Official MCU film ranking thread--AND THE WINNER IS...

[The Letter M]

My guess for the top 5 in order are


5. Aquaman
4. Shazam!
3. Wonder Woman
2. The Suicide Squad
1. Zack Snyder's Justice League


But that's just my guess and not necessarily my top 5 MCU fulms.

Weird, cuz I was gonna say:

5. X-Men: Days Of Future Past
4. Deadpool 2
3. Deadpool
2. Logan
1. Spider-Man 2

-Marc.

[bosk1]

#5:  Captain America:  Civil War
Highest rank:  #2  (Vamadera00, soupytwist)
Lowest rank:  #16  (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note:  There were a LOT of 5th place votes (5 of them).  Other than the lone #16, the lowest was #8, so if we were to remove statistical outliers, this would be top 10 on every statistically relevant list.  This is the first movie that that is true of (and 3 of the remaining 4 are top 10 on EVERY list, without removing statistical outliers).  This also means all 3 phases are represented in the top 4.

Stating the obvious, but:  This felt like an "Avengers" movie more than it felt like a "Captain America" title.  But if you had to pick an individual that had the most dominant role, I think Cap comes out on top, with Tony behind him, and T'Challa next (although you could argue Bucky for the #3 spot as well; maybe co-#3's?).

Really good movie.  I ranked it at #7, which is slightly below the average group ranking, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.  It took a little while for it to move up this high on my list.  I certainly understood what they were going for.  And what they were going for was emotionally hard hitting.  But for some reason, it just didn't completely hit with me for awhile.  I still liked it--it's just that the emotion of it didn't impact initially.  I guess part of the reason for that is that the airport fight scene felt like a giant distraction for awhile.  Yeah, it was cool seeing everyone.  And there were a lot of good ideas in that whole scene.  But the fact that they were pulling their punches and not wanting to fight, but at the same time being willing to fight just felt a bit off to me.  And with that scene being such a huge centerpiece of the film, again, it just felt like a big distraction from what the film was trying to do.  So while there is some good stuff, I just felt like they were rushing to do the civil war storyline and cram it into a 3-hour film, and it just moved along too quickly to do it justice.  I mostly got over that and just enjoy it now for what it is.  And honestly, there are some HUGE moments for the films that came afterward, as well as some of the stuff that made TFATWS as good as it is.

[The Letter M]

#5:  Captain America:  Civil War
Highest rank:  #2  (Vamadera00, soupytwist)
Lowest rank:  #16  (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note:  There were a LOT of 5th place votes (5 of them).  Other than the lone #16, the lowest was #8, so if we were to remove statistical outliers, this would be top 10 on every statistically relevant list.  This is the first movie that that is true of (and 3 of the remaining 4 are top 10 on EVERY list, without removing statistical outliers).  This also means all 3 phases are represented in the top 4.

23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?

Looks like I match the ranking again placing CACW in fifth place. Often dubbed "Avengers 2.5", this was the still a great conclusion to the then-known Captain America Trilogy. It strengthened the bonds between Steve and Bucky, and focused on Steve's ever growing disconnect from the those he's trusted. Not counting any Avengers films, the Captain America trilogy is my favorite trio of MCU films. I could watch these without any of the others and still really enjoy it, but Civil War definitely takes advantage of fans who had been watching MCU films for eight years and paid close attention. It intersected so many character arcs and plot lines while setting up new ones with Spider-Man and Black Panther, two more highly successful franchises within the MCU. Civil War had a LOT to do and IMO, it crushed those goals and then some. I might have very minor nitpick, but overall this is a worthy Top 5 MCU film and will likely stay there for awhile (unless things like CA4 New World Order, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, or the next two Avengers films knock it down several places).

-Marc.

[bosk1]

I keep wanting to say that few if any of those titles other than the Avengers excite me, at least in concept.  But I have to remind myself that, from the getgo, the MCU repeatedly did films centering around characters I had zero interest in from the comics, and made me love them.  So   But to add to the list, Ant Man 3 has me really excited and looks like it could rank VERY high for me.  But maybe I should temper that with the fact that Thor 4 and Strange 2 also looked like total bangers from the trailers as well, but were disappointments.  So

[jingle.boy]

#5 on my list.  Terrific film, start to finish.  Amazing the way the story unfolded and pulled together so many things, providing a relevant role for every one of the heroes.  My only beef is how convoluted Zemo's plan is, and if just one part of it had a hiccup, the whole thing falls apart.  But, in the context of comic book lore, it is what it is.  This set the stage for IW, and established the Russo Bros as the best MCU storytellers, by far.

