Superheroes have long inspired the minds of people across the world for many years.
Much of their success can be credited to early comic book runs, followed by the Spiderman fills starring Tobey Maguire.
Things took a huge turn in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr.
This new Marvel Cinematic Universe opened the door to movies inter-linking with each other, featuring cameos and team-ups.
13 years later, we’ve seen 25 different movies released for the MCU.
They’ve accrued over $23,000,000,000 in revenue, by far the highest-grossing franchise in entertainment history!
I’m personally a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Captain America being my favorite hero 🙂
Having watched every movie multiple times, I feel it’s time for me to do a top 10 list on them.
These rankings will of course be determined by my personal views, as well as their critic ratings and box office performances.
Severely under-rated as a movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a light-hearted movie full of grounded fun.
Released straight after Avengers: Infinity War, it was a great palette cleanser with plenty of heart and action.
Our insight into the Quantum Realm leaves many questions open to be answered in future movies too!
All Avengers movies are amazing in their own right, seeing our favorite heroes team up to tackle world-ending foes is awesome.
This installment saw a comic favorite villain in the form of Ultron, a lot of people think he’s still out there.
Several new heroes were introduced, like Vision & Scarlet Witch, who are among those spearheading the charge of the MCU’s phase 4.
Far From Home was the first movie released after Avengers: Endgame and it gave us a good insight into how life returned after the 2nd snap.
It also introduced one of the best villains we’ve seen so far in Mysterio.
Peter Parker must fully embrace his Spider-Man persona to overcome this foe.
And finally we see his identity revealed to the rest of society, something we’ve never seen in a Spider-Man film before.
Judging from the No Way Home trailer, this film will have a huge effect on the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
2012’s Avengers was the 6th installment in the Marvel franchise and the first movie to pass a billion dollars.
We’ve seen so many team-up movies perform badly on the big screen, it’s so difficult to give each character enough screen time.
This movie was great though, it still holds up today, almost 10 years later.
Loki becoming a huge fan favorite too, with an alternate version spawning the Loki TV series (another great piece of Marvel content).
Featuring some of the best fight scenes in Marvel history as well as a compelling plot.
The implosion of S.H.I.E.L.D, and it’s hierarchy, still have an effect on the Marvel world today.
Without S.H.I.E.L.D, Earth is heavily vulnerable to world governments, terrorists, and alien invaders.
Cap taking out a jet is still one of my favorite scenes of all time, he literally takes it out in hand to hand combat!
Every Guardians installment has introduced the cosmic side of Marvel storytelling with brilliant finesse.
Blockbuster action sequences are some of the main features of this movie, with plenty of emotional moments to tug your heart strings too.
The Guardians themselves have received some great character development across their first 2 movies and that continues here. Really can’t wait for Guardians 3!
As an overall homage to the 21 movies that came before it, Avengers: Endgame was a satisfying ending to the Infinity Saga.
The cast list is huge, with dozens of actors returning to their previous roles for cameos or short appearances.
Ending with a climactic battle to seal the fate of many of our favorite heroes, as well as one of the greatest villains of all time, is the icing on the cake.
Questions remain over what happened between Hulk & Banner but I hope that gets addressed in the upcoming She-Hulk series.
3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Release Date: 2021
Villain: Xu Wenwu
Box Office: $386,900,000
I didn’t expect much when I went into theaters to watch Shang-Chi, it’s just an origin story after all.
The movie surprised me so much, the cast is perfect and it isn’t just a typical martial arts film.
Shang-Chi has been set up to be a defining hero going forward, wielding the powerful ten rings.
There’s plenty of mythology to draw upon if he needs more added to his character in future installments, and his sister now running the Ten Rings faction could have a big effect on the rest of the MCU.
In terms of raw emotional power, no other Marvel movie comes close to Avengers: Infinity War.
The film barely gives you time to breathe as you’re thrown into constant fight scenes that have real stakes.
Many superhero movies have the hero winning almost every time, with the odd small loss here and there.
Infinity War’s constant barrage of emotional weight, as well as the ending’s impact on the entire Marvel Universe, is unmatched in terms of storytelling.
Dr. Strange vs Thanos with 4 Infinity Stones is still an incredible fight scene between 2 of the strongest characters we’ve seen on-screen in the MCU.
1. Thor: Ragnarok
Release Date: 2017
Villain: Hela
Box Office: $853,977,126
Thor Ragnarok is everything a superhero movie should be.
Taking plenty of inspiration from the comics, it dives into Norse mythology while adding substance and humor rarely seen in movies with such serious undertones.
You could describe it as a sort of comedy movie, which is weird since it has scenes of forced slavery & plenty of deaths.
That being said, overall it is just a fun superhero movie that tugs on the heartstrings just the right amount.
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