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

[bosk1]

Maybe I just had somewhat of an "advantage" not being familiar with Ghost from the comics, in that I didn't feel let down by the character.  The thing is, the stakes in this film were fairly "low" in the grand scheme of things.  This wasn't a world-ending sort of threat or beyond.  And Eva wasn't really a true "villain" in most senses of the word.  She was wronged by her circumstances and the government, and just wanted to be normal again.  She was desperate and ruthless in her methods, but it was understandable.  I thought she worked in that context, and that the stakes in the film were appropriate to what was going on.  And, as such, I liked it.  Anyhow, not trying to persuade anyone.  Just explaining why I dug it.  And all that said, I still ranked it fairly low as well, all things considered.

Anyhow, as far a rankings, I'm in a different physical location today and won't have access to my spreadsheet until later tonight, so I'm unfortunately going to be a bit late posting the next one.  I'll either post it late tonight, or I'll double dip tomorrow.  Feel free to speculate what the next two will be.  Honestly, the bottom 5 probably won't surprise many. 

[Adami]

Ghost is very different in the comics, but I think that's for the best.

In the comics, from what I've seen of him, Ghost was just a thief who could phase. I don't remember any interesting back story or character arc. So the changes were good, they just were rushed through in the movie. It was a great idea that needed to be fleshed out a lot more. Maybe getting rid of the whole benefactor whatever plot may have helped give it time.

The main villain that I feel was very ruined from the comics was Taskmaster. That was a super fun and charismatic character stripped down a zombie almost.

[Lonk]

If I had to guess, I would say the next two movies will be from Phase 1 

[soupytwist]

Feel free to speculate what the next two will be.  Honestly, the bottom 5 probably won't surprise many.

I was expecting Incredible Hulk in the bottom 2.  Surely that'll be very soon?

[Adami]

I suspect a phase 3 film that would've been better in phase 1.

[soupytwist]

I suspect a phase 3 film that would've been better in phase 1.

I would be very surprised if anyone ranked that higher than me.

[Adami]

I suspect a phase 3 film that would've been better in phase 1.

I would be very surprised if anyone ranked that higher than me.

I definitely didn’t.

[jingle.boy]

I never even knew Ghost from the comics, so I had no frame of reference.  She just didn't click whatsoever with me.  Maybe I'll have a different opinion when I re-watch both Ant-Man movies leading up to Quantumania.

[bosk1]

#21:  The Incredible Hulk
Highest ranking:  #10 (jingle.boy)
Lowest ranking:  #23 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, ZirconBlue)
Stats of note:  The vast majority put this one in the bottom two.  But a few late votes that ranked it much higher lifted it above #22 and #23.

I remember at the time this came out, I didn't know it was necessarily connected to Iron Man and didn't know it wasn't connected to the Ang Lee Hulk film.  But it was better.  Overall, this was a good film, but the MCU was still finding its feet.  I think my initial reaction was along the lines of, "Hmm, not bad."  And that's still about how I feel.  It was good, but not great, and that was fine.  I ranked it at #23 personally.  But no hate at all.  It just didn't do it for me like a lot of the other films.



#20:  Captain Marvel
Highest rank:  #7  (soupytwist)
Lowest rank:  #23  (MetalJunkie, Adami, Joe, DarkChestofWonders)
Stat notes:  This one was kind of all over the place within the range outlined above, but got quite a few last place finishes.

This movie had issues.  By and large, it was a character few wanted or felt we needed to see.  But it was a character that brought hope after the snap.  But the CGI was at times REALLY bad (on the de-aging), the writing was at times VERY poor, character beats were juvenile and inconsistent with other things built up, the main character's power level was REALLY inconsistent, Captain Marvel wasn't a likeable character, Brie Larson did her absolute best to make herself even more unlikeable during her press junkets...and yet, this movie had a lot of really fun beats as well.  What they tried to do by showing Danvers struggling to learn to pick herself up and be her own person, and by showing her struggles to regain her memory AND her personhood, were hit and miss.  But when they hit, they were actually charming and done pretty well, and I gave the film a few points for that.  That's why it isn't last.  Still a fun, good movie.  But it  felt like they missed more than they hit with this one, which was a shame, because I really wanted it to be better. 

