Marvel Cinematic Universe Update

Almost five years (and 13 more films) after I last ranked the MCU I figured it was time to take another look at things. If I were to wait another month I could include Endgame in the mix, but who wants to wait. I notice over time that I tend to like the Marvel movies more soon after they come out, and my opinion tends to soften a bit over time, so “Captain Marvel” might drop a bit in the future.

And, since the MCU is more a franchise of franchises, here is the ranking of the sub-sets so far:

1.1 Guardians
(2 films, a third planned)
     These films have taken the MCU to another level.  They are the true heirs to the Star Wars space opera genre.

1.2 Doctor Strange
(1 film another planned)
     This film has a spiritual dimension in its message, and I hope they do more.

2.1 Captain America
(a trilogy)
     The heart of the Avengers is in its leader, and this trilogy elevates the Avengers movies.

2.2 Avengers
(a quadrilogy)
     What these films did was unite the various hero franchises into a super franchise.  This is something that cinema had really never seen before.

3.1 Captain Marvel 
     I really liked the parallels between Danvers and Rogers that some saw as a retread and a detriment.  I think we will need this quality if they are going to let Captain America die, or at least leave the series.

3.2 Antman
(two films)
     These may be mostly comic relief, but the MCU benefits in having a straight-up comic series.

3.3 Black Panther
(1 film another planned)
     This series has great potential to be a more fanciful, James Bond-like, action series.

4.1 Iron Man
(the trilogy that got the MCU rolling)
      As a trilogy, it went downhill with each instalment.

4.2 Thor
(a trilogy)
     This trilogy, unlike Iron Man, got better with each installment.  The early two were the baby-steps into the space opera aspects of the MCU.

4.3 Spiderman
(2 films so far)
     I am not a huge fan of the character.

5 Hulk
(1 film)
     Defunct as a stand-alone character series, the character got a buddy-action story with Thor in that trilogy instead.

And as for the movies: 

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 

2. Doctor Strange (2016) 

3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017) 

4. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 

5. The Avengers (2012) 

6. Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) 

7. Captain Marvel (2019) 

8. Captain America: Civil War (2016) 

9. Black Panther (2018) 

10. Thor: Ragnarok (2017) 

11. Iron Man (2008) 

12. Antman (2015) 

13. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 

14. Antman and the Wasp (2018) 

15. Avengers: The Age of Ultron (2015) 

16. Iron Man 3 (2013) 

17. Thor: The Dark World (2013) 

18. Spiderman: Homecoming (2017) 

19. Iron Man 2 (2010) 

20. Thor (2011) 

21. Incredible Hulk (2008)