Few film franchises match the critical acclaim, popularity, and financial success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Spanning over two dozen films, Disney’s MCU has been around for over 14 years, and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, with a total of seven films currently on the horizon, the MCU looks to be stronger than ever, continuing its tight monopoly on the superhero genre even as it continues its expansion onto Disney+.
From the first major crossover in the MCU to the series' earliest entries, here is every Phase One Marvel Movie, ranked from best to worst.
1. The Avengers
It’s not an exaggeration to say The Avengers was one of the biggest cinematic events in recent history, not to mention the most anticipated crossover event of all time.
After the Nordic trickster Loki (Tom Hiddlestone) gains possession of the all-powerful Tesseract and prepares to seize control of Earth, Nick Fury (Jackson) recruits the world’s mightiest heroes—Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)—to stop him.
Nothing before had ever come close to matching a project like The Avengers—a superhero film that saw heroes from not two, but four separate movies join forces in one massive film. A movie years in the making, The Avengers was complimented by its a star-studded cast and some of the most impressive use of CGI ever seen. The movie that drew Phase One of the MCU to a close, it was the film that captured the world’s attention, showing how much potential there was within the superhero genre.
It’s a feat in itself that the MCU continued well after the groundbreaking success of The Avengers, operating on the same high level established with the original Iron Man. Regardless, the movie remains an achievement in itself, culminating in the largest cinematic universes there is.
2. Iron Man
When most people think of the MCU, rarely do they remember how small it was in the beginning. Like all big things, though, the MCU had a very meager starting point, beginning with 2008’s Iron Man.
Tony Stark (Downey) is the brilliant yet cynical CEO of Stark Industries, a company deeply involved in the weapons manufacturing industry. Upon being captured and held prisoner by terrorists in the Middle East, Stark realizes his technology can be used for more than destruction alone, building his own mechanized armor suit and eventually becoming the superhero, Iron Man.
Still considered one of the best superhero movies within the MCU, Iron Man is a fun, thrilling character study showing a flawed individual’s growth from narcissism into noble heroism. Possessing very few weaknesses, the first Iron Man boasts a solid and engaging story, intelligent script, fantastic performances, and amazing visuals and special effects. What’s more, it also helped set the basic tone for every MCU movie that followed: namely a more light-hearted comedic tone compared to the darker atmosphere of DC films.
It’s the movie that spearheaded the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with the moment Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) first appeared onscreen in that mind-blowing post-credit scene, setting the stage not just for the first Avengers movie four years later, but dozens of superhero movies and TV shows that followed.
3. Thor
Most MCU fans tend to dismiss the first Thor movie for its admittedly dull plotl ine. However, its expansion and exploration of worlds beyond Earth and introduction of fan-favorite characters like Thor and Loki made an unexpected contribution to the MCU, serving as a major breath of fresh air for the more science fiction-heavy Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the Nordic god of thunder and the crown prince of Asgard, a mythological realm ruled by his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). When he reignites a war between Asgard and an ancient race of Frost Giants, Thor is stripped of his powers and sent to Earth, where he meets an astrophysicist (Natalie Portman) whom he slowly develops feelings towards.
Admittedly, the first Thor does have more than its fair share of flaws, with some critics feeling it was a movie more concerned with visual style over substance. The movie’s plot is fairly cut and dry, possessing none of the spy-thriller excitement of Captain America: The First Avenger or more introspective character development in the Iron Man movies (comparatively, Thor’s growth is far slower than Stark’s, taking place over several different MCU films, whereas Stark’s is contained almost entirely within Iron Man and Iron Man 2).
Still, the movie’s strengths triumph over its failure, notably in its characterization of Thor, his onscreen chemistry with Portman’s Jane, and the introduction of the fan-favorite character Loki (Tom Hiddlestone), who would grow to become the first major antagonist in the MCU, and the reason why the Avengers assemble in the first place.
