Marvel’s 13 Films Ranked

By this point, if you haven’t seen at least some of the Marvel Universe films, there’s really nothing I can do for you. Because honestly, you should’ve see them. Marvel single-handedly reinvigorated the comic book movie genre at a time when movies like Spider Man 3, X-Men Last Stand, and Daredevil seemed to have ruined them forever. And, leaving aside the amazing Dark Knight trilogy (that DC didn’t even put it’s name on for some crazy reason) the DC movie universe just can’t keep up. So now, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest movie yet (Civil War) nearly being released on DVD, what better time to run through all 13 films in the MCU.

If you take 5 seconds to Google “Ranked MCU” you will find hundreds of lists, from both professional reviewers and amateur movie lovers like myself. But what most of them lack, and perhaps why I disagree with so many of them, is clear criteria. So, here are my criteria for my rankings:

Hero Development. No matter how flashy, a movie really is only as good as its main character, and if that main character never develops, it makes for an awfully dull story.

The Villain. Often referred to as the MCU’s biggest weakness, the lack of interesting villains has hurt many Marvel films from being more successful.

Uniqueness. Another offense from the MCU is the apparent formula that Marvel has perfected. Sure, it works, but we all love to see a movie surprise us.

Secondary Characters. A great hero is fun to watch, but what makes a movie truly shine is often how deep and strong his sidekicks are.

Memorable Moments. Every great movie has that scene. The one everyone is talking about days after leaving the theatre. Wehther that scene was memorable for good or bad reasons is hugely important.

I’ll rate these 5 criteria out of 5 and give each movie a total score out of 25. And, in case of a tie, the tie-breaker is basically if I had to pick one to watch right now, which would it be?

And the final tally is…

13. The Incredible Hulk

12. Thor: The Dark World

11. Iron Man 2

10. Thor

9. Captain America: The First Avenger

8. Iron Man 3

7. Ant-Man

6. The Avengers

5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron

4. Iron Man

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

2. Captain America: Winter Soldier

1. Captain America: Civil War

 

To read more details on individual movies, read on…

Continue to #13