A stultifying hodgepodge of Mythology 101 midterm answers, generically LOTR-ish battle scenes and Anthony Hopkins bellowing in his best Shakespearean baritone, this is a superhero movie that feels like it might have been made by anyone and no one. It’s simply space-filler before the next big team-up.
As much as we love Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man (and can even roll with Ang Lee’s psychodrama of a Hulk movie), the Marvel Cinematic Universe technically begins with 2008’s game-changing Iron Man, the film that kicked off a franchise with hugeness in mind. The MCU has firmly kicked back into gear, with Eternals making waves at the box-office and Shang-Chi and Legend of the Ten Rings giving the MCU a burst of martial arts style. But it hasn’t always been an easy road. Tempting the wrath of passionate viewers, we’ve ranked the 26 films to date – all of them blockbusters, but some more blockbustery than others. (There are at more ‘Phase Four’ Marvel action movies coming soon, so we retain the right to revise.)