As ‘Avengers: Endgame’ opens in domestic theaters, a recalibrated and reranked list of all 22 MCU movies.
Tonight marks the domestic release of Walt Disney’s Avengers: Endgame following a couple of days of international play to the tune of $216.6 million thus far. To celebrate the occasion, I am offering one last (for at least a couple of years) new qualitative list of the now 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. What has changed this year is that I rewatched quite a few of them, specifically most of the MCU films which I have not seen in a good long while. So, yes, the ranking might be changed a little bit and the text for each entry might be a little tweaked. As always, this list will not match your list, because what fun would that be?
The Incredible Hulk
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $55.4 million
Domestic Box Office:: $134.8 million
Worldwide Box Office: $263.4 million
We tend to forget that Marvel’s second film was A) a box office whiff and B) arguably their worst film to date. Iron Man overshadowed this comparative stinker, but it’s still the closest thing to a real black mark on the franchise. Desperately trying to be “lighter” and more conventionally action-packed than Ang Lee’s Hulk, this 2008 paint-by-numbers Ed Norton/Liv Tyler affair remains their least engaging and most compromised artistic offering to date. This is the only Marvel Studios movie that feels aggressively dumbed-down and amped up, especially when compared to Ang Lee’s noble failure and coupled with the very public behind-the-scenes struggle where character development lost out over action. Even while it stands out as a comparatively dour and very much stand-alone MCU flick, it still is the least enjoyable of the franchise.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Budget: $175 million
Opening weekend: $117 million
Domestic Box Office: $334 million
Worldwide Box Office: $880 million
This Spider-Man adventure plays as a glorified “How Spider-Man proved himself worthy of the Avengers” origin story. The movie doesn’t make much sense within the MCU (there technically are no more Avengers after Civil War and the events of The Avengers were six years prior to Spider-Man rather than eight), but we can chalk that up to it being a « stand-alone » Sony release. The characters are wonderful (Tom Holland is a delight and Michael Keaton is Michael Keaton) and the humor is razor-sharp. The story, however, makes an embarrassingly needy Peter Parker into such an inexperienced and clumsy novice that you find yourself wanting him to hang up the suit before he gets someone killed. The action isn’t much we haven’t seen before, and the insertion of Tony Stark into the story turns the character of Spider-Man into essentially an extension of Tony Stark’s character arc, complete with a Stark-outfitted suit that does much of the work for him.
Iron Man 2
Budget: $200 million
Opening weekend: $128.1 million
Domestic Box Office: $312.4 million
Worldwide Box Office: $623.9 million
This one aged well upon a rewatch, as it works better both as a bottle episode and as « something different » among 22 MCU movies. It’s not unlike Quantum of Solace among the 007 movies, although I have always liked Quantum of Solace. Even with a plot that mimics Batman Forever, the chatty Jon Favreau picture wins points as the closest thing we’re going to get to a comic book movie-as-sitcom episode. The oddly defanged film (more so than to whatever extent the Disney acquisition changed the content of future MCU movies), with clear signs of behind-the-scenes drama and a desire to set up The Avengers, has viewers merely waiting for Tony Stark just to stop being a selfish little jerk to those around him. There is very little action, and most of what we get isn’t very impressive. Too much of the picture consists of Stark reverting to his pre-redemption Iron Man 1 form.
Thor
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $65.7 million
Domestic Box Office: $181 million
Worldwide Box Office: $449.3 million
Wowsers, did this one not hold up on a rewatch. I was never a big fan of Kenneth Branagh’s well-directed but oddly small Asgard origin story, and it really doesn’t work save for the charisma of its actors. It is Crocodile Dundee meets Masters of the Universe. Chris Hemsworth makes a terrific hero, Tom Hiddleston makes a fine baddie, and Branagh embraces the “British actors yelling at each other = DRAMA!” sensibility of it all. But all the big character beats ended up on the cutting room floor, everything is cut to the bone and the action is very much symptomatic of early MCU’s “only what we can afford” mentality. Thor is not actually that much of a jerk, but his romance with a game Natalie Portman is barely sketched in. The bad news is that Thor was the least enjoyable of the various rewatches. The good news is that, as you’ll see later, another Thor movie moved up a bit on the list.
