As you guys may know, I am a huge Marvel fan. You guys may know that from my The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Review (by the way, please check that out after you read this article, and watch EMH, it is arguably the best Marvel thing ever). However, if this is your first time reading an article by me, I am a huge fan of Marvel. I have seen pretty much every movie, I have played Lego Marvel Superheroes and the Marvel Vs. Capcom games, I have seen The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (or EMH for short if I mention it again), and I have even watched the Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel special. Even though I am a big fan of Marvel, I have some opinions that many would disagree with, especially with the main Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU for short). Because of that, I am ranking every single MCU Infinity Saga movie in my opinion from worst to best. If you disagree, that is fine, but this is just my opinion. Just a warning: there will be spoilers. You had over six years to watch all of these movies, so there is a good chance that you have seen all of them. If not, watch the movies first and then read this article. Or you could just read it without any knowledge of the MCU. I won’t stop you from doing the latter.
- Thor Ragnarok
This is definitely one of my bigger hot takes in terms of my Marvel opinions. I do not like Thor Ragnarok. In my opinion, everything that Thor Love and Thunder is hated for can be traced back to Thor Ragnarok. Thor Ragnarok is supposed to be a movie about the destruction of Asgard, and that Thor is supposed to try to save it. Instead, Thor is stuck with Loki and Hulk on “Ha-ha Funny Jeff Goldblum Planet” and there are only a couple of scenes where it cuts back to Hela in Asgard. Like Thor Love and Thunder, Thor Ragnarok does a bad job of balancing the seriousness with comedy. Not to mention that Thor is supposed to be a serious character, and has been a serious character in all of his movies except for this one (and Thor Love and Thunder and Avengers Endgame). I feel like the comedy was used because the Guardians of the Galaxy movies were so loved, and Thor the Dark World was so hated. However, the last two Thor movies misunderstood why the comedy Guardians of the Galaxy movies worked. The comedy of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies worked because it did not interfere with the serious moments, something the last two Thor movies do not do. I also really do not like how Thor Ragnarok turned both Thor and Hulk into idiots, which is something Avengers Endgame, Thor Love and Thunder, and She-Hulk would take and run with. As for the villain, I thought Hela was cool, but should have been in more of the movie, like Gorr the Godbutcher in Thor Love and Thunder. Thor’s character arc in Thor Ragnarok was to find himself, and that he needed to realize that “Asgard is the people, not a place,” which whatever. However, Thor Ragnarok, I will admit, has some funny parts, and there were some good moments between Thor and Loki. Neither of which, its sequel has. As a result, Thor Ragnarok is still a better movie than its sequel, but not by much. I give Thor: SNL Parody Edition a 3.5/10.
- Thor the Dark World
I know it is a hot take to say that Thor the Dark World is better than Thor Ragnarok, but I do not think that either of them are good movies. The problem with Thor the Dark World is that it is boring. Although Thor is supposed to be a more serious character, Thor the Dark World was so uninteresting at the point where Marvel tried something new with Thor Ragnarok (that being a comedic approach), and ended up tricking people into thinking that Thor was comedic until Thor Love and Thunder. As for positives, Thor the Dark World at the very least understood that Thor is supposed to be a serious character, and some of the moments between Loki and Thor were fun. Overall, I give Thor the Dark World a 4/10.
- Captain Marvel
In my opinion, Captain Marvel (in the MCU) is not an interesting character, and because of that, I do not really like the movie. Captain Marvel in the MCU is a character that is basically perfect. That is a problem because “character flaws” are what makes characters like Iron Man, Thor (in the first movie), Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, the Spider-Men, and the Guardians of the Galaxy characters well-written, and Captain Marvel is kind of a boring character as a result. Also, Captain Marvel’s existence in the MCU kind of destroys the continuity of the MCU because where was she when Loki invaded Earth, or where was Captain Marvel when Ultron happened? Not to mention Captain Marvel has probably the most forgettable villain throughout the entirety of the MCU. As for positives, it was kind of cool that we got to see a younger version of Fury and Coulson (even though seeing the cat scratch out Fury’s eye was not cool), and I guess the 1990s setting was cool. Overall, I give Captain Marvel a 4.5/10.
- Iron Man 3
Honestly, I do not think Iron Man 3 is that bad of a movie. I might have considered Iron Man 3 a good movie, if it was not for the dumb twist villain. In my opinion, the movie falls apart after that. Iron Man 3 does a great job portraying Tony Stark’s PTSD and some of the fight/action scenes were good. However, the twist with the Mandarin was so stupid and bad that it kind of ruined the movie. The movie did not get much better after that, if at all. Another problem I have with the movie is that Iron Man does not even defeat the real (but actually fake) Mandarin, and Pepper ends up defeating him, even though she was barely in the movie. In my opinion, there is not much reason to go back to this movie because Tony Stark/Iron Man’s character arc was about how he does not need the suit, and that he will stop being Iron Man, but by Avengers Age of Ultron, Tony Stark rebuilt the Iron Legion. On top of that, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings would confirm that the “real” Mandarin in Iron Man 3 was fake, and the real Mandarin was the villain of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Overall, Iron Man 3 is a movie that starts off good, but falls apart by the end. Overall, I give Iron Man 3 a 5.5/10.
- Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 is a movie with a sort of messy plot, and kind of tries to do too much. Although one could argue that Iron Man 3 is better than Iron Man 2, the reason why I place Iron Man 2 higher is because of the introductions of War Machine and Black Widow, and also because Whiplash and Justin Hammer were fun villains, and the two villains’s interactions were fun. Overall, I give Iron Man 2 a 6/10.
- The Incredible Hulk
Although The Incredible Hulk is a kind of forgettable MCU movie, it has a great understanding of Bruce Banner and Hulk as characters, and takes them seriously rather than as a joke. In my opinion, Bruce Banner and Hulk as characters are at their best in this movie. However, the reason why I rank it kind of low is because it is not that relevant to the MCU, and I have only watched it recently for this ranking. Overall, I give The Incredible Hulk a 6/10.
- Avengers: Endgame
This is probably my biggest hot take: that I probably do not like Avengers Endgame as much as I should for someone who claims to be a Marvel fan. My main problems with Avengers Endgame are that it continues to turn Hulk and Thor into goofy idiots, and there are many plotholes thanks to time travel. I know Thor Ragnarok started the trend of turning Thor and Hulk into fools, but Avengers Endgame took and ran with it by turning Thor into Fat Thor and by turning Hulk into Smart/Professor Hulk. I really do not like how those movies turn them into fools for laughs, when they are supposed to be serious characters. As for plotholes, the rules of time travel in Avengers Endgame state that whatever changes that happen to the past will not affect the future. However, they retcon that rule at the end, where Captain America turns old because he went into the past to be with Peggy Carter. Speaking of that, I understand why that was done, to give Captain America a good ending. However, I do not like that because it kind of feels like character assassination in a way (More on that in my EMH review). I also do not like how Avengers Endgame turns Thanos into an idiot by making him destroy the infinity stones, when the infinity stones contain infinite power. Thanos could have used that power to make everyone forget about the people he snapped. Now one could make the argument that Thanos would become too powerful by doing that, which is a fair point. However, another thing, The Ancient One in Avengers Endgame states that universes will cease to exist without their infinity stones. If I understand that correctly, that should mean the main MCU should have ceased to exist when Thanos destroyed the infinity stones. In my opinion, Avengers Endgame and X-Men Days of Future Past are similar because they act as finales for their respective series’ (until they weren’t) and they both use time travel to stop the huge threat. I much prefer X-Men Days of Future Past because that movie has less confusing time travel rules, the stakes are higher, it has better writing, an ending that was arguably more earned, and probably other reasons. As for positives, seeing Hawkeye go down a darker path was sad, the deaths of Black Widow and Iron Man were sad, and it was overall a great conclusion (until it wasn’t with Phases 4 and 5). I also liked the scene where Tony Stark met Howard the Duck. Overall, Avengers Endgame in my opinion is a movie where the journey is not that great, but the destination is really great, so it is worth a watch in my opinion. However, X-Men Days of Future Past is very similar to Avengers: We are in the Endgame Now, and I think XMDOFP is a better movie. Overall, I would still give this movie a 6/10 because of what it does right.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
In my opinion, there are cool action scenes in this movie, and Mysterio is a cool villain. However, my main problem with this movie is that the plot is kind of absurd. Basically, Tony Stark left some game-changing technology for a minor, who has been dead for five years. Also, keep in mind Tony died five minutes after Peter was brought back, and that Tony did not plan on trying to bring back the people who got snapped until Scott Lang (Ant-Man) pitched the idea to him. This plot makes no sense because that would have to mean that Tony knew that they were going to reverse the snap, even though Avengers Endgame shows that Tony was initially against that. Also, why could he not leave these glasses for Pepper, Happy, or Rhodey, since they were all still alive after the snap? However, it is still pretty enjoyable because of the action scenes and Mysterio being a cool villain. Overall, I give Spider-Man: Far From Home a 6/10.
- Captain America: The First Avenger
In my opinion, Captain America: The First Avenger is a good movie, but it is for sure outshined by its sequels. I like how we saw Steve Rogers go from not being able to fight for himself to getting injected with the Super Soldier Serum and becoming Captain America. The reason why I like that is because Steve was a good, worthy, and honorable man. Bucky Barnes and Peggy Carter were also cool characters. Red Skull as a villain was kind of mid. I thought he was cool, but could have been more developed. As an origin story, Captain America The First Avenger might be the best Marvel origin story movie. However, the sequels are still better movies. Overall, I give Captain America: The First Avenger a 7/10.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
In my opinion, this movie’s plot is weaker than the first one because they kind of turn Scott Lang into an idiot, when in the first movie, he literally showed some signs of smartness when breaking into Hank Pym’s house to steal the Ant-Man suit. I also think the villains are kind of weak. Although I appreciate this movie for introducing Ghost since she is much better in Thunderbolts*, I do not think that she was a great villain in this movie. I also do not think that the business-man was a great villain. I thought Wasp/Hope Van Dyne was an okay character, better in the first movie, but at least she was relevant to the plot unlike some other Ant-Man movie with Wasp in the title. However, Luis is the greatest side character in any MCU movie, so he really carries this movie, and it is funnier than the first movie as a result, even without Luis. I know Luis was in the first movie, and he was great in that too, but I like how his role is expanded in this movie and that he is funnier in this movie as well. If only some other Ant-Man movie had Luis in it. Maybe it would actually be good. I also like how this takes place when Scott is under house arrest, because it adds a little bit more stakes to the movie, but not dramatically increases the stakes like some other Ant-Man movie. Overall, while it is technically not a great movie and the first one is much better, I would still call it a good movie and recommend it because of the great comedy and Luis, and also because it slightly increases the stakes. Overall, I give Wasp-Woman and the Ant a 7/10.
- Thor
Hot take: Thor is the only good Thor movie. Thor was the only Thor movie that understood that Thor is a serious character and was not extremely boring. All of the Thor movies had Thor’s character arc that he needed to find himself. In my opinion, Thor is the only one to do that well because Thor started off the movie as a spoiled, reckless/dangerous, egotistical person, but learns to be more humble and better after he gets banished from Asgard for his actions. In other words, Thor was the only Thor movie to do that specific type of character arc well because it felt genuine and Thor started off as a “bad” person, but learned to be a good person. Also, that was the first out of four times they gave Thor that character arc, so of course it is the only time they do it well. In my opinion, Thor as a character is at his second-best in this movie throughout the MCU. Also, Loki was a great villain. Loki’s reasons for turning evil were understandable (not justifyable) and I thought the twist that Loki was working with the Frost Giants was done well, and Loki was just a great villain. In my opinion, Loki was a better villain in The Avengers, but he was still a good villain here. The comedy in the Thor movies was at its best in this movie, because the comedy came from Thor being a fish out of water character, rather than being an idiot. Also, the introduction of Hawkeye was cool. Something else positive I will say about Thor (along with Thor The Dark World and Thor Ragnarok) is that Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki were great castings, and they have great chemistry together. Their interactions carried the Thor sequels (except for Thor Love and Thunder because Loki was not in that). My main problem with the movie is that the romance between Jane Foster and Thor Odinson felt very forced and was not that great. Overall, Thor is the only good Thor movie because it understands Thor as a character, it is the only one to have decent comedy, and it is the only one to have a great villain. Overall, I give Thor a 7.5/10.
- Black Panther
I think this is a good movie, but pretty overrated. T’Challa (Black Panther) is a great protagonist, and Chadwick Boseman did great as the character. Killmonger was a great villain, and Michael B. Jordan did great as the character. I like how even though Killmonger was technically wrong in trying to kill T’Challa and overthrow Wakanda, we kind of feel bad for what happened to him in the past, and to an extent, he is right that the Wakandan government in the past was wrong. I like how T’Challa questions his country’s past, and ultimately changes (both him and his country) for the better. The soundtrack is also pretty good. However, the characters other than Black Panther and Killmonger are kind of forgettable in my opinion, and the CGI (mainly in the final battle) is pretty bad. Overall, Black Panther has a great protagonist and antagonist, a good story, and a pretty good soundtrack, but has forgettable side characters and pretty bad CGI during the end. Overall, I give Black Panther a 7.5/10.
Stay tuned next week for Part 2 of this ranking, where I will officially finish it.
