The B tier Marvel movies are a solid place to be. You really can’t go wrong here. I believe that Marvel movies in general are so strong overall that even their B-tier (maybe even some of their C tiers) are capable of turning non-believers into full on true-believer Marvelites. The B tier represents work that is definitely better than average. Some elements may even be exceptional, unique, or particularly strong in ways that the C tier can’t quite reach. These movies do have some pitfalls and generic elements, but all in all, we’re finally at the spot in the list where everything going forward are worth your time. I would wager that some of these movies or shows here are playing on repeat on some households at some point in time. Like the other lists, some of these films are yesterdays shining examples of perfection but by todays standards has dropped a peg or two. Legacy and influence are beginning to be felt in some capacity more than ever, whether that’s from the influence of a different film or the direct influence it will have on future projects. Above average is where the fun is to be had; we have things to discuss and sift through, to differentiate themselves and debate merits. They’re not masterpieces but they sure are far from bad. I know a few of these will surprise you, but like iv said before, this isn’t a subjective list (though my own personal tastes do reflect much of the list, but that’s not what I am here to do). We don’t come across bland or flavorless, but we don’t quite reach the highs of some of the flat out exceptional movies that Marvel has produced. Withought further ado, lets begin.
45) Iron Man 3 (2013) Directed by Shane Black Starring Robert Downey Jr.
To say that the anticipation for Iron Man 3 was high at the time is an understatement. Boldly, Marvel followed up their hugely successful Avengers team-up film with the final chapter of their top guy: the final film in the Iron Man trilogy. After the success of the Avengers crossing a hugely impressive 1-billion dollars at the box office, Iron Man 3 needed to show that the story was in fact continuing off where the Avengers left off; I remember anticipating this aspect more than anything because of how fresh, unexpected, exciting and unique the prospect was of continuing an overarching narrative across a franchise of films. Financially and commercially, it became Marvels second film to cross a billion dollars at the box office, solidifying Marvel as brand that would be here to stay for the long run. Creatively, the final product didn’t quite deliver on that premise as much as most people were assuming. I theorize that is part of its downfall, but the movie is far better than most think it is. As far as Iron Man solo outings go it’s certainly a close second out of the three. It was a substantial improvement over its predecessor. We all cautiously hoped it would be great considering Marvel tapped its biggest director yet in Shane Black (of Die Hard fame) to do the final movie in the trilogy. Black’s DNA is all over the film, and that’s certainly a huge plus (notably, the movie is technically a low-key Christmas movie, a Shane Black trademark), giving this movie a unique little spot in the MCU. The direction is top notch as it’s the entirety of it’s cast (yes, including Ben Kingsley) but that’s not a surprise at this point for the MCU. Tony and Happy are as fantastically quippy as always, with the former retaining a magnetism with his portrayal that’s as captivating as ever. If Marvel had a motto during phase 2 it would surely be something along the lines of, “heroes lose their powers but prove they’re still the hero at heart” that feels like it was planed from the get go (Tony looses his armor and saves the day with make shift gear). This may sound generic to you, and it is a bit, which weighs down phase 2 somewhat from being exceptional over-all, but we should learn to allow the MCU to grow (cough cough, phase four, cough cough). It may be a tried trope but it’s an essential one for superheroes. Iron Man 3 literally plays right into this concept by taking Tony out of the armor and back to square one. He was metaphorically back in the cave again, a fascinating place to be after successfully saving the world from an Alien invasion. The problem isn’t in the set-up, or the ideas, or the character arcs. What weighs this movie down a bit is that some of the pay-offs don’t quite hit in the end. The Mandarin was set-up to be a true arch nemesis for Iron Man just like in the comics, only for it to be revealed that he was a fake. The result was another generic human with generic powers as the real villain, making this ultimately feel a little bit of a retread of Iron Man 2. It’s worth noting that this is the first MCU film to take a direct inspiration from a particular comic. That comic is Warren Ellis’s Extremis, a top selling Iron Man story that is fairly stand alone and famous for heavily updating the technology in Iron Mans armor for the foreseeable future. As usual, the comic does that particular story better, but the movie still is a captivating and exciting Tony Stark adventure that borrowed quite a few elements from said comic. To say that some of the payoff’s were underwhelming is certainly an earned criticism on multiple occasions throughout the film, so I can’t place it much higher than here. All in all, Iron Man 3 was fun and remains great on rewatch (especially Tony’s child sidekick that keeps up impeccably with an acting legend such as Downey Jr.). I understand why Marvel needed to figure something out with the Mandarin (the character is arguably one of the most racist characters in the entire comics history), so my suggestion would have been to avoid the character altogether instead of making something a worse disservice altogether. To be fair, this movie has aged better than other movies thanks to the many appearances of Kingsley’s hilarious Trevor Slatery (don’t forget the “All Hail the King” short! He’s excellent there also) and the Mandarin getting a massive upgrade eventually. That aside, the movie is much better than the flack it receives mostly due to the entertaining nature of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. At one point I would have considered this a movie that could be passed when binging the MCU but now that some developments have occurred this film is certainly a must see.
