The Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranked

I’ve finally seen Antman, which means that the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two’ has officially concluded, because the world obviously revolves around me. Now that we’ve got a break from the MCU until next May when Captain America: Civil War is released, I thought now would be a great time to synthesise my enjoyment of and fascination with this super-sized chunk of our zeitgeist with my obsession with lists. I’ll leave my fixation with the rapid conventionalisation of Superhero blockbusters to one side, and ignore my preoccupation with the implications of what a Marvel vs. DC universe means for the rest of popcorn cinema, and concentrate directly on ranking the MCU’s current selection purely by their quality (in my opinion).

12. The Incredible Hulk

The film most loosely associated with the MCU – due to, among other things, Edward Norton’s Hulk being replaced by Mark Ruffalo from The Avengers onwards –is also the weakest. There’s nothing especially bad about The Incredible Hulk, there’s just nothing interesting about it. Norton’s fine, but the plot just happens, as do the explosions and the romance. It is the routine origin story everyone’s seen a million times before While Iron Man instilled some enthusiasm and novelty into the Superhero movie, this, released at the same time, was emblematic of how stale the genre had become. It’s so derivative that it almost defies qualification. It just happened.

11. Thor: The Dark World

It is widely agreed that Marvel’s two biggest continuing problems are the depth of their villains, and the banality of their third act cities-attacked-from-the-sky finales. The Dark World is probably the most salient example of both of these. Malekith is stubbornly dry, gratuitously evil, and irredeemably boring, and is in some ways symptomatic of the film itself. Okay, that’s harsh, but this is offshoot stuff. The Asgardian politics is a weak retread of the first film’s, (Loki angst again?) the plot transparently and annoyingly nonsensical – and worse, poorly paced – and the third act showdown is, as mentioned previously immensely uninspired. There are a few witty flourishes and a few spectacular set-pieces, but this was a misstep. Still, like all MCU films, watchable, but a misstep nonetheless.

10. Iron Man 2

Again, the plot doesn’t make much sense, and it’s, bizarrely, much more serious than the first one,but there’s a lot to like in Iron Man 2. While the humour is significantly missed, and the sequel-goes-darker thing is so painfully trite, but Stark’s perpetual crisis of character is at its most poignant here, as he directly confronts his demons from the first film, and it hits home. There’s also a real fraught tension, that there’s stakes on the line here, that Mickey Rourke’s Vanko might actually kill our loveable narcissist. Above all else, it was the first MCU film to seriously suggest the potential ubiquity of this cosmos, with its Black Widow appearance and Avengers initiative intimations.

9. Thor

Branagh’s decision to play up the source material’s inescapable camp – displacing the Norse God and all his overbearing melodrama in a kitchen-sink, naturalistic setting – was intelligent. Not only does it pay off as very funny, but it also paints the concept’s fundamental ridiculousness as congruent. It’s strangely small, with most of the Earth scenes taking place in what is essentially a desert, and there sadly never exists the suspense which compels some of the other franchise exports, but the Asgardian family soap-opera is scintillating, with Hiddlestone’s Loki obviously stealing the show both comically and dramatically, and it all feels like it collectively works, which from an objective standpoint is remarkable. Above all else, it’s just enormous fun.

8. Antman

There are a lot parallels between Thor and Antman; the most blatant being their conceptual absurdity, but also in their slightness. They feel removed from the colossal warfare of their (particularly phase 2) equivalents, to the point where they feel like completely separate genres. While Thor felt like post-modern Shakespeare, Antman is ostensibly a heist-comedy. Like Thor, the fact it pulls off the whole tiny superhero ludicrousness is laudable, thanks largely to its self-awareness, but also to Paul Rudd’s gritty everyman quality. His character is manifestly dissimilar to his Greek God-like colleagues, but his weariness and understated comic value transform him into one of the universe’s most charismatic protagonists. While very funny, perhaps Antman’s greatest, and most unexpected, virtue is its emotional heft, as both father-daughter dynamics are sincerely moving.

7. Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 isn’t perfect. I think its third act is utterly abysmal for instance; from that twist onwards, it basically goes spiralling downhill. But until that point, it’s Marvel at its finest. It felt like it a continuation of The Avengers (where Marvel finally nailed the synergy of comedy, drama and action) with Stark returning to his barbed one-liners and screwball face-pulls of the first film, while reinforcing the sense of deteriorating psychosis and manic tension of the second, while providing some incredible sequences. The terrorism subtext was immensely unsettling, and there’s a real sense of dread and black humour saturating every frame. It’s the darkest MCU film, and, having spent four films investing in this fascinating character, it’s often breathtaking in its ambition. It’s just a real shame about the last half hour. Which is dreadful.

6. Captain America: The First Avenger

On first viewing I was fairly underwhelmed by The First Avenger. But on second viewing I realised that it’s not a superhero film at all. It’s an entertaining man-on-a-mission film with some, and really unanticipated, thematic weight. Captain America is, from a superficial perspective, the most boring Avenger. He appears to be a two-dimensional symbol of American expansionism and jingoism, but Chris Evans injects proper substance into him (as well proper steroids). There’s so much heart to Steve that he’s indefatigably charming, as is Hugo Weaving’s oldschool Red Skull. In fact the whole film feels an endearing blend of old Hollywood action flicks in the vein of The Great Escape with its lighthearted machismo, and the modern blockbuster with its emphasis on bombast. There’s also an authentic confrontation with the horrors of war here that perfectly contrasts with Evans’s exuberant naivety. It’s modest, but surprisingly powerful. Also, the best ending of the franchise. By far.