[The Letter M]

#21:  The Incredible Hulk
Highest ranking:  #10 (jingle.boy)
Lowest ranking:  #23 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, ZirconBlue)
Stats of note:  The vast majority put this one in the bottom two.  But a few late votes that ranked it much higher lifted it above #22 and #23.

#20:  Captain Marvel
Highest rank:  #7  (soupytwist)
Lowest rank:  #23  (MetalJunkie, Adami, Joe, DarkChestofWonders)
Stat notes:  This one was kind of all over the place within the range outlined above, but got quite a few last place finishes.

23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. ?
16. ?
15. ?
14. ?
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?

Both aren't bad movies, but are definitely in the lower tiers of my rankings. I think TIH tried to do a lot but couldn't accomplish everything it wanted to do, but now that they've been bringing back elements of that film since Phase 3, it could improve with the future of the MCU. Just give us Betty back.

As for Captain Marvel, the ensemble cast was great but everything else felt a bit flat for me. The de-aging tech on Fury and Coulson was one of the best things about the film IMO. I know a lot of folks dislike the portrayal of Carol here, but given she was brainwashed by the Kree, it's easy to understand why she was so stiff and emotionless most of the film. I think The Marvels will show us what Brie can really do as Carol, which was only hinted at in Endgame.

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

So, apparently I liked TIH the most?  Hmph.  Not sure why it gets slagged so much.  I guess I just don't see to many glaringly obviously flaws that I have to overlook to enjoy the movie.  I liked that we didn't get an true origin story the way every other OG character did.  I felt the pace was good, the action good, the acting good, the motivations of Bruce, Ross (both of them), Blonski were all fleshed out and believable, and the plot circumstances connected logically to a fitting conclusion.

And I still like the CGI for Norton-Hulk better than Ruffalo-Hulk.

[Adami]

Looks like I had Hulk at 17 and CM at 23.

I didn't hate either movie. I actually really enjoyed Hulk. I just liked 16 other movies more.


And for CM.....it was just boring to me. Ben was great as the Skrull, but everything else felt flat for me. I did tear up at the Stan Lee cameo, and I really love Brie Larson. I don't blame her at all. I just feel like the writers or directors didn't really have a strong vision for who they wanted Carol to be, so they were just left with not much at all. And you can credit her blah ness to whatever you want in the story, but you're still left with a mostly lifeless character.

I know the character can be better and I have full trust in Brie Larson to do that. She just needs to given a more strongly written character or be better directed.

[Lonk]

Incredible Hulk - #23
Captain Marvel - #20

TIH is a fine movie, but it is by far the one MCU movie I have no desire to see again. Even my #22 (yet to be revealed) is much more enjoyable to me. Maybe I need to rewatch it to remind myself why I didn't like it, who knows maybe it will change my mind.

CM - Agree with everything Bosk and Adami said about this movie. Not a bad movie overall, just felt flat most of the time and there was little charm to the character itself. I hope in her future appearances is a bit better.

[lonestar]

Definitely enjoy both, though Hulk a bit more, never really got the animosity for it. I can totally understand some of the criticism on Marvel, mostly centered around Brie's flat delivery of the character.



23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
19- The Incredible Hulk

[Dream Team]

I had Hulk at 11 and Captain Marvel at 14. Peter David had an incredible (ha ha) run as the writer of TIH comic for over 10 years in the 80s and 90s, really developing a great storyline of Banner as a split personality and his relationship with his (abusive) father, Betty, Ross etc. Most of this run featured the intelligent Hulk so there was no limit on what he could do with the character. Near and dear to me.

[The Realm]

The Incredible Hulk - I had this at 22 and am surprised it got higher than that overall, mainly because it is a bit of a forgotten movie - definitely is for me anyway. Seen it once, thought it was ok.

Captail Marvel - I had at 20. I really just do not like Brie Larson in the part of Captain Marvel, I'm just not a fan of the way she plays the character. To me she doesn't play the character in a way that resonates and connects with the audience, her performance is detached and withdrawn and lacking any feeling. She may as well be a female Terminator. She is obviously in for the long haul though so will see if she can improve her performance going forward.

[soupytwist]

Hulk at 22 - meh.

