THE DEFINITIVE RANKING OF MARVEL SUPERHERO SAGAS
(INCLUDING ‘GUARDIANS 2’)
With 15 blockbuster movies and counting since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has created a cosmos of big stars, from the A-list Avengers to the outsiders of Guardians of the Galaxy. Just imagine a pop culture without these films: Iron Man wouldn’t be a household name like Batman or Superman, Ultron would just sound like a bathroom cleaner, and certainly nobody would know what the heck “I am Groot” is supposed to mean. So where does Guard
ians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (arriving in theaters Thursday night) fit into this (seemingly) never-ending superhero saga? USA TODAY’s Brian Truitt offers the definitive ranking of all the Marvel movies so far:
1 CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014) More political thriller than superhero blockbuster, Captain America’s (Chris Evans) second solo film — and the best Marvel jam of them all — taps into timely themes of privacy concerns, an enemy growing from within, and military might used in ethically questionable ways. Come for the timeliness, stay for Cap wrecking a bunch of guys in an elevator.
2 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014) Fantastic tunes, a strange cast of characters that inexplicably works, and a story where you’re hooked on a bunch of feelings, from the emotions of young Peter Quill crying over his dying mother to the hilarity of grown-up Peter (Chris Pratt) explaining Footloose to new pal Gamora (Zoe Saldana). We are Groot, indeed.
3 CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016) Personal and political stakes are at play as Cap (Evans) chooses his best friend (and brainwashed assassin) over Iron Man, blowing up the Avengers dynamic. Plus, the best superhero battle of them all and memorable intros for Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland).
4 THE AVENGERS (2012) Joss Whedon’s jam-packed ensemble completely lived up to its giant-sized expectations. While the heroes-batting-eachother trope is starting to get played out, the excitement is palpable and fanboy hearts melt when hammers and shield fly as Iron Man, Cap and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) meet.
5 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017) They had us at “Kurt Russell plays a living planet.” The gravy is everything else: adorable Baby Groot dancing in the middle of a space battle, Dave Bautista’s Drax being the buff, oddball voice of reason, and Michael Rooker’s space outlaw Yondu stealing the show.
6 CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) Marvel nailed the origin story of Steve Rogers (Evans), the little guy whose heart was bigger than his biceps until a super-soldier serum pumped him up. It offered a great World War II aesthetic, two-fisted adventure and a moral code that created an intriguing thread for his next two movies.
7 IRON MAN (2008) The beginning, the kickoff, the OG. A crew of Avengers was probably still a pipe dream for fans and most of Hollywood when Robert Downey Jr. first put on the Iron Man suit, but from the start, the signature swagger, attitude and swig of humility he gave Tony Stark set the tone for everything that was to come.
8 ANT- MAN (2015) The heist comedy with a super-shrinking dude was a bigger risk than Guardians of the Galaxy. Paul Rudd (right), Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly are great together, though, and Marvel gave us something we hadn’t seen: a hero who’s also an ex-con dad.
9 DOCTOR STRANGE (2016) Benedict Cumberbatch gets a fantastically weird and trippy introduction to the MCU as a sorcerer supreme who goes from rich jerk to humbled hero. It’s a magical version of Iron Man’s origin and some gags are overly goofy, yet the filmmaking wizardry and effects are second to none.
10 AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015) Bursting with a packed ensemble, it’s lacking the superteam mojo of the first Avengers — only when we see Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and his secret home life do we get that Whedon touch. Also: Bless James Spader’s heart for being the world’s snarkiest killer robot.
11 THOR (2011) Not Marvel’s greatest solo movie but certainly one that takes some admirable swings. A quasi-family drama that boots Thor from the realm of Asgard to Earth in fish-out-of-water fashion so he can be worthy of his mystical hammer Mjolnir.
12 THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013) Hemsworth’s thunder god has a sequel that’s a blender of familiar fantasy tropes as Thor and love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) have to deal with a dark elf with an Infinity Stone. Tom Hiddleston’s iconic trickster Loki is in fine form and the film’s highlight in every way.
13 IRON MAN 3 ( 2013) The results are only so-so as Stark tussles with PTSD, criminally underused antagonist Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and yawn-worthy villain Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). The threequel also prove that too many armored suits are a bad thing — even Gwyneth Paltrow gets one.
14 THE INCREDIBLE HULK ( 2008) Before ultimately being replaced in other movies by Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton starred as scientist Bruce Banner in this odd duck from the nascent MCU. This mostly forgettable affair exists to serve as a reminder that we still deserve a good solo Hulk film one day.
15 IRON MAN 2 (2010) Let’s accentuate the positive: The sequel gave us Scarlett Johansson’s sleek secret agent Black Widow and put Don Cheadle in the War Machine armor. Everything else was a scattershot mess with Stark taking on the wholly underwhelming villain Whiplash (Mickey Rourke).