5. Avengers: Age of Ultron

I loved Age of Ultron. I agree it is flawed; it is overstuffed with too many subplots and characters to the point where actually significant idiosyncratic narratives are almost redundant – Thor’s especially – but the fact that Whedon managed to balance everything without it completely collapsing in on itself is a staggering achievement. On a purely structural basis, it’s one of the biggest films ever made, but Whedon gives each of the (many, many) characters space to breath and develop. The main plot is actually interesting (the insipid the-greatest-monster-is-man conjecture notwithstanding) Furthermore, I think that Loki (obviously) aside, Spader’s Ultron is Marvel’s best villain; it’s believably sociopathic yet magnetic, complex and driven. Ultron’s also, by some distance, the MCU film which provides the greatest sense of mortal anxiety. Whedon foreshadows someone’s death in spades throughout, so that the finale is authentically nail-biting, not to mention jaw-droppingly outstanding. Try biting your nails with your jaw dropped. It’s hard. Not as operationally cohesive as The Avengers, but still immensely rewarding. I’m just happy to see these characters together. To steal from critic Helen O’Hara, I’d happily watch a 2 hour film of them hosting a dinner party.

4. Iron Man

The shot of adrenaline which Superheroes needed, Iron Man remains one of the MCU’s most original (for the time) and entertaining outputs, and probably remains its most interesting. Yes, Iron Man should be applauded for being hilarious, vibrantly fresh, and for establishing the pseudo-realistic tone which has served the MCU so successfully. But it should also be applauded for being a legitimately great character study. Tony Stark’s journey from conceited playboy to altruistic-but-troubled antihero is nuanced, convincing and affecting. Much of that is inevitably down to Robert Downey Jr’s wonderful portrayal of Stark, this being the role which catapulted him back into the cultural consciousness. There is a lot going on behind the scenes in Iron Man, the morality of Westernising the Middle-East, but there’s so much colour on screen you really don’t have to care.

3. Captain America: Winter Soldier

Winter Soldier feel more like a Bourne film than an MCU film, with its emphasis on political intrigue and elaborate treacheries, and brutal, claustrophobic action, but it works bloody well. In a way it cements Cap’s aesthetic as the most realistic of the individual threads, with its emphasis on the difficulty of nationalism and corporate shadiness displacing aliens and crippling self-consciousness. Cap’s still Private Patriot and Major Morality, but this is turned into his own compelling character flaw. He contrasts with the nation he supposedly represents, one motivated by Imperialistic tenacity and security paranoia. The fight scenes are all debilitating, awe-inspiring shaky-cam, intensifying the sense of momentum and importance to the mission, while Cap's quieter moments with Black Widow and Falcon are honestly very sweet. It could have been even further up the list if it had stuck to its guns as a Cold War-esque conspiracy thriller, rather than regressing into the deja vu sky-attack showdown. Winter Soldier is by turns exhilarating, bravely thought-provoking, and occasionally heartfelt. The first truly great, five-star standalone MCU film.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

I saw somewhere call Guardians of the Galaxy analogous to the incalculably iconic escapist adventure that Star Wars and Lord of the Rings was to previous generations, and I think I agree. The central strength of Guardians is that, both with myself and with most people discuss it with, it’s practically impossible to choose a favourite character. Whether it’s Starlord’s charisma, Gamora’s no-nonsenseness, Rocket’s snarkiness,  Groot’s one-liner (see what I did there), or Drax’s wonderful, wonderful literalism, these are a group of rag-tag miscreants you actually love and care about. The action scenes are clever and thrilling, the world itself is well-realised, it’s at times deeply heart-breaking, and it’s definitively the funniest MCU film. And, of course, what a soundtrack. There’s nothing really below the surface but who cares when you’re spending your two hours swamped in delight and whimsy and excitement and charm. Simply one of the most purely enjoyable blockbusters ever made.

1    1. The Avengers

I wasn’t really into the MCU before The Avengers came out in 2012, and even then I went to see it because I creepily lionise Joss Whedon more than anything else. It honestly blew me away. It was profoundly entertaining. Whether it was the gargantuan set-pieces, or the intricate subtleties to the character dynamics, it was cinematic joy. It felt both huge in scope and ambition, yet retained the decisive attention to detail in its character and plot development. There was a calculated sense of urgency and tension, but also an unbridled appreciation for fun. Nowhere is this better embodied than in the two-scene intercut of Captain America desperately defending a host of women and children, while the Hulk tosses about a Norse god like a ragdoll. It flicked between grandstanding awe and magical entertainment with a momentary edit. The Avengers tied everything together and completely immersed you in its world. It was action, comedy and drama perfected. It finished Phase One, and announced with an emphatic roar that the MCU will be one of the major historical landmarks of modern cinema. For me, it stands up there with Jaws, Back to the Future, The Dark Knight, Jurassic Park, Aliens and Raiders of the Lost Ark, as one of the truly brilliant Summer Blockbusters.