44) X-men: First Class (2011) Directed by Mathew Vaughn, Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon and Nicholas Holt
At the time of release, this was hands down the second best X-men film of all time (the first went to X2). The decision to make a new X-men franchise set in the past as period films was unquestionably risky but in hindsight is a pretty cool concept for the Mutants. Say what you want about the plot holes across the movie timeline because they get a pass for doing (arguably) this shared universe thing before the MCU had it much more figured out. The direction and tone is a huge step up from X1, Origins and the Last Stand. McAvoy and Fassbender are clearly the standouts who BOTH make fantastic additions to the movies as pitch perfect versions of their older selves. The movie starts Magneto on a great character arc that adds a whole lot of complexity to an already complex character. Fassbender and McAvoy slip into their roles of Magneto and Xavier so confidently that it’s like they played those characters numerous times before. The origins of the school are fitting and serviceable, taking up a chunk of the film, rightfully. With lots of call backs to the original trilogy, set ups and a fantastic selection of mutants, there isn’t a whole lot to hate here. While a few of the characters are short changed, pacing isn’t perfect, and Beast could have been better in general, over-all this is a solid example of what an X-men movie should be. While we will certainly get better from here, this movie has the legacy of being the film that reinvigorated the franchise for another 10 years. No small feat! The action in CGI has aged a bit but it’s forgivable since the movie is so solid on its own. It certainly has its minor flaws but all in all this movie deservedly resides as a B tier Marvel movie, offering plenty of re-watch value and charisma to keep you entertained.
43) Blade (1998) Directed by Steven Norington Starring Wesley Snipes
Many people in the know site Blade as the true spiritual beginnings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if it predates the formation of the Infinity Saga by about 10 years. Oddly enough, people still think Raimi’s Spider-man is the MCU spiritual beginning and forget about this film’s importance in history. In just a few years this movie will be 30 years old, making it the oldest movie by far this high up. It’s an understatement to say that this movie pushed the bounds of superhero movies to a point that could eventually pave the way for the MCU. An R rated Marvel blockbuster staring an African American as a vampire hunter in true to comics fashion swept the world by storm in 1998, marking the worlds first truly successful Marvel film. And boy, was this one ahead of its time, because (aside from Blade 2 and Spider-man) we wouldn’t see this level of craft and care for some time. Snipes has long cited that what drew him to the project was how different it was compared to all the other superheroes. He originally wanted to be Black Panther or Luke Cage, understandably, but after being offered the role he couldn’t turn it away. And we’re all the luckier for it, because he delivered the world a fantastic blood soaked action spectacle with fantastic graphics and action movie moments that did its source material justice. Not only that, but we had a black actor right at the heart of it all, something that wasn’t really seen at all between both companies (DC and Marvel) on the big screen yet. The film was a box office success, one that comparatively by todays standards has been blown out of the water, but for the time was fantastic. It was good enough to spawn a franchise around the character, and inspire the development and confidence to produce movies based on both Spider-man and the X-men. Not only that, but the film ushered in a more adult crowd-now, Marvel superheroes were the fresh new exciting property that adults even looked forward to. It could be argued that if Wesley Snipes never donned the trench coat to begin with, then the road to the present wouldn’t be where we are today with Marvel being the behemoth of a brand that it is today. The legacy this film carries is undoubtably, the single greatest legacy of any Marvel property, which catapults up the list in its own right. Over time, now that it’s 25 years old, there are certainly some dated aspects that push it back, but it’s impressive how long it has been near the top anyway. If it makes you feel better, its (definitely better) sequel is even higher up the tier list still, which in my opinion is even more impressive considering its competition. Ultimately, the film does have some dated songs and dialogue, as well as dated action (lets not forget that said action was state of the art once upon a time), so it lacks compared to some other contemporaries. Blade’s story is definitely good with a slightly altered origin but does contain a villain worthy of the hero’s debut film. The sequel improves on almost everything this film does right but that doesn’t make this film any less watchable. Low B tier is still a great showing after all, especially for a 90s movie, so add this to your routine re-watches when in the mood for a bloody slice of history.
42) Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special (2022) Directed by James Gunn, Starring (mostly) Dave Batista, Pom Klementieff and Kevin Bacon
Without question, the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is the best trilogy Marvel has ever produced. The closest contender for very closely taking that spot is the Captain America trilogy (no, the Rami trilogy isn’t as good, nor is Hollands, but that doesn’t mean those trilogies are bad, so calm down). James Gunn has been very vocal over the years about the ways his Guardians of the Galaxy are mimicking Star Wars, some ways more overt than others. I LOVE the fact that Gunn took that comparison so far that he made the Guardians a cheesy holiday special for Disney Plus released right around Christmas time. What a treat this heartwarming tale was for Marvelites when it dropped, offering a cute tale about Drax and Mantis literally stealing the legendary hero Kevin Bacon for Peter as a Christmas present. The fact that Kevin Bacon agreed to be himself in this is a hoot and after-all, no one can be a better Kevin Bacon than Kevin Bacon. All in all, this is solid storytelling and engrossing from start to finish (even if its short) that is further proof that the “special” format may be a better fit for Marvel Disney plus than full on TV shows. My one gripe with the Holiday Special, that knocks it down some notches for me, is how carelessly they revealed that Peter and Mantis are brother and sister. Such a huge plot drop in an otherwise inconsequential adventure should have been left to the films. It felt like Gunn wanted to add the reveal of Peter and Mantis being biologically related as a way to make this “must see”, but stead It come off a bit awkward that we were just all of a sudden (literally) told that they are half-siblings (even if it makes perfect sense). Aside from that major exposition dump, the Holiday Special is solid emotional above average Marvel storytelling but just slightly too inconsequential for it to be hanging with the actual trilogy.
41) Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) Directed by Kari Skogland Starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan
Oof. The list is starting to get tough, with a lot of entries starting to become truly debatable and nitpicky for their rightful spots. Sam’s first starring role in an MCU project was actually, if you believe it or not, pretty hyped before this released. This was after all going to answer the question if Marvel could sustain the Captain America franchise without Chris Evans. Not only that, but after the highly experimentally and successful WandaVision, audiences were looking forward to this show as a sort of a pallet cleanser that would deliver a more stereotypical MCU romp. Fans were starving after the break Marvel took post-Endgame/early Covid outbreak and WandaVision, while great, wasn’t exactly your typical MCU entry. Yes, this is technically the second worst Disney plus series Marvel has produced, but it’s still got plenty to love. No, it’s not perfect, but those flaws are either going to really detract you or not, which is understandable, but all-in-all this show is still pretty dang solid. Our two leads are still embodying their characters just fine, with Sebastian Stan in particular offering a side of Bucky that truly added some three dimensionality that the character has sorely needed for some time. One thing about Anthony Mackie: I think he plays a fine Falcon, but he’s debatably miscast. Or at least, his charisma is underutilized in the role. Mackie is a guy who definitely has a charisma to him, a leading man charisma at that, so he can for sure pull off Captain America, but he is actually a pretty funny guy. It’s a missed opportunity to cast him somewhere where he would have more opportunity cracking jokes than in a role that’s played pretty strait laced. I digress though…Im still in the camp that Marvel should have promoted Bucky to Captain America first to mimic the comics, even if only temporarily for an episode or two, but Mackie does a great job stepping up in the end. His character arc in particular is about what you would expect; he struggles to accept the weight of carrying the shield as well as the role that it would provide the world. It’s a big decision, but it’s one Steve was confident in by choosing Sam. Those who know me well know that I am a big sucker for when superhero’s pass the torch and solidify legacy, a concept that is absolutely integral to true superhero storytelling. This show is unique in the pantheon in that it explores this very concept as its core themes. Intelligently, Marvel told this tale of legacy by pulling multiple aspects from one of Captain America’s most legendary comic book eras. Mark Gruenwald wrote Captain America’s longest and most influential comic arc of all time starting in the mid the 80s (and ending in the early-mid 90s!), where just about every character you have seen on screen plus many more were central to that decade of the Star Spangled Avengers mythos (Captain America New World Order seems to be continuing the idea of taking inspiration from Gruenwalds run by introducing audiences to Diamondback and the Serpent Society). Watt Russell’s John Walker AKA US Agent didn’t hit quite with fans, which is a shame, because I sincerely believe he is fantastic in the role. He was supposed to feel like knock-off Cap, that was actually precisely the point in his casting and role. I remember a lot of people talking about how much they thought he didn’t live up to Cap’s legacy and dropped the show out of frustration on episode 2. I hope most people did finish the show, because in all of Gruenwald Glory, Walker eventually has a true to character terrifying reveal (yet again, the comics portray him to be an even worse dude) that brilliantly contrasts with Sam’s ideals, and by extension, Steve Roger himself’s ideals. The real villains of the show, the terrprost group “Flag Smashers”, are based on a rather intentionally silly and always entertaining character from Gruenwald’s run named Flag Smasher who essentially caused terror by hilariously burning down flags. While I figured Marvel would never adapt that concept literally from the pages (his character was satirical in nature and played for giggles), part of me is a little bummed out that they didn’t try. Marvel truly missed some comedic satire opportunity if you ask me. Deep cut Marvel character Isaiah Bradley makes his MCU debut (more along the lines of a cameo) alongside his more well known Young Avenging son Eli (AKA the Patriot), with the former delivering some excellent lines simultaneously regarding racism and comic accurate Marvel lore. Baron Zemo is a fun addition later in the series by teaming up with our heroes (another brownie point achieved I am ALSO a sucker for some convincing hero+villain team ups) as is Ayo of the Dora Milaje. Sharon Carter has some twists that at the time people complained about being out of character, but I have a feeling those twists will intentionally play into Secret Invasion. So what prevents this story from being top tier? Unfortunately, the pacing is a little off at times. Yes the action is high quality, but man did some of the episodes slow to a halt. At times, the show got a bit TOO preachy about racism, especially in the finale, and it dwells on some of the least interesting subplots just a little too long. Ultimately, I feel this tv show would have been better suited as a movie, since there is a whole lot of uninteresting (flag smashers, racism) that could be cut in favor of focusing on the far more interesting (i.e. John Walker’s twisted Captain America caricature contrasted to Sam’s ideals). The show was ultimately a little uneven and sporadic, with episodes varying widely in quality. There are a solid 2 episodes that are pretty dang slow moving, but if you stick with it, you get rewarded in Wyatt Russell’s brilliant slow-burn downfall. I do have an issue with Sam essentially defending the terrorist group in the end in favor of a forced preachy politically unearned statement because I never really bought into the idea that they are misunderstood, but hey, his comic accurate costume was so amazing that I was too distracted to care. I would like to think Gruenwald posthumously would be proud of his characters getting the spot light, and honestly, so am I. Highly recommended if you love the Captain America side of Marvel, though I understand if this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so B minus feels appropriate here if you take into account its shortcomings.
