So, this isn’t just a list of the movies its also a list of the “tv shows” and some general thoughts of the last ten years. So here it is all 29(!) MCU connected properties and some basic thoughts These are my personal opinions different people will enjoy these entertainment choices differently. This list is deeply subjective and I’m sure everyone has different preferences for these shows, movies, and characters and I am, frankly, not someone to come to for objective opinions when it comes to movies and TV. I am hardly trained in the formal logic and academics that would make objectivity possible.

29- Inhumans
What a mess. Just an awful mess of a TV series that was unable to capture character, concept, or a decent story. An embarrassment that I am glad to see off the TV. One miscalculation after another with a veneer or utter disregard. It’s a real shame too as I love the Inhumans as a concept in the Marvel Universe and I love hidden civilization narratives. They always fascinate me (yes they are in Save the Day no they didn’t come up for a reason). They’re a very unknown Marvel property too so if anyone could have done something with it Disney’s MCU were the ones in the foreseeable future. It also underscores one of the biggest flaws in the MCU design in that the television department has a much smaller budget and doesn’t communicate directly with the movie department. This really undercut a show that demands a high budget, good talent, and serious planning for its crazy concept to work. Perhaps the most galling thing is how much time and effort was spent on set up for this. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spent two seasons slowly introducing the Kree and Inhumans and the Guardians of the Galaxy actually did as well (more on the Kree side… its shocking how much time Guardians is used for exposition for other properties when you watch it with that in mind. Gunn is a master at hiding the narrative plot dumps). Yeah studio insiders say this was all because one guy at Marvel wanted to essentially make the Inhumans analogs for Mutants so Disney wouldn’t have to try and get the X-men but still… this would have been better with some effort.

Just imagine if the rest of the MCU had been treated in this slipshod manner.

28- Iron Fist
The first highly anticipated MCU property to flop totally and utterly. It is shocking how there are almost no supporters or fans. An utter mess I would count it lower, but I had real affection for the Inhumans as a concept and less love for Iron Fist (though Kun Lun is cool; see the hidden civilizations angle). I do think part of the problem was that people built a lot of love for Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and drew a lot of deeper subtext and content from those series. It would be hard to follow those two in any regard, but Iron Fist is so deeply vapid and poorly explained while wasting so much time it is just depressing. I can count on one hand the people I know who finished watching this Netflix series. I do think part of the problem was the smaller TV budget (seriously this is a big dropped ball for these properties in the MCU and something other studios should learn from and improve upon). The other was a willful mishandling of the DannyRand/Iron Fist character. In my opinion Iron Fist is at his strongest when he’s being the gleeful optimist to Luke Cage’s experienced pessimism. The show was also unwilling to truly play with his fish out of water character and depended too heavily on the gritty realism of Daredevil (questionable for a character with magic powers). Finn Jones is a fine and talented actor but he was utterly miscast in the role as well which is a shame as the rest of the cast was well done to a degree.

An utter flop for very good reason which is sad because effort was made.

27- Iron Man 2
I hate this one so much. Stealing Movie Bob’s joke here (link at the bottom) This movie, and the MCU as a whole, is lucky that the sheer charisma of Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Gwynth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlet Johansen, and Jon Favreau were able to keep the movie afloat enough that Avengers Hype and seeing various other MCU props kept it from utterly collapsing. A very mediocre film with poor plotting, ill defined stakes and a completely misused Mickey Rourke. Ivan Vanko/Whiplash was a legitimately interesting foe for Tony Stark and he was utterly misused. As was Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. The more Marvel movies made the worse this one looks in hindsight which is ironic because at the time everyone felt that as a sequel it was passable. Disney and Marvel did a lot of re-planning after this to their credit despite it making money and improved the other sequels.

Just imagine if all the sequels had been this reductive and weak.

26- Defenders
I liked a lot of parts of Defenders but it suffers a lot from the fact that it was already undergoing filming and writing by the time Iron Fist dropped and the fan hatred began to resound. The mythology of Iron Fist plays heavily into the Defenders and that means Danny Rand is key to the story, but the problem remains: so few people liked Iron Fist / Danny Rand and all the issues with Iron Fist were on display here. At best there are some tacked on scenes that try to address audience complaints about Iron Fist but they look tacked on. I also think it was a missed opportunity. Taken together Daredevil Seasons 1 and 2, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist have more hours than most of the movies to play with for character and set up yet, so little was done on world design, stakes, and other factors and it at best ties very loosely into the MCU. The obvious market and style could have allowed for a deeper dive in the setting, MCU, and New York City in the MCU and none of that really happened. It had moments, Sigourney Weaver dominates every scene she is in and remains a treasure, but for the chance to experiment with the very concept of streaming and expand the MCU it was a dud.

25- Thor the Dark World
I liked it more then Iron Man 2? There isn’t much to say here except that at best it was fun seeing Volstagg, Fandrel, Heimdal, and Sif doing more in this movie. It was neat seeing another infinity stone and introducing The Collector. More time in Asgard was fun but they didn’t do much in the setting. While it had some neat fight scenes the movie was a serious dud and cemented a lot of the complaints about the MCU sequels. No one finds Malekith the Accursed that interesting so at least they didn’t waste a good villain (and that’s literally the best I can say about this movie).

24- Daredevil
I did not like the Netflix Daredevil much. The character has never been a favorite, but the series suffered from the budget issue all the Netflix shows were weighed down under. I just didn’t love how they wrote Matt Murdock/Daredevil in this series though I think Charlie Cox strained to bring something to the role. That said the supporting cast in season 1 and 2 were solid. Elden Henson brought a ton to the role of Foggy Nelson which shocked me. He really did a lot in the series to bring in a sincerity to the show where it was needed. Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk was pitch perfect and really did a lot for the series (and for me remains one of the best MCU villains because he was so well explored). Fisk was the reason I watched the rest of the Netflix series because he represented what they could do with the concept of the show. I feel though that the show didn’t do enough to set the world up or the stakes and because of that the rest of the series had to struggle to meet a story need for Defenders. You can see the series buckling under a mythos it just couldn’t support. It does not help that I don’t love grim and gritty shows, so this was a hurdle for me and its why I put it so low on the list despite some obvious effort with a relatively new genre (streaming binge shows).