[soupytwist]

I might have very minor nitpick, but overall this is a worthy Top 5 MCU film and will likely stay there for awhile (unless things like CA4 New World Order, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, or the next two Avengers films knock it down several places).

I have Spider Man : No Way Home in my Top 5 (at number 2).  Obviously couldn't be included in this list though.

As for CW I have it at number 2, it's just a great movie from start to finish.

[Lonk]

23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13: Iron Man
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7:
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3:
2: Captain America - Civil War
1:

I mentioned earlier when CA - First Avengers was revealed that he was my least favorite character going into the MCU, and the first movie did not help at all. However, I think the treatment he received in following movies was just top notch, and his solo movies were done very well. Great movie, and I loved that we saw different side to most heroes here while staying true to their character.

[axeman90210]

Thor: Ragnarok- #4 on my list. I loved everything about this. The humor was spot on, the performances were great both new and old (gold bless you Jeff Goldblum), and it led right into Infinity War. Easily my favorite of the Thor films.

Iron Man- My #12. The OG, it's amazing what this movie ended up being spawning. I remember going back to see it a second time because I heard there was a post credit scene eventually setting up an Avengers movie. Little did I know what I would would follow. They could not have nailed the Tony Stark casting any more than they did, without RDJ carrying this movie who knows if we even get an MCU.

Civil War- I put this up at #3. Basically an Avengers movie in all but name. The Cap vs Tony story was very well executed and holy crap you guys that airport scene. THAT AIRPORT SCENE

[ZirconBlue]

Amazing start for the franchise, my only nit-pick is Stane being able to use the armor perfectly without any test runs or anything. Especially because he's not a genius like Tony.

This is one of my pet peeves: villains getting the same powers as the hero and instantly being able to stand toe-to-toe with the hero that has a lot more experience using said powers.  Zod in Superman is another example.  Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, too. 

[Adami]

23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider Man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
5. ??
4. Captain America: Civil War
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??

Had this at number 4.

I remember when this was announced and being quite concerned. I am a HUGE fan of the original Civil War comic line. Even if people disagreed about Cap and Tony being on their respective sides, I was fine with it. I was very skeptical that they could do it justice. At the time it was announced, we only whomever was in Age of Ultron. So I was like....how the hell are they going to do this massive story justice with such a tiny cast? You need the FF. You need Spider-Man. You need The New Warriors. You need dozens and dozens of characters for the registration to even make any sense. How are they going to sum up what takes months in the comics into a 2-3 hour movie? I was not thrilled.

But then time went on. Spidey joined the cast. Black Panther joined the cast. The character development leading up to it was taking more shape. Then we saw the story they decided on, which is not even a little related to the original Civil War. And I loved it. If they had tried to make it more comic accurate, it would've been awful. They made the character arcs be a perfect extension of what we've seen so far. We knew exactly why Tony was where he was. We knew why Cap was where he was. We knew why their teams joined them. It all made sense. The bad guy wasn't just a big guy to punch, he was trying something Marvel had never done before or since. He tried to out wit them only and didn't want power or anything evil at all.

On top of that you got an amazing intro to Spider-Man. I remember being in the theater and the crowd erupting when QUEENS showed up on the screen. Doubt the mention of Queens will ever get an applause like that ever again. How they handled his entire origin/catch phrase in a minute or two was just brilliant. Can't say enough about that. Of course the into of Black Panther was so damn cool. The chase scene between him and Bucky was just insane.

On top of all of that you have the incredible action, topped off by the obvious and now famous airplane scene. I am not even going to discuss it since we're all aware of it and all know how good it is.

But yes, the movie is Avengers 2.5 and I have no problem with that. It's incredible and I love every minute of it.

[The Letter M]

I remember when this was announced and being quite concerned. I am a HUGE fan of the original Civil War comic line. Even if people disagreed about Cap and Tony being on their respective sides, I was fine with it. I was very skeptical that they could do it justice. At the time it was announced, we only whomever was in Age of Ultron. So I was like....how the hell are they going to do this massive story justice with such a tiny cast? You need the FF. You need Spider-Man. You need The New Warriors. You need dozens and dozens of characters for the registration to even make any sense. How are they going to sum up what takes months in the comics into a 2-3 hour movie? I was not thrilled.

