale, but I think they did a good job. I love that Captain Marvel is relevant to the Avengers and can’t wait to see her interact with the team (because I usually end up liking characters more in the group movies than in the stand-alone ones).

Here’s My Spoiler Free Review via. Her Campus Captain Marvel: Spoiler-Free Movie Review

Also, I forgot to mention this. My brother Zidan and I were talking before the movie, and I said, wouldn’t it be funny if Fury didn’t really lose his eye and he just pretended it was gone. Well, I was absolutely right, and it was really just a scratch. We thought it was so hilarious until I watched Winter Soldier a few weeks later and called my brother over to see a very significant scene.

Fury freakin’ took off his eye patch five years ago and showed us his eye was still there!!! It was a plot point in the movie and everyone forgot about it! For those of you who don’t remember, in order to release S.H.I.E.L.D’s files, they needed two scans from two different agents and the villain had removed Fury’s retina scan after his alleged death. Then Fury said he should’ve kept “both eyes open” and took off his eye patch to show his eye.

So all of us who were excited about seeing Fury lose an eye were idiots because he never lost his eye to begin with. We were told this back in 2014.

9.//Captain America: The First Avenger

Image Source

Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a “Super-Soldier serum”. But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a war monger and a terrorist organization.

This film holds a lot of nostalgia for me because I’m pretty sure it’s the first MCU  movie I ever watched (It also played on T.V a lot more than the other ones). Many people write this movie off as boring because it takes place in the past, but historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I really enjoyed that aspect of the movie.

It’s also the slowest of the Captain America trilogy, but I think it the start of a lot of character development for future movies. The movie is sweet and emotional. It has its slow moments and the villain could be better, but I think it’s a solid first movie considering the time it was made.

8.//The Avengers

Image Source

Earth’s mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.

I remember talking about this movie back in middle school (though my friends and I became more hardcore fans in high school) and about the future MCU timeline already.

This movie is obviously amazing and is the one that started it all. It was the crossover event of the year, but it’s my least favorite Avengers movie. It sets up a lot for future movies and it was great seeing the characters interact, but I prefer the sequels because they’d already known each other for years and have the friendly banter that comes with that. I also don’t think this movie has aged very well. There are some old movies that can stand the test of time, but I don’t think this is one of them.

It still made it into my number eight slot because there are multiple character interactions and the setup is relevant for future films, but I think it’s so high on this list for nostalgia’s sake.

7.//Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Image Source

As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.

I didn’t really love this movie the first time I watched it but like it more and more every time I rewatch it. I think this will end up climbing up my list in a few years. The plot was a bit confusing the first time I watched it, but I appreciate the intricacies now that I’ve watched it a few more times. I also didn’t like Captain America that much back then, but now he’s one of my favorite Avengers thanks to a lot of character development in other movies (including this one). The part with Peggy Carter was the closest I’ve ever come to crying in a Marvel movie (yes, including Infinity War)

Another reason why this movie has climbed up is that it showcases my two favorite Avengers: Black Widow and Captain America. This movie was the first time we saw any of them team up after the first Avengers movie, and I loved their friendship (And I ship them now because of their dynamic in the movies and because of the comics). Black Widow is an intriguing character and this is the closest thing we’ve come to a Black Widow movie so far. I liked that she wasn’t just a love interest in the movie. She was an essential character and his superhero partner.

The action in this movie was phenomenal. The pacing was great. As I mentioned before, I like the trope of main characters being on the run from the government, which is apparent in other films mentioned on this list like The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man & The Wasp, etc. I think it’s a cool undertone when the characters don’t have a lot of help or can’t fix many of their problems with money like in the Iron Man trilogy.

I think the only reason this didn’t rank higher is that it wasn’t funny. It wasn’t meant to be funny, but if it was, I think it would have made it into my top five.

6.//Thor: Ragnarok

Image Source

Thor is imprisoned on the planet Sakaar, and must race against time to return to Asgard and stop Ragnarök, the destruction of his world, at the hands of the powerful and ruthless villain Hela.

Considering Thor is my least favorite MCU movie, this film was a surprise. I loved it so much and have rewatched it many times since it came out. I really like it when they bring other Marvel characters into stand-alone movies because the camaraderie just makes the films better to me. The part with Dr.Strange makes me laugh every time and the Hulk made this movie for me. I would not have loved it as much if he weren’t a main character. I’m also really excited about Valkyrie coming back in Avengers: Endgame because even though she wasn’t my favorite character in the movie, I love it when characters crossover. It just makes it more fun.

Here’s is something I’ve only noticed in my recent rewatch. There’s a part where Thor and Loki are in New York looking for Odin and these girls came up to take a selfie with Thor. Afterward, one of the girls said, “Sorry Jane dumped you.” For one, why do random civilians know this? The last time we saw Thor on Earth, he was gushing about Jane at the dinner party before Ultron attacked. This point didn’t bother me that much because it made sense for Marvel to put this information out there and move on since Natalie Portman had left the MCU. I never gave it a second thought.

