10. Marvel’s The Avengers
“The Avengers. That’s what we call ourselves; we’re sort of like a team. ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ type thing.”
This sh*t was the blueprint. You don’t know how many times I saw the first trailers and I was like “Please don’t suck… please don’t suck…” But Marvel came through and did not disappoint.
The Battle of New York hit all the feels. I mean, they even made Hawkeye somewhat cool, and he’s a dude who only shoots arrows! The moment Bruce Banner says, “That’s my secret, Cap… I’m always angry” and smacks that alien in the face, OH MY GAWD.
Revisiting this one never gets old and by the end you’re left wanting more of what Marvel has to offer.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
“You said it yourself, bitch. We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Raise your hand if you knew anything about the Guardians of the Galaxy before this movie… Not me, and I used to be a comic book nerd.
Wow did they hit it out the park with this one. The soundtrack was amazing and fit the tone of the movie. The Guardians did a great job of introducing a team of misfits without being cheesy and unnecessary like Suicide Squad.
I still laugh at all the jokes- especially when Drax gets all literal or the little quick adult jokes Quill will say. To this day I still bump the soundtrack in my Spotify.
8. Black Panther
“Wakanda Forever.”
That was the mantra everyday until Infinity War came out and with good reason. This movie made you want to visit, or hell- live in, Wakanda. The story of T-Challa’s ascension to the throne had it all with not at all the least a relatable villain in Killmonger. His motives were just, and so was his cousin’s. A Kendrick Lamar-commissioned soundtrