MY TOP 50 FAVORITE MCU PROJECTS
This post is written without consideration for ongoing 2025 MCU releases such as Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again, Thunderbolts*, Iron Heart, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Wonder Man, which were (and will continue to be) released after I began devising this list. Enjoy!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 1 – Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame
Is there really any other choice? While it does help to have context going in (which means watching 20 other Marvel Studios movies), with that context, you just can’t top the magic that was seeing the original six Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye) mingle with the likes of Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and The Guardians of the Galaxy! It was movie magic in its purest and most awesome form! Throw in Thanos and a stunning cliffhanger, and it’s the stuff of legend! There are SO many great MCU projects, but to this day, I can’t think of a better way to spend six hours of movie-watching as a Marvel fan than to watch these films back-to-back and revel in the drama, the action, the comedy, and the tragedy. The Snap will long live as one of the single most shocking moments in Cinema and the villainy of Josh Brolin’s Thanos has yet to be topped within the genre; second only to the heroism of the aforementioned original Avengers, whose respective cinematic journeys made each triumph and each sacrifice all the more emotional and meaningful. Six years later, the MCU lingers in the shadows of the extraordinary character arcs of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark / Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers / Captain America, and the uneasy yet heroic chemistry between each. Tony and Pepper and Morgan. Steve and Peggy. Part of the journey is the end, and the end was beautifully inspiring both in how it paid tribute to what came before and how it paved the road for what was to come. Everyone from fans to the Marvel Studios team understandably wants to see it topped, and recent steps have been made to bring back several key players in an effort to do just that, but realistically, this may have been the peak. These films work too well together to truly separate them and emphatically say which is better. From Thanos confronting Thor and Loki, to Iron Man and Spider-Man chasing Doctor Strange to Space, to Thor meeting The Guardians of the Galaxy, to the death of Gamora, to Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange meeting Star-Lord, Mantis, and Drax, to the Battle of Wakanda, and on to the Snap, Infinity War packs an emotional punch for sure, but said punch is strengthened by the follow-up that sees the original (and greatly changed) Avengers (torn apart by a previous Civil War) reunite to embark upon a journey through time with key additions such as Ant-Man, Rocket, Nebula, and Rhodey in an effort to undo their greatest failure and restore the world they love and the beloved Vanished who comprised it. This was a story that was 10-years in the making and so much attention to detail went in to pulling it off … it felt flawless then, and it feels timeless now.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 3 – Loki: Season One / Loki: Season Two
The Multiverse Saga has been sort of a mess as far as narrative and mythology on-screen and casting off-screen, but Loki was and is one of the projects that got it right. Its only real flaw is one that may yet be remedied, and that is the inconsistency in the presentation of how the Multiverse does / doesn’t work. Loki, however, has done the best job of at least trying to lay all of that out in an understanding way, convoluted though it may be, and it, more than any other Multiverse Saga project, best utilized the concept to entertain, provoke thought, and introduce riveting characters. Morbius, Sylvie, Miss Minutes, He Who Remains, and Victor Timely top the list, but let’s not forget Classic Loki, Alligator Loki, President Loki, Hunter B-15, Ravonna Renslayer, and Ouroboros! The TVA, with its many technological devices, its Time Loops, and its rather cruel pruning practices was presented in an extraordinarily compelling way, and you at times root for them and at others hate them, and it all flows together and changes from moment-to-moment. He Who Remains? Sometimes you feel He’s absolutely right, and at others you fell He’s repulsively wrong, but you are intrigued either way while trying to deduce how much of what he is espousing is true, and how much is bullshit? Such is the nature with dogma, and personally, I really love the way this show juggles the concept of a Higher Power prohibiting free will in the name of good and how that affects the geometry of belief. One can’t have free will and predestination and this show flaunts that while forcing the viewer to decide which one is the lesser evil! Preventing a new Multiversal War was the sole mission of He Who Remains (or, so he claimed, anyway) and while unforeseen and unfortunate events behind the scenes may prevent us from ever knowing how Kang’s whole story would have played out, these two Seasons of Loki, which complement each other almost perfectly (Loki and Sylvie’s lack of romantic flame in Season Two is an admitted hiccup) will forever stand as an important and influential piece of MCU lore that took the Loki character to several new and exciting places while entertaining millions of viewers, not through a series of loud explosions or elaborate special effects, but through dialogue, drama, scientific theory, a degree of theological debate, and human psychology.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 5 – Spider-Man: No Way Home