I feel it should be pointed out this is my reading on the meta-narrative of the Netflix series and where this all sits: Gentrification is a real issue for people and one that has a lot of complexity and stories within it. Something a Netflix miniseries could really chew on. Daredevil’s season one hinges so heavily on Fisk and his slimy criminal tinged gentrification plans (and how the wealthy of New York can steam role neighborhoods and homes to get their way undercutting the hard working people of the city) but it didn’t really explore the concept well (or why Hell’s Kitchen needed to survive). To whit the basic idea I’ve cobbled together is that the Battle of Manhattan at the end of Avengers was a tectonic moment for New York not only because of aliens and weird technology but because the events/destruction of the fight combined with the huge sums of money flooding the city utterly destabilized the various neighborhoods and entrenched power bases both in the crime world and in general. Major crime cartels were upended and power vacuums occurred leading to people like Wilson Fisk and Copperhead moving into the area trying to cement power while the Hand, a Magic Ninja Death Cult, attempted a more esoteric power grab. So characters like Daredevil rise to protect the average person at risk from this chaos…. and its weird that I think Spiderman Homecoming did a better job exploring this?

23-The Punisher
So, this needs to be said up first: there are two superheroes on this entire list who I absolutely hate. Punisher is one of them and essentially my nadir. When he appears in comics I tend to dislike the story or not buy the issue. I have never read a Punisher story I even found entertaining. I just don’t like him. That said I do understand there are a lot of people out there who do like the Punisher for a lot of legitimate reasons. It is great that Marvel comics can provide a lot of interesting and different characters for people to enjoy. I do understand that Frank Castle (and the others who have taken up his mantle) has a strong set of support. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade unduly. As I have said before this list is deeply subjective. I also think the Punisher can be a very tricky character for interpretation in movies and TV shows.

Generally, I think there have been other Punisher movies and shows that have landed closer to the character in his pure comic book form. Punisher War Zone looked accurate from clips (I didn’t see it). For the Netflix Punisher I think they wanted to try something different for his story (much like Spider-Man Homecoming). I think trying to braid in the way society treats veterans in modern America and the way armed conflict can change your perceptions of society and people was a really smart way to do the series. It seems like a timely commentary in my opinion. I really hope Punisher fans enjoyed it for the most part and they got what they were coming for in this interpretation. If that was the case I hope they do a season 2. Overall this Punisher had a lot of decent acting, staging, and it looked like they were trying to give Frank Castle a lot of attention and care as a character. I think some of the critical reaction was well off base (berating Punisher for not mentioning the rest of the MCU when Daredevil, IronFist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones barely touched it seems decidedly foolish).

I watched two episodes and decided I could not switch off my hate. I then watched the new Voltron to make myself feel better. This is not the show for me, but I can recognize they were putting in an effort. I detested other shows and berated them for not putting in effort. I appreciate they were trying something in the streaming genre and trying with the characters. I really hope for Punisher fans that it was a good time.

22-The Incredible Hulk
It was, um, fine I guess? Mediocre to watchable? Of the original “Phase 1” movies that set up the Avengers probably the weakest of the lot. It has some good fight scenes and I like putting in Abomination that was a great choice for a foe. I’d love to see The Leader come back as he’s a cool villain. I was glad they generally dispensed with the Hulk origin story and instead tried to do something with the consequences of how he came to be and how that knowledge could be misused. They tried hard to build the MCU foundation here and I’m sorry it sort of didn’t work but at least they learned a lesson about putting in too much exposition and it didn’t hurt the rest?

21-Thor
I like whizbang fun. I like bright colors. I like how the movie leans in on the silly concept and decides “lets make this sillier now Thor is a god like alien.” Every second in Aasgard was great and it felt like it really opened up the MCU cosmos (and in so doing leaves more questions on the plate even now). At a time when it seemed against the general market Thor was willing to be sincerely childlike and fun and I think that worked in its favor. It’s a brave movie to top load the Warriors Three in as major characters. The second act was supremely weak and it made the ending a bit deflated. They really needed to handle Jane Foster as a character better and Thor’s love for her was forced and so flawed it hurt the sequel. I think generally people find it fun and it introduced Loki as a character the entire MCU could enjoy (seriously more villains need to survive movie to movie).

A fun if forgettable movie that rightly set the stage for The Avengers tone and style wise. This is also the demarcation point where I start legitimately enjoying the MCU properties and will watch them multiple times.

20- Iron Man
It started the entire MCU franchise and reignited Robert Downey Jr. ‘s career. I went into the theater skeptical and came out wowed. A solid action adventure story about a flawed man who in the end remains flawed but who wants to be better. I really liked Pepper Potts in it compared to other Superhero movies at the time I felt she had more depth, did more, and was interesting (and as we have seen the supporting romantic leads in the movies have only increased in skill and interest leading to the phenomenal Nakia). All credit this movie worked and was good enough to begin a massive cinematic empire.

However, if we are honest compared to a lot of the later films it isn’t as good. Iron Man had to play it safe as an action movie and couldn’t lean into itself to hard. It does not embrace the absurd like some of the later MCU movies. By the third act the movie falls into a slump and trudges to the finish line. The village fight scene however is one of the best scenes in the MCU because it demonstrates the full power of the suit, Tony’s brain, and how individual people are affected by all this superhero craziness. A lot of MCU movies have slowly moved away from showing the regular human perspective on the ground and that is a real shame. Here it worked.

