Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Film, Ranked

After getting caught up in one too many debates with my friends about which Marvel movie is the best, I’ve decided to create a tiered list, starting with the worst. This is a definitive, 100% objective ranking, even though art is subjective and some of these are based on my personal movie-watching experiences.

Some spoilers ahead, but I try to be vague about them.

Movies in each tier are listed in chronological order.

F Tier

There are no F tier MCU movies. I just wanted to establish that this tier exists.

D Tier

Iron Man 2

I don’t think anyone will be surprised with this rating. The plot meanders, a lot of ideas don’t feel fleshed out, and the final battle is disappointing.

Thor: The Dark World

This one also shouldn’t surprise anyone. There’s some cool moments, but most of this movie is forgettable. I honestly can’t remember if the main villain have any spoken lines. Remember Thor’s companions, the Warriors Three? Did you notice that one of them was recast? Did anyone care that they were eventually killed off in a later movie?

Doctor Strange

Start with someone who is really good at what he does, but he’s selfish and arrogant about it. Something bad happens to him that makes him re-evaluate his life. Along the way, he learns humility and self-sacrifice, turning into a real hero.

It was a good plot in Iron Man. It worked fine in Thor. But this is at least the third time we’ve seen this exact same story in the MCU. And at this point, it’s tired.

I also think Doctor Strange works better as a supporting character, like he was in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War.

C Tier

Thor

This movie is fine, but I enjoy it less and less each time I watch it. Why are there so many Dutch angles? Would the movie be any different if the Warriors Three were combined into a single character (perhaps Balder)? Is there any indication that Thor considers Heimdall a friend?

Avengers: Age of Ultron

There’s a lot of good parts to this movie, like the opening battle, everyone trying to lift Thor’s hammer, and the final battle. But this is clearly the weakest Avengers movie.

Last time I watched this movie, I noticed that one of the location titles is listed as “African coast.” The scene starts aboard a derelict cargo ship, but Hulk goes on a rampage through the nearby city. That rampage was filmed in Johannesburg and is allegedly set there. The only problem? Johannesburg is almost 200 miles from the nearest coast.

Thor: Ragnarok

I think a lot of people will be surprised by the ranking, and so am I. Theoretically, I should love this movie. It’s got all the things I love: appearances by other Avengers (Hulk! Doctor Strange!), design inspired by Jack Kirby, great character stories, humor, and an amazing soundtrack.

And yet for some reason, I don’t feel joy while watching Thor: Ragnarok. I can’t explain it.

B Tier

The Incredible Hulk

Most people forget that the Hulk wasn’t always played by Mark Ruffalo, and the ones who do typically rate it pretty low. But let me tell you a story.

The Incredible Hulk had just come out on DVD and my friend Tim had not seen it yet. He came over to my house and we watched it. When the movie was done, we started discussing it and I wanted to point out a specific scene in the middle of the movie. So we jumped to that scene and just re-watched the entire second half of the film. Neither of us had any regrets.

Iron Man 3

I generally like Iron Man 3. It’s got action, humor, heart, and a great musical score. There are certainly some flaws, like Tony’s PTSD getting swept aside in the third act and a forgettable villain, but I still enjoy every re-watch.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Like many other sequels, the second GotG was enjoyable, but not as good as the original.

Avengers: Infinity War

Infinity War is a movie with diminishing returns. It’s amazing the first time you watch it: most of your favorite characters are in it, there’s a ton of action, and the climactic twist left me thinking “I can’t believe they actually did it!”

But the second time you watch, those same things start to bother you. The film is over-crowded with characters to the point that even I have trouble keeping track of all of them. There’s lots of action, but in a 3-hour runtime it all blurs together. I find myself thinking “we’re already an hour and a half into this movie and we still haven’t gotten to [insert some scene here].” And once you’ve seen the finale once, it just feels like a big set-up for Endgame rather than a movie in its own right.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Like many other sequels, the second Ant-Man was enjoyable, but not as good as the original.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Like many other sequels, the second Spider-Man was enjoyable, but not as good as the original.

A Tier

Iron Man

This is the movie that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it still (mostly) holds up. We meet Tony Stark for the first time, who quickly establishes himself as an asshole womanizing war-profiteer. But then we join him on a road to realizing the errors of his ways and becoming a hero. We see the first use of the “Marvel formula,” which combines humor, action, respect for the source material, and character-driven storytelling. And it all works!

Captain America: The First Avenger

I mentioned in my Doctor Strange review how many of the MCU’s protagonists fall into the pattern of “selfish, arrogant, and already great at something, but needs to learn humility and selflessness when he stops being great.” Captain America: The First Avenger is the opposite. Steve Rogers starts as a selfless and humble weakling. His challenge is figuring out what kind of hero to be when he suddenly becomes strong, and to avoid being corrupted by his new power.