But then time went on. Spidey joined the cast. Black Panther joined the cast. The character development leading up to it was taking more shape. Then we saw the story they decided on, which is not even a little related to the original Civil War. And I loved it. If they had tried to make it more comic accurate, it would've been awful. They made the character arcs be a perfect extension of what we've seen so far. We knew exactly why Tony was where he was. We knew why Cap was where he was. We knew why their teams joined them. It all made sense. The bad guy wasn't just a big guy to punch, he was trying something Marvel had never done before or since. He tried to out wit them only and didn't want power or anything evil at all.

On top of that you got an amazing intro to Spider-Man. I remember being in the theater and the crowd erupting when QUEENS showed up on the screen. Doubt the mention of Queens will ever get an applause like that ever again. How they handled his entire origin/catch phrase in a minute or two was just brilliant. Can't say enough about that. Of course the into of Black Panther was so damn cool. The chase scene between him and Bucky was just insane.

On top of all of that you have the incredible action, topped off by the obvious and now famous airplane scene. I am not even going to discuss it since we're all aware of it and all know how good it is.

But yes, the movie is Avengers 2.5 and I have no problem with that. It's incredible and I love every minute of it.

The great thing about Zemo is that he was a big stepping stone in the thru-line that led up to Thanos succeeding if you think about it. He drove the Avengers apart, and because of the division, they weren't united against the coming threat of Thanos. Of course, that isn't to say Thanos might not have won even if the Avengers were assembled after Civil War, but the odds would've been better for them.

But if you *really* think about it, Zemo wanted revenge because the Avengers kind of destroyed Sokovia (accidentally), because Tony Stark accidentally created Ultron, which was a response to Tony's paranoia and fears from the Battle Of New York when Loki invaded with the Chitauri, which was facilitated by Thanos. Everything just kind of worked out between what happened with/to Tony and Thanos, which makes their confrontation in Infinity War even more compelling. They were set on a path from 2012 onward that led them there, and the events of films like Age Of Ultron and Civil War were big stepping stones for that plot to advance. I love that it all makes sense now, in retrospect.

Amazing start for the franchise, my only nit-pick is Stane being able to use the armor perfectly without any test runs or anything. Especially because he's not a genius like Tony.

This is one of my pet peeves: villains getting the same powers as the hero and instantly being able to stand toe-to-toe with the hero that has a lot more experience using said powers.  Zod in Superman is another example.  Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, too. 

Regarding Yellowjacket, while he had a similar suit, it did drive him insane, so it's not like he was AS competent as Scott Lang, though, to be fair, Scott wasn't as competent either, and I'd argue Darren had just as much experience as Scott leading up to their confrontation. At least Darren had been researching Pym particles for awhile, whereas Scott had only just heard of them for the first time in his first film.

The same might be said about Stane, who was an older, more experienced engineer and war monger (har har). While he might not be a genius like Tony, I think he definitely knew how some things could work with regards to Stark tech. He also had dozens of other Stark employees helping him develop the Iron Monger suit as well, so it's not like he stumbled upon the tech and bumbled his way into villainy, like the bad guys in Spider-Man: Homecoming - yes, even Vulture, who, while a great villain, surprises me that a demolition contractor was able to master a VTOL-flight suit with wings in a couple weeks' time. At least Sam Wilson was a trained military soldier with specific training in his flight suit gear.

As for other foes with "same powers", I'd say Killmonger also makes sense given that he was a military soldier of fortune. He's got the experience and combat knowledge, so being paired with a vibranium suit only helped his skills go further. The same might also be said about Blonsky, the Abomination - another soldier (god, there's a lot of these between Killmonger, Zemo, Bucky for a time, etc) who was pretty strong and skilled already, but the serum that turned him into the Abomination only helped him make himself stronger. He even says so in the film - if he had his younger body with his current mind, he'd be an unstoppable warrior.

I'm glad the MCU has been moving away from "the Villain has the same power-set as the Hero" trope for awhile now, unless it makes thematic sense (Doctor Strange fights another sorcerer because it's a sorcerer's conflict, Shang-Chi fights his dad with the ten rings because it's a family fight).

-Marc.

[bosk1]

...it's not like he stumbled upon the tech and bumbled his way into villainy, like the bad guys in Spider-Man: Homecoming - yes, even Vulture, who, while a great villain, surprises me that a demolition contractor was able to master a VTOL-flight suit with wings in a couple weeks' time.

Wait, what?  Where are you getting "a couple weeks" from?  He gets ahold of the tech in 2012.  Then the film jumps ahead 8 years to when we first see him in the Vulture suit.  And, yes, Fiege retconned the timeline to 4 years, but that's still 4 years, not a couple of weeks.