Disney and Marvel were willing to put in some effort. They decided to take the source material seriously. Most of the jokes are not about the concept but rather people quipping at each other. Disney was willing to embrace the absurd and spectacle aspects and I think that worked and set the tone for the rest of the MCU.

19-Luke Cage
I’ve been harder on the Netflix shows for a lot of reasons. Part of it being that it isn’t my aesthetic and part of it being that I don’t think they took advantage of the medium they had. Luke Cage though was amazingly solid. Great music choices, a timely use of setting and story to depict how neighborhoods and systems can define people, a solid exploration of what it means to be a hero. The issues of race, crime, and police as a fundamental aspect of the story could not have been more perfect as a major part of the story. Mike Colter is an amazing Luke Cage and really does a good job playing an understated hero who affects pessimism but, in his heart, wants to believe in a brighter future. I really want Mike Colter as Luke Cage to show up in the Marvel Movies ideally teaming up with Falcon and Captain America or traveling to Wakanda. Just an overall strong entry whose last few episodes sort of peter off.

Season 2 is coming, and I think will be very good. Ideally it will be better than season 1. If we are also being honest Mike Colter is also smoking hot and the number of shirtless scenes was very nice for me personally.


18-Spider-Man: Homecoming
I need to explain this one a bit and why its in this position. I should start off by saying that in my opinion most people are right that the Sam Raimi Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 really are the best interpretations of this character (despite serious flaws at various points in both films). I am also firmly convinced Disney watched those films and tried to crib a lot of the elements (the brighter color pallet, the jokes, among other things) for their MCU. Notwithstanding the fact Spider-Man 3 was such a failure that sunk the franchise these movies defined Spider-Man for a lot of audiences which made a remake very difficult. A lot of ink has been spilled on why Amazing Spider-Man never truly took off. I maintain it came too soon after the Sam Raimi films and suffered for it.

I bring this all up because what I liked in Homecoming was that they decided to do something very different with Spider-Man in how he was portrayed and used. I really liked the way they leaned heavily on the High School elements. How Peter is treated as a much younger, if brilliant, teenager. How he is a very gawky teenager who with the loss of Uncle Ben is desperate for a father figure (and arguably looked towards Tony Stark even though Stark can’t ever truly be that for him). I really like how the movie relied heavily on other MCU events and movies to build itself. Doing scenes with events from Civil War from a different perspective. Playing with how the events of The Avengers effected the city (as I noted in the Daredevil bit here I felt it really worked exploring the impact). Referencing other parts of the MCU and using it as a lived-in world. This really took advantage of it and made it feel like Spider-Man was a part of bigger things. I love the supporting cast of characters and the various teenagers. They were all phenomenally solid. I liked his conversations with his spider suit AI. I was shocked with how much I liked the Vulture and that he, shockingly, lives at the end. The Vulture actually seemed like an interesting and nuanced MCU villain. I even like Tom Holland’s energetic geeky presentation of the character Peter Parker, a marked departure from the other two. This isn’t to say the movie is flawless it has a lot of problems but I enjoyed that they were willing to try doing it differently than before and fitting him into the MCU this way worked. And frankly to me Homecoming underscores how different the MCU is from the comics property. In the comics Stark was always read as a tad on the periphery compared to other characters in the MCU the Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr is central to dozens of heroes.

This is also the most intrinsic flaw in my opinion. To me, and others like Movie Bob who I link to below, I think this should have been Miles Morales. This was the time to put Miles into the MCU and fully craft the departure from the other Spider-Man films. This was an opportunity and Disney’s aversion to risk shot them in the foot.

I found myself having fun at Spider-Man Homecoming and I’ve watched it more then once which is a shock to me. I liked it well enough to find it fun. This is all doubly shocking because Spider-Man and I have a love/hate relationship. By which I mean I hate the character to my core and everyone else seems to love him. [Here I had to cut a long rant that went on for several paragraphs about why I hate Spider-Man and tended to root for J. Jonah Jameson]. Yet I legit had fun at this film. Massive points for hard work and effort paying off here and for the choice to at least do a few things differently even if it wasn’t enough differences.

17-Iron Man 3
Its kind of surprising even though I had fun at the first one and liked this one how low the Iron Man movies are on this list. Still Iron Man 3 had some good parts. The Plane crash rescue scene was really good and underscored how far Iron Man had come as a hero. I liked seeing how people around the country have responded to Tony Stark. I really liked how he’s more able to empathize with regular people now. I liked that he grows enough to change in the film and the hilarious bit with Dr. Banner at the end. The Iron Legion fight and Pepper Potts fighting and wearing the armor were both solid aspects. I just think there were some seriously mishandled parts as well. The movie felt disjoined to me and while I think showing Tony Stark struggling with trauma from the Battle of New York was interesting I don’t know if that truly worked in the story they wanted to tell. I think the twist with the Mandarin and Ben Kingsly was really interesting and I liked how they played it in the first act. Yeah it declaws a major Iron Man villain but honestly a lot of solid villains haven’t been treated well in the MCU and this was before Dr. Strange when the MCU was still leery of magic. I think my biggest problem is they introduce the Advanced Idea Mechanics as a foe and then by the end of the movie A.I.M. is gone and to me that’s a shame. A.I.M. could have been a fascinating foe across the properties like Hydra showing up in various other movies and shows as a foe helping to supply dangerous tech to villains and other threats. To me that’s what weakened Iron Man 3 the most the lost opportunity for a major new larger foe for the wider MCU.

Fun but flawed movie that follows the events of The Avengers and tries to build the world?