40) She-Hulk (2022) Directed by Jessica Gao Starring Tatiana Maslany
I don’t think I have ever seen a Marvel property be so polarizing as this one. She-hulk reception was ALMOST as controversial as Batman v. Superman was, which is saying a whole lot. In my opinion, when things are so polarizing, that has to count for SOMETHING, and to be frank, I would rather something be polarizing than flat and flavorless, or flat out bad. General audiences didn’t take to this one kindly, and I understand why. There have already been more than a few MCU projects at this point that were tonally or experimentally different and unique for the MCU, but I would argue that this series is pridefully the most unique in the whole line-up. That isn’t a knock, it’s actually a compliment, due to a landscape of cookie-cutter MCU content at this point (again, that isn’t exactly a knock either). She-Hulk in all fairness gets a lot right with its lead character even if the origin was altered a bit to fit in better with the MCU. It seemed like a lot of people didn’t like the MCU getting its 4th wall broken so often, but that’s exactly what makes this show actually work pretty well. In the comics, She-Hulk was breaking the 4th wall to a comedic effect a whole decade before Deadpool was even created, so to those naysayers, I say that they are wrong to the point that it would be disappointing if She-Hulk didn’t break the 4th wall at all. The show brilliantly uses that delivery device as a way to push the satirical boundaries as much as it’s confidently able to do so. She-Hulk was an attempt on satire, with her lawyer job servicing as the framework in which that satire was supposed to work; the problem was, it didn’t quite lean into satire enough to be heralded as successful. Instead, we got a bit of a tonal smorgasbord, alternating between cameos, satire, comedy, and stereotypical MCU. Speaking of smorgasbord, by golly are there some cameos in this show. If I’m counting right, this show has more cameos than any other superhero content EVER CREATED. If deep cut Marvel Universe easter eggs are your thing, then this show is for you. Not every one of them hit, but let’s just say that I’m pretty stoked that characters like Mr. Immortal and the Porcupine are officially MCU canon (lets be real, when else are we ever going to be treated to D and F tier Marvel characters in live action?). Say what you will about them, I’m sure there are haters, but come on, does the Porcupine REALLY have a fan base? If you’re nitpicking a D list Marvel character who gets a scene or two of screen time then you really need to get a grip on yourself. It’s wicked cool the amount of deep cuts seen in this show. Speaking of cameos, the big one is a major talking point that needs to be addressed eventually so here it goes, and spoiler warning for those who don’t want major spoilers because its a big one: Charlie Cox’s Daredevil has a pretty dang big cameo. Some people are hating and saying that he wasn’t in character, but to those people, I say this: you are wrong. He was absolutely in character, EVEN considering the Netflix canon. Yes, he was smiling and wearing a never before seen in live action comic accurate first appearance suit (how appropriate, this being his technical first MCU appearance), but Cox by all accounts IS Daredevil through and through and he continues to be so here. He is in a different place than he was during the events of the Netflix show, and it shows to excellent effect. If you say that Daredevil needs to be dark brooding and gritty to be effective, then I challenge you to read any issue of the first half of Daredevil’s entire publication history (i.e. the Stan Lee run) in addition to the fairly recent and excellent Mark Waid run that portray Daredevil as more of your typical swashbuckling and adventuring superhero, smiling his way onto each and every page. But wait a minute, what does this have to do with She-Hulk? Well that’s a good point. I admit, not really much. The excessive cameos does take away from Jennifer’s heroism and screen time, but I feel like the next time we see her she will be more central and fully formed. The show was clearly designed to be a stepping stone of sorts since she hasn’t quite 100% embraced her alter ego anywhere near as confidently as she does in the pages (that’s a central concept to the character since forever so I did enjoy that she wasn’t flaunting it quite yet) but by the end she does come into her own quite a bit. Abomination comes back for the first time since his stand-out appearance in Edward Norton’s Incredible Hulk and does a great job here being a stand out also. All in all, the show doesn’t have enough to say about our lead character, which knocks it down a peg or two. No, not to the point that this is trash. It’s actually very solid work, it just leaves a little bit to be desired with its basic plot and no real stakes. Say what you will about twerking, I most likely agree with you, but hey that’s a post credit scene. You can skip it and ignoring just fine if you want and it clearly won’t affect any of your head canon at all. The show ends in what I consider to be one of the most brilliant ways in the whole MCU, by having her literally jump out of her Disney plus show and go to Marvel Studios headquarters to have a discussion with who is in charge. I won’t spoil it here, but let me tell you, the joke of who is in charge of the MCU behind the scenes made me laugh like no other joke in any Marvel movie on the entire tier list. So, I get it. This show isn’t for everyone. It might not get a sequel, which is fine, but I do hope Tatiana Maslaney sticks around somehow because she was pretty dang great as Jennifer Walters, and like it or not, She-Hulk is an essential Marvel Universe character in her little corner that she inhabits. Even though I could talk about this show all day, I won’t bore you anymore since I’m sure the chances are you didn’t like this show at all. Ultimately, even considering the negative reception, the show is solid with some minor flaws, so B tier it is. No, I’m not changing my mind to put it lower, it’s just fine where it is.
39) Amazing Spider-man 2 (2011) Marc Webb, Starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone
Im trying to keep my legacy Spider-man discussions low, because Im not even going to try to change minds or add to the internets unfathomable amounts of discussion regarding these movies, and frankly, my opinion isn’t too far off from the masses. I do think this is the best of Garfield, hands down, which is a shame because I think this movie was good enough that I would be interested in a sequel. Unfortunately, the movie didn’t quite sell well enough, leading to Andrew getting fired for the role and replaced by Tom Holland. Garfields sophomore effort was definitely a step up in the action, the CGI and especially the costume which became far more comic accurate instead of being its own thing like the predecessor. I do wish his suit had the dynamic eyes, but it was made before Deadpool figured out how to do that, so it gets a pass. Peter and Gwens relationship takes center stage as it attempts to adapt the famous Death of Gwen Stacy comic book arc, which is a legendary comic in a legendary run, so the chances of it being a complete success were slim to begin with. That said, Andrew and Emma’s chemistry is top notch and absolutely believable, and yes it did make me a grown man cry. The villains weren’t the best, though Jamie Fox’s Electro was certainly entertaining enough to be more than acceptable. Minimal complaints, good direction even though the script was average (except for the romance parts which knocked it out of the park), great quips and action make this a movie that is absolutely rewatchable, especially after No Way Home brilliantly and retroactively turned this movie into a must-watch for the callbacks to the death scene alone. I won’t debate the nitty and gritty of Andrew’s performance as Peter, because he is as much Peter as the other two if not more-so in some ways, but this movie is a solidly entertaining and rewtatchable albeit average Spider-man movie, making it B tier currency all day long.
38) Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Madness (2022) Directed by Sam Raimi starring Benedict Cumberbatch
I honestly don’t even know where to start with this movie. It’s not a bad movie at all. Actually, it’s a good one, contrary to what most of the internet would have you believe. It is a Sam Rami movie, after all, who is one of the grandfathers of the MCU thanks to his beloved Tobey McGuire Spider-man trilogy, and man does this movie reek of his touch in the best way possible. This movies biggest downfall is that it just couldn’t live up to the hype that Marvel had set up for it. Doctor Strange: MoM was reportedly going to feature an ensemble of legacy characters, hence the need to tap a legendary Marvel director such as Raimi to usher in those said characters from his era of storytelling to the MCU. The rumors and leaks were monumental, a level that only Endgame could compete with. Bizarrely, the movie we got, didn’t exactly deliver on that outside of a relatively short Patrick Stewart Professor X cameo. Rumor has it, that Marvel decided to overhaul the project and delay said legacy cameos until the still unreleased Secret Wars finale project after how successful Loki was on Disney plus. Marvel decided to go all in on the multiverse component but that meant taking out some of the big reveals and saving them for later. In retrospect, this was the right call, but it was sacrificing the Doctor Strange sequels financial and creative possibilities since this decision was made quite late in the game. With that said, and thoroughly accepted, the “madness” in the multiverse wasn’t quite as “mad” as we would have liked it to be. On the other hand, the movie is incredibly well shot with some trademark Sam Raimi techniques galore. Wanda’s character arc that began in WandaVision isn’t as satisfying as we wanted it to be either and I’m pretty sure that’s another side effect of them cutting back on the multiverse aspect of the film. The action is pretty great and the CGI is one of the better ones from this era of Marvel for sure. Ultimately, MoM doesn’t live up to its predecessor especially in its titular character. Strange’s character arc is not strong enough to truly elicit change and growth like it should, but thankfully Spider-man: No Way Home eventually does some extra heavy lifting in that department. The seemingly random inclusion of longtime Young Avenger America Chavez is simultaneously welcoming but jarring, a decision that was clearly made two-fold by Marvel as plot device and a way to include LGBTQ representation. Yes, she is a key Young Avenger, so it could easily be passed as another building block to their inevitable formation, but here I can’t help but feel her inclusion being forced in because they couldn’t figure out where to properly introduce her. Wong continues to be as lovable as always, and some of the Strange variants are a hoot. Kudos to the Raimi for giving us one of the more inventive battles I’v seen in the whole MCU with a magical musical battle using actual notes as weapons. At the end of the day, the plot is by the numbers and our protagonist doesn’t really grow much, while the cameos we did get were actually pretty cool in themselves (Captain Carter, Professor X, Black Bolt, and John Krazynski’s Reed Richards are all super fun). It’s hard to say that any film by Sam Raimi is bad though, and its certainly not, but the fact that it doesn’t quite live up to it’s namesake prevents it from being above average in many ways, but those ways that are, are certainly noteworthy and carry the film out of being completely average (i.e. Raimi’s expert direction and cinematography). Worth a look for any completionist as well as for Sam Raimi fans.
37) Jessica Jones (2015) Starring Krystan Ritter
If Jessica Jones second season wasn’t so painfully boring, this show would rank so much higher. Season’s one and three, and in particular season one, are among the best of the best that Marvel Netflix has to offer. Krysten Ritter embody’s the character to a T as that universe’s second most charismatic lead (after Cox of course). Ritter brings a three dimensionality to the character that only Daredevil himself can outdo bringing a performance that beautifully showcases the many struggles Jessica Jone’s deal with emotionally, physically and literally. Season 1 is an edge-of-your-seat slow burn exploration of PTSD surrounding mysogony in a way woke culture writing wishes it could be, especially with the captivating and downright creepy portrayal classic Marvel villain The Purple Man. Yes, the show suffers from the same problem literally every other Netflix show suffers from (overdrawn and long seasons, drab color palettes, etc.) but Jessica Jones over all may not be absolutely required viewing if your binging Daredevil. If you do skip it, since the plot isn’t really relevant to the over arching Defenders plot, you are really doing yourself a disservice from a dang entertaining show. Unfortunately, season 2 is such a huge downgrade from season 1 that it’s hard to rank this higher as an overall product. I was thinking about ranking the seasons separately but that was an amount of work I didn’t really want to put into this frankly. Definitely worth the watch, but don’t expect to be blown away by its action or cinematography either. The story and acting are all top notch Netflix while the rest weigh it down a bit, placing it firmly at the center of B tier. That should tell you how strong Ritter’s performance is, as is her character arc, when the rest is just average.
