The Marvel Cinematic Universe has dominated the blockbuster movie market for the past 15 years. While recent box office success and story quality of Marvel have been a hit-and-miss, it is still performing much better than many other major franchises.
Here are our picks for the top 7 movies.
The Avengers (2012)
Although five movies came before it, The Avengers from 2012 marked the official start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today. It was the first time the franchise has brought its principal characters together in a significant crossover film event, making it the year’s most anticipated movie premiere. There’s no doubting The Avengers’ influence, even as some of its flaws have started to become more obvious in the years following its premiere.
Guardian of the Galaxy (2014)
In terms of the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy from 2014 was a game changer. The franchise has only ever been Earth-based up until the release of Guardians, which introduced a full-fledged interstellar voyage including some of the most bizarre animals and aliens conceivable. While many predicted that the movie would be a massive swing and a miss for the MCU, it actually turned out to be one of the most beloved episodes in the series.
James Gunn’s film received a 92% acceptance rating from both reviewers and viewers (338 reviews total). Although neither of the previous Guardians movies made it onto this list, they were both huge box office successes and were regarded as the best in the series.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Perhaps no Marvel superhero has an on-screen legacy as extensive as Spider-Man. Spider-Man movies were being independently developed by Sony since the early 2000s, with varied degrees of success, but it wasn’t until the middle of the 2010s that the character was allowed to join the MCU’s fun.
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man made his screen debut in Captain America: Civil War in 2016, and his solo movie debut came in 2017 with Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Even though Spider-Man: Homecoming was fantastic, it couldn’t quite topple 2004’s Spider-Man 2, which Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi directed and is still widely regarded as the finest Spider-Man film. As it raises the stakes from the previous 2002 movie in terms of action and passion, Spider-Man 2 has a true charm to it. It became an immediate classic in the field of comic book movies.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
It is impossible to overestimate the degree of expectation and anticipation around the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in late 2021. The mere suggestion of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire joining Tom Holland’s Spider-Man managed to spark curiosity despite the fact that Sony and the movie’s stars refused to confirm it.
The fact that they ended up in the movie wasn’t the biggest surprise. Instead, the movie’s actually excellent storytelling and character development came as the most surprising aspect.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Since the beginning of the MCU, both Thor and the films in which he appeared have faced difficulties. But in 2017, Taika Waititi, the filmmaker, gave us a movie that completely reimagined the character. The public embraced the character’s new humorous and pulpy attitude.
Logan (2017)
Logan, released in 2017, is one of the few non-MCU films included on our list and unquestionably deserves to be ranked among the top superhero films of all time. The James Mangold-directed movie is a somber R-rated farewell to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. It’s one of the most sophisticated, well made, and cinematic superhero movies ever made, and it’s likely the finest film Fox has ever made with its Marvel characters.