16- Thor Ragnarok
Oh, what a difference a little risk taking makes. Ragnarok is a great example of how the MCU as a wider experiment can deliver a stronger movie. I don’t think the Scarlet Witch or Ultron intended for Thor to go on a galaxy wide rampage to remove threats to Asgard but okay he did that in the first few minutes of the movie and the rest of the movie deals with him essentially upending the entirety of the Thor movies. Ragnarok under layers of jokes, interesting moments, and legitimately cool fight scenes is also a lot more willing to try and explore complex ideas such as how societies will tend to try and paper over uncomfortable parts of their history. Thor confronting how he has lied to himself and how his society lied to him was done in an interesting way. Introducing The Grandmaster and his style was great. I loved Valkyrie. Having the Hulk show up and be a major character was a great part of the MCU and was a moment that underscored how well the entire program could work. Years ago the film industry would have called such a cross over unworkable and that audiences wouldn’t accept it. The MCU turning that expectation on its head is another sign why experiment worked. Not that it is perfect, more that it does a lot of interesting things with its pallet and setting and in this risk taking provided a smarter movie.

At the end of it though this does raise a lot of questions about Asgard and its actions and inactions in space outside of Earth before the events of the MCU’s start and after. I think this was the Thor movie a lot of people wanted after the first Thor.

15- Dr. Strange
It is surprising to me on some level that this movie didn’t come out earlier. Part of it was Disney was very careful in how it wanted to play the MCU. The studios felt that the marvel heroes they were making movies of (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Ant Man and so forth) were already fairly obscure to noncomic readers and inherently absurd. It is well known by now that Disney felt introducing magic would be too complex for the first films. There was a reason they redefined Thor not as an actual god but as an alien. That was seen as more credible to audiences despite the Asgardian aliens always talking about “dark magic” and having anachronistic outfits.

However, Dr. Strange has been a pet project for a lot of people at Marvel for years as a movie (see: Dr. Mordrid for one attempt that fell apart and suffers from being a movie deeply of its own era). Further introducing Dr. Strange allows for a bigger scale of possible stories in weird magic and alternate dimensions. On top of that Dr. Strange is a frequent guest in other comics as the heroes go to expert on mystic issues. Having a movie for him makes sense and as Phase 3 MCU movies could be more experimental and different the pieces were in place for Dr. Strange. Which considering the end of Dr. Strange and the beginning of Thor Ragnarok as well as Infinity War seems to be how they will use the Visionary Vizier (which is perfect). It also changes how the MCU narrative works on the whole allowing movies to bleed into each other more.

Overall, I found it a fun movie with a lot of interesting scenes. They don’t hold back on the mind-bending aspects of how magic could make fights weird. The astral projection battle and the reverse time fight are fantastic. The visuals in several scenes are solid. Putting a sitar into the MCU style orchestral sound track was a pitch perfect choice. Cumberbatch is a perfect Dr. Strange in style, mannerisms, and technique. The supporting cast was one of the most solid in all the marvel movies.

I did feel it had several flaws and it was fun but not a favorite. I also feel this one suffers from the fact that all the MCU movies are essentially action movies and this one did not need to be. Still would Disney really innovate away from the solid money making of all superhero stories being action movies?

14- Ant Man
This movie was supposed to be a failure. All the behind the scenes issues and drama and Edgar Wright quitting were supposed to be signs of its failure. Signs that Disney had been too dictatorial with its involvement and was pushing out solid directors. It was about a superhero no one really heard of whose power was getting tiny that fewer people heard of then people who knew who Iron Man was before that movie. How would people get into that?
Yet this was a genuinely fun and enjoyable movie for me. Not only that but it was a great heist/caper comedy action film. Ant Man was able to play with the concept of changing sizes to make movie audiences see an adventure could be found in the most mundane of locations. The fight scene on the train tracks is so clever and well-orchestrated its impressive how funny and attention grabbing it really is. On top of that Ant Man as the first of the Phase 3 movies opens the world of the microverse to the MCU and the possible stories there while also building a mythology of superheros in the cold war era and how S.H.I.E.L.D. would have acted in that time building a more complex mythos and showing why Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. reacted to Iron Man the way they did. Hayley Atwell back as the amazing Peggy Carter and how she acted at the top of her game in the 1980’s was amazing. On top of that Ant Man actually had a really thoughtful and adult subplot about fathers and daughters and how they relate and how fathers can unintentionally and unfairly hold their daughters back.

Just a solid little film that in hindsight painted exactly how Phase 3 would go: bigger, more crossovers, and new worlds to explore with a lot of playing with social commentary.

13- Avengers: Age of Ultron
This one is a personal guilty pleasure of mine. Intellectually I know its not an objectively strong movie. Compared to the other films in the MCU it suffers from several problems: a flabby second act and laborious third act, too many scenes that don’t deal with the movie itself but set up conflicts for other events and movies (such as Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther), and it tries to introduce too many new characters while trying to juggle a already large cast of the first Avengers movie. I would also argue its particularly blood thirsty killing off several characters I really liked. Quicksilver was especially egregious as I REALLY loved what Aaron Taylor-Johnson did with the character making him snarky and playful he did a lot with the character really well and made me want to see a lot more of him. (Also I need a moment to defend Baron Von Strucker who I felt was a really solid villain to keep around for another movie. Yes, he was a genocidal maniac but why have Ultron kill him off screen? What a misuse). In other words the movie stinks of studio mandates and mismanagement and is bloated.

Yet I still really love it.

There are some great character interaction moments between the various Avengers. Setting up Hulk and Widow as a romantic partnership was endearing and allowed Scarlett Johansson to really stretch her role and acting skills. Seeing the Helicarriers again coming to save the people of Sokovia was so delightful (and the fact they set it up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was even better). The fight scene between all the Avengers and the Ultron bots was fantastic (if a little drawn out). It also introduced Scarlet Witch and Vision as characters and I really loved what they did with them in the movie and then set up for future instalments. I want to see more of these two because I loved what they did here. So, there is a lot in the movie I found fun and that really pressed by buttons but I also know it has massive flaws.

Honestly if you wanted a movie version of an over the top bloated summer comic book event cross over this would be it. Totally captures that style.

12-Runaways
I have an incredibly soft spot for the comic Runaways which I thought was a truly original comic and story with some very solid teenage characters. Their adventures were fun and I enjoy seeing them in the comics. I wasn’t sure how a TV series could take the comic and faithfully turn it into a series. The comic is deeply rooted in the absurd side of Marvel (time travel, mutants, vampires, aliens and more show up in this comic and much of the comic assumes you’ve read some other marvel stories and can accept this level of weird). Yet I feel the Hulu series has done a masterful job in adaptation. Instead of staying close to the comic the Runaways has instead taking the premise and turned it into its own show of interlocking personal relationships within a science fiction setting. Showing how even in a fantastical world people still interact like people. There was also a lot of solid humor. I really loved the actors playing the teens, who all deliver some legitimately funny dialog, and someone needs to give Ariela Barer, Rhenzy Feliz, and Lyrica Okano a ton of new roles and shows they’re very talented. The lesbian romance angle for one teen questioning who she is as a person was great. Seeing how the parents interacted was a real delight, as was the fact that they weren’t irredeemable monsters, and it was a good departure from the original comic series. Its great seeing solid acting, writing, and episodic television and this might be one of the strongest streaming series the MCU has made. If this is what the future of the streaming shows looks like then I am very excited.

Its pop, its mod, its fun and I want more. Even if its less then clear that is actually part of the MCU.

11-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
It should be noted first and foremost this series could not have worked or been this high without its shockingly solid cast. Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Iain de Caestecker sell this show hard and have shown tremendous skill and it would have failed without them. Clark Gregg especially is clearly having fun with this role. It is shocking to me how much I enjoy Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its obvious popcorn nature. This is a really good episodic adventure show that has changed its style and stories on a dime to fit the wider MCU. It has also been the most willing to embrace the absurdity of the MCU and the movies and bring them into a human context. You could easily see in subtext all the ways S.H.I.E.L.D. has tried to deal with the crazy side of the MCU and protect regular people and how much it can affect them. They did an amazing job introducing the Inhumans as a concept. The second half of Season 1 after the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier and all of Season 2 were fantastic television. Season 3 was flat but Season 4 and 5 have been fun. Honestly, just on the strength of Season 1 and 2 this show is high on the list, but this is the rare show that on major network television is trying to be a little different and work within the bigger MCU paradigm. The fact it comes back around and effected the movies like in Age of Ultron shows just how much potential is in this new paradigm. That is succeeds in doing this and I think does a better job playing with the MCU then most of the Netflix shows is a mark on how much Disney needed to work out what they wanted from this side of the MCU experiment. Every time Ming-Na Wen gets another crazy alien weapon or magic device, or Clark Gregg uses old school spy techniques, or Chloe Bennet gives a little snark I smile. The fact they brought Mockingbird, of all people, in really was great too and did any one expect Ghost Rider to show up?
This isn’t the most brilliant thing ever but its fun, watchable, and a little more daring then it first looks on paper. If you haven’t seen season 1 and 2 do yourself a favor and slog through episodes 1 through 9 and be prepared to be blown away. Imagine if they had more of a budget!

The Top Ten
Generally our culture has decided the top ten are particularly noteworth. In general for the ranking list as I composed it I realized just how many enjoyable and quality movies and tv shows are in the MCU. Disney has, for the most part, tried to put some effort and capitol into turning out thoughtful and interesting movies and has largely made interesting, if safe, movies. Honestly from #21 (Thor) on up these were all good for me and I would prefer watching them to a lot of other movies and shows.

Still these are the top ten so here is the reason I chose them beyond simple enjoyment. Not only was their care of craft and effort and fun stories but these all either had deeper stories then I expected, interesting messages that they decided to explore, or were just so different from everything else I’ve seen in the action/adventure/spectacle movie genre.

10- Agent Carter
I think its obvious looking at my top ten list that I have a particular preference that colors some of my choices. A period action adventure show set in the post war era America just as the massive economic boom of the 50’s and the social changes of that era are about to occur. A thriller adventure about a woman spy who must play both at being a professional and the double agent undermining her team’s mission. An international science fiction mystery to stop dangerous technology from being released to the public at the beginning of the atomic era. The story of a highly skilled spy who served her nation well in World War 2 and must now confront the difficulties of a new era where everyone underestimates her. The story of a woman in love with a famous hero, her own heroism over shadowed by him, and now he is gone and likely dead and she must confront continued mockery and assumptions all while mourning her loss. Agent Carter is all this and more every scene was a delight showing a different era from Automats to the social expectations of lady boarding houses to the natural use of comic book style mad science in the era of diodes and vacuum tubes. With a truly excellent cast, an intriguing mystery, and solid dialog this show would be excellent in any regard. However, Agent Carter leans heavily into the MCU mythos adding its own take on the weirdness including the expectation of knowing Captain America’s adventures, the origin of the Black Widow, and the nascent rise of S.H.I.E.L.D. Just a really solid adventure especially if you approach Season 1 as a miniseries (Season 2 was decidedly weaker which is why this show only gets #10 but man was Season 1 everything I wanted).

What really sold me on the show though is Hayley Atwell and how well she delivers the nuances of a difficult role. The major arc of Peggy Carter dealing with the death of Captain America and her coming to terms with the loss while still trying to save lives and be the best in her field was solid acting, directing, and writing.