The 20-year cinematic history of Spider-Man was celebrated at the end of 2021 with this sensational motion picture produced by Marvel Studios with Sony Pictures! I can still remember the buzz that this film generated during the Pandemic with the rumors of heroes and villains of Spider-Man films of yesteryear somehow joining the cast of characters we’d been following in the MCU since 2016 when Tom Holland’s Peter Parker debuted in Captain America: Civil War. The notion of Holland sharing the screen with Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker in addition to past villains like Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius was so very exciting! No one really knew how or why it would work, but we knew we were in The Multiverse Saga, and we knew it sounded awesome, so most of us were all in! Somehow, every rumor proved true, and the movie made enough narrative sense to pull everything together, and at the end of the day, all of the nostalgia combined with the movie-making magic of Marvel Studios to culminate in a fun, emotional, and thrilling motion picture that left most fans extremely satisfied. For my money, few MCU scenes pack the emotional gut punch of Aunt May’s death and my god, was Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin memorable as a cruel, violent, psychotic villain. This was the first MCU film that I watched in a theater since Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, and maybe it was a perfect storm with all of the nostalgia and the emotion of getting back to normal after COVID, or maybe it really was that good, but whatever the case, this is top tier MCU stuff for me and a film in which I find something else to appreciate with each viewing!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 6 – Deadpool and Wolverine
The Multiverse Saga sucks, right? Well, that seems to be the general narrative, and it has had some stinkers for sure, if I’m being honest, but the good stuff? It has been really good, as evident by my rankings here. I loved Deadpool and Wolverine as a tribute to the Fox movies of yesteryear and as a much needed shot of adrenaline to the MCU, which, as Deadpool stated in the film was “at a bit of a low point.” Amidst writers and actors strikes and frustration and disappointment within the fandom for numerous reasons, this was a project that was unabashedly loud, vulgar, violent, fun, and self-aware, and while it was no sort of critical darling, it was the sort of project a lot of Marvel fans had been yearning for, and all of the aforementioned descriptions were part of its charm! If you’re a Deadpool fan either in the movies or the comics, this movie is for you. If you’re a Wolverine fan either in the movies of the comics or even the cartoons, this movie is for you! This was Marvel Studios’ first R-rated MCU film and it earned that rating on many, many fronts but I had a wonderful time with this as Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman held nothing back towards at the least, giving us a movie that we would never, ever forget!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 7 – WandaVision
I don’t think there is a single MCU project that generates emotion out of me like this wonderful series does! I don’t know it’s due to my love for Wanda Maximoff as a character, or if it’s because of the affinity I have for Wanda and Vision as couple, or if it’s because of how entertaining Kathryn Hahn’s character was as either a nosy neighbor or a wicked witch, but for whatever reason, this is another top tier MCU project that resonated with me deeply while making me cry, making me laugh, and making me cheer. The callbacks to past television shows were all so very well done and I had so much fun with all of that, and the mystery that permeated the series was so riveting and made the series suspenseful, and we got so much rich, moving, and thought-provoking dialogue between characters. “What is grief if not love persevering” may be the single best-written line in the entire MCU! So many of us had experienced so much personal loss when this came out and the first MCU project released after the Global lock-down was a coping mechanism in a lot of ways for a lot of us. Anytime that someone tells me “All MCU projects are the same”, I point them to WandaVision. It’s a series that is near and dear to my heart and always will be.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 8 – Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War
The projects that I ranked at # 1 were both directed by The Russ Brothers and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, so of course, the other two MCU projects that can say the same weren’t going to rank too far behind! These are two highly entertaining, suspenseful motion pictures that are incredibly well-written and spectacularly produced and directed. I love how many things were practically shot on-site and how gritty each film feels at times despite being multi-million-dollar Hollywood productions! The Winter Soldier is a political thriller with huge, Universe-shattering events revolving around the core of the story, which is the friendship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes and Steve’s disenchantment with the modern world. Yes, there is the Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Hydra Uprising, but it’s the characters that really drive the story; the tension between Steve and Fury and then Steve and Pierce, the genuine friendships that Steve forms with Natasha Romanoff and with Sam Wilson, and Steve’s stubborn refusal to give up on the best friend he has ever had. Anyone wondering why Steve Rogers is as beloved as he is as a character and as Captain America, only needs to watch this film to understand. It’s a remarkable character piece but yeah, there’s also the Fury car chase, the elevator fight, all of the “Hail Hydra” stuff, and the freedom vs fear debate. It’s an all-timer for sure. Then, Civil War plays off The Winter Soldier in every way that a sequel should, which isn’t always the easiest thing for films that are a part of a Shared universe to pull off. Civil War introduces a new villain in Helmut (Baron) Zemo and brings a lot of Avengers into the fold! Sam and Natasha are both back, but there’s also Iron Man, Wanda and The Vision, and Hawkeye, and War Machine, and two new MCU characters are introduced: The Black Panther and Spider-Man! Even with all of that though, the core of the story continues to be Steve’s friendship with Bucky and how he refuses to betray that, even for his new teammates. Steve and Bucky fuels the Iron Man and Captain America rivalry that was used to market this movie, and it’s what allows the bone-chilling revelation that Bucky killed Tony Stark’s parents to sting like it does. It’s the sorrowful regret in Bucky’s eyes; it’s the disappointment and subtle rage in Tony’s eyes; it’s the fear and conviction in Steve’s eyes … this is what makes the movie special, but no, the Airport Fight doesn’t hurt either, nor does the political debate around being free or being controlled, which cleverly calls back to the freedom vs fear debate in The Winter Soldier! Civil War is the quintessential MCU movie in so many ways and it perfectly honored the past while setting up the future.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 10 – Iron Man
This movie is easy to get lost in the shuffle, so to speak, but its importance cannot be overstated, nor can its excellence. This was the ground breaker; the trendsetter; it was the 1st MCU movie produced by Marvel Studios and at the time, there are people who’d have rather it be Spider-Man or The X-Men because those were the A-lister’s, but Kevin Feige and Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges and many, many more both on-screen and behind the scenes came together and not only made magic, but ultimately changed Hollywood and redefined the genre. Iron Man came out the same year as DC’s The Dark Knight and therefore could have gotten lost in the shuffle in that respect as well, but this movie was SO good and SO special that it carved its own niche and laid the foundation upon which the MCU would be built. Make no mistake though, this film is jam-packed with great acting, witty dialogue, a lot of badass action sequences, and a deep respect for the source material. This was the blueprint, and it was so because it did SO many things right. The biggest reward above all is watching the narcissistic Tony Stark become a selfless hero and all that it entails … the cave with Yinsen, Gulmira, the showdown against his mentor, the background love story with Pepper, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury … it’s all here and it’s all awesome and all around, it’s all fun! I can see this being too high on some people’s lists, and too low on others, and that’s the beauty of this movie! So many better things followed, but they wouldn’t have existed without this one!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 11 – Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder
I’m grouping these two Taika Waititi projects together, because I like them both about the same. I don’t think either one is flawless, but one is just too damn fun to ignore and the other is one that I just have a really, really personal connection with. Before Ragnarok came out in 2017, a lot of people found Thor to be one of the least intriguing Avengers, but the film changed that by completely reinventing the God of Thunder from look to tone. Humor was warmly embraced, and Chris Hemsworth was allowed to embrace a lot of the over-the-top ridiculousness of the character from years and years of comics and eons of Norse mythology. In short, Chris and Taika were allowed to have fun, as was everyone that was a part of the film, and that translated to the audience having fun as well! Loki was gold throughout the movie, Hela was wickedly delightful, Surtur was visually stunning, and Jeff Goldblum almost stole the show as Grandmaster. Yes, the film is campy and kinda goofy at times, but it’s so colorful and funny and fast-moving, you just find yourself getting caught up all in it and of course, it doesn’t hurt if you’re a fan of Thor and the Asgardian mythology as you’ll get a sure kick out of watching Thor smash Fire Demons to the sounds of Immigrant Song, watching Anthony Hopkins play Loki playing Odin, watching Thor fight Gladiator Hulk, seeing Fenris Wolf, and watching Surtur destroy Asgard. There is a lot to like! Moving on to Love and Thunder, this was more of the same from Ragnarok in terms of the campy and goofy … In fact, it was cranked way up and perhaps too up for some. However, this film incorporated a lot more emotion with the subplots of Gorr the God-Butcher declaring war on all Gods and Jane Foster being diagnosed with cancer and becoming the Goddess of Thunder: Mighty Thor. I have lost loved ones to cancer, and it sucks and I too, have lost my faith, so there was a lot for me to relate to here. The film furthermore followed up on Thor’s arcs in Infinity War and Endgame and briefly included The Guardians of the Galaxy, so there was a lot to like for me this time around as well. I’m really big on movies that can mix humor with emotion and if nothing else, this movie certainly does that and in the end, I just find the narrative of Gorr finding faith in the most unlikeliest of gods just before taking his last breath, and his dying action being the choice to choose Love over hate too beautiful to not to love.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 13 – Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Two, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Three
Speaking of being able to make one equally cry and laugh in the same project, I don’t know that anyone is as consistently good as James Gunn when it comes to doing that very thing. It’s really difficult for me to choose which Guardians movie I like the best – it depends on the day, really, so I just grouped them all together here. The first Guardians was original, and so funny, and so special as a game-changer within the genre. Without it, there may have never been a Deadpool or a Thor: Ragnarok and it’s as perfect an MCU project as there is. Then, Volume Two added so much emotion, really focusing on familial relationships and friendships and the complexities they can sometimes bring. The Holiday Special was just beautiful to behold for anyone that loves Christmastime, and Volume Three was probably the most emotional yet as we learned the details of Rocket’s tragic backstory and got treated to a memorably vile villain performance by Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, while each respective Guardian embraced a new sort of destiny. I can tell you that Rocket is easily my favorite Guardian, followed by Nebula. I relate most to those characters, but all of them are funny and entertaining from Star-Lord (the star of the first film), to Mantis (who stole the show in The Holiday Special), to both incarnations of the usually lovable Groot, to Drax and Gamora! The music, the dancing, the colorful Cosmic worlds, the banter, the conflict, and of course the bond they share make these characters amongst the most beloved in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I’ll be forever grateful for the passion and the vision of James Gunn in turning these formerly obscure Marvel characters into comic book movie icons!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 17 – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
I’m a Wanda Maximoff fan. I’m a fan of witchy stuff. I’m a fan of horror movies. For me, there was a lot to like with this and it’s a move that I find quite re-watchable and very enjoyable. Admittedly, it’s not heart-warming and it’s not funny, but it is scary, exciting, and a visual thrill to behold! So many of the things that Sam Raimi did with Wanda were immensely satisfying; the way he presented her as a badass that had become incapable of bullshit and intolerant of hypocrisy, and frustrated with trying to do the right thing while being an absolute emotional and spiritual wreck over the losses that she’d suffered … I loved all of that! I know a lot of people took issue with Wanda’s arc as a character coming out of WandaVision where all of the emotional and spiritual healing she’d achieved in that series were sort of undone, but at the same time, if you go back and re-watch WandaVision through the lens of Wanda being the villain of that story, the projects actually complement each other quite well. WandaVision was scary and creepy and mysterious at times too, and to be completely fair, it is not uncommon for someone to achieve a personal breakthrough and then cave back in on themselves over time – and that’s without the influence of an evil, manipulative, magical book. Multiverse of Madness is not nearly as moving or inspiring as WandaVision was, and it doesn’t have a whole lot of quotes that are going to stand out as the MCU’s best, though Wanda’s delivery of all of her lines are chillingly fantastic throughout the film, but Elizabeth Olsen plays Wanda here with just as much conviction as she has throughout her MCU tenure … it’s just a different kind of conviction. This Wanda is about intimidation, confidence, and seizing what she believes is rightfully hers and watching her decimate Kamar-Taj, torture Wong and his students, and murder the Illuminati, is captivating, if nothing else. I had been quietly longing to see Wanda get to be the villain, and this movie gave it to me, and I appreciate that. I will admit that it’s not the best Doctor Strange movie or project, but as a film about The Scarlet Witch, it’s a hell of a good time!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 18 – The Loki Trilogy (Thor, The Avengers, and Thor: The Dark World)
I don’t think anyone else calls it The Loki Trilogy, but if watched in that context, these movies work SO very well together! Thor shows Loki’s Fall from Grace, The Avengers shows his quest for vengeance, and The Dark World shows his redemption arc – to an extent of course. In the meantime, there is Thor’s rise, the assembling of The Avengers, and Odin’s failures. This is Daddy issues, God complexes, and devout love for a mother … this is magic and monsters and Earth’s heroes uniting against a common foe! The Avengers exists in a very special time capsule for me. For different reasons, it’s as important as Iron Man and it came out during such a special time in my life, when my little boy was obsessed with superheroes and my wife was obsessed with Tony Stark, and popular culture warmly embraced a subject that for so long had been fringe … even my Mom grew to love the MCU and Thor and all that came with it! All three of these movies are as near and dear to my heart as any MCU project, and at the time they were released, they were as unique as they were revolutionary!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 21 – Avengers: Age of Ultron
I’ve been an Age of Ultron defender since its release, but 10-years later, during the rise of A.I., wow, is this movie relevant! This movie got slammed at the time for concentrating too much effort on setting up future storylines, and though it’s not exactly popular these days to praise Joss Whedon, his contributions here were outstanding! Whedon introduced The Vision and Wanda Maximoff and ULTRON, and he got each character over to the extent that he wanted and needed to … ULTRON as perhaps the most unique comic book movie villain ever as a sentient Artificial life, and Vis as a noble, if not godlike synthezoid, and Wanda as an unstable, yet unfathomably powerful hero / threat. The Infinity Saga simply doesn’t work without Age of Ultron, which gave us Iron Man vs The Hulk-Buster, Hawkeye’s family, and lingering tension between Tony and Steve. I love this movie so much that it feels ranked too lowly here, but again, the MCU has given us SO MANY wonderful projects, so this falls where it does.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 22 – Captain America: The First Avenger
Watching Chris Evans be Captain America always makes for a good time at the theater or on the couch, but this movie is about watching Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers become Captain America, and I love it! The remarkable VFX that created “Skinny Steve”, the Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter love story, the World War II setting … all of these things make the movie special, not to mention Steve and Bucky’s early adventures! The Red Skull is admittedly the weak link of the film, but the threat and evil of the Nazis are essential to Steve’s story! Tommy Lee Jones is a treasure and the MCU world-building through Howard Stark and the Tesseract and the SSR is spectacular. This is an easy watch and is essential viewing if you want to comprehend the MCU narrative!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 23 – Daredevil: Season One, Daredevil: Season Two, and Daredevil: Season Three
Of all of the now former Netflix shows that were produced by the original version of Marvel Television, none are more enthralling than the three Seasons of Daredevil starring Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio from 2015-2018. The First Season gives us the backstory to both characters while establishing their powerful rivalry. The Second Season introduces Elektra and The Punisher and expands upon the mythology. The Third Season (which follows The Defenders chronologically), brings it all back around, highlighting Matt’s Fall from Grace and Kingpin’s Return to Power with the wildcard of Dex in the mix. If you watched Daredevil: Born Again and didn’t watch these shows before, make it a priority to go back and watch these. Foggy, Karen, Frank … they’re all here, and the story, while admittedly dark and grim, is rich and riveting at the same time. However, it’s the acting and what each member of the cast does with these characters that truly defines the excellence of these three projects. I have too many favorite moments to list here, but Wilson and Vanessa’s unconventional love story, Daredevil and Punisher’s rooftop debate, and Matt’s personal war with God top the list. I’m so happy that these are official MCU canon now, because there is a lot of gold to be found within!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 26 – Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The cultural significance of the first Black Panther film cannot be overstated, nor can the importance of the way in which the late Chadwick Boseman portrayed the T’Challa character and the legacy that he left. I don’t really have anything bad to say about Marvel Studios’ 1st (and only) movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, other than I don’t think that it’s the best MCU movie of all-time, despite being rated as such on Rotten Tomatoes, where it sits at # 1 with a 96% Approval Rating. Michael B. Jordan is every bit as good as Killmonger as Chadwick Boseman is as T’Challa in the first film and both Letitia Wright and (especially) Angela Bassett play their characters with pride and power in Wakanda Forever. The supporting casts of both movies are full of standouts from Danai Gurira as Okoye to Winston Duke as M’Baku, to Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, to Tenoch Huerta as Namor. The costuming, the cinematography, the combat sequences, the technology of Wakanda, and all the drama, action, and emotion found in both of these motion pictures is all excellently executed with standout sequences such as the fights at Warrior Falls in the first film, and the funeral for the King and the invasion of Wakanda by Talokan in Wakanda Forever. RIP Chadwick. You will be forever missed.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 28 – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
This was one of the most genuinely surprising and unexpectedly satisfying MCU movies that I have ever watched. I usually carry a great deal of personal expectation into these projects because I have such a strong bond with the comic book stories and characters, but I didn’t really know what to expect from Shang-Chi and I was thrilled with the final product. This was a rich tale about family, expectations, fathers and sons with Kung Fu, dueling dragons, mythological creatures, fights in cages and atop scaffolds, and within another dimension … it is amongst the most aesthetically beautiful projects from Marvel Studios that you can watch, and the choreography is out of this world! Even with the real Mandarin and the Ten Rings and Wong and a post-credits scene with Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers, this movie never would have worked if Shang-Chi himself didn’t work as a character, but boy, did he ever! Simu Liu defined Shang-Chi in the same ways that Chadwick Boseman defined T’Challa, and this was, for Asian culture, just as powerful of a Marvel film as Black Panther was for African culture. It’s not always about what’s “best.” I’m trying to use the word “favorite” over “best” with this post, because “best” is subjective. Just know that this is a movie that I would recommend to anyone; superhero fan or not!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 29 – Agatha All Along
This mysterious and magical MCU show follows-up on the events of WandaVision and continues the story of Kathryn Hahn’s delightful, yet unapologetically wicked witch that was introduced in WandaVision. Hahn steals the show with a performance that is fun, whimsical, and always entertaining! The Marvel Studios team bring the horror in this one! There are ominous spells, dark rituals, demon possessions, and even ghosts, making this one of Marvel Studios’ scariest projects (right up there with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). It also serves as a mystifying origin story for Billy Maximoff (brilliantly portrayed by Joe Locke) and features the long-overdue introduction of Lady Death into the MCU (with Aubrey Plaza perfectly cast)! This series will be a new Halloween tradition in our household!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 30 – Hawkeye
The Christmastime setting certainly helps the enjoyment of this series, making for a fun aesthetic and allowing for some great character moments between the show’s two main heroes. This show is about legacy, hero worship, and overcoming stubbornness and close-mindedness. It’s about Clint accepting Kate and the wonderfully heroic friendship they build and for Kate learning that it can be great to meet your heroes! Haylee Steinfeld steals every scene that she is in and Jeremy Renner refuses to simply go through the motions in his sixth live-action project as Clint Barton within the MCU. Bonuses include the introduction of deaf MCU hero Echo (Alaqua Cox), the return of Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova from Black Widow, and the presence of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk / Kingpin in his debut for Marvel Studios after three Seasons of portraying the character in the original version of Marvel Televisions Daredevil on Netflix.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 31 – Jessica Jones Season 1
If you’ve never watched Jessica Jones: Season One, you’re in for a real treat when it comes to the villainous Kilgrave! David Tennant is creepy and gross and evil and somehow compelling, and he gives the performance of a lifetime while serving as the perfect antagonist to our imperfect damaged heroine. Krysten Ritter feels born to play Jessica Jones. She has the perfect attitude, bravado, and physical prowess to make the character all that she needs to be, and that is someone who is trying to overcome her past and do the best that she can with what she has to work with in the present. Jessica wrestles with guilt, loss, low self-esteem, alcoholism, and what it means to have great power and the responsibility that comes with it and this Season is simply hard to take your eyes off of once you start watching it. It’s dark, it’s sad, haunting, and disturbing at times, but there is a lot of good to be found in the stellar performances of the cast and the hope that Jessica as a character tries (even while often failing) to lean on through other people such as Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and her adopted sister and best friend Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor).
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 32 – The Punisher: Season One and The Punisher: Season Two
Frank Castle. Damn, I love him as a character! I totally get all of the controversy that surrounds him, but you know what? I don’t care. I hate evildoers. I hate people that rape and murder and rob and steal and abuse … in the suspension of disbelief world that is Marvel, I get to see Frank Castle unleash Hell on these types of repulsive bastards and it’s very therapeutic! Frank’s tragedy is what drives his story, and while it may not be very inspiring to watch him be unable to move on and to not allow that to define him, it’s relatable nonetheless, and his conviction is quite inspiring, actually. Frank simply can’t tolerate evil, and I love that about him! After being perfectly introduced in Daredevil: Season Two, Frank’s story continued in his own Netflix series, and while it’s dark, grim, and a little emotionally draining, it’s still a well-told and well-filmed and very well-acted series! Jon Bernthal is both the star and the highlight of the series, but Ben Barnes is wonderful as Billy Russo and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (our future “Thing”) is amazing as Micro and there are some other really great supporting characters such as Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah), Curtis Hoyle (Jason R. Moore), John Pilgrim (Josh Stewart), and Amy Bendix (Giorgia Whigham). Deborah Ann Woll is here as Karen Page as well!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 34 – Doctor Strange
The origin story of Benedict Cumberbatch’s beloved character was a narrative game-changer for the MCU as magic and spells and portals and time manipulation and Multiversal glimpses through time were either shown or teased here long before Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, Loki, or Spider-Man: No Way Home. This movie is about Steven Strange’s journey from rich and acclaimed surgeon to losing it all, to finding purpose again and it’s full of spectacular visuals, including but not limited to the fight with Dormammu at the end of the film. While Cumberbatch pulls off the successful trick of making Strange a “likable asshole”, Tilda Swinton shines throughout the film as the benevolent Ancient One in one of the most improved comics-to-screen characters in comic book movies history!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 35 – Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3
These films continue to age well over time, and that could be due to how much I miss watching Robert Downey Jr playing Tony Stark on-screen, for that’s where the charm of both of these movies is found: simply watching Robert Downey Jr be Tony Stark and interact with others as the character! Topping the first Iron Man was never going to be easy, and if you can bring yourself not to hold that against these movies, they’re really quite enjoyable! The court scene with Senator Stern (Gary Shandling), Tony’s rivalry with Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), the romance with Pepper – great aspects of Iron Man 2, along with the introduction of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow! Then, Iron Man 3 has the Christmastime setting, Trevor Slattery, and Extremis Pepper! The primary villains (Ivan Vanko and Aldrich Killian) are lackluster, but if you show up for Tony Stark and his suits and to laugh and to have a good time, you’ll go home happy!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 37 – The Defenders
This is perhaps the greatest example of “mixed bag” in the entire MCU. The Elektra story feels uninspired, and the villains are AWFUL. The Hand is a concept that Jeph Loeb and his team just never got right, and it just didn’t fit in with the kind of grounded characters such as Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage that the original version of Marvel Television established to such critical acclaim. With all of that being said though, it is still undeniably wonderful to watch Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and even Iron Fist come together and form a super team! The differing power sets and the friction and the contrast in ideology and even the utter ridiculousness of undead Ninjas and just about everything Iron Fist plays into the chemistry between the key players, and the Royal Dragon episode is minute-for-minute one of the best single episodes of any of the now former Netflix shows! Sadly, this series was mostly a sequel to Iron Fist, which was the worst-received Netflix show of the first five, but Danny Rand is more likable here, and everything with Matt, Luke, and Jessica is pretty great, especially when they’re on the screen together!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 38 – The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
Sam Wilson struggles with the complexities of a Black man carrying the mantle of Captain America while a begrudging Bucky Barnes struggles with the sins of his past while trying to convince Sam to be the hero that Steve Rogers knew that Sam was. In the meantime, a new Captain America (John Walker) rises and falls, a strained team-up with Baron Zemo goes down, and we are introduced to Isaiah Bradley, brilliantly portrayed by Carl Lumbly. Yes, the Sharon Carter character is pretty much ruined by the most obvious “mystery reveal” in MCU History, and yes, Karli Morgenthau was underwhelming as the main antagonist, and yes, the show felt a little too political at times, but there is a lot to like here. Zemo dances and stays true to his conviction, Wakanda gets involved with things, one of the best Bucky Barnes scenes is featured, and Sam’s new costume looks awesome while John Walker decapitating a guy with the shield in broad daylight is one of my favorite MCU scenes!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 39 – Black Widow
Villains admittedly hurt how great this movie could have been. The General Dreykov character might be the worst villain in MCU history and making his daughter Taskmaster was something that just wasn’t ever going to get over with comic book readers. That being said, the heroes make this movie watchable and mostly enjoyable. Scarlett Johansson makes the most out of her long-overdue MCU solo project and David Harbour is wonderful as the boisterous Red Guardian, but the film is stolen by the remarkable performance of Florence Pugh, who takes a largely underwhelming Marvel comic book character and turns her into one of the most compelling and enjoyable characters in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe! Pugh steals every scene that she is in with a sincere, spunky, charismatic, and ass-kicking performance that promised to further define the legacy of Johansson’s Black Widow by building upon it as a featured part of the MCU in the future! The haunting opening sequence, the initial reunion between Natasha and Yelena, and the prison breakout scene are the highlights and really, the highs are QUITE high, but the lows are significant enough to weigh this one down. Well worth the watch though, nonetheless!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 40 – Moon Knight
Oscar Isaac gives the performance of a lifetime as the DID-suffering Marc Spector / Steven Grant / Moon Knight in this mysterious and action-packed series that is primarily set in Egypt. You’ll wrestle with what is real and what isn’t while being introduced to the Pantheon of Egyptian gods ranging from the bird-headed Khonshu to the crocodile-headed Ammit, and on to the Hippo goddess Taweret. Moon Knight is deep, mythical, and admittedly weird, but all of the religious mythology comes together nicely with the comic book goodness to create the best such story this side of the Thor films. Even if it sounds like it might not be your thing, it’s worth watching for the performance of Oscar Isaac alone!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 41 – Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-Man: Homecoming was revolutionary in that it was co-produced by both Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures. I don’t think there was a single Marvel fan out there that wasn’t excited to see Spider-Man join the MCU, and it has allowed for some amazing moments and four of my Top 10 MCU favorite projects (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers; Infinity War, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Captain America: Civil War). Tom Holland is the quintessential Peter Parker for me, and his relationships with Tony Stark and Doctor Strange have been a lot of fun to follow over the years. Obviously, I’m not as high on either of these projects as a lot of people are (Homecoming sits at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes while Far From Home sits at 91%), but I haven’t been in high school in a while and haven’t been young in a while either, so these sit where they do with me, though there are certainly things that I enjoy about each film. I think Peter and MJ’s love story is great, I loved the Washington Monument sequence in Homecoming, and the Vulture reveal sequence at Liz’s home and then in the car is one of the single best scenes in MCU history. Michael Keaton was phenomenal as Adrian Toomes! In Far From Home, I really liked the visual presentation of Mysterio and thought the nightmare vision sequence was incredible. The Skrull stuff hasn’t aged well though, as it took away from what should have been some fun scenes between Peter Parker and Nick Fury & Maria Hill. Marisa Tomei is a gem as Aunt May though, and Peter’s friendship with Ned has provided some great moments!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 43 – Ant-Man
This tall tale about a small hero is my favorite Ant-Man solo project. This movie very much existed in its own corner of the MCU at the time of its release, aside from a memorable cameo by Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson in a fight between Ant-Man and The Falcon. This is not a movie about saving the Universe, it’s about fathers and daughters and the complexities of parenthood and how parents, despite their best efforts, often fail their children. It’s also a heist movie! Scott Lang is presented as a master thief and a Robin Hood type of character, whose world view has landed him on the wrong side of the law numerous times, culminating in a three-year jail stint that cost him his wife and cost him precious time with his young daughter. The Scott and Cassie Lang dynamic is the movie’s greatest strength but the Heist at Hank Pym’s mansion, Scott’s initial shrinking, and the fight against Darren Cross in Cassie’s bedroom are all great sequences and as we all know despite these humble beginnings for the character, Scott Lang would go on to play a crucial part in saving the Universe!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 44 – Jessica Jones: Season Two
Not nearly as good as Season One but still has its fair share of moments and intriguing character development. Most of the good is found in the reveal that Jessica’s mother (whom she thought died in the car crash that killed her father and brother when she was young) is alive and has, like Jessica, received superpowers after being experimented upon. Alisa Jones has a monstrous side though, and this makes her as much of a danger to Jessica as it does a strength. I wasn’t crazy at all about the turn that was taken with the Trish Walker character this Season, but much like I said about Robert Downey Jr earlier, as long as Krysten Ritter is on the screen being Jessica Jones, the show is compelling and overall entertaining.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 45 – Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and The Marvels
I’m looping these three projects together due to the crossover characters and concepts that they share. Captain Marvel served as the divisive origin story of Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, preaching Girl Power and acceptance while introducing The Skrulls and showcasing a young Nick Fury. I loved the 90’s setting and Goose the Flerkin and Talos of the Skrulls! Ms. Marvel introduced Carol’s biggest fan Kamala Khan and showed her origin story as a hero-worshiping Muslim hero after donning one of the Quantum Bands. Iman Vellani is an absolute treasure and was perfectly cast as Ms. Marvel, but rather than spending more time focusing on the complexities of being a teenage superhero for Kamala and spending more time with her family, we got the godawful Clandestine villains and Kamala’s lackluster war with the department of Damage Control. Still, Ms. Marvel is the highest-rated MCU live-action project on Rotten Tomatoes (98%) and is an educational show in terms of culture and world history that is full of beautiful cinematography and dialogue. The Marvels is the worst box office bomb in MCU history. It made just $206 million. The first Captain Marvel film made over a billion. There are more Flerkins, a musical number, and more Nick Fury! Iman Vellani continues to shine as Ms. Marvel! And Monica Rambeau (introduced as a child in Captain Marvel) is stranded in another Universe, which is inhabited by The X-Men! The Marvels is the worst of these three, while Captain Marvel is probably the best, but in the end, I think each of these projects are full of good-to-great moments as opposed to being a good flowing story. Still, I don’t hate any of them as much as a lot of people do and I hope Iman Vellani continues to be prominently featured within the MCU as it moves forward!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 48 – Echo
As an overall fan of the now former Defenders Saga Netflix shows, I knew this show was going to be a hit with me the minute it was revealed that it would serve as connective tissue to The Defenders Saga! Episodes were reportedly scrapped, and sequences were reportedly reworked, but tying into the Defenders narrative strengthened the mythology of the series and significantly added to its importance within the MCU. I really enjoyed Alaqua Cox in Hawkeye and absolutely adore her as an MCU character! The deaf and handicapped actress in real life, rocked it throughout this series, delivering a very physical performance and an impressively emotional one as well, considering she can’t use words to convey her emotions. Maya’s character never gets lost in the shadow of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, but he absolutely adds to every scene that he is in, and their chemistry is fantastic! The perfect casting of young Maya in this series was also one of its greatest strengths, and the skating rink fight is one of my favorites in the entire MCU due to the fact that I’ve taken my kids there to skate many times! An admittedly weak ending that tried too hard to be too spiritually powerful I think, hindered this one as did the very choppy flashback sequences throughout, but I loved the tribute to Native American culture, and it nicely set up the events of Daredevil: Born Again. I really hope we get more Maya Lopez in the MCU sooner rather than later!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 49 – The Incredible Hulk
It’s weird now to go back and watch Edward Norton be Bruce Banner, but hey, it’ll be weird to see Harrison Ford portray Thaddeus Ross too, so whatever. These things seem to revolve around The Hulk! Anyway, I thought Norton was great as Banner especially considering how the character was portrayed in cartoons and comics at the time, and I enjoyed this movie for what it was. I’m a fan of monster films in general and cool physical transformations and all of that, I really like The Hulk as a character. The Marvel Studios team improved so many things with future presentations of the character, but I did like how the horror of the character was leaned into here. Banner seeing The Hulk as a curse, being unable to be with Betty because of it, and the way the bottling factory scene was filmed all standout as things I wouldn’t mind the MCU going back to in the future, because these kinds of intangibles are what traditionally makes The Hulk such an interesting character. He’s a monster that can’t be stopped or controlled. That’s scary! So, yeah, there was a lot to like in this movie, including the battle at Culver University, the stormy cave scene with Betty, the free fall out of the chopper, and the fight against The Abomination in Harlem, but ultimately, too many scenes were cut, and the friction that was rooted in this being a Marvel Studios / Universal Pictures co-production hindered what could have been an instant classic.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
# 50 – Werewolf by Night
I’ll wrap this post up by sticking with the monster movie thing and the final entry on my list: Werewolf by Night. This was one of Marvel Studios’ rare horror projects and my only issue with it at all is that it wasn’t longer. I would have been fine with another hour, and with it being in color (which it was eventually released in), but it is what it is and what it is, is a fun, gory, scary project that is all about monsters and mayhem! The werewolf transformation scene is perfectly done, made all the better by the look of sheer terror on the face of Elsa Bloodstone! The consequent carnage that is unleashed is spectacular! Stealing the show, however, is the lovable Man-Thing! This powerful behemoth with the kind eyes and the soft grunts was wonderfully brought to life by Marvel Studios and I sure hope we see more from him (and other monsters from the Marvel Comics library) in the future!
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