Top 10 Marvel (MCU) Movies

SPOILER ALERT!!! ENDGAME AND OTHER SPOILERS!!

Ever since 2008 we’ve had 22 Marvel movies that took us from the first Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been overall good to us. Everything movie in the MCU can be considered anywhere from amazing to… well just a shitty movie (Thor: The Dark World). I’ve seen every one of them in theaters because I’m a huge fan [nerd] and I love pretty much anything comic book related (I’ll even go see the DC movies at my own peril). This list is my top 10 and it’s finally ready now that Endgame has been released and we got the conclusion we’ve all been waiting for.

10. Ant-Man and The Wasp

The Ant-Man movies had so much depth: good action, funny dialogues, great characters. I really do feel that these movies were underrated, but the sequel had two things over the original that made it better for me, and that was the antagonist in this movie Ghost and the Wasp. Ghost was badass throughout the movie and her costume was incredible. The Wasp was also great. She was teased at the end of the first movie when Hank Pym decided to gift his daughter her own suit. Both characters made the movie bigger and better than the first Ant-Man, and Paul Rudd just kills it every time.

9. The Avengers

This movie was iconic. There were so many scenes that just blew audiences away in 2012. Probably the most iconic was during the Battle of New York scene when all 6 original Avengers we’re back-to-back. It was the first movie that really used multiple superheroes successfully. The Hulk kicked so much ass in this movie, it actually kinda backfired because he never really was that useful again. He peaked too early.

8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America’s character really thrived in this movie. Cap went from “strong guy with a shield” to “ok this guy can kick some ass” real quick. He faced some serious adversity in this movie too. Nick Fury “dies,” SHIELD turns on him, and he finds out his best friend is the Winter Soldier. What makes this movie great is the action. The action scenes in this movie are incredible and the Winter Soldier was a great foe for Steve Rogers. They were seemingly equals and each time they went toe-to-toe which was great for the balance of good vs evil in the movie.

7. Doctor Strange

Dr. Steven Strange was a pompous asshole which created a wonderful character arc, where he was the best neurosurgeon who was humbled very quickly by a car accident that took away his hands. It sounds awful, but it lead to one of the coolest MCU characters and solo movies. Doctor Strange was much different than the rest of the movies in the MCU. It was magic and wizards, as opposed to superhumans and genetically altered bad guys. The whole movie was visually incredible. It was probably my favorite “visual” movie, as far as special effects and cgi goes.

6. Guardians of the Galaxy

Definitely the best humor in all of the MCU. The rag-tag group of space misfits plays hilariously throughout their time together on the big screen. The first Guardians movie introduces us to the team and it was a delight from the start. I never knew much about the franchise but after the first movie, I was sold. I love Groot, Rocket, Drax, Gamora, and Star Lord all equally and it all started with Volume 1. But Mostly Rocket because he’s an asshole.

5. Iron Man

The movie that started it all. We met Tony Stark, and Robert Downey Jr. did not disappoint. He portrayed the play-boy millionaire/narcissist perfectly. Also, we got the first post-credit scene in this movie too where Nick Fury hinted at the Avengers Initiative. 2008 was a strange time. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it was a strong year for movies. Iron Man is no exception. This movie set the standard for each and every movie that came after it because it was so great.

4. Captain America: Civil War

Not so much of a Captain America movie, but Civil War featured pretty much everybody. Tom Holland’s Spiderman was introduced in this movie, and thank god too because the MCU desperately needed a good Spiderman performance. The airport fight-scene was amazing and it was the first time we really had an all out melee between superheroes. The plot of this movie was brilliant too. Political pressure puts a strain on Iron Man and Captain America’s friendship, but once Iron Man discovers who really killed his parents, the friendship is over. The division between our favorite characters was intense and played a crucial part in the movies that followed.

3. Thor: Ragnarok

Ragnarok was easily the best stand-alone character movie in the MCU, even though the Hulk was pretty much a main character also. Director Taika Waititi not only saved Thor’s character, but made him a top 3 in the entire universe. After Thor and Thor: The Dark World, Thor’s character was kind of flat and uninteresting. Yeah, he can fly and swing a hammer around, but he was lacking personality and his intangible that set him apart from the rest of the Avengers. After Ragnarok, Thor was cool, funny, and kind of dorky, but it played so well, and he was transformed for the better. Oh, and that intangible he was missing was his ability to control lightning. Waititi enhanced Thor in this movie and created a stunningly colorful and bright movie, which was the complete opposite of The Dark World. It almost seemed like the opposite of the worst movie in the MCU was a no-brainer, right?

2. Avengers: Endgame

The finisher. The conclusion. The ending to a saga that will go down as one of the greatest movie series in history. I loved how they wrapped up all the lose ends. Putting all the SJW bs aside in this movie, it was incredible. Time travel movies are always extremely complicated, and they leave audiences with so many questions. Endgame did it perfectly and I was impressed how wonderfully they addressed the potential time travel issues. I was worried about Captain Marvel being too powerful and taking over the entire movie, but she was used exactly how she needed to be: she was involved and helped out but didn’t do too much. The character endings were mostly great with some exceptions. Captain America “retiring” was a little lame, but he finally lived a peaceful life. Thor teams up with the Guardians, so hopefully we’ll get more of him in Guardians Volume 3. The Hulk I guess is still just going to be a scientist for the rest of his life…? And then there’s Iron Man. The GOAT. He pulled off the greatest pick-pocket in history and then followed up by snapping in Thanos’s face. “I’m Iron Man,” was arguably the best ending to any fight in the MCU. I loved it. Tony Stark then died peacefully next to Peter Parker and Pepper. It was emotional, but he did it. He defeated Thanos and was finally able to rest. A great ending to it all.

1.     Avengers: Infinity War

It was tough for me picking between Endgame and Infinity War for my favorite movie, but it just has to be IW. It has everything. Each character got the screen time they deserved, Thanos was portrayed amazingly by Josh Brolin, and the ending was jaw-dropping. From the moment this movie starts, there’s just so much action and each battle was great. The Thanos and Iron Man 1v1 was incredible. Thanos and Iron Man had been connected so loosely up until this point. They knew about each other and Tony Stark despised him. They started fighting and it was the greatest few minutes of the entire MCU. Iron Man loses the fight, but is then saved by Doctor Strange. So, he survived and brought up their storyline to another level. It gave Iron Man every reason to defeat Thanos. Throughout the MCU, we always saw the heroes come through and win every battle in some way by the end of the film. Even when it seems that all hope is lost, they find a way. Not in IW. Thanos pulled off the snap and it was incredibly shocking. I remember seeing it in theaters and just freezing. I was in pure denial, refusing to believe what I just saw, but it happened. 50% of all life was eliminated from the universe. I watched this movie so many times, over and over again because I loved it so much. I haven’t done that since I was a kid (probably watching Mortal Kombat over and over again). But IW gets the #1 spot in my heart and I’ll definitely watch it again.

Written by Andrew Silvers

Twitter/Instagram @asilvers55