9- Jessica Jones
The critical acclaim and fans this show got are in my opinion correct. Jessica Jones is perhaps the most solidly written and strongest of the Netflix shows. I don’t really enjoy noir stories and Jessica Jones origin in the comics is a difficult story to read. Still this show confronted several really difficult topics (trauma, rape, abuse, and the lingering effects of such violence) and I think handled them well. I am still unsure if I really enjoyed watching the series but it drew me in with solid writing, great casting choices, and Krysten Ritter really did deliver a star making performance. So, despite this not being my style of story I have to praise excellent execution and solid story writing using the tropes of noir in a superhero setting. I likely wont be doing a rewatch but this truly is different and well done.

8- Captain America: The First Avenger
Objectively this movie shouldn’t be this high on the list. Like all the Phase 1 movies it suffered from its own flaws (which others have picked over) and the later films really are more creative. Subjectively I adore it because it presses a lot of my internal aesthetic buttons. I love the 1940’s era for style, I enjoy World War 2 movies, I really loved the idea of a period piece superhero movie (all the other movies were set in the “modern” era and most other superhero movies until this point were as well). I felt it played with the lore of who Captain America is in the comics and how his comics were propaganda tools (the stage show was so perfect). Having a new Howling Commandos who work with the Captain in the movie was a brilliant idea because it opened up the concept that there were dozens of great adventures and stories around the team and Steve Rogers (that montage was so fantastic). Let’s also be honest its great seeing dozens of nazis getting punches, kicked, and pummeled on the big screen.

I really love that Howard Stark and Zola were such a fun mirror of each other even if they didn’t interact in the movie. Two brilliant scientists on opposite sides of the war (and one could argue symbolizing the comics and stories of the era about brilliant scientists inventing the impossible) whose various inventions are used against the others. The fact the movie was willing to embrace the sometimes-crazy aesthetic of the era when it came to envisioning future technology was amazing. It felt like Captain America was in the center of an incredibly strong enable cast telling a small part of a much bigger story and that worked for me. Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips was a delight every moment he was on the screen. Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter was amazing (and Disney did the right thing bringing her back to other movies). I know the movie is flawed but I utterly loved it. I also admit Captain America is one of my favorite heroes and I think they chose a pitch perfect actor and did the writing amazingly well.

7-Avengers: Infinity War
I am sure I will eventually come down off my amazement at this movie and it will move down the list. Then again, I thought the same thing with Guardians vol. 2. I think this must be so high on the list simply because of the experimental nature of the entire thing. Infinity War breaks multiple rules the studio system and theaters felt were engraved in stone. A full decade of multiple movies and tv shows (28 of them) essentially built a shared universe strong enough to support this film existing. It should not have worked and yet it does. The tension was so well conveyed for characters who were introduced and beloved from other films. There were great moments of Thanos ripping up the narrative rules of this universe, rules that had been established in over a dozen movies. You could not do that without all the set up. Stunning visuals and fight scenes. Ridiculous uses of strange powers. Great interaction scenes and solid comedy. Having Thanos be the central protagonist and have a narrative journey was a brilliant move and Josh Brolin delivered his lines and emoted so well, in such a soft spoken strong way, despite the CGI silliness. Just a brilliant use of the malign paradigm shift as a concept. When Infinity Wars pressed the envelope on what audiences expected and when they experimented with the way modern movies are presented and told it was great.

I went into this movie expecting it to be essentially a series of various scenes of established characters interacting. Weird team ups, strange conversations, odd friendships; the kind of stuff the best block buster comics have done in the past. Infinity Wars delivered in spades. I had no idea I wanted a Winter Soldier and Rocket Raccoon team up but now I see that is exactly what I wanted. The phenomenal use of Scarlet Witch and Vision’s sub plot was just heart breaking to me (and that bit in Scotland… it takes a confident director to pull off an emotional romance scene that underpins a major section of the movie and make it a subplot and they pulled it off). I was amazed by how much work Zoe Saldana was doing in this movie and she was perfect. This is why she had to be Gamora because few people could sincerely deliver lines like this.

This is not to say its flawless, it does depend heavily on seeing a lot more of other movies which can be hard for some to enter (though why would you start with Infinity War or see it? The other movies were there so you could make a choice if you liked this genre and style. I do think the most valid criticism is that we rarely saw random people on the streets. The civilians of the alien worlds and earth. We only saw soldiers in Wakanda. I think it would have grounded the immense stakes to show regular people reacting to this insanity. I think there has to be a scene made about the devastation of Xandar because that culturally and racially diverse utopia style star nation was such a huge setting and narrative plot point for Guardians of the Galaxy.

Still just an incredible experiment come to fruition and delivering on expanding the universe while giving us great moments. Is it the objective strongest story: no. Is it a fascinating attempt to do something different with movies: yes.

6-Captain America: Civil War
By all rights this movie shouldn’t have worked. It was complicated, filled with characters from the other movies (including Ant Man), had an over the top fight scene, and introduced two new marvel heroes who got their own movies (including being the origin story for Black Panther). Yet somehow it’s a really solid action spy movie that culminates in the villain winning.

I should point out that I refused to see this one in theaters. I really hate the Civil War story line in Marvel comics. The premise sort of made sense but the execution was very frustrating for me. I didn’t like the idea of them trying anything close to it in the movies. I was also just in a bad mood at the time.
When I finally saw it, I came in with a lot of emotional baggage and yet the movie won me over with a solid story, an overall sensible logic to why the fight was happening, some really good characterizations, and some great twists. The Airport Fight Scene was the best marvel movie super power fight the MCU has ever done (and honestly beats infinity war). Some of T’Challa’s most formative heroic story moments happened here and you can see why he respects Steve Rogers by the end. Also, it did a lot to build Vision and Wanda’s relationship in the background.

Zemo essentially winning even if he was caught was a great narrative choice. To be fair his plan is highly over complicated and critics are right a little thought about it does fine holes. I’d argue a lot like the Mission Impossible movies this movie apes to a degree. He’s a forgettable villain yet somehow he wins. The movie had a solid story about the ideas of personal respect and how different people can approach a problem and both essentially be right even if they have very different solutions. Granted it didn’t explore these as deeply as other movies on this list and that’s not as deep as say Thor Ragnarok’s view on colonialism or Guardians Vol. 2 on forgiveness and loss but its good. I also like how it built in the concept of showing various big moments from other MCU movies from the perspective of regular people and how scared and nervous the average person has become.

This was not a movie that wasted time like the flabby Age of Ultron, it built in a lot of new characters and their stories, and furthered the MCU mythos you can see why a lot of people call this the unofficial Avengers 3.

(my Theory on why this worked and why Ultron didn’t was that Ultron was too flabby with extra scenes and spent too much time trying to explain and develop Ultron. Zemo is a great villain in the comics and here was a bit weaksauce but he served the narrative job of the heroes’ conflict.)

5-Guardians of the Galaxy
When this came out a lot of people thought it would be a joke and a misfire. There was a lot of commentary about how the Guardians were largely unknown group, the color palate was different from other success movies of the time, and the commercials were playing up a fun peppy weird adventure. I was honestly excited because of one thing: Rocket Raccoon. I also thought it would flop.

It did not

With its soundtrack of mom rock, irreverent tone, bright colors, and strange story set on alien vistas was vastly different then the other superhero movies at the time. Winter Soldier, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, and Thor the Dark world had all taken a largely more drab somber tone. Batman v Superman looked like it would keep to that trend. I’m honestly very pleased Guardians came by to remind everyone peppy, poppy, fun, and colorful can draw in audiences and tell a complex story. Guardians proved you could follow serious stories like Winter Soldier and still keep the popcorn fun.

At the same time Guardians of the Galaxy had a deeper core message to it which I feel elevated the story. A message about how flawed people and people hurt by trauma can be heroic. How loss can’t be forgotten but it can be healed. How working together and learning to trust others can lead to positive things. Guardians to me was about the power of diversity and learning to be a better person with the support of others. It isn’t a surprise to me that Xandar with its bright colors, Star Trek Federation inspired cityscapes, and diverse multi-species ,and multi-ethnic society mirrors the diverse and strange guardians while the Kree are largely similar in design and style. It is really interesting how the Xandar structured government doesn’t have a place for the Gurdians individually but by the end the Guardians find a way to be a part of this utopian society in their own quirky way (mirroring their acceptance of each other).

The fact that two very CGI creations like Rocket and Groot could emote so well and came off as such developed interesting characters was a huge bonus and I think speaks to how the future MCU movies can play with other nonhuman characters.

It’s a solid adventure story with some great comedy moments and good action is a huge plus. Let’s be fair though the movie had to carry a lot of weight in exposition and it had to deal with trying to set up some very strange alien worlds. It largely succeeded but didn’t have enough room to explore everything in this bright new galaxy frontier of the MCU. I also think Ronin the Accuser was the wrong villain for this movie and was very poorly used which is a shame as I like Ronin in the comics.

Overall James Gunn proved the MCU was strong enough to tell different weirder stories with lesser known characters. He also proved he’s one of the most solid and interesting directors working for the big studios.

4-Avengers
I don’t think much needs to be said why this is so high on the list. Yes, the second act drags and some scenes were weak. However, just an overall great action movie with some great moments and scenes. The big Battle of Manhattan where the heroes untie to fight the mercenary Chitari was an amazing bit. The movie also set the standard for when other team up movies work the interpersonal interactions of the heroes.

One could argue with how the movie showed the various characters and introduced them that it did not need the other movies to set it up narratively. Instead the other movies acted as shading and construction of a bigger world. That worked wonderfully and allowed Whedon and the writers to play with a much bigger pallet. Future movies took the idea further but people need to remember what an absolute shock this was at the time and how it was pulled off.

This changed the entire movie industry. The sheer money made, the success of the initial experiment, and the critical success caused every movie studio in North America to pay close attention. Now one can argue those changes and the revolution in movie plotting wasn’t always for the best (The Dark Universe Mummy movie starring Tom Cruise being a prime example of utterly mishandling the concept). However, I’d argue changing the fundamental assumption of the movie theater and production system on how movies could be marketed and sold that had been solidified since 1994 with the success of the multiplex was a huge moment for movies and it will take time to adjust and see other positive outgrowths (and we will see a lot of drek).

3-Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
I was not expecting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to be stronger then the first. I was not expecting to find it more fun and interesting. I thought considering the other MCU movies there would be a contrived series of events that would set the characters back to square one emotionally. I also thought the villain would be another less interesting repeat of Ronin as Guaridans is about the interactions of flawed yet talented people. I was utterly wrong
First of all credit to James Gunn for making the conflicts within the Guardians look so much more organic then a simple reboot. Their internal conflicts come not from a reset but rather an out growth of spending more time together and trusting each other. Rocket’s deep distrust and misanthropy poisoning his ability to talk and work with people who have become his friends. Peter’s over confidence combined with his still deeply needy personality. Gamora’s own trauma (highlighted in Infinity War but already on display here) while she deals with trying to be the responsible adult and care for her friends (while worrying they will all die and she will be alone again). All solid conflict that progressed organically.

Ego the Living Planet as a villain and his plan was amazingly great as an idea and the visuals they chose for him were amazing. I agree with other critics that he mirrors the real internal problem for the team (their own egos and traumas).