4. Captain America: The First Avenger
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a frail young man who wants desperately to join the American military during the height of World War 2. Volunteering for an experimental super-soldier program, Rogers undergoes a miraculous physical transformation and becomes Captain America, a superhero aiding the U.S. war effort and combating the villainous, Axis-aligned Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).
Similar to how Thor expanded the Marvel cinematic universe by introducing new worlds other than Earth, Captain America likewise pushed the boundaries of the MCU into past decades, creating a greater sense of history and interconnectivity existing within the Marvel universe (such as as the appearance of a young Howard Stark, the Tesseract, and an early incarnation of S.H.I.E.LD.)
As fun as the movie’s portrayal of the 1940s is and as great as Evans’ Captain America is, the movie lacks the same level of character development that Tony Stark and Thor underwent previously. Initially, Stark and Thor appear as generally unlikable, cynical heroes who really only care for themselves, yet who eventually grow, change, and evolve into more mature men in the course of their movies.
Rogers, on the other hand, appears in the film as an already likable character. An underdog with a heart of gold, he may appear physically weak, but he makes it clear that he desperately wants to make a difference in the world by helping others. Because of this, his journey to super-soldier is merely a physical one, rather than the more engaging emotional growth that Stark and Thor experience in their solo films.
5. Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 may not appear to be as important as it is, but its production was critical to Marvel for several key reasons. First and most obviously, it was the first sequel in the MCU, following up the earlier, more warmly received Iron Man.
Secondly, it was the first movie released after the connections in MCU were starting to form. (Remember, just two years prior, Tony Stark had appeared in the post-credit scene of The Incredible Hulk, so fans were wondering how Marvel would build off of that in this film). And finally, it was the movie that continued to lay the groundwork for future MCU projects—namely, Thor, as shown in the movie’s post-credit scene.
Taking place almost immediately after the events of Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has officially revealed his superhero status to the world. Attempting to prevent his technology from falling into the wrong hands, Stark battles both a mysterious illness caused by his arc reactor, as well as a vengeful Russian physicist (Mickey Rourke) who creates his own modified version of the Iron Man suit.
Like every MCU film, Iron Man 2 may have been a major success at the box office, even earning an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects (a category all three Iron Man movies would earn nominations within), but most Marvel fans and movie critics saw it as being vastly inferior to the earlier Iron Man. A point of particular criticism the movie suffered was its generic villains, slow-moving plot, and failure to capitalize on Stark’s appearance in The Incredible Hulk. In essence, the only thing of merit it accomplishes it setting up future MCU films—Thor and The Avengers, most especially.
6. The Incredible Hulk
The MCU film most people tend to forget about, The Incredible Hulk did well under the circumstances—after all, it’s hard to make an interesting movie about a giant, monstrous being with limited communication skills—but easily ranks among the most bland superhero movies ever released by Marvel.
Edward Norton stars as Bruce Banner, a brilliant scientist who transforms into the colossal, destructive, perpetually ill-tempered creature known as the Hulk after a military experiment gone horribly wrong. Now on the run, Banner searches for a cure while being chased by the U.S. military, led by the relentless General Ross (William Hurt), who also happens to be the father of Banner’s girlfriend, Betty (Liv Tyler).
There’s no question that The Incredible Hulk was a massive improvement on the earlier, far more disappointing 2003 Hulk adaptation. Yet the resulting 2008 remake was far from excellent, suffering from a largely uneventful storyline and an underwhelming use of the movie’s talented cast (Norton, Hurt, Tyler, Tim Roth, and Tim Blake Nelson).
With the recasting of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner in The Avengers onwards, most people have almost completely forgotten about The Incredible Hulk, and with perhaps good reason—it doesn’t really have anything to do with the later MCU films, nor does it contain anything that stands out in terms of a memorable plot or story.
Still, it’s notable for being the second entry to the MCU, containing that epic post-credit scene where Ross meets with Tony Stark, who goes on to say that he’s “putting a team together.” Back in 2008, that scene was a huge deal, with few mainstream superhero films hinting at a potential high-budget crossover before. Little did we know at the time what Marvel had in store for us in the future.