36) Wanda Vision (2021) Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany
Wanda Vision was the world’s first phase 4 MCU entry after the phase 3 Endgame epilogue Spider-Man: Far From Home. Marvel had taken a (short) hiatus once those two movies were out before continuing on. Unfortunately for Marvel, Covid-19 happened, and completely derailed their entire plans, causing the company to completely shuffle around its release dates. Wanda Vision was never meant to be the phase 4 lead, but it was the one they went with since the world was on hold and production was virtually complete. It was certainly a statement to start phase 4 with a project that was so experimental as this one was. When it comes to individuality and inspired storytelling coupled with imaginative cinematography, this one gets an A plus. The show was essentially a giant love letter to the history of sitcoms, with each episode paying homage to different eras in a variety of lovely ways. Soon after debut, the fans started theorizing and hyping the project due to the mysterious nature of the show. Unfortunately, by the end of the show, some of that mystery didn’t quite live up to the teases. In addition, the final episode eventually devolved the show into a standard MCU entry, in a way erasing the uniqueness that came before. On repeat viewings, that originality gets lost now that you’re aware of the tricks that are up its sleeve, and the show comes off a bit gimmicky for the sake of it. While the show does quite a bit of heavy lifting for Wanda’s character especially leaning her into her role from the comics, it comes off a bit lackluster in action. The show ultimately felt like a giant tease of what’s to come, and some of that tease got payed off in the disappointing-but-somehow-still-solid Multiverse of Madness. All in all, the show deserves to be in an above average tier because of the unique filming aspects that the show expertly employs, but other than that, it’s fairly average and disappointing. The incredibly first time viewing experience, as well as the acting, the directing, and cinematography are all working overtime keeping this floating in the B tier.
35) Doctor Strange (2016) Directed by Scott Derrickson Starring Benedict Cumberbatch
This part of the list marks the start of the B tiers that are borderline As. Doctor strange is ever so close to be a slam dunk, but not 100%. There are some glaring shortcomings, but all in all, Doctor Strange is a solid MCU magical adventure. Cumberbatch comes in playing the good doctor for the first time here after a couple name drops in previous projects, and the wait was mostly worth it. Doctor Strange has always been a tricky character in the comics to make interesting, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do. Rightfully, Scott Derrickson includes plenty of homage and callback to Doctor Strange’s incredibly important debut comic work by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. That early doctor strange run that contains the incredibly imaginative and ahead of its time artwork by legendary artist Steve Ditko went on to become such a huge inspiration for not only the comics medium but also just fictional storytelling as a whole. That artwork, to this day, is simultaneously BREATHTAKING as it is ingenious in its psychedelic representations of the multiverse, so the homage to said artwork that’s sporadicly present earns it major brownie points. Cumberbatch struggles to be charismatic, but that’s not a knock on him-he fantastic in the role. Doctor Strange is canonically a little dry, he’s a bit of a humorless arrogant ass hole, and boy does Benedict portray that to a tee. Wong is the obvious standout of the whole adventure, delivering some of the movies funniest lines and sequences. The magic is a little dull and mono form between all sorcerers, but also at the same time, it’s pretty cool some of the effects the movie came up with. Stranger character arc in this movie is by far the best arc the character has had in the MCU to date. His growth is accompanied by at least a few iconic MCU moments (just off the top of my head: astral dimension surgery, astral dimension studying, and time locking Dormamu into submission). The movie could have been A tier if it didn’t fumble one major aspect of the film: the ancient one. While I do love Tilda Swinton’s performance, it’s a little strange (no pun intended) that Marvel chose to turn one of Marvel’s most prestigious asian characters into a white woman, a decision that company still receives flack for to this day. I happen to be in agreement here and almost wish I didn’t know about it because then I could enjoy the film a little more than I unfortunately do. Lackluster villains also weigh the film down, despite there technically being three present, but all three are ultimately forgettable. We still don’t quite have the payoff we have been waiting for with Baron Mordo’s villainous turn that the movie set up in such an effective way, so that takes a bit of points off in my opinion (its essentially a dead end plot). The overarching story does justice to Strange’s origin but outside of that it’s pretty bare bones. All in all, it’s pretty good and watchable with some iffy parts, but also some great parts to it as well.
34) Deadpool 2 (2018) Directed by David Leitch Starring Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin
Story-wise (and originality wise) Deadpool 2 is a step down from its legendary predecessor. I will get into Deadpool in general far more when I cover that film eventually, as I feel that’s the appropriate spot to do so. As a sequel, it definitely ups the action and jokes and cinematography at the expense of the forgettable story. The first one is truly a memorable movie through and through, so it’s a bit disappointing that this one didn’t quite live up to the hype. That doesn’t necessarily make it bad, it’s far from it, actually. Deadpool is as funny as ever and kicking tons of ass in unique ways along the way. The plot seemed to be more interested in subverting your expectations and setting up gimmicks than it was telling a good story; if you accept this shortcoming, there is a whole lot to enjoy. Colossus continues to be awesome as does Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and the X-Force team (Brad Pitt cameo?! HA!) are a riot. Domino is decent, a little generic, but fortunately Josh Brolin kills it as Cable. Cable is a longtime Deadpool ally to the point that two of them have headlined a book TOGETHER (The Deadpool and Cable comic run is among both characters best work in Marvel history) so it’s both exciting and unsurprising that they went in this direction. Brolin is pitch perfect casting as Cable, Cyclops’s kinda-cyborg militaristic son from the future. The two play off each other almost as seamlessly as their comic counterparts do. Together they’re clearly endlessly entertaining, providing a balance the first film desperately needed. Unfortunately, the script being bare-bones and slightly generic drags it down a bit, but not too far. Still an enjoyable spectacle that’s worth your attention with high quality action and entertainment, just don’t think too hard about the plot holes. It’s Deadpool after all, so it gets a bit of a pass.
33) Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Directed by Joe Johnston Starring Chris Evans
The final three B tier films are all incredibly close. It’s a testament to how strong phase 1 was overall at the time. Personally, I really enjoy the First Avenger a lot more than the proceeding two films, but it’s hard for this to out rank those two due to how culturally important they were. Captain America as a property was arguably the hardest sell out of the initial four phase 1 solo heroes; Hulk was already known worldwide, Thor had some viking mythology recognition to help pull in broader audiences, and Iron Man is a walking military weapon. Captain America? He’s just a guy with a shield. Director Joe Johnston had probably the toughest job out of all the phase 1 one solo adventure directors by being tasked with bringing him to modern audiences. After all, Captain America as a character is so old that he pre-dates Marvel as the company we know it today by about 15 years. Marvel was originally a company named Timely Comics founded in 1939, which produced the first Captain America book in 1941. Ten whole years later, Timely re-brands itself as Atlas Comics, before eventually finally rebranding again as Marvel under the guidance of Stan Lee in the early 60s (where most people consider the true start of the Marvel Universe with Fantastic Four #1 1963). In reality, Captain America is about as classic as Batman and Superman are, where once upon a time, his books were all the rage especially for kids with fathers at war. Johnston chose to delve into Captain America as both a campy character AND a modern action hero, a line that under any other guidance would surely be ill crossed. Johnston beautifully manages to pay homage to Captain America’s classic roots by directing a WW2/romance period piece as a backdrop. The First Avenger was the arguably the first film in the MCU to have multiple genres-it’s success with this multi-genre storytelling is the root for projects such as She-Hulk, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Nowadays, Marvel seems to be preoccupied with recapturing some of the Joe Johnston magic by combining genres in interesting ways to varying degrees of success (I would argue that Johnston is still a contender for the reigning champ in that department). For better or worse, this film also expertly planted an incredible amount of seeds, easter eggs, teases and lore into the film that would only fuel the speculative fire of the fandom. This movie is the true heavy lifter of phase 1 doing the most work among all the projects in setting up a universe without majorly detracting from the film at all (something most modern projects haven’t been successful at, as evidence by the lack of world building despite the swaths of easter eggs lately). We had a whole phase worth of movies revolving around Hydra that would go on to partially inspire the storylines for the incredibly successful ABC Marvel shows (Agents of Shield and Agent Carter). True, The Avengers’s star Clark Craig’s death was the real inspiration for the show, but that’s not 100% where its roots are-for without Hydra, we have no Shield. With no Shield, we don’t have the glue that holds the initial Marvel Universe together to begin with. Here we not only get to see the origins of said organization but also their evil Hydra counterpart, in which the Captain America trilogy as a whole deals with extensively. As for the man himself, Chris Evans is immediately the next biggest phase 1 stand out after Robert Downey Jr. himself. Fans were skeptical that he could pull off Steve Rogers after playing polar-opposite John Storm, but man he sure did prove the world wrong. Evans literally embodies everything that makes Captain America who he is right from the get go, a casting choice so spot on that he would eventually gather the hearts of millions right up into his lap. Chris Evans brings an alpha-but-sensitive-good-guy mentality to the role that’s a must for Captain America; after all, his greatest power isn’t his physical strength or abilities to throw his shield far. No, it’s his sense of leadership, justice, dedication to the American way and trustworthiness. Evans is just pretty enough that we stand by him and cheer him on and trust every word that comes out of his mouth, just as Captain America should be. Johnston’s direction for Captain America solidified the base for Cap as one of the greatest action heroes of all time, even if he isn’t quite fully formed here. Fortunately, the basis for Captain America is so strong here that Cap’s character as a patriot and leader is challenged every step of the way going foreword on his MCU journey, resulting in arguably the most powerfully fully realized character arc Marvel has ever put to film. It’s evident on re-watch that he was great from day one, which is a testament to how much solid groundwork Johnston gave the character to stand on and build from. Marvel has yet to waste a Captain America appearance; Cap has never once appeared in a movie in service of another character’s arc, something that we can’t even say for Iron Man himself (looking at you Spider-man: Homecoming). Red Skull could have been campy in the wrong hands, but Johnston directs actor Hugo Weaving into walking the tightrope of comically weird and legitimately menacing in a way few others could match. Not to mention, at the center of this story is ALSO a romance that continued to be a resonate storyline throughout Captain America’s MCU arc. As far as first solo outings go, this among the best you can get for Marvel in general. No the movie isn’t perfect, it’s paced a little strange, but boy does this movie have some iconic moments that history won’t forget. I really want to rank this higher, but let’s just say, that’s how good things are about to get in general from here on out that this gem of a movie lands in the high B tier. While excellent, some of the action isn’t perfect, nor is the pacing, Cap is not for everyone quite yet, and historically it didn’t have the impact that its sequels had (even though it should). Captain America the First Avenger serves as an underrated high quality Marvel period piece that perfectly prologues Marvel’s The Avengers the following year.
