The best Marvel movies - Marvel Cinematic Universe ranked

Arguably the best of the impressive trio of Captain America films, what sets this aside is the push towards an undercurrent of political thriller. Plus, it marked the film where the Russo brothers brought their directorial talents to the MCU, landing the job in part after their work on superbly staged episodes of the comedy show Community. Their love of cinema shines right through, too, from exquisitely staged elevator fight moments, to the tips of the hat to the likes of Heat.

Prepare for tears, laughs and the inability to get out of your seat for a solid three hours. Endgame is the final movie in the Avengers series. And it finishes off the $5-billion-plus epic better than we could have hoped. It’s a direct continuation of the Infinity War storyline. And if you’ve seen that film, there’s little of chance of forgetting that ending. Sheesh. The film broke all pre-sales records, and raked-in $2 billion faster than any to date. And, yes, we're talking numbers to avoid spoilers.

What’s particularly impressive about the world-conquering Avengers: Infinity War is the sheer number of characters it juggles, with a narrative that still finds each of them something of note to do. No shortage of Post-It notes were presumably involved in the writing. Remarkably, it barely sags, too, and the interactions between Thor and Rocket are crying out for a spin-off movie of their own…

Hindsight is easy, of course, but in the run up to Guardians Of The Galaxy’s release, the internet was awash with thinkpieces suggesting this would be the movie where the MCU came a cropper. Pah. Under the stewardship of writer-director James Gunn (since fired from the franchise and now working on the next Suicide Squad), the MCU expanded properly into the cosmos, with wise-cracking, anarchy and a talking tree. No small achievement.

Thor: Ragnarok is a solid contender for the “funniest Marvel movie” gong. And we tend to thank director Taika Waititi for that. Before Marvel snapped him up, Waititi was known for quirky comedies like Eagle vs Shark and the wonderful Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He brings the wit of those films to one with a considerably larger budget. You also get to see Hulk and Thor go head-to-head in Ragnarok.

It’s easy to forget just what a huge gamble the original Iron Man movie was. Director Jon Favreau, who at that stage had Zathura and Swingers to his name, had to fight to cast Robert Downey Jr in the title role. Downey Jr at that stage was more known for on-screen problems than on-screen charm. But zoiks, did it hit big. Note too that it was Paramount Pictures, rather than Disney, that took the gamble on distributing it.

The moment where the rest of the world really took notice. In the same summer that The Dark Knight Rises hit big, Marvel hit bigger with its astonishingly accomplished, carefully built coming-together of its heroes. The biggest compliment to just what Marvel accomplished is how many people rushed to copy it, and failed. The inevitable high-profile example is Warner Bros’ Justice League film. Yet everyone who rushed to make a cinematic universe subsequently failed to appreciate the hard story work that led to this one.

Watching Civil War back and it's amazing how 'small' the film feels now - and that's not a criticism. The plot is huge: The Avengers are split after the events of Age of Ultron. There are those who back Tony Stark's decision to sign up to the Hero Registration Act as he reckons superheroes need to be kept in check. Then there are those who are with Captain America who doesn't trust the government and would rather save the world without its help. We were promised battles between the heroes and you get them - but they take place in car parks and airports. It's all a far cry from the colour and space of Endgame. But this makes it more personal - we all think we want to see Iron Man fight Captain America but what will the consequences be? The film does a decent job of rounding up all the new Avengers that popped up in Ultron, as well as showcasing Black Panther and Spider-Man for the first time.

Marvel is now well into its groove of hiring interesting, not always obvious directors to helm its films, and giving them some space to do what they do. In the case of director Ryan Coogler (who at the stage he got the job had just two films to his name), what he does is make arguably the most acclaimed Marvel movie to date, and less arguably, the first to earn a Best Picture Academy Award nomination.

What’s interesting about Spider-Man’s first full movie in the MCU is not only that a) it happened, but also b) this is the first film in the franchise that’s from the perspective of a character who’s seen the Marvel heroes grow up around him. Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker is a delight too, in a film that regularly tips its hat to 80s teen movies, but also serves as one the MCU’s lightest, most breezily entertaining movies. A shame Iron Man dominated the poster, though.