Doctor Strange
Budget: $165 million
Opening weekend: $85 million
Domestic Box Office: $232.6 million
Worldwide Box Office: $677.7 million
This is still (obviously) a visual delight, but it’s also perhaps the most generic MCU movie since the original Iron Man. Benedict Cumberbatch is a strong anchor, but this is such a boilerplate origin story movie that it comes off as Marvel’s Green Lantern. There are moments of magic (in both senses of the word) and the action scenes are a marvel (including a refreshing distaste for lethal violence). It wins bonus points for what may still be Marvel’s most creative climax, one that acts as a response to the then-common « maximum carnage » MCU tropes. What precedes it just isn’t all that engaging. Again, the actors (including Tilda Swinton and Mads Mikkelsen) and the clever Super Mario Bros.-like action do the heavy lifting. This is a case where, like Spider-Man: Homecoming, I’m ready for the sequel to take the characters into more interesting directions. Nonetheless, both Holland and Cumberbatch were quite well-served by Infinity War.
Iron Man
Budget: $140 million
Opening weekend: $102.1 million (including Thursday previews)
Domestic Box Office: $318.4 million
Worldwide Box Office: $585.1 million
Rewatching this one for the first time since 2012, it is striking how gritty and adult this Paramount release feels. It is a rougher, rawer and more violent picture than the rest of the MCU. The second-act finale, which features terrorists rounding up families and machine-gunning them to death just off screen, is as horrifying a sequence as you’ll find in a PG-13 comic book flick. It really does play like a « comic book superhero movie for cool kids and grownups » which is part of its appeal. Robert Downey Jr. gives a 4-star performance in a 2.5-star movie. Still, its dude-bro protagonist (and the notion of his redemption merely arrives via killing the « right » people) is even more off-putting than it was 11 years ago. It is now more interesting as a proverbial Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Favreau and Paramount deserve as much credit as Chris Columbus for jumpstarting their respective franchises.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Budget: $200 million
Opening weekend: $146 million
Domestic Box Office: $389 million
Worldwide Box Office: $863 million
James Gunn’s family melodrama digs deep into the realms of fractured families and child abuse while telling a sad story about outcasts learning to love and be given love in return after a lifetime of scorn. The character work is solid, the credit sequence is Marvel’s best opening action sequence and this is possibly the most visually dazzling MCU movie of all. Like Iron Man 2, it tries to be a straight-up character piece and for most of its running time. But the third act derails the movie, both from an overabundance of exhausting spectacle and an arbitrary dose of “the entire universe is in peril” plotting. Oh, and making the villain responsible for the death of Peter’s mom is the kind of “everything is connected” plotting that annoys me by removing the reality and relatability to the drama. It didn’t work in Lethal Weapon 2 either. This is a near-miss « part 2 » installment that nonetheless has a lot of great material.
Captain Marvel
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $155 million
Domestic Box Office: $400 million
Worldwide Box Office: $1.1 billion
This much-anticipated “first MCU movie with a solo female hero at its center” flick is more interesting in terms of what it’s about (how women are gaslit and told to ignore their emotions) than how it’s about it. Like the early Phase One MCU movies, this one gets by on movie star chemistry and a knowing sense of humor. The action is pretty weak and it has a small-ish sensibility that makes it feel like a mid-budget 1990’s sci-fi actioner (think Universal Soldier). That said, it’s a decent sci-fi actioner with a topical plot about refugees being hunted down and, yes, the core cast (including Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn and Reggie the Cat) gets it over the rough patches. Its social value arguably outweighs its artistical qualities, but it works as a thoughtful origin story about a young woman who is goaded into underestimating her own power and her own value.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Budget: $250 million
Opening weekend: $191.2 million
Domestic Box Office: $459 million
Worldwide Box Office: $1.405 billion
Age of Ultron has aged well over the last four years. Absent the goofy « Joss thinks infertile women are monsters! » non-troversy and with the hindsight of what turned out to be a defining MCU chapter, there is much to admire Joss Whedon’s poignant screenplay. But the “smash all robots” action feels disconnected, and it plays like a straight sequel to The Avengers as opposed to a Phase 2 finale. It still comes off as a box to be checked before everyone could get to the movie(s) they really wanted to make. Even with some great character interplay (that farmhouse sequence is an all-timer, as is the final chat between Vision and Ultron), we have the lead hero stupidly creating a world-killing murder machine and nearly destroying the planet with little in the way of consequences. The scenes where characters talk to each other are potent, and there are moments of crazed ambition, but the picture doesn’t quite work as its own thing.
Avengers: Endgame
Budget: $300 million
Opening weekend: Uh… a lot?
Domestic Box Office: Probably somewhere between Jurassic World and Avatar
Worldwide Box Office: Probably somewhere between Jurassic World and Avatar
No spoilers, I promise. This oddly lighter, looser and smaller-scale series finale really wants to be the Kill Bill Volume 2 of the saga, but it can’t help playing some Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II cards over the course of its (mostly earned) 181-minute running time. The core plot doesn’t make much sense, the action is mostly lackluster and the film barely acknowledges the trillions of other souls who either perished or lost loved ones at the end of Infinity War. That said, it’s a romp through-and-through, with an appropriately grim first act leading to a clever (and character-specific) second act and a final hour that unquestionably ties up the whole Infinity Saga in a satisfying bow. It’s not the best MCU movie by a long shot, but it sticks the landing and exists on a high note anyway. There are nits to pick, but the movie works on its intended terms and I can’t imagine fans not walking out relatively pleased.
Avengers: Infinity War
Budget: $300 million
Opening weekend: $258 million
Domestic Box Office: $678 million
Worldwide Box Office: $2.048 billion
One year later, Avengers: Infinity War still stands up as a sprawling and interconnected action comedy that overdoes the humor while offering a brutal climax. The film looks and feels huge, and most of your favorite characters get their moment to shine. But much of this film is prologue for whatever comes next, and it’s so filled with frantic action and quips that there is little time for drama or character development. Josh Brolin makes Thanos into an impressive antagonist, and the sheer scale of this flick is something to behold. It spends so much time being a prequel to Avengers 4 that it forgets to be a sequel to the previous MCU flicks. The character work holds up well, although the action kind of stinks after the first big New York chase/battle. Moreover, as well paced as this 2.5-hour movie is, it drops dead every time we stop and watch Thanos monologue about the greater good of his intergalactic genocide.
Ant-Man
Budget: $130 million
Opening weekend: $57.2 million
Domestic Box Office: $180.2 million
Worldwide Box Office: $519.4 million
This somewhat offbeat and buttoned-down heist adventure benefits from being mostly disconnected from the larger MCU story. It’s Marvel’s smallest movie ($130 million), both regarding its pint-sized lead hero and its human scale. Paul Rudd makes a sympathetic Scott Lang, and Michael Douglas brings pathos to a somewhat generic grizzled vet role. The film is both a commentary and an example of Marvel’s sidelining of its female characters, but the end credit cookie promises a different path for the sequel. It’s a reminder that it’s the character work, not the plot or even the action, that makes the MCU so darn popular. The sequel was even better in almost every way, but this was still a heck of a fun movie considering how it was made.
Thor The Dark World
Budget: $170 million
Opening weekend: $85.7 million
Domestic Box Office: $206.3 million
Worldwide Box Office: $644.6 million
This generic “dark sequel” survives on movie star charisma. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston are great fun, Anthony Hopkins gets a real role to play, and Kat Dennings continues to win laughs as the audience surrogate. Even the final “must save the world” battle is played as much for laughs as excitement. The “villain from the past wreaks hell on the present” story is paint-by-numbers, and the sequel coasts on charm. However, its “scalpel over a sword” 9/11 metaphors works. If part of a good sequel is the chance to spend more time with old friends, then Thor: The Dark World is the Toy Story 2 of the MCU. The film is underrated in that it’s not remotely among the worst MCU movies thus far. Heck, it is “pretty good” in a way that would have been heaven-sent both for essentially any comic book movie made before 2012. How quickly we become accustomed to looking at the stars…
Captain America: Civil War
Budget: $250 million
Opening weekend: $179 million
Domestic Box Office: $408 million
Worldwide Box Office: $1.153 billion
The first act is so great that it feels like a letdown when the film descends to the level of “good.” The picture suffers from an excess of (admittedly terrific) action and too many « no one says or does what they should” narrative kinks. It starts as a “both sides are right and wrong” political drama and a thoughtful moral exercise only to become of pissing contest between two alpha-male superheroes that which could have been resolved by a few phone calls. Still, the character work is aces, it’s well-acted and the airport smackdown is good fun (even if it’s tonally out of place). It’s high-quality popcorn entertainment that balances being both Avengers 2.5 and Captain America 3 (in truth, it’s probably more Cap 3 + Iron Man 4). And I love the idea of the Avengers being torn apart by a regular joe with completely valid reasons for wanting to destroy the team.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Budget: $165 million
Opening weekend: $75 million
Domestic Box Office: $216 million
Worldwide Box Office: $622 million
Absent the behind-the-scenes melodrama that held back the first Ant-Man, and with the confidence of both a well-liked predecessor and the overall popularity of the MCU, Peyton Reed’s sequel just goes for it with a level of almost casual delight that would have been a true “marvel” had it existed in almost any other franchise instead of the MCU during the same year as Infinity War and Black Panther. This one was initially sold as a romantic comedy between Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, but it’s really an MCU version of those 1950’s Disney family flicks. Think The Cat from Outer Space. This is as much an “anti-MCU” movie as Thor: Ragnarok.
Its stakes are shockingly small, the villainy is almost non-existent, and the movie is a chase for a single MacGuffin right up to the off-the-cuff action climax. The special effects are delightful, the action is clever and varied, while the film retroactively improves Civil War by fixing the “Scott threw away his family to go fight with Captain America” thing. In what is Marvel’s most blue-collar franchise, we have a deeply unconventional family (Scott’s ex-wife, his daughter and the new step-father) whose members love and support each other because of the events of the first film. This one held up very well on a second viewing. In terms of quality upswings, this is Marvel’s best “part 2.”
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Budget: $170 million
Opening weekend: $95 million
Domestic Box Office: $259.7 million
Worldwide Box Office: $714.4 million
Captain America: The Winter Soldier wasn’t the first comic book superhero movie to embrace genre as a storytelling device (see also The Dark Knight or even X-Men Origins: Wolverine), but this 2014 game-changer offered the notion that major storytelling could go down even outside of the Avengers films. This Russo Brothers movie features franchise-best performances from Samuel L. Jackson and (give or take Endgame) Scarlett Johansson. It cemented Chris Evans’s Steve Rogers into the coolest dude in the MCU, a shining hero in a sea of morally muddled would-be supermen.
The finale is “bigger” than it needs to be, and a mid-film revelation deflates the film’s would-be topicality by assigning blame to a literal ghost in the machine. Although, sadly, the idea of Nazis infiltrating the US government is no longer a far-fetched fantasy, but it still removes the moral dilemmas in a way that is a metaphor for the entire MCU (important topical questions get brushed aside because a super-duper evil rears its head). But this is corker of an action thriller (Robert Redford and Jackson are wonderful together) that becomes a superior example of the genre it attempts to appropriate. It was a Tom Clancy-meets-Alan J. Pakula movie that was miles better than that year’s actual Tom Clancy flick (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit).
Black Panther
Budget: $200 million
Opening weekend: $202 million
Domestic Box Office: $683 million (and counting)
Worldwide Box Office: $1.325 billion (and counting)
Yup, it still rocks a year later. Yes, the third-act climax underwhelms and the finale only works because of Killmonger’s death speech, but since when did MCU movies live or die based on the quality of their action sequences? It’s a Ryan Coogler movie through-and-through, offering a popcorn entertainment that works as a primal folktale and a culturally-specific narrative. It’s a thoughtful and emotional action drama that examines the moral obligation of those who live in comfort by avoiding oppression to aid those less lucky them they.
