So many Marvel films, so hard to rank my favorites! Instead of continually creating new posts when new Marvel Cinematic Universe films come out, I’ve decided to just keep this master list and update it.
However, I think this will actually be my final update to this list. Marvel is undoubtedly going to keep releasing new films for a long time to come, and at over 20 films and counting, this list is becoming a bit cumbersome to maintain. 😉
So, I’ve added “Captain Marvel,” “Endgame,” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” to close out 2019 and then I’m going to call it good. Maybe I’ll rank the post-Infinity War saga MCU films as a separate list at some point in the future.
1. Iron Man (2008)
“Guardians of the Galaxy” is literally *so close* to taking over my No. 1 spot, but the original “Iron Man” just can’t be beat. This is the movie that made Iron Man my favorite superhero and Robert Downey Jr. my favorite actor.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014)
3. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
This is the first shift in my top 5 ranking in a while, and I feel like seeing “Endgame” actually boosted my love for this movie, because of how it portrays Tony and Cap’s relationship, which is then resolved in such a satisfying way in “Endgame.”
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
5. Doctor Strange (2016)
Although it used to be No. 6, I had to bump “Doctor Strange” up a spot. I promise, this is not just because of my Benedict Cumberbatch obsession (though I was really happy to see him join the MCU). I loved seeing the colorful visuals and watching Marvel delve into trippy new dimensions. Every time I watch this movie, it’s just as fun and captivating.
6. Infinity War (2018)
It feels a little weird putting such an epic, game-changing movie at only No. 6 on this list, but I just love the films in my top 5 so much that at this point it’s going to be hard for a new one to break in. It was such a joy to see the Avengers and Guardians finally teaming up after all this time, and Thanos certainly lived up to the hype as a villain.
7. Endgame (2019)
“Endgame” is probably a better film than “Infinity War”…and yet it’s so long, and so emotionally heavy, that I probably won’t rewatch it as often as “Infinity War.” Still, a great ending to the MCU thus far.
8. Ant-Man (2015)
9. The Avengers (2012)
Poor original “The Avengers”! It just keeps inching down my list every time I revise it, but that’s really not because I like it any less. I just feel like Marvel keeps upping its game. Still, I’ll always have a soft spot for the movie that officially made me a full-fledged Marvel fangirl.
10. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
11. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
13. Iron Man 3 (2013)
14. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
I’ve seen this twice already, and I love it. Tom Holland is so darn charming as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and I can’t wait to watch him in more of these films.
15. Thor (2011)
***Note: I’m doing a little cutoff here, because No. 1-15 of this list are all Marvel films I really like, and the next batch are ones that I feel are more “okay.” Still fun movies, but not ones that I pull out to watch as often.***
16. Iron Man 2 (2010)
Am I giving this film a little bit of a free pass because it stars Iron Man, my favorite Avenger? (The answer is: yes.)
17. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
18. Captain Marvel (2019)
I loved the character of Captain Marvel (and also Goose the Cat!), and I can’t wait to see what role Carol Danvers will play in the next phase of the MCU. However, this film had some narrative issues that keep it from ranking higher.
19. Black Panther (2018)
This is definitely a ground-breaking movie, and I was super excited to see what an amazing success it was at the box office. Still, just as a matter of personal preference, I wished this movie had taken more of a serious tone, à la “Batman Begins.” Sometimes the pacing also felt a little off to me.
20. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
This movie was really funny and I had a blast watching it, but in the end it was unfortunately just a tad too funny to rank higher on my list. If it had handled the more emotional, serious moments with a little more gravity, this probably would land near the top.
21. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
22. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
23. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
I think objectively speaking, “Age of Ultron” isn’t the worst Marvel movie. However, I do have to confess that it has become my least favorite. I like it even less as time goes on. For a long time, it was the only MCU movie I didn’t own, simply due to the fact that I would choose to watch all the other films on the list before this one. Maybe it’s because the hype was too high or the film turned out differently than I thought it would. I still love you, Joss Whedon!
Box Office Buzz 
WOW!
Have no hesitation to put Age of Ultron in My Top 10, while it will b difficult for any of the Iron Man movies to get in there! Was watching th First Avenger just last night – such fun! But Cap’s other 2 outings wld b much higher!
Anyway, cos I enjoy your work so much, I’ve nominated u for the Mystery Blogger Award!
U can catch th details right here:
https://bradscribe.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/unveiled-the-mystery-blogger/
Cheers!
What I love about the MCU is that there are so many films of different styles; there’s something for everyone! 🙂 Thanks for the nomination–I’ll head on over to your blog!
Great List. I think I have my top three. Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, Winter Soldier. Then it gets murky. Guardians, Avengers & Civil War are all tied for fourth. Then Iron Man, Ant-man and the first Captain America all sharing seventh. After that I don’t know. The Thor movies are okay (Love Natalie and Kat loads), Iron Man 2 is okay (mostly because of Gwen and Robert’s chemistry). But Iron Man 3 and Ultron, although not as bad as they seemed after my first viewing, don’t even make my list. Can’t wait for Hulk, Thor and Doctor Strange team-up. That’s some real power right there. And crossing my fingers for Spiderman to be something different than the other five movies. Disney took over Star Wars, Star Trek and Marvel and they are making magic.
At first I wasn’t too excited for another Spider-Man reboot, but I loved his cameo in Civil War and now I’m on board. Like you, I hope they can bring us something different and fun. I’m really, really hoping we’ll get to see decent screen time of Hulk, Thor and Doctor Strange doing stuff together. I think that’ll be a lot of fun!
I will probably put civil war in number one and doctor strange will be on number six or seven I guess
My list of favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe movies is always shifting around, so many good ones! 😉 Guardians and Captain America: Winter Soldier are sooo close to taking over the top slot.
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Here’s my updated Marvel Cinematic Universe ranking, with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and “Thor: Ragnarok” added in. This is getting to be a long list, and increasingly harder to decide which are my top favorites! 😉
I love you’ve made a list of your rankings! Thor: Ragnarok was great. All the Cap movies are great. The Iron Man’s and the first Thor (I haven’t seen the second one yet) weren’t so hot in my opinion. Not awful! Just not my favorites. I also found Ant Man very funny!!
It’s getting hard to keep track of them all! 😉 What I love about these Marvel films is that there’s something for everyone, and it’s always fun to hear who everybody’s favorite Avenger is. Thanks for reading!
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Not a bad list. Ultron being dead last may need a little more explanation. I also don’t think Civil War is nearly top three material, but I know I’m kind of in the minority with that one. I just had trouble buying the animosity between the two leads to the point where they take it in the last fight.
Fair enough! I think the main reason I put Ultron last is that I would rather watch any other MCU movie than that one. I’m not even completely sure why. 😉 I think it was a case of, the trailer seemed to indicate it would be a darker, more challenging film, but the final product came across as mediocre, at least for me. It wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. I also was not a fan of how the Black Widow/Hulk relationship was handled, and I thought they could have done more with the ties between Tony and Ultron.