[The Letter M]

...it's not like he stumbled upon the tech and bumbled his way into villainy, like the bad guys in Spider-Man: Homecoming - yes, even Vulture, who, while a great villain, surprises me that a demolition contractor was able to master a VTOL-flight suit with wings in a couple weeks' time.

Wait, what?  Where are you getting "a couple weeks" from?  He gets ahold of the tech in 2012.  Then the film jumps ahead 8 years to when we first see him in the Vulture suit.  And, yes, Fiege retconned the timeline to 4 years, but that's still 4 years, not a couple of weeks.

D'oh - you're right. I stupidly condensed the film's timeline. Either way, was it stated in the film how long Toomes had had the flight suit? I guess if he had it for a few years, he definitely had practice with it, a lot longer than Peter was Spider-Man (which was less than two years by the time of Homecoming).

I do wish that Toomes, the Tinkerer, and the rest of his crew were fleshed out a bit more, though. I enjoyed what we got from them and had hoped they might have returned in FFH or NWH but it seems they were all one-and-done characters like most MCU villains tend to be. I'm going to blame Sony on that one though.

-Marc.

[lonestar]

23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3-
2-
1-


Civil War...what a fucking blast of a movie, a bit long in the tooth, but that's being incredibly nitpicky. We get intros to Spidy and T'Challa, we got some of the better MCU humor around, and many insane action scenes.

[jingle.boy]

To go along with Adami's comments, I too had read the entire (90+ comics) Civil War event leading up to the movie, so had some trepidation as to how all of it was going to work.  I loved the angle that they took, while still pulling more than a few elements of the comics (eg, Sharon's eulogy stole direct dialogue from Steve the comics).  And having Spidey play an important part in the story was great, since he was arguably the most pivotal part of the comic event, publicly de-masking himself.  The Russo's did a fantastic job of pulling what they could from the comic event, while needing to have an entirely different series of events to the main plot.

[bosk1]

I don't recall ever getting a lot of detail from anywhere on this, but I think the intent was to use Spidey a bit more, but they couldn't really write him in much more than they did because the deal with Sony came too late in the game.  And I think it actually ended up being fine how they used him, no matter the behind the scenes that led to it playing out the way it did.  It ended up being pretty believable how we had this superhero we could add into the mix but yet nobody (in universe) had ever heard of him up to that point.

[jingle.boy]

I don't recall ever getting a lot of detail from anywhere on this, but I think the intent was to use Spidey a bit more, but they couldn't really write him in much more than they did because the deal with Sony came too late in the game.  And I think it actually ended up being fine how they used him, no matter the behind the scenes that led to it playing out the way it did.  It ended up being pretty believable how we had this superhero we could add into the mix but yet nobody (in universe) had ever heard of him up to that point.

I seem to have some recollection of that as well.

[ZirconBlue]

I don't recall ever getting a lot of detail from anywhere on this, but I think the intent was to use Spidey a bit more, but they couldn't really write him in much more than they did because the deal with Sony came too late in the game.  And I think it actually ended up being fine how they used him, no matter the behind the scenes that led to it playing out the way it did.  It ended up being pretty believable how we had this superhero we could add into the mix but yet nobody (in universe) had ever heard of him up to that point.

My understanding is that they wrote 2 versions of the script -- one with Spidey, one without -- because they didn't know whether the deal was going to go through or not. 

[ZirconBlue]

Regarding Yellowjacket, while he had a similar suit, it did drive him insane, so it's not like he was AS competent as Scott Lang, though, to be fair, Scott wasn't as competent either, and I'd argue Darren had just as much experience as Scott leading up to their confrontation. At least Darren had been researching Pym particles for awhile, whereas Scott had only just heard of them for the first time in his first film.

But that's theoretical knowlege, not actual experience.  Hell, it takes me a while to figure out how to work everything in a rental car, I can't imagine suddenly having to operate one of these suits.  Either way, Scott got a whole montage of everything he had to learn, but Darren is somehow able to skip all that training.

[Dream Team]

Civil War #5 for me.

Amazing movie, love every minute. The way they set it up with multiple intense emotional scenes (Nigeria, the mom confronting Tony by the elevator) and then that climactic confrontation between Steve and Tony when you could argue BOTH were right . . . just so good. Do you remember in the theater thinking for a second Steve was going to behead Tony with his shield?!?

Edit: Tony witnessing his parents' execution is perhaps the most powerful scene in the MCU. It ranks right up there anyway.