That is until I watched this movie in Florida with my cousin and he and I had just been talking about Civil War and I thought, “Why didn’t she say, ‘Sorry the Avengers BROKE Up’ (!!!)” That seems so much more relevant for the public to know than Thor’s relationship status. And when did this breakup happen because in Civil War, they hadn’t seen or heard any account of Thor in two years?

Whatever. Small complaints. This movie was funny as hell and I’d rewatch it any day. The pacing is a bit jarring but easy to get used to.

5.//Avengers: Age of Ultron

Image Source

When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it’s up to Earth’s mightiest heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plan.

Many people don’t think this lived up to the hype around it, but I liked it way more than the first Avengers movie. For one, the characters had known each other for years at that point and their stronger friendship made the dialogue that much better. And at that point, we can assume that they had fought many other battles together before Ultron because the Avengers had been an established entity for a long enough time for citizens to protest them being in their country.

I also thought the plot was good. Even though Tony and Bruce were the ones who built the villain, he was a damn good villain. He was powerful enough to put up a good fight, which made the fight scenes amazing. The pacing of the movie was well done, with both fast and slow moments. It didn’t pass by too fast and it set up a lot of plotlines for future movies.

I honestly just love the scenes of the characters interacting and fighting together. If the entire movie was the penthouse party scene at the beginning of the film, I would have been perfectly fine with it.

Also, I think that the romance between Banner and Black Widow was sweet and kind of out of left field. I don’t think it’ll go anywhere because I doubt Natasha would wait for him for three years, but we’ll see. And I ship her with Cap because of the comics and I like their friendship better and her friendship with Clint seems more platonic (but the trailers are giving me weird vibes since he’s MARRIED), but I’d also be happy if they stopped pairing her with people and she was just a character. (I also really liked Betty Ross with Bruce Banner).

4.//Ant Man & The Wasp

As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pympresent an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.

Image Source

This movie had a tough job following Infinity War, but it ended up being one of my favorite Marvel movies. It was funny, the plot was interesting, the villains were great, and even though it was a small scale mission (no pun intended) they made it even more entertaining than some of the “stop a fancy villain from taking over the world” heroics we’ve seen before.

I think Ghost was a phenomenal antagonist, I definitely understand the argument that most of the problems could have been solved if they work together. The thing is that you can use that argument for other superhero movies, and Ghost had reasons for not wanting to work with them. She was tortured and turned into an assassin for S.H.I.E.L.D and had to go into hiding after it fell. She wasn’t going to trust the man who made the technology that killed her parents and made her cells tear apart and come back together every second. I think all her reasonings were understandable, which made her an amazing and sympathetic antagonist.

I also really love that we got to watch the FBI chase Scott down. I think this movie showed the effects the Civil War had on everyone and that it didn’t just have an impact on its own movie. Infinity War showed us that Steve, Natasha, Wanda, and Sam had to go into hiding, but only told us that Scott and Clint took a plea deal. This movie showed us what the plea deal was and it shows us what both characters had been up to for the past two years. When Hope took Scott out his house three days before he was supposed to be released, it added a whole other layer to the plot and made the chase scenes far more entertaining.

I could honestly talk about way more (like Luis and Scott’s other friends), but I’ll end by talking about the mid-credit scene. Everyone in the theatre yelled out. It was awesome. And when Marvel wrote Ant-Man & The Wasp will return “question mark” (!!!), what was that?! Obviously, we know that Scott is alive thanks to the trailers, but there were a few months of confusion and worry.

I know I said that that was my last point, but I just want to say that I love The Wasp. I didn’t like Hope’s character as much in the first movie, but I loved her in this one. She knew what she was doing and her fight scenes were some of the best ones.

3.//Black Panther

Image Source

T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.

Do I need to explain why this movie is in my top 3? There’s a reason it won an Oscar. The plot was interesting, the movie was well-paced, it was easy to empathize with the villain, and the world-building was phenomenal. This movie has only been out for over a year, but I’m sure it’s going to become a classic within a decade.

It’s also not a good movie simply because it’s diverse. It’s a good movie because it’s a good movie.

I watched this movie in theatres during my trip to Canada last year, and I had high expectations since my nephew had watched it and raved about it to me. It lived up to the hype and a lot of movies don’t do that. I personally didn’t like T’Challa’s character in Civil War, but really liked him in this one. His personality was different from other superhero’s (to quote Honest Trailers, he doesn’t quip) and it was quite refreshing (but not Deadpool refreshing).

Anyway, I don’t know how to end this paragraph. It was a great movie. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said already.

2.//Avengers Infinity War

Image Source

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

This movie has only been out for a year, and I’ve watched it, in its entirety, 6 times. Yes, I know. It’s a lot. I watched it with my brother three times, with friends twice, and once on my own. What can I say, it’s a good movie!

They wasted absolutely no time on exposition. They jumped right into the action because most fans already know who everyone is. We don’t need to spend thirty minutes establishing their powers and backstories.

I was never bored (even during the many rewatches). I loved how all the characters came together and the groups they were divided into. The banter was so funny, but there were also a lot of sad moments. I have no complaints about it. I wish some characters got more screen time, but it makes sense that they didn’t because there was a huge cast and they’ll have lines in the next movie.

