The Marvel Cinematic Universe - Ranked (5-1)
On the eve of Black Panther, I find myself staring down the five MCU films that, at this current moment in time, I consider to be the best overall films in this ever-growing franchise. Yes for the first time in awhile I am writing an article the day before it releases because I've managed to sidestep writing this piece because I already know that I'm going to really be going crazy on this article. So, enough time putting this off and I'm ready to finally take on the full force of fandom and tackle the top five MCU films!
5. The Avengers
As you can see, I'm a sacrilegious fan. The Avengers was an incredible movie by all accounts, doing something that we as viewers hadn't managed to see occur up until that point in cinema history: put together a group of characters on screen and make it work successfully. As a film, The Avengers is uncompromising in how it manages to connect the adventures, stories, and lives of this group of singular heroes into a fighting unit that comes together when humanity needs them most. Thinking back to the original Iron Man when Tony Stark was all we knew in what would become a larger world, many people could never have foreseen such a wild success. Truth be told, I expected it to be a popcorn film, nothing as fantastic as it turned out to be.
I think it goes without question that one of the best parts of this film is Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Already a shining star in the original Thor film, The Avengers takes the god of mischief and turns him into a truly credible threat to the world. With the backing of a Chitauri army, he manages to lay siege to New York in an attempt to take over for a higher power that, at the time, we didn't quite know about yet. He's cocky, conniving, and suave, all the best qualities in a villain. Hiddleston is the perfect pick to be Loki, and he shows it in every aspect here. The beauty of this character comes in the moments where he is allowed to interact with nearly every member of the team in one way or another. He twists their minds and manages to nearly tear them all apart in one way or another. All in all, it places him at the upper echelon of Marvel villains that have been put on screen.
The challenge that The Avengers faced most obviously was creating a compelling story that brought together The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor. Joss Whedon is absolutely fantastic and while I don't necessarily rank this as my favorite film in the MCU, I recognize it's greatness and just why everyone believes it is so great. The chemistry between these main characters is palpable and the actors are all on their A game. Now, why I don't believe I can place this film at #1 is not because this isn't a great movie, I just truly believe what comes next may have been even bigger moments in the MCU as a whole and left a larger impact on me that this film.
4. Captain America: Winter Soldier
If I were to tell you that before Phase 3 of the MCU that anyone other than Captain America was my favorite character in the franchise, it would have been a blatant lie. Chris Evans' Steve Rogers was a representation and dream for many kids who just wanted to do right by the world and believe that in the end good would always win out. This is what made The Winter Soldier such a powerful film, not just for the character of Captain America, but for the entire film industry. By this point, everything we came to know was that these stories were all fantastical and crazy, but what The Winter Soldier managed to do was fantastic. It managed to take elements of spy films, mystery novels, and thrillers, and combine all of them into a superhero film!
Sebastian Stan's triumphant return to the MCU was fantastic, and the Winter Soldier himself continues to stand near the top of the mountain of MCU villains like the previously mentioned Loki. He's unforgiving, ruthless, and strong as hell. The history he had with Steve meant that there was going to be a challenge for Steve in facing someone that he had a previous relationship with. The brotherhood they once shared was now gone, and with the help of Black Widow he sought to take down the one man who once believed in him. But the truth was that Steve never believed Bucky was gone and seeing that relationship power the film was breathtaking. The Winter Soldier is so much more than just another Captain America movie, it took superhero films and managed to push them in a new direction. These weren't just stories about people battling their opposites, it managed to tackle political tyranny and corruption and creating a satisfying film as a whole.
3. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man was never supposed to be in this world. For years and years, we were told that Spider-Man was off the table as Sony continued to flounder with their rights to this amazing character and everything related to him. But one fateful day in early 2015, we were treated to an incredible piece of news: Spider-Man was coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Fans all over the world rejoiced at this thought, and before we knew it would Spider-Man truly was in this world. After the incredible introduction that came with Civil War, we were finally given the solo-film that Peter Parker deserved. Taking pieces of all different Spider-Men, Homecoming created a new Peter Parker that truly was a high school aged boy dealing with the challenges of young life and being a superhero.
Let's just say this right off the bat: Marvel is absolutely stellar at casting its parts and Tom Holland is a testament to this. For a character that is sure to be a beacon point for the future of the MCU, Holland has all of the necessary charisma, nerdiness, and wits that are expected from Peter Parker. But what he doesn't have that I found to be an absolutely excellent choice is the magical powers to craft his own super suit. Enter Tony Stark, a major supporting character in Homecoming who manages to actually only accentuate the character of Peter Parker, not take over the film. He's a role model of sorts for Peter, maybe at times in the wrong ways. He wants to be a hero, but can't seem to make himself truly known to the man he admires like a father. This dynamic between Tony and Peter is one of the best the MCU has to offer, and I hope they continue to use this in the future.
Truth be told though, the best part of Homecoming is that it manages to absolutely nail Spider-Man for the first time ever. He's just a boy in highschool who one day was bit by a radioactive spider (this whole origin is completely skipped over thankfully as we've seen it too many times). Allowing Peter to actually be in highschool and worry about his relationship with the other kids in school was so genuine and true to the person everyone knows as Spider-Man. He also happens to have that boyish enthusiasm that sometimes felt missed in other films involving the character, which makes this film all the better. All in all, Jon Watts took this character and did something incredible with him and I can't wait to see more.
2. Thor: Ragnarok
"WHAT?! YOU PUT A THOR MOVIE AT #2 ON YOUR LIST?! I LITERALLY AM SO DONE WITH YOU DWYER YOU'RE A TERRIBLE CRITIC" YEAH WELL GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY I DON'T NEED YOU ANYWAY! Eherm, excuse me, I just had to respond to the thousands of fans blasting me for putting Thor: Ragnarok at this high of a position of my list. Speaking of new beginnings for character in the MCU, Taiki Waititi finally did something that two other directors were unable to do for the Thor character: utilize him correctly. Rganarok reinvents Thor as a character and gives him a story worthy of this new version of the character.
Chris Hemsworth up until this point had been operating as Thor in a far too serious sense, drawing more and more from his dramatic abilities and not the stuff he is best at which is his comedy. Thor had the potential to be one of the best characters in the MCU with the humor he possessed, and Waititi was able to create a great story that allowed Hemsworth to finally truly shine in this role. Sure the villain in Hela was just alright, but the strength of this movie comes from the heroes and the all around comedy with the film. I never would have imagined that I would laugh more at a film around Thor and Asgard than a movie about a talking tree and raccoon, but I did and so did many people!
Now, let's talk about the most obvious and biggest plus that this film has going for it: The Hulk! Up until this point, Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner has been avoided in films outside of the Avengers films. The thing with Ragnarok though is that it finally allowed for the opportunity to not only reinvent Thor but give us a better look into the psyche of the Hulk. Hulk is a person, whether we believe it or not, with feelings and emotions almost entirely separate from that of Bruce Banner. This fear of changing from one to the other is one of the best pieces of this character and makes you truly scared whenever the shift comes. There were times where I was just truly happy with just having Hulk, or just having Banner, and seeing them shift actually made me scared that something terrible would happen to the other. There's so much pain with the Hulk and incorporating his story into Thor's lovable adventure made for a great clashing of styles that I could never have expected and skyrocketed this film straight to the best of the best for this franchise.
1. Captain America: Civil War
Finally, we have made it to the very best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America: Civil War, or as I sometimes call it: Avengers 2.5, is without a doubt the best film this franchise has ever put out. With the team behind The Winter Soldier tasked with recreating the iconic story line that is the Civil War between the members of the Avengers. Coming off the strong but flawed Age of Ultron, the Russo brothers had to bring these characters together one more time in order to eventually push them apart just when they shouldn't be. Challenged by the Sokovia Accords, the Avengers come to odds with one another, and recruit unexpected allies in what turns into a much larger problem than originally thought.
Civil War fleshes out the truly powerful and heartbreaking relationship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. They've experienced the same things, but they're idealistically two completely different people who two completely different views of the world. This resulting thought process results in them coming to blows, and when Bucky comes back into play, we see these men take sides. As a result, the other members of the Avengers and other heroes from around the globe are drawn into the conflict as well. We get to see connections between characters that we didn't originally anticipate like that of Falcon, Cap, and Bucky; or Vision and Scarlet Witch. These new connections create interesting stories that come into play as the story continues, but the some of the best parts of this film come in the way of new characters to this entire universe.
The T'Challa himself, Black Panther, is introduced in this film in a huge way. He's on a hunt for the man who he believes killed his father, the Winter Soldier. He's a man on a mission, and being that he's an unknown quantity to these well-established characters, he fits in surprisingly well with the rest of the cast. His feeling of royalty and strength plays well and his vendetta is one of the strongest and most emotional pulls in the entire film. The other major character though that this film had in its back pocket is just a little guy known as Spider-Man! Being his first introduction into the MCU, seeing the title card of QUEENS appear on screen was a joyous occasion for Marvel fans of all kinds. Tom Holland's portrayal is stellar and his boyish charm helps to counteract with a lot of the truly dramatic parts of this film. Seeing his quick interactions with characters like Steve Rogers or Ant-Man was just great.
Finally, I really need to talk about THAT sequence at the airport. Known as the best fight sequence in the entire MCU, seeing all of these characters that we have come to love over the years come to blows in a moment that actually makes sense was incredible. Whether it be newcomers like Ant-Man coming up against the original legend in Iron Man, or people who don't have true powers facing off in Black Panther and Hawkeye, there is something for everyone to enjoy here. I could talk for hours and hours about this sequence and everything it brings to the table, but I would just be beating a dead horse because I think everyone recognizes just how great of a scene this truly was.
CONCLUSION
The MCU has been a huge part of the lives of so many people, and being able to take this time to reflect on this universe has been special for me in so many ways. When Iron Man first came out nearly 10 years ago, I was just a young kid who dreamed of the world we're living in today. Superheroes have taken over the world and given us some of the best media we've ever seen. Being able to finally express my thoughts on these films in a format that people can understand and connect with is special to me even if there isn't a large amount of traffic. When seeing Black Panther tomorrow I'm certain that I'll feel all these same emotions that I have felt through the years, and being the very first MCU film that I can write about at it's release makes it even more special for me. Be on the lookout for my review of Black Panther tomorrow! I can't guarantee a time of release, but I will work on having it out as soon as I can Friday! If you're like me and seeing it right away, enjoy the film, it promises to be one of the best we've seen!