[bosk1]

#4:  Captain American: The Winter Soldier
Highest rank:  #3 (lonestar, Adami, soupytwist, jingle.boy, Joe, jammindude)
Lowest rank:  #13 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of interest:  This is the highest ranking phase 2 film.  Other than that #13 finish, the lowest it finished was #9 (bosk1, MetalJunkie).  It also had 3 4th place finishes.

I think just about everyone loved this film right from the start.  It was a bit different for an MCU film, as more of an espionage thriller than a superhero movie.  And it worked.  We really began to feel the connective tissue throughout the MCU with this one, with Natasha showing up and again being a GREAT supporting character, and the ramifications of SHIELD/Hydra being far reaching.  And where this caused Agents of SHIELD to go was also great for that show, back when everyone thought it was still canon (oh, silly us).  The Winter Soldier was scary.  And that elevator scene!  Just...yeah.

Obviously, I liked this film.  It is top 10 for me.  I never liked it as much as other people.  But I never disliked anything about it either.  Just solid from start to finish. 

[lonestar]

23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3- Captain America- The Winter Soldier
2-
1-


My favorite by far of the stand alone movies, and honestly if it wasn't for the unbelievably epic scale of Infinity War/Endgame, it might have been on top. (not to mention the experience, but more on that later) This had my favorite Avenger finally in a big role, giving time to really flesh out her character. Also the intro of Sam, who I always enjoyed. Like Bosk said, it had the espionage aspect that really was a fun new flavor of MCU for us. The Winter Soldier was an outstanding villain, and the action sequences might have been some of the best in the series.

[axeman90210]

#6 for me. As bosk said, a nice change of piece in getting a well-executed political thriller moreso than a superhero movie. Great turns from returning MCU characters, major and minor, and a good debut for Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon.

[The Letter M]

#4:  Captain American: The Winter Soldier
Highest rank:  #3 (lonestar, Adami, soupytwist, jingle.boy, Joe, jammindude)
Lowest rank:  #13 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of interest:  This is the highest ranking phase 2 film.  Other than that #13 finish, the lowest it finished was #9 (bosk1, MetalJunkie).  It also had 3 4th place finishes.

23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?

Looks like I'm on the nose again! This was the 2nd MCU film I had seen in theaters twice (the first being Avengers two years prior). The spy-thriller and espionage tone of this film really help set it apart from anything else in the franchise up to that point, and since really. There hasn't been a film quite like this one, and the Russos definitely set a high bar for what an MCU film could be.

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Flawless. As Cheffy said, if not for the EPIC finale of Phase 1-3, this would be the best them. The fight sequences are by far the best.

"On your left."
"Tell him I'm in pursuit."
"Before we get started! Does anyone want to get out."

Chills.

I'm not sure which sequence I prefer ... the elevator, or the bridge.

ScarJo was the bomb in this movie.

[lonestar]

Flawless. As Cheffy said, if not for the EPIC finale of Phase 1-3, this would be the best them. The fight sequences are by far the best.

"On your left."
"Tell him I'm in pursuit."
"Before we get started! Does anyone want to get out."

Chills.

I'm not sure which sequence I prefer ... the elevator, or the bridge.

ScarJo was the bomb in this movie.

The escape sequence after the Apple Store was just amazing...

"Was that the first time you've kissed a woman since coming out of the ice?"

"Was it that bad?"

[King Postwhore]

This would be my #1 movie. Old action scenes with modern technology. Storyline was amazing. 

[bosk1]

#3:  The Avengers
Highest ranking:  #1 (MetalJunkie, ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking:  #18 :omg (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note:  That #18 didn't really matter.  This one has been solidly at #3 the whole time--plenty of high rankings to keep it no lower than #3, but not enough to get it past Infinity War and Endgame.  More than 2/3 of you had it in the top 3, and most of those that didn't still had it pretty high.

If the MCU stopped here, there would have been a lot of completely satisfied fans.  I'm not saying anything new here, but this film was unprecedented.  Only a few select franchises had this many sequels or more.  But his was more than just a sequel.  Everything up to this point was leading up to what we saw.  And it all fit together, and it all worked.  We've come so far that I have to remind myself sometimes what a monumental accomplishment this was.  And yet...we get to the end of the film and learn that it's not a culmination at all--there's more! 

I loved this movie.  And...so what?  Because we ALL do.  So much more than just a summer blockbuster.  This film shattered any discussion of which superhero franchise was #1.  And it made "the next MCU release" into events to mark on our calendars and look forward to.

