All 33 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ranked worst to best (with The Marvels)
22. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Bucky! Cap! Nazis! Massive betrayal! Hail Hydra!
Seeing Captain America torn about what to do regarding his childhood best friend and what Hydra turned Bucky into really humanized Steve Rogers. The entire S.H.I.E.L.D. betrayal was shocking. I had never read any of the Captain America comics, so that really came out of nowhere for me. The Winter Soldier was the perfect setup for the moral dilemma that would split up the Avengers in Civil War, and holds up as a fun and entertaining movie in its own right.
21. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Age of Ultron introduces Vision and the most powerful would-be-Avenger in the entire MCU so far: Wanda Maximoff. Her twin Pietro is also introduced, with the both of them helping the malevolent AI creature Ultron.
The biggest issue with this movie for me is how the character Ultron was represented, how quickly the Maximoffs turn against him, and how Pietro dies before his character really establishes himself. Ultron is depicted as a sarcastic, sentient AI who kills Jarvis and takes over what would have been Jarvis’ future body. He hates his creator Tony Stark and takes literally his words about having “peace in our time.”
This movie ably shows off Wanda’s powers and suggests how dangerous she would be if she decided to turn against the Avengers in the future. More than anything, it helps set up Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which didn’t come out until 2021, six years later.
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
The sequel to Ant-Man is just as fun and funny as the first movie, but focuses a bit more on Pym and his daughter Hope as they try to bring his wife and Hope’s mother Janet back from the quantum realm. I’m all for happy endings and admittedly I am not very knowledgeable about quantum physics, but I don’t think they should have been able to bring Janet back without any major consequences for her. I mean, she was in the quantum realm for apparently 30 years, and her mind and body are unaffected. It seemed like a dangerous rescue mission without much in the way of sacrifice or stakes.
I enjoyed the movie, I was very entertained. But it just seemed like the story could’ve been punched up a bit.
19. Captain Marvel (2019)
I really enjoyed this movie. I thought Brie Larson did a great job as Captain Marvel, I liked seeing a younger Nick Fury, and I loved the twist with the alien villains having a sympathetic motive. However, I had a hard time remembering who the main villain was and why he was doing what he was doing.
This movie got a lot of hate when it came out. This is a “girl power” movie, but not in an obnoxious or forced way. Captain Marvel was originally a man in the comics, but with the feminist movement in the 70s, Carol Denvers has an accidental encounter with a Kree machine, which alters her DNA.
I was also frustrated with how Carol’s character was written. But flaws aside, this movie entertained me and delivered a fun origin story for an absolute badass.
18. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
This movie was FUN. The main characters, Shang-Chi (Shaun) and Katy, have perfect chemistry and their friendship is very believable. The action scenes are some of the best choreographed fights in the MCU. The villain, Xu Wenwu, is one of three MCU villains whose motives are clear and understood. The inclusion of Michelle Yeoh brought on a wave of nostalgia for me; it reminded me of the first time I ever saw her in 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Shang-Chi opened the doors for new heroes within the MCU. With Wong bringing Shang-Chi and Katy to Kamar-Taj at the end, we wonder if we’ll see them interact with Dr. Strange and possibly America Chavez in the future. With Shang-Chi’s sister not disbanding the Ten Rings and the rings acting as a beacon for something, who knows what we’ll see next?