So, pretty much after I see a Marvel MCU movie (ie, not the first five Spider-Man's, or the Fantastic Four's or X-Men's) I end up ranking them. It's what we do, we like ranking things. Sometimes, I do it even in between movies. But usually I forget my order because I have a terrible memory, among other things. So, I figured I'd put it down on the blog. That's what a blog is for, yes?
These are both ranked and organized into three tiers. Think of the tiers like this - I would be willing to re-organize the rankings of these movies within their tiers, but not outside of them.
May 18, 2017 update: Slotting in GoTG 2 & Dr. Strange.
Tier 3
Not Ranked. Ant Man - Still haven't seen it yet. I have a hard time believing it would escape the third tier.
Not Ranked. Dr. Strange - Maybe was good, but the trailer looked just like Inception, and I didn't care for the whitewashing. Also, I don't really like Dr. Strange as a character. Pass.
13. Thor: The Dark World - Marvel has a rep for bad villains, and none was worse than the dude in this one. I don't even remember his name, and don't feel compelled to look it up.
12. Iron Man 2 - Another sequel that landed with a thud, and while I'm finally getting used to Don Cheadle as Iron Patriot, I still hated the decision in this movie.
11. The Incredible Hulk - This movie was pretty good until the final third, which got a little cartoonish, and not in a good way.
Tier 2
10. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 - It was good, but it was very slow to develop, had way too much Drax, and I didn't care for the gimmick of Baby Groot for an entire movie. We get it, he's cute. He also grew back limbs way too quickly in the original for me to believe he was a baby for so long in the second one. Furthermore, I wasn't a big fan of the sexual tension plotline, but I especially was not a fan of the way it ended. Will leave it at that for now since saying why not is still spoiler-ish. Also, the main reason for antagonism between the two leads is identical to Civil War. Marvel being a cohesive unit is supposed to prevent these sorts of things.
9. Iron Man 3 - Definitely better than Iron Man 2, but the villain was uninspired, and the after the fact revelation that they wouldn't let Rebecca Hall be the villain will forever color this one, as Rebecca Hall was nails in this (and every) movie.
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron - It's fine, but the end scene where they're like, "hey let's train new Avengers!" rubbed me the wrong way. I thought it was a pretty blatant sign that "hey sucker, this movie was a placeholder, thanks for burning $20 on seeing it." That feeling is the main reason why I didn't bother with Ant-Man later last summer.
7. Thor - I liked the plot of this one a great deal, and Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses. It's a shame they can't get her back for the smaller roles in the Avengers movies, but I get her not wanting to do them.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy - The team sparkles in this one, but again, they get demerits for the lack of inspired villain. Ronan was a stiff. You could again make the case for a lead female villain, as Nebula was way cooler, and had a legit beef with one of the heroes in Gamora. I suppose it's the same beef that Loki has with Thor, but that's OK.
Tier 1
5. Captain America: Civil War - I'm looking forward to watching this one a million times, but the revelation that Zemo had only been a villain for a year rang a little hollow. I feel like it takes villains more than a year to build up such a vast network of knowledge of evil. Which was a shame, because I loved him as the villain up to that point. And Black Panther and Spider-Man were awesome.
4. Captain America: The First Avenger - It's a war movie, and there is no shortage of those in the movie, but they just do such a great job with it, and Red Skull is the real deal. Also, if there is one movie that you need to understand the larger MCU at this point, it's this one, since the relationship between Cap and Bucky is arguably the most important relationship in the MCU right now.
3. Iron Man - I just watched this again last night, and it's amazing how good this movie is compared to the two that came after it. Also, Tony Stark's facial hair is jarring compared to what it is now.
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - So, so awesome. The Falcon is great, and Black Widow gets perhaps her most screen time in this one, which is great. Get her her own movie already! It has a legit case for number one, but I mark it down just because it isn't as fun.
1. The Avengers - The Avengers vs. Loki was the perfect match up, and this one is a fun thrill ride throughout. It's the gold standard for what a comic book movie can and should be.