Actually, I do have one complaint. I think they killed the wrong people. I’m going more into spoiler territory now (not that I haven’t been talking in spoilers already. You were warned), but I think they should have killed either Captain America or Iron Man. I would have been devastated if that happened, but the deaths would have seemed real because I knew that the actors’ contracts had ended. A lot of the people they killed have confirmed sequels (Hell, the trailers for one of them are already out), so their deaths didn’t really mean anything. They did kill Loki, Heimdall, Vision, and Gamora before the snap, so four real deaths is still a high number for the MCU, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to bring three of the four back because let’s be real, Loki isn’t dead. Disney is making a show about him for the streaming service.

1.//Captain America: Civil War

Image Source

Political involvement in the Avengers’ affairs causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.

Aah, yes. Now onto my favorite one. Honestly, I almost put Infinity War as my favorite, but it didn’t have enough slow moments. It was more of a culmination of a lot of films. It was AMAZING, but Civil War is still my favorite.

For starters, it’s basically an Avengers movie. I’ve already said that I like it when multiple characters come together, and this is a good example of that. I love politics in books, and I think Marvel did a good job inserting it into the series. I could understand everyone’s point of view and could empathize with what all the characters were going through. This is a movie I like the more I watch it because I can catch small things that make the movie better for me  (like the news mentioning Wanda not being a U.S citizen and what grounds she has to operate as an Avenger. Little details like that make the plot so much more complex).

All of the fight scenes were amazing from the first one in Lagos, Nigeria to the final one among Iron Man, Cap, and Bucky. None of them felt underwhelming and kept building on previous ones. I love that this movie had lasting stakes in the MCU and affected future movies. Plus it has my favorite trope of running from the government. What can I say? I like it when characters don’t have it too easy.

Anyway, I had so much to say about this movie, but I’ve already surpassed 6000 words and I would like to publish it at least a week before Endgame comes out, so I’ll stop here. Civil War just my favorite MCU movie because it has a complex plot, gives my favorite characters a lot of screen time, and makes me laugh. (Plus this movie was made back when Marvel villains sucked, so having them fight each other was quite refreshing)



Well, that was a doozy! There is exactly one week before I watch Avengers: Endgame and I’m already reeling with excitement. I hope you all enjoyed and comment on your favorite and least favorite Marvel movies below.  I genuinely want to know, so comment!

I’d Appreciate Your Support Of This Blog By Following Me On:

What are your top 5 favorite Marvel movies? What is your least favorite Marvel Movie? Which MCU movies haven’t you watched?

One thought on “My Marvel Movie Ranking | Pre-Avengers: Endgame

  1. I love this post so much! You’ve got a pretty great order going on so far. I couldn’t actually read your reasoning for Captain Marvel because I haven’t seen it yet so that’s the only one that I’m not entirely sure whether or not I agree with you.

    But for the most part, I agree with you. Doctor Strange I felt was especially accurate because as much as I fan girl for that movie, it’s mostly because it’s Benedict Cumberbatch as the protagonist and not because it was an incredibly high quality movie. Thor: The Dark World also felt deserving of its position lower in the list. When I first watched it, I probaby would have put it higher on the list but after watching it several times, it isn’t quite as great as the rest.

    Personally, I would have put Guardians of the Galaxy at 21, switching it out for Thor. I really hated this move (yes, I am one of *those* people). I didn’t think it was particularly funny movie nor did I think the characters were well developed. The humor felt like a Deadpool prototype and it flopped. I definitely preferred Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by comparison and it still isn’t my favorite movie. To be quite honest, I’m not really a huge fan of the Guardians in any of the movies. Except Gamora, she’s pretty great.

    I don’t really agree with Captain America: Civil War being the best movie either. Personally, I think Infinity War would get first, Black Panther would be bumped up to second, and then Civil War. I liked Civil War a lot and it’s objectiviely a phenomenal movie. But I enjoyed the fight scenes and the dynamics much more in Infinity War than I did in Civil War. And, personally, I really liked that there weren’t a ton of slow moments in Infinity War; jam-packed action movies are my personal favorite types of movies Plus, I didn’t go into Infinity War with any knowledge of whose contracts were up or any of that, so their deaths were shocking and impactful in such amazing ways.
    .
    Black Panther alos beats out Civil War because I loved the characters and their development so much more in Black Panther than I did in Civil War. Also, the fight scenes and all of the tech was so much more impactful and interestig to me. And while the diversity doesn’t make it a good movie, it gives so many bonus points in my book.

    Otherwise, I felt like you were pretty spot on in your ranking. And I have to give it to Marvel, they have consistently been stepping up their game with character development through the years – except Loki. I really agreed with you about Loki feeling like acted out of character in Ragnarok, almost like they forgot that he had a genuine reasoning for his actions in Thor that I don’t think he would have forgotten.

    Aside from that, Marvel has pretty consistently come out with amazing plots and characters for almost every one of their movies. And they have, as of late, really specialized in making villians who don’t exist in this realm of evil for evil’s sake. They’ve had relatable struggles and have become fully fledged characters who we can sympathize/empathize with. Add that to the fact that we’re getting more fleshed out protagonists and we’ve got an amazing series on our hands!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *