Now one of these films I was seeing for the first time (Incredible Hulk), others for the second (lots in the lower half of this list), and others for the I don't know how many-th time (many of the films higher up).
Before I start, what do I think will be important and worth watching before Endgame? Obviously Infinity War, and likely Civil War and Captain Marvel are the big ones I'd predict but I think that they are actually going to pull from most everything except maybe Incredible Hulk and they'll likely not use the tone of Thor: Ragnarok or Guardians of the Galaxy for inspiration.
Now my ranking...feel free to disagree. I doubt many will on my worst but I think a lot will on my best. I would say Phase 3 comes off the best but the Phases are widely spread generally. Also surprising, sequels don't always fare worse than first films. Here we go...
21. Iron Man 2
This film is a hot mess and unsurprisingly this is only the second time I've seen it and I'm fairly sure I slept through some of it the first time. It was made WAY too quickly after the first film. Half the actors seem bored including both the villains which is not a good thing for villains. The plot is too convoluted and the script is weak. Also TOO MANY WIGS which in a film series that includes the Thor films is saying something!! It's only redeeming factor is the introduction of Black Widow and our girl deserved a better first MCU film. I would be happy never to watch it again.
20. Thor: The Dark World
Now after trashing the film that introduced my favourite Avenger, I'm moving on trashing one with my favourite villain in it. Granted my love of Loki is likely why this isn't tied with Iron Man 2- that and the presence of the amazing Darcy. There was too much work in this film to make Jane Foster work and Natalie Portman is clearly having none of it, she is more bored than she did in Episode II and demonstrably have no desire to be there. After Loki as the main villain in Thor, the villain here is bland as they come. This is no slight on the acting abilities of either Natalie Portman or Christopher Eccleston who I normally both love. Again only the second time I've seen the film and Loki is likely what kept me awake both times. Again could pass on a future rewatch.
19. The Incredible Hulk
I had never seen this film before this watch as I tend to forget it exists especially as Mark Ruffalo is the only Hulk I'd endorse (spoiler of this countdown but only one Ruffalo included films in the lower half of this and it only just- I don't count credit appearances- and two are in the top five). This is also not a great film. The main issue is that it starts in the middle. I kept expecting a flashback origin story but it either assumed we knew it or that we had watch the Ang Lee, Hulk (which would be weird as it isn't MCU) or that a speed scatter shot in the credits was sufficient. Now many people know the basics of the Hulk's origin (me included) but this isn't sufficient especially if you expect them to considering Betsy Ross more than a big eyed princess needing rescue. Betsy Ross is pretty kick arse in comics (ultimately) but in this, it is like they spent half the budget on making Liv Tyler's eyes look as huge as possible. There was too much set up for sequels that never came, too little character development, and not enough background info- I mean just one gripe but Betsy Ross is in what appears to be a serious relationship when Bruce Banner reappears in her life and it is like her partner never existed as soon as that occurs. Once more, watching again I could pass on.
18. Ant-Man and the Wasp
This film tries to rehash a lot of what was enjoyable about the first Ant-Man which I found mildly enjoyable. That point where Luis does his weird over detailed storytelling style, the first I saw this (back in the cinema) I cringed at. It was OK as a one off bit but it didn't beg repeating. The performances are fine but my summary is blah due to the rehash factor and the characters here could have delivered more.
17. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Again this is a rehash and that makes it a huge disappointment following the amazing first film. It gets points of baby Groot and Yondu. With the rehash factor, you lose the some of the charm of the original and where they need to lean more into the tone of the original, they don't (the whole "my father is a planet" needed WAY more humour in its treatment).
16. Captain America: The First Avenger
The first time I saw this I thought it insanely dull. I do revise that up a little on this rewatch. It still does have a pacing struggle and Steve Rogers be a bland hero to begin with which is why this is the lowest stand alone origin for an original Avenger. What made me re-evaluate, Hugo Weaving going over the top with his performance as the Red Skull and Peggy Carter being the absolute queen that Peggy is. It is shocking that a film set during WWII delivers a better female lead than The Incredible Hulk does. I also think my assessment of this film is positive impacted by the later adventures of Cap.
15. Iron Man 3
I genuinely enjoy this film. It is three stars in quality which says it is basically enjoyable but not great- the same applies to the next two films on the count down. I would possibly rewatch GOTG 2 or the first Cap film but this is the first film on this list that I can say that I wouldn't mind rewatching. I like the edge it gives to Pepper Potts, the annoyingness of Tony Stark (he is supposed to be a tool and this is first film that pushed that beyond likeable), Ben Kingsley hamming it up (hamming it up is going to be a thing here), and Guy Pearce being in any thing (he should be in more things). It fails in not making the PTSD work as well as it could and the script could be considerably stronger.
14. Dr Strange
Again I enjoyed this but it isn't great. Most people rank it lower as the plot is convoluted but Dr Strange is a convoluted character and I don't mind the convolution because of that; and others rank it lower because of the whitewashing issues but though this is a legit concern I think compared to other MCU films, it is plenty diverse. I think the weakest parts of the film are Cumberbatch's American accent and the lack of bones on McAdams's character. The visual are solid, the script is suitably over the top, and the performance are fine. I like that they didn't shy away from making him completely obnoxious. I'd like to see more of Christine Palmer in the sequel and that she is fleshed out, and also that I would like just generally to see more of the Dr Strange world.
I know a lot of people were bananas for this one but I was definitely in the class of enjoyable but not great for me. The main issue was that it wasn't ridiculous enough subject matter to go totally OTT so it was comically appropriate in its tone but didn't cause the hilarity for me of some of the other films. Also its tone and treatment of things isn't new. The performances are good- I love Paul Rudd in anything and I especially like his interaction with the child actor who plays his daughter here. I would be so curious to see the Edgar Wright version of Ant-Man with the same cast as I suspect I would have loved that a lot.
12. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Now a lot of people pile a lot of hate on this but I actually don't think it is that bad at all. The performances are solid- especially Ruffalo, Johansson, and Renner. I love the introduction of Scarlett Witch (the without compare most powerful Avenger), Quicksilver, and Vision. I adore the hinted Black Widow backstory (more please). I like the humanising of Hawkeye and to a degree Black Widow. I even don't mind Ultron as a villain. I'm loath to praise Whedon post me-too but the script is solid EXCEPT (and you know where this is going) the scene between Bruce Banner and Black Widow at the farm. "I'm a monster because I cannot have children" URGH!!!!!. If it weren't for the shirtless Ruffalo in that screen and the Chris Evans chopping wood outside, the scene alone would drop its ranking despite the quality of a lot of the rest of the film.
11. Captain America: Civil War
As it is commonly known Avengers 2.5, this isn't really a Captain America film. As the last film might indicate, I turned a corner on Captain America mid MCU and by the time we hit this he was one of my favourites. I love Evans's performance here- especially in the scenes around Peggy's death- and also Sebastian Stan and Elizabeth Olsen's work generally. I like that they maintained the obnoxiousness of Iron Man though Age of Ultron and pushed it to eleven here. The action sequences are great and it is a good intro to Spider-man and Black Panther (and Aunt May...love younger Aunt May). The script could be stronger but the Russo brothers prove why they are the go to directors of the MCU's big scale films for this their second outing.
10. Iron Man
Now lots of people would have this higher but I think a lot of that is due to the fact that it launched the MCU. I say it is a testament to the quality of the film that is still in the top 10 for me, over ten years and twenty one films later. As you may have guessed from comments lower in the rankings, Iron Man is my least favourite Avenger as he is pretentious tool. This film doesn't hide from this though the later film amplify it. Robert Downey Jnr was always perfect casting as Iron Man, and the rest of the cast is solid also. The tone is great, and the direction is great. The script could be stronger a little and I think once you hit the top ten of these films it is a bit of a flip a coin for rankings with one or two definite exceptions (three in my opinion but as I said a lot of people disagree on my number 1).
9. Thor
People tend to rank this lower than Iron Man but I don't. It might be that I love Loki too much or that I also love Darcy, and Coulson. Thor needed to go one of two ways and its best films are ones where it does one of those and it is lucky as all get out that its two stars can do both easily. This was way number 1 which is go full Shakespearean on it and getting Branagh to direct was a master stroke. Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Hopkins, Elba, and the other Asgard folk dive right into that Shakespeare vibe and deliver and then some. The Earth sections are weaker but only because of one performance (Portman's- not sure why she returned for the second film really) and when you look at the others, they are actually all solid. It is one I've watched a lot as I happen to own the DVD and I think you can't ever speak badly of the film that gave us the best villain of the MCU (he didn't have a remotest rival to that title until Black Panther and don't ever forget that...LOKI FOREVER!).
8. Spider-man: Homecoming
This succeeded at being a really solid basic introduction movie despite the fact other Phase 3 origin stories all had more solid stuff to tackle (racism or sexism) and also that Spider-man has been rebooted to near death in recent years. The delivery of this relied on a truly delightful performance by Tom Holland and the fact that Michael Keaton makes an amazing villain and the amazing support from Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, and those playing the high school kids. The script was also great fun. It might not be my favourite Spider-man film of recent years (Into the Spiderverse, people...you should watch it) I'm really keen to see what is next for Spider-man (assuming he is back post Endgame which the MCU has already spoiled for us) and I hope for more Ned as Peter Parker's "guy in the chair", MJ as the perfect snarky teen whilst not being actually Mary Jane, and the hint that Aaron Davies gives us of Miles Morales appearing in the MCU (also we all need more Donald Glover in our films).
7. Avengers: Infinity War
I know a lot of people would rank this in their top five or even number one though sadly it is just outside for me. I think the mosaic of characters plays out amazingly and the interplay between characters who have not interacted before- Thor, Rocket and teen Groot especially but I also liked bringing together the two biggest jackasses in MCU in the scenes between Iron Man and Dr Strange with Spider-Man there to balance it all out (that said Quill almost blows their obnoxiousness out of the water with his idiotic "Thanos, how dare you kill my girlfriend" action which killed their whole plan- he just leapt over Iron Man as the MCU's most annoying hero). I think the Gamora arc is played beautifully by Zoe Saldana, and I think Thanos knocks in at third (just over the Vulture) on the MCU villain list and that Brolin gives a great deal of complexity to the role. I love the fact that they developed the Scarlett Witch and Vision relationship as that could be great for the future. I think was wise to bench a few heroes so as not to overload things too much. Props to Chris Evans's beard of which I'm a fan and to the line "I am Steve Rogers" without pause to "I am Groot". Finally no surprise still completely heartbroken by the opening scene...Loki you will be forever missed.
6. Captain Marvel
The only film I didn't rewatch this week though I definitely will in the future. It will surprise no-one that this will likely make my countdown for films of 2019 so I will limit my comments here so I can blurb there. Love the nostalgia especially the soundtrack, love the performance by Brie Larson, love Samuel L Jackson getting tonnes to do, love the cat, love the supporting players, love Ben Mendelsohn being in more Hollywood films, love the amazing graphics work especially as the brilliant de-aging work, love Annette Benning being in more things. The biggest/only issue I have is the under use at times of Jude Law who is bit of an exposition bot in the first section of the film but that isn't enough to stop me adoring this film.
5. The Avengers
This is the point where every film appeared in my best films of the year countdown for the year it came out so there is more detail elsewhere on my blog. Again loathe to compliment Whedon but this is still one of the top three MCU scripts. There is some great character development for an action film and all of the performances and action sequences are great. It is the film where the MCU really hit its stride and is definitely the crowning achievement of Phase 1. This is the first proper entry of Hulk to the MCU because it is the first Ruffalo Hulk and he plays it perfectly. Hiddleston delivers on expanding Loki villainy to Earth. Johansson finally gets a good script to play to as Black Widow. It does the balancing act of the tones of the individual character films perfectly as set the groundwork for both future Avenger films and Civil War.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
When this first came out, I declared it the "funnest" film in the MCU. It lost that title a couple of years ago to film that comes in higher on my countdown but it had a big ask and it performed amazingly and without it, we likely wouldn't have the other film. The Guardians intro would have been an easy failure as they had people of various hues, a talking racoon, and taking tree who only says three words...oh and it is set in space with a regular human lead. Still one of my favourite Bradley Cooper performances and my all time favourite Vin Diesel performance. Very funny, very smart and yet also very silly, and very much the perfect everything for the characters.
3. Thor: Ragnarok
This is the current "funnest" film in the MCU. I cannot say enough how much I enjoy this film- I saw it three times at the cinema which is something I rarely do and I think it is the only MCU film with that distinction though I have seen a few of them more than I've seen it. It just flat out brings me joy. I said you can go two ways with Thor- Thor went one way, Dark World went neither- and Ragnarok perfected the second way that Thor can work...go insanely over the top and love every second of it. I don't know if it is just that Taika Waititi's Kiwi humour speaks super well to me but everyone else seems to agree as this cracks almost everyone's top five and normally slots into second place (sorry Ragnarok for only putting you third- I think these top three films are almost near perfect). I don't know that they knew this back when casting Thor but they casted perfectly for all tones for Thor as Hemsworth, Hiddleston, and Hopkins (in the one scene where he is Loki pretending to be Odin) nail the comedy. The "get help" scene which could easily fall flat on the second watch still makes me laugh because of Hemsworth and especially Hiddleston's performances. Ruffalo playing the Hulk with more complexity is a great addition. Tessa Thompson owns it as Valkyrie (she is one of my favourite non Avenger heroes in the MCU) and ditto Cate Blanchett's scene chomping performance as Hela. Also Jeff Goldblum is in it and that is always a good thing.
2. Black Panther
Most people's number one and I have to own on a film making scale, it is the best quality film in the MCU. For a series of films chock full of white dudes (I counted in a scene from Ant-Man- fifteen people, thirteen of them white men, and the only woman in shoes that would get her kicked out of the lab she is in- and I love these films but they frequently fail the Bechdel test- Captain Marvel passed with flying colours but pre Phase 3, that wasn't a big thing), somehow it deals an amazing film which has barely any white characters and has a lot of women in it. Now it would get huge points just for the diversity in that it passes Bechdel and it shows people of colour can carry a superhero film to massive profit. Even if that was the only thing to say about this film, I would rank it highly but it is so much more. It is likely the second best script in the MCU after Ragnarok and it is without doubt the best directed film in the MCU. The performances are outstanding and it FINALLY after over half a decade gave the MCU a villain with the complexity to rival Loki. It doesn't shy away from the complexity of race relations that would be borne out by a nation like Wakanda and it doesn't resolve them which is ideal. Also it introduces Shuri who is the best young female scientist since Lexi in Jurassic Park. There is nothing I don't love about this film and it would be number one except for the fact that don't think you'd have its tone generally (not its tone about race to strongly clarify) without my number 1.
1. Captain America: Winter Soldier
I hear you disagreeing. Most people have this somehow in the middle of their countdown but I LOVE this film. There is a political thriller element to this film that colours the tone of all of the more serious MCU films that follow it- so most everything except the Ant-man, Guardians, and Ragnarok. As I said earlier, I find Captain America bland in the extreme. Somewhere in early in this film, I did a complete U-Turn on that and he was suddenly right up there with my favourites. Chris Evans plays him perfectly and brings the heart out of a character who could so easily bore people. Scarlett Johansson continues to own it as Black Widow. Anthony Mackie and Emily van Camp prove great additions to the franchise, and it is a great return by Sebastian Stan. I find the script great and actually stronger than Civil War which is the same writers a few years later. The direction is also amazing and you see why they kept the Russo brothers on. Disagree if you must but it is smart, it changed the tone of the franchise, and I love it.
So that is my countdown...now for some predictions/hopes for End Game and onwards...
- The trailer and Captain Marvel already proved this wrong but Captain America keeps the beard. This is a shameless wish from me and I'm sad it is gone.
- After End Game, Loki (much this breaks my heart), Heimdall, and Gamora are still dead. They all died legitimate deaths not finger clicking deaths and reversing these delegitimises deaths in the franchise generally- I could spiel about retcon at length but this is where I simply say DON'T.
- As Loki stays dead, the Loki TV series is a prequel and it features Heimdall and also Lady Sif who has been criminally underused
- Valkyrie and Korg survived Thanos's attack on the spaceship and contribute to the film
- Agent 13 and Shuri aren't dust. Neither has been in the trailer but neither were clearly dusted. I want both to be alive and contributing
- The living women of the MCU- Captain Marvel, Valkyrie (hopefully), Black Widow, Nebula, Agent 13 (hopefully), Shuri (hopefully), and Okoye- kick serious arse in End Game
- The Hulk actually appears and Banner comes to a resolution of the dual sides of his nature.
- Vision is rebooted along with the dust people coming back to live- I think this is guaranteed but just put it out there due to my views on other non dust people
- One or more of the original Avengers dies and stays dead BUT not Hulk or Black Widow. I would like this to be Iron Man but I would also be OK with it being Cap (though there would be many tears on my part) but only if we got more resolution with Agent 13 and/or a post death meet up with Peggy. It could also be Hawkeye but I think they worked too hard on humanising him.
- I think Nick Fury might also not be long for the MCU which breaks my heart a little.
- Dust people return predates the defeat of Thanos and his defeat is the combined work of those whose powers come from Infinity Stones- Scarlett Witch, Captain Marvel, and Vision.
- Though I would like Thor to live, if he dies, female Thor film would be nice.
- There is no Black Widow or Hulk death without resolution of their relationship. That said, I think neither is going to die as both appear to FINALLY have solo films in the works (though if Black Widow's is a origin story I wouldn't object).
- New Avengers post End Game- headed by Black Widow or Captain Marvel and including Agent 13, Falcon, Vision, Scarlett Witch, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, and Black Panther
- New Guardians post End Game- same as old Guardians with Nebula replacing Gamora
- If my dreams for the future come true, we get the most complex plot in Marvel into the MCU. The Vision/ Scarlett Witch hints it might come but bring on House of M (even if it would need a few changes)!!
- Also now that the MCU owns them, we get an X-Men reboot that includes an adult Rogue and also includes Gambit, and there is a crossover with the broader MCU, AND we get a Fantastic Four film that is actually good.
So those are some randomly scrambled hopes for End Game and beyond... see you on the other side of End Game.