32) The Avengers (2012) Directed by Joss Whedon Starring everyone you already know
I will never forget seeing this movie in my whole life. This movie was a HUGE contributor to the eventual progression into assigned seating in movie theaters. I’m old enough to remember the olden’ times where that wasn’t a thing and you had to wait in a line (gasp!) to buy a ticket, and then wait in ANOTHER line (double gasp!) to be let into your show time. When I was finally let into the theatre after waiting for 5 hours, I was forced to sit in the literal front row-I wasn’t backing out I couldn’t wait to see this immensely satisfying film. The lines were literally down the blocks and I had gotten there a whole 5 hours early to buy a ticket and wait in line (ya, I know, I was an amateur-people used to literally camp out). I do get nostalgic for these times, but all in all, I’m glad The Avengers broke the box office and caused so much chaos that now we reserve our seats ahead of time. This film is the MCU’s most important film in regards to solidifying the brand for the next eternity (Iron Man was more important for the formation than the continued success). Marvel’s initial slate was successful enough outside of the immensely successful Iron Man franchise that they decided to do the impossible and team them all up. Now that it’s 2023 (at the time of this writing), the film itself doesn’t have the wow factor it used to since they have pulled the team up trick more times than I can count now (and to a better effect). I still can’t stress enough how much this worked pretty dang well though. The plot isn’t great, which keep it B tier today, but that isn’t the point. The point of this was to make a wholly fun bananas event. It all could have collapsed here, but director Joss Whedon pulls it off so bombastically that the faults are incredibly forgivable. Marvel tapped mega-geek Joss Whedon to bring the project to life which was ultimately the right call (let’s not get started on his future work here) if not a risky one. After all, Whedon was best known for being the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv show as well as the writer of one of the X-men’s most well respected comic book arcs of all time. That comic writing history is nothing to scoff at, he demonstrated that he understood Marvel team-ups so much so that his run continues to this day to be considered one of the most accessibly fantastic X runs ever printed. To put it bluntly, Whedon was the right man at the right time for Marvel to usher in the age of the MCU as a pop culture phenomenon that is here to stay. The movie brought together our heroes (and villains) in blissful popcorn action style (and mostly everyone was given appropriate quality screen time to boot) that left all of us around the world eagerly waiting for me. Marvel’s grand experiment turned out to be an incredible success that were still riding off of to this very day. Unfortunately, it’s not quite A tier due to some things that haven’t aged well, like the CGI, Hawkey’s reduced mind-whipe role, and very little individual character progression. This isn’t a deep character study meat and potato dinner, this is the best birthday cake desert you have ever eaten. I remember I saw this film 3 times in theaters, marking the first time I watched something multiple times during its run. Once you have seen it enough times, the cake becomes a bit lacking in substance, but its cultural importance and edge of your seat action at the time made it as satisfying as you could possibly ask for. Mostly, its historical importance earns it’s spot high up on the B tier.
31) Iron Man (2008) Directed by Jon Favreau Starring Robert Downey Jr.
If you recall where the Marvel Universe legacy movies were at this point for the most part (if you don’t then check much further down the list), then you know they were in dire need of a shake-up. Marvel Comics went bankrupt in the 90s after they spent a whole lot of money on useless toys and marketing, hence why a good chunk of the legacy films are spread out through different studios (they had to sell their properties). Marvel had very few characters left to produce themselves since they got rid of everyone except for their LEAST popular super group, the Avengers. SO what do they do? They get the intern from the Spider-man movies (Kevin Feige) to do a low stakes movie about one of the C-listers. He ultimately chose Iron Man after his first choice Ant-man was proving to be setback after setback, and hired Jon Favreau to bring the project to life. Robert Downey Jr. was an easy nab at the time since he was still attempting to regrow a career from the bottom up after his drug crisis. It was absolutely fate, that both Downey Jr. and Marvel came together under such similar shared circumstances, because little did they know that the movie they produced was going to kickstart not only a franchise but a brand new era of cinema. Robert Downey Jr.’s role here is perfection, arguably his greatest portrayal of Tony Stark in the whole MCU. He almost so effortlessly embodies the playboy philanthropist billionaire you wonder if he’s actually acting at all or just being himself. Robert Downey Jr.’s incredible charisma mixed with the precise direction from Jon Favreau was the right mix to reinvigorate the superhero genre back into the fun it needed desperately to be (see Spider-man 3 and The Dark Knight turning heroes into dark and grittier than ever before). Iron Man tells a fantastically told and iconic origin of the greatest Avenger’s time in the cave being held prisoner by the ten rings. Tony’s time in the cave is excruciating but somehow Favreau manages to balance it with iconic cinematography and quippy one liners to bring a sense of levity to the heavy nature of those scenes. Gweneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts and Jeff Bridges’ Obediah Stane both make excellent and captivating screen partners for Downey Jr. Director Jon Favreau pulls double duty by both directing and playing Tony’s buddy Happy in a role that was so essential that he continues to be an active player in the MCU to this very day. Tony’s character, much like Cap’s, is among the MCU’s most well developed and complex, all thanks to these rock solid character defining beginnings. If you wonder why Iron Man is now a household name across the world, look no further to here to understand why. He may be a stubborn arrogant jackass, but man do we love him anyway. And we love to love him, because Downey imbues Tony with a deep down infectious sense of goodness, despite his flaws, that is unparalleled in all of superhero cinema. For a long time this was considered an S tier Marvel movie but some of our later phase 3’s (among others) have by default pushed this down a bit since. It is starting to show its date unfortunately and isn’t perfect by any means, but is absolutely the stand out phase 1 project. All in all, this is borderline A tier Marvel, and I did debate on if it should lead our A’s but I found this to be the slightly more appropriate spot. Like The Avengers, most of this film’s success and timelessness revolve around the cultural significance and it’s lead’s performance more than anything else.
I’m really excited to get to next time’s posting since that’s all about the A tier Marvel movies. Things are creeping up into the excellence categorically there so it’s getting pretty dang fun to write about. Hopefully my choices are starting to turn some heads at this point, as I’m sure I have covered a movie or two you either really hate or love that feel is mistreated. This list as written as objectively as possible, so keep that in mind, because my personal favorites don’t always reflect the tier list. It just is what it is. As always, let me know your thoughts, but until then this will have
to be continued…