The new broader galaxy and worlds were amazing to see. The Sovereign world and their beliefs of “perfection” was such a fascinating contrast to the quirky and odd Guardians. One could spend hours picking that apart. Learning of the broader ravager groups and their factions was really interesting and opens up more stories. I wish we had spent more time with the Xandar people and government but then again, their narrative purpose was served in the first movie.

The larger message Gunn played with here dealing with abuse, forgiveness, and loss was just amazing. Nebula and Gamora’s scenes together were some of the strongest in the film and were perfectly executed. I loved seeing Peter still grappling with the loss of his mother even if he’s finally accepted it and forgiveness himself for running. Peter struggling with his adopted father in Yondu and the suffering he went through growing up with the ravagers was nicely explored. Rocket’s own struggles with accepting that he can be loved and respected and some people will not intentionally hurt him was so well played. The Ravager Funeral at the end was perfectly done in the same colorful style of the Guardians but hit the right notes of sadness and loss for me.
Which isn’t to say there weren’t problems for me. Guardians 1 kept a very consistent tone. Vol. 2 tried to hard for irreverent jokes that didn’t fit the moment (the “my nipples” bit just did not work). While I love Mantis as a character and think Pom Klementieff did a wonderful job interpreting the character I really did not like how Drax and the other Guardians treated her in the movie. However, I feel the story was so strong, the use of the first movie’s style so well used, and the general work on the story so solid I can’t help but love this movie.

I really do urge people to watch the Lindsay Ellis vlog on Guardians Vol. 2 it was really well thought out and interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VulkN5OLEM

2- Black Panther
Disney could have made a standard super hero origin movie. Even if the origin story was in Civil War they could have retread ground and done an Iron Man or a Thor. It would have been the safer bet money wise. Instead Disney decided to tell an ensemble cast story of high futurism and utopian idealism about an African people dealing with the moral and social issues of isolationism. A movie about moving past one’s history to excel into a bright future is an amazing theme for a movie. Not only that but it chose to contract with one of the best new directors Ryan Coogler for the movie to write and direct. Then they got some of the best actors they could find for the movie.

Black Panther delivered on every promise for me. It was a near perfect action adventure movie. Not only was it a visually stunning celebration of pan African continent art and diaspora art, fashion, and music but it delivered on a deep promise of science fiction lore and style. A truly original use of sand as a holographic interface, an interesting use of wood accents, and a dramatic use of music was incredible. The cast was phenomenal and it can not be understated how incredible Danai Gurira as Okoye was or what a break out sensation Letitia Wright as Shuri was for, well, everyone. Winston Duke as M’Baku was a revelation of a character I always hated giving him depth and making him endlessly fascinating (and I hope we can see more of him). Chadwick Boseman reprising his role as T’Challa was fantastic and played off everyone in the movie so well you could trust his charisma and the respect and friendship he had among the characters. While it was Black Panther’s movie its fitting that Wakanda was the star.

Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger was amazing and in the end, I think I agree with the consensus he truly is one of the best realized and most interesting supervillains of the MCU. His motives were interesting and clear, the scene in the museum was perfection, and the idea of someone taking reasonable problems and concerns and letting them become twisted into a toxic dangerous threat (a true supervillain) is so vintage marvel.

A lot of ink has been spilled on this movie and I certainly cant say anything smarter then what has already been said by many others. I just have to leave it at this being a pitch perfect movie with no flaws in my personal taste or opinion. This movie deserved its accolades, money and it deserves respect. I cant believe they made it and I am in awe that they made it so well.

If this is what the MCU can do in the future: exploring new possibilities, new vistas, and cultivating extremely skilled talent then the entire MCU has been a success and Disney has done a good job.

1- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This really is my favorite MCU film and assuredly one of my favorite movies period. I had low expectations going in and I came out wanting to see it again and again. I’ve seen it probably four or five times now which is a lot for me. I love the design, the story, the characterization, and the amazing work done on giving depth to Captain America.

The core concept of the movie: institutions and organizations can do great good but it is up to individuals to lead and work in them and they are who define these institutions is a great idea for a Captain America story. The idea that organizations that are rotting from abuse or misuse must be torn down is fascinating as a message.

The amazing friendship between Captain America and Black Widow was so wonderfully played. They had good banter and great moments together and humanized Black Widow tremendously. The introduction of Falcon was so well done in this movie (and I wish they would do a solo movie for him). The way Hydra was designed and operated was delightfully insidious. Also, the music was great.

On a meta level after the utter failures of Iron Man 2 and Thor the Dark World I was growing certain the MCU would becoming more mediocre over time and play it very safe with less then great movies that would still make money (and eventually wither away the MCU). Winter Soldier upended those assumptions. It played with the concept of the MCU and grew the world even while removing a major organization. It played with genre (making a roadmap that other MCU movies would follow) making itself a superhero movie with spy thriller elements. The story was so interesting and solid and tense I was in awe. I loved every moment of this movie. For me it proved Disney was willing to try some different things. It also proved the MCU could be bigger then the first few films and smarter. I also just really loved it.

So there it is my overlong huge list of the movies and tv shows of the MCU. Have I put too much work into this? Yes obviously? Over thought it a lot? Oh, assuredly but that is half the fun for me. Am I looking forward to what they do next? Yes. Its been a fun ride and generally the MCU has produced and created a lot of really entertaining films and tv shows and introduced a lot of solid characters. It has also improved over time with new and interesting innovations on several movies. The MCU franchise has worked because legitimate effort has been put into it and care of composition. Disney for all its many faults does not these days seem very interested in shoddy workmanship. Perhaps that is the best way one can utterly shake up and change the media landscape.

Can’t wait to see what’s next!

And here is a different list that I thought was solid and inspired me to do the wider MCU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF6-DmArg5g