Captain Marvel at 7.   Yeah loved it, loved we finally got a movie with Nick Fury front and centre, loved Ben as Talos, loved that we actually got a plot twist (as long as you don't read the comics), loved the arc of the main character, loved Goose and the Coulson cameo was fun.
Brie is fine in the role, her little pick me up to Peter Parker in Endgame shows what she can do now the character is fully developed.

.

[bosk1]

#19:  Iron Man 2
Highest ranking:  #3 (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking:  #23 (TheRealm, soupytwist)
Stat notes:  Aside from the outlyer at #3, the next highest ranking was two people ranking this at #10 (DreamTeam and Joe).  Otherwise, about 2/3 of the votes put this one in the bottom 5.

The second Iron Man flim wasn't as good as the first.  There isn't much controversy there.  The spectacle was bigger, and the effects budget appeared to be as well.  But the stakes were relatively low, the villain was "just ok" (some would say he was really bad, but I wouldn't go that far), and the story wasn't hugely groundbreaking.  But a lot of people largely didn't care.  We liked the first movie more than we thought we would, and this was giving us more character development for a character we found that we already liked, in a new comics universe that was promising something big on the horizon, and we were just happy to see it unfolding.  As solo efforts go, it is definitely not in the upper tier for most.  But it was setting the table for things to come, and the MCU was still findings its feet, and it worked just fine in that context.

For me, I ranked this one very low:  #22 in fact.  I didn't really like where they were going with Tony's character for a good portion of the movie.  But at the same time, it totally fit.  In many ways, he was hitting bottom.  He was still DEEP in the character flaws that we learned about in the first movie, but was now still the spoiled rich kid with newfound popularity and abilities that were taking him down a bad path, and the events of this film helped provide a means for nudging him down a path of course-correction.  I liked this film, but it isn't one I want to go back to very often.  And I'm embarrassed for Tony's character for the first act, which doesn't help.  I think if I had to re-rank these again, I would put it a spot or 2 higher--still bottom 5, but probably higher in that batch.

[Adami]

I had this at 20.

I actually enjoyed this more on the rewatches that I thought I would. My problem isn't really with the villains, as each is good on their own. Justin Hammer is a great villain that needed more time and development. Angry Russian dude could have been a great villain if he had more time and development. Having both of them at the same time meant both were half baked, but I still liked them. They each had good motivations and were played well. Neither wanted "Darkness for the universe" or to have power for the sake power. One was a mirror image of Tony Stark as opposed to Iron Man and one was a mirror version of Iron Man as opposed to Tony Stark. Good potential there with good actors, just needed to not be in the same movie.

My issue is the meandering of the story. It just kind of goes here and then there and then there without much purpose of sense of direction. So it was hard to really connect with what was happening as they seemed to be making it up as they went. Which is odd since they WERE doing that on the first Iron Man but it didn't feel like that.

Also might be easier to do the rating thing too.

23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. ??
20. Iron Man 2
19. ??
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. ??
15. ??
14. ??
13. ??
12. ??
11. ??
10. ??
9. ??
8. ??
7. ??
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??

[lonestar]

I like this one...and always enjoy it on a re-watch. Granted it introduces my favorite MCU character in Natasha, so that definitely influences my enjoyment of it. Very surprised to see this below IM3.


23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18-
17-
16-
15- Iron Man 2
14-
13-
12-
11-
10-
9-
8-
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
2-
1-

[bosk1]

@Adami:  I see what you are saying about Hammer and Vanko, but I actually think they worked fine in the same movie together, and they played well off of each other. 

@RJ:  I liked the introduction of Natasha in IM2 as well.  If I had thought about that, that also would have likely bumped it up a couple of spots in my ranking as well.  I had kinda forgotten that that is her introduction, but it was done pretty well.  They didn't try to do too much with her, but set the stage nicely.  We got just enough that everything we saw from her in Avengers (1) was believable and logical and (2) added depth to someone we already knew, even though we didn't know much.  And I get that part of the reason they probably didn't do too much with her in IM2 is because they didn't yet know what they wanted to do with her.  But that worked, so win-win.