Doctor Strange was the breath of fresh air the MCU needed. Dipped in mysticism and the more ethereal aspects of the Avengers world. it is a gateway drug to the possibilities of the multiverse, which is essential for Endgame to work. The two Benedicts are great: Cumberbatch as Strange and Wong as, well, Wong. Rachel McAdams is underused, though, and the casting of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One doesn't feel right, even if Marvel has said that her origin is meant to be Celtic. All of it is held together masterfully by director Scott Derrickson's horror-tinged eye. While he will be sorely missed for the sequel, we can't wait to see what Sam Raimi does.

Officially the first movie in the Marvel Universe timeline, there was no better director than Joe Johnston to take on the origin tale of America's ass. His old-school filmmaking style suits the gung-ho World War setting. While Chris Evans is brilliant as the weedy soldier that becomes a super soldier, it's clear he's still finding his feet in the role, but he has the charisma to pull it off. The screenplay is written by the same folks that saw the MCU to its (current) end with Endgame - so it's lovely to see how the narrative threads they have put in place in the first movie weave into the bigger picture all those years later.

Well, that was Marvel-ous. Spider-Man: Now Way Home is a culmination of over 20 years of Spider-Man movies, conjuring up a magical story that sees Pater Parker enlisting Doctor Strange to try and get the world to forget that he is actually Spider-Man. What ensues is a cacophony of cameos and a superb, life-afirming superhero story.

Yes, it's MCU lite (which make Ant-Man being critical to the Endgame story even more hilarious) but this is just a fan movie. Paul Rudd is perfect casting as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, as is Michael Douglas who chews up the scenery in every shot he is in. The miniature effects are superb and no other MCU movie can boast having a Thomas The Tank Engine cameo. Its sequel was a bit of a dud but we'd happily watch this one again and again.

Not another origin story?! That was our first thought when Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings was announced but this really is a special Marvel movie. The first to kick off Phase 4 proper (Black Widow being a prequel doesn't really count), Shang-Chi is a brilliant mix of martial arts and superheroes. The best compliment we can give is that it doesn't feel like a Marvel movie until about two thirds in - the formula is fresh with this one.

If you like the bait and switch of Iron Man 3 then you are going to love Spider-Man: Far From Home. Jake Gyllenhaal is brilliant as the mysterious Mysterio who turns up to help Spider-Man when things go awry on his oversees school trip. What ensues is a movie that is playful, with the audience never quite sure where it's going to go. While No Way Home has the big cheers, this one will have you grinning from ear to ear throughout.

Wakanda Forever couldn't have come any sooner. After the lacklustre Eternals and Thor: For Love And Thunder, the second Black Panther movie was a thoughtful, heartbreaking box-office success that also brought with it critical acclaim. The loss of T'Challa (who was played by the late, great Chadwick Boseman) is felt throughout, with the main plot being about the death of Wakanda's king. Aside from this there's plenty of action, thanks to the new antagonist on board, Namor.

Black Widow was meant to be the movie that kickstarted Phase 4 of Marvel's plans. Instead, it was delayed because of Covid-19. It was worth the wait, though. The movie is a great look at Black Widow's past, while also showing us just what happened between Civil War and Infinity War. Let's just say that Natasha Romanoff wasn't napping.

The three Thor films are each quite different beasts, but in hindsight, the first movie was one of the hardest Marvel films to launch. This, more than those than went immediately before it, brought a different world and different elements to the universe. In the ends of director Kenneth Branagh, an inevitably-somewhat-Shakespearean tale of two brothers turned out to be a masterstroke. Plus, Thor brought with him a rich seam of humour that the direct sequels had a lot of fun with

Comfortably one of the most divisive films in the MCU, Iron Man 3 – going light on spoilers here – has a shift in its story that’s really daring and risky. Does it work? Depends where you fall on the line, but at a time when comic book superhero movies were falling into a formula, Iron Man 3 was willing to take an enormous gamble. As with many Marvel films too, the score is quite something too.

It’s far from a perfect movie, but there’s no quarrel at all with the lead performance of Brie Larson in the title role here, nor the tale of female friendship underpinning Captain Marvel. It’s still bewildering it took more than 20 movies before Marvel had a female headline lead, let alone a female director (Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins was fired from Thor: The Dark World!). The de-ageing technology used on Samuel L Jackson’s face, meanwhile, is both utterly convincing, and a little bit terrifying.