It’s also incredibly fun with a great supporting cast and an iconic villain.

The Avengers

I saw this movie twice on opening weekend, and one thought kept running through my head both times: “I’m actually watching an Avengers movie!”

Here’s a movie with Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, and Thor, each of whom had been established in their own movie or two. Black Widow and Hawkeye, supporting characters from other movies, are getting to interact with characters from other movies! Here’s a Helicarrier being commanded by Nick Fury and Maria Hill! Now Loki is commanding an army of aliens on behalf of Thanos!

Sure, there are things that don’t hold up as well (we’ve all realized that Joss Whedon is actually not good at writing female characters). But it’s still a lot of fun, and I’ll never forget the magic of watching it the first time.

Ant-Man

One of the smart decisions Marvel made about their movies is that very few are just superhero films, most of them blend in another genre. Ant-Man is a superhero heist comedy, in the style of Ocean’s Eleven. And the result is great!

Guardians of the Galaxy

I absolutely love the Abnett and Lanning run with the GotG comics, and this film takes all the best elements of that series. We get a wonderful team of oddball characters, crazy locations (like Knowhere), a fantastic story, and non-stop humor. I’m really glad this movie succeeded. Now if only we can get a Nova film…

Captain America: Civil War

This feels like an Avengers film, and not just because there are so many heroes in it (including spectacular introductions of Black Panther and Spider-man). This movie adapts Marvel’s Civil War, a pivotal (but flawed) storyline, and the result is an improvement. Both Captain America and Iron Man get significant focus, but many of the other characters also have moments to shine.

Black Panther

I’m a Jew who was born in Russia but immigrated to the United States when I was young. Although I’ve lived here most of my life, America isn’t quite my home because I wasn’t born here and English wasn’t my native language. But Russia also isn’t my home, because Jews were always treated as outsiders and persecuted. The Soviets did their best to eradicate Jewish culture, so my parents and I were raised with it and I’ve had to rediscover it as an adult.

So Killmonger’s experience of feeling like an outsider in the country where he grew up but unconnected to the country of his ancestors strongly resonated with me. Of course, he’s one of many great characters in this movie. There’s also great action, tons of memorable dialogue, and a unique Afrofuturistic aesthetic. And that’s even before we get to the historic and cultural relevance of this movie.

Captain Marvel

I really enjoy watching Captain Marvel. Brie Larson is incredibly entertaining to watch, and her chemistry with SLJ’s Nick Fury is a delight. Throw in a Kree-Skrull war and a great soundtrack of 90’s alt rock, and you’ve got a good time.

S Tier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I can’t believe how many amazing things are in this movie. We finally get to see how Steve Rogers adjusts to life in the modern world after being frozen for decades. This is one of the first times we experience a benefit of the cinematic universe as Black Widow and Nick Fury, two characters introduced in the Iron Man films with larger roles in The Avengers, join Captain America on his adventures. We’re introduced to Sam Wilson for the first time! The Hydra reveal! The elevator fight scene!

Winter Soldier became my favorite MCU film when it first came out, and it still holds up.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

This is the third live-action version of Spider-man in the past two decades. Add countless animated versions, and there’s a lot to compare this movie against. Which makes that much clearer how good this movie is!

This isn’t an origin story, because we’ve seen that a million times. Everyone knows how Peter got his powers and why he became a superhero. Instead, we launch right into a new story. Much like Spider-man himself, this movie has to follow the grand action of Captain America: Civil War with a return to a smaller scale, but is able to find its own identity in that space. We also get one of my favorite dynamics from the comics, Tony Stark’s mentorship of Peter Parker.

People often point to the scene where Liz’s father drives Liz and Peter to the dance as an excellent scene. And it is! But many of the scenes before and after are also great. The end result is one of the best movies in the MCU.

Avengers: Endgame

I’m being completely serious when I say that Avengers: Endgame is the perfect movie. It wraps up the major plot of a decade of Marvel movies as well as the character arcs for the “founding” Avengers. We get little callbacks and references that are built upon to go somewhere new, rather than just basking in nostalgia. The action is spectacular and appropriately epic. It walks the narrow line of completing the story while still teasing future stories for many of its surviving characters. I cry each time I watch this film, and each time it’s because of a different scene.

I also want to talk about pacing. One of my criticisms of Infinity War is that it lacks a clear chronological structure. What happens first: Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive at Nidavellir? Or Captain America’s Avengers travel to Wakanda? Endgame has three clear acts: the start of the film, the time heist, and the big battle. The time heist starts about 60 minutes into the movie and ends about 60 minutes later. As a result, the 3-hour runtime is a lot less daunting and the plot is more memorable.