On a different note, now that we have the bottom 5 fleshed out, here's another observation:  2 are from phase 1, 1 from phase 2, and 2 from phase 3.   So it is spread out among all 3 phases.  Which is cool.  Without spoiling, I'll say that that remains true up and down the list. 

[The Letter M]

#19:  Iron Man 2
Highest ranking:  #3 (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking:  #23 (TheRealm, soupytwist)
Stat notes:  Aside from the outlyer at #3, the next highest ranking was two people ranking this at #10 (DreamTeam and Joe).  Otherwise, about 2/3 of the votes put this one in the bottom 5.

23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. ?
15. ?
14. ?
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?

Had IM2 at 17th, and now I'm wondering if my 20th and 21st ranked films are coming up soon.

I remember loving this when it came out because we got War Machine and some awesome action scenes, as well as a great performance from Rockwell as Hammer, but it hasn't aged as well as I'd hoped upon rewatches. Whiplash is a bit of a let-down villain, but not awful, but the film is just OK over-all.

-Marc.

[soupytwist]

My 23.

This one is as close to bad as these movies get.  Apart from Black Widow there is nothing of note in this movie - bland villains, meandering plot, no decent action (and that God Awful Monaco sequence), Tony's gone from being a loveable asshole to a straight out unlikeable asshole.

The Eternals might be worse though!

[bosk1]

Tony's gone from being a loveable asshole to a straight out unlikeable asshole.

Exactly my point.  But even though I didn't like that, in the context of his overall MCU arc, I'm...kinda glad they did it that way.

The Eternals might be worse though!

"Maybe?"  No, it definitely is.  Worst MCU movie by a long shot, and one of the worst movies I have ever wasted my time seeing.  Probably did more to sour me on the MCU as a whole than anything else, which is saying a lot given how lackluster phase 4 has been as a whole, film-wise.

[jammindude]

Got some catching up to do

Ant Man and the Wasp I had at 22.

I was spot on with this one.  I still love it, and it's important to the story arc moving forward, but this is one of the few where I thought the villain was poor.  (I disagree with most people about poor MCU villains most of the time, but not this one)  I'm curious to see where the third movie will take Michelle Pfieffer's character as I thought that was actually brilliant casting.   For the short time she was in the film she did really well.   

I have The Incredible Hulk at 15

I actually like this one a lot.  As someone pointed out, this one actually gets better with repeated viewings.  Great character motivation and an excellent job establishing the character by Ed Norton.   It's too bad he was unwilling to play ball and just go with the what the MCU was writing.   (My understanding was that since he already had some acclaim as a writer himself, Marvel should have let him in the writing room.  They didn't want an actor from the team to have more pull in the writing department than the others.  This led to a less than friendly split)   But ultimately, I think the more mellow version of Bruce we got from Mark Ruffalo worked better for the Avengers team moving forward.    Not sure Ed Norton would have been happy taking a back seat to RDJ and CE....the established "leaders".   

Captain Marvel #17

I did think Brie played it a bit too wooden, but the story sticks with me.   My wife grew up in an extremely misogynistic household (her father almost divorced mom just for getting a job) and I'm actually very touched by the over arcing theme of this person continuing to get back up no matter how many times she gets pushed down by those who tell her she shouldn't be "playing with the boys".     So I look at this as Carol's "awakening" and it works on that level.   (still don't like the "Just a Girl" music on the final battle.  I get that the lyrics are a perfect match, but the music is way too "jaunty" for a final battle scene.  There are so many angry girl anthems from that time period that would have worked so much better.  Something from L7 or Hole or Liz Phair.)

Iron Man 2 is #20 for me

Close to the aggregate on this one.   In retrospect, I have IM3 rated a tad lower, and now I think that was a mistake and if I had to do it over again I would probably switch them.    IM2's villains were better (a lot better) but Tony's character arc is so much more personal in IM3.   Between those two things, I have them very close in the rankings.   But as far as IM2 goes, I actually really like Vanko and Hammer.   "That is not my bird." Tends to be a line that cracks me up a lot.   But the motivations are spot on.   Hammer is the weasel who is jealous of Tony, and Vanko wants revenge...and is also jealous of Tony.   Personally I like how well written Tony is in this movie.   Because that tends to be the case with these types.  Billionaire playboy gets to a point where he feels untouchable, only to have everything blow up in his face.  Even his own friends.   This is absolutely necessary to the next phase of his story arc.     Meh....maybe I'm back to liking IM2 more.   It's honestly almost a coin toss. 

[The Realm]

Iron Man 2 - number 23 for me. Yep, something had to be on the bottom. I just really didn't like this movie and thought it was a huge let down after the first Iron Man. I also haven't revisited it so maybe I would feel different if I did a rewatch but as it stands this is where it ends up.

[bosk1]

#18:  Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Highest ranking:  #8  (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking:  #22 (faizoff)

This one was ranked all over the place.  I personally had it at 19.  It has climbed a bit because it truly has some great emotional beats and further develops the "family" theme, and it does a good job of that.  But it is also overly crass and childish, which is why it is so low.  And Ego just didn't really work for me.  Seemed like a concept that could have been cool that just feel flat in the end.  Not much more to say than that.

[soupytwist]

My 14.

Odd one for me.  Left the cinema on first viewing disappointed by it, but re watched it a couple of times since and enjoyed it more. 

[Lonk]

Iron Man 2: #19 for me.

Enjoyable movie, but the plot itself felt force. Highlight is that this is the first time we see Natasha.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2: #12

This is a movie that really depends on my mood. Is a fun film, enjoyable with just enough drama. On a bad day, it could drop to 17-19. But I think #12 is as high as I would ever put it. The issue I had with this movie is that you cannot introduce Ego, such a powerful being, and have him so easily defeteated (in a way).

[lonestar]

Exactly where I had it. Entertain, but really not mind blowing for me.

23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17-
16-
15- Iron Man 2
14-
13-
12-
11-
10-
9-
8-
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
2-
1-

[The Letter M]

#18:  Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Highest ranking:  #8  (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking:  #22 (faizoff)

23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. ?
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?

I had GOTG Vol. 2 at 14th, very middle-of-the-road MCU. I enjoy it a lot, but it's not quite top ten material for me.

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Pretty close to where I had this one.  It's been a while since I watched it, but my recollection is that it was trying to do too much.  Bringing the Ravagers back together in a whole Kumbaya moment seemed forced.  Though, Yondu/Mary Poppins was great.  The opening sequence was a bit of a hot mess, imo... and Nebula's turn seemed completely out of left field.  Good flick none-the-less.

23.  Ant Man and the Wasp
22.  Thor: The Dark World
21.  Captain Marvel
20.  Iron Man 2
19
18
17
16. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
15
14
13
12
11
10. The Incredible Hulk
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

[axeman90210]

Catchup time;

The Incredible Hulk I had at 18. I think this catches a little bit of unnecessary flak from MCU fans in retrospect because of the casting change, but it was an OK movie. I found Blonksy much more interesting in his recent run on She-Hulk than here though.

Captain Marvel was #13 on my list. It's certainly not a perfect origin movie, but I also feel like it suffers from essentially being a phase 1 movie released in the middle of phase 3.

Iron Man 2 I put at 21. I agree with a lot of what Adami said, a few different interesting threads but they didn't tie together well.

Guardians 2 was #19 for me. This one dropped in the rankings because of a very underwhelming villain. The cast was still great, and I really liked Yondu's arc through it.

[The Realm]

Guardians 2 - number 20 for me. This one really didn't resonate with me the same way the first Guardians did. I felt this movie was bloated and overly long.

Interesting that all the movies revealed so far are my 18th to 23rd ranked movies but none in the exact spot as the actual reveal.

                                          Actual
23   Iron Man 2                       19
22   The Incredible Hulk               21
21   Thor: The Dark World               23
20   Guardians of the Galaxy 2       18
19   Captain Marvel                       20
18   Ant Man and the Wasp       22

[jammindude]

GOTG2 was #19 for me.

Even though I thought Kurt Russell did the character extremely well, and I thought the father/son angle was a good idea, I thought the motivation of just “getting his seed out there til something lived” was really really stupid. But in spite of that, I thought the reveal that he had given cancer to his mom was a huge emotional moment that stuck the landing they were going for. And then stacking that on top of the Vondu declaration of being his daddy brought all the emotions to a great climactic moment.

Yup…I totally cried. Mission accomplished.