I also look back on the fact that we marveled at the time that they could assemble a team of 6 main characters and somehow give them screen time to develop them as a team.  LOTS of people expressed concern over whether that could be pulled off effectively.  It was, and then some.  And that says nothing of the amazing action scenes, the amazing pacing, the cinematography, the depth of character arcs up to this point, and on and on. 

[The Letter M]

#3:  The Avengers
Highest ranking:  #1 (MetalJunkie, ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking:  #18 :omg (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note:  That #18 didn't really matter.  This one has been solidly at #3 the whole time--plenty of high rankings to keep it no lower than #3, but not enough to get it past Infinity War and Endgame.  More than 2/3 of you had it in the top 3, and most of those that didn't still had it pretty high.

23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
03. The Avengers
02. ?
01. ?

The team-up that tied up Phase 1, the biggest risk with the biggest reward. If this didn't work, the MCU probably would have been stopped in its tracks, but thanks it was wildly successful. Heck I even saw it twice in theaters!

Regardless of what you might think about Whedon and his directing, he turned out a great film, but it wasn't just his direction that helped it. The characters and the actors who portrayed them all had a film or two under their belts, and for many fans we were already familiar with them for years! The anticipation was high. The hype was through the roof. And it seemed like all the planets aligned in such a way that the resulting film was more than your average Hollywood blockbuster. To say it changed how film franchises could be done and done successfully would be an understatement, and I think it definitely changed cinema.

Of course we know which two films are left, but the order of them will probably surprise us all! I think many of us could probably interchange them, but it's nice to see that, as far as the final ranking goes, I'm with the Countdown in terms of having these top films in roughly the same positions!

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

DarkChestofWonders ... 

[The Realm]

Been away on holidays so have missed a few.

Avengers: Age of Ultron - I had at number 12.
Iron Man - number 10.
Guardians of the Galaxy - number 8.
Thor: Ragnarok - number 7 (nailed it)
Spiderman: Homecoming - number 6
Captain America: Civil War - number 5 (nailed it)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - number 4 (nailed it) - really loved that this ranked so high, I didn't realise it was so universally loved.

The Avengers - I ranked at number 3 also same as consensus. Such a great movie and such an awesome payoff to all the movies that had come before this one. Would be hard to see how this could be done better, but I guess with 2 more still to come it has been.

[lonestar]

23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7- The Avengers
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3- Captain America- The Winter Soldier
2-
1-


An absolute thrill ride beginning to end. Really showed how the parts can become a whole, how epic this type of storytelling can become, what the potential of the MCU could hold. But even as epic as this was, it was really just the first seeds being planted for what I always considered one of the greatest accomplishments in cinema, the Infinity Saga, but more on that later of course. Another thing I love about this is how it's also the beginning of what is promising to be one of the more epic redemption arcs ever in Loki.

[jammindude]

Just a brief observation that whether you love of hate Joss Whedon, his expertise in giving equal footing to an ensemble cast in Firefly proved instrumental in the success of The Avengers

[Adami]

23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far from Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
5. The Avengers
4. Captain America: Civil War
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. ??
1. ??

My numbers 3 and 5 respectively.

I remember going to see Winter Soldier in theaters and as soon as Cap started that fight scene on the boat I was like "Woah...this is something new....this is something amazing." Prior, much of Marvel, including the Avengers movie, had a very comic book feel to it in regards to the action. It all felt light and awesome, but didn't make you FEEL the kicks and punches. This one did. This had a visceral sense to it that was missing prior. It sucked me right in. The new tone, the new attitude, the new stories, this is the movie that really confirmed that the MCU was amazing and it being 3 is just a testament to what the last two movies accomplished. But yea, I loved everything about this movie, shy of possibly the exposition scene from RoboZola.

Avengers, well most of everything has already been said. This movie changed the game. Some of those action interactions between Cap and Iron Man, or Thor and Cap, or Hulk and whomever were just like giving the audience EVERYTHING we had no idea we desperately wanted. The story was simple enough and inspired enough by the first Avengers comics that it worked well. I didn't love it as much the other 4 above it, but it's an amazing movie.

[jingle.boy]

I love how Whedon/Loki created all the tension amongst the team, only to pull them all together in the end.  The infighting was perfect, and was soooo Avengers.  The individual parts are prickly with each other, but the whole package together is smooth as silk - meaning, that's the way the group has often been portrayed in the comics.  I'm glad they bailed on the 'purist' attempt around Cap's suit.  Thank god they never tried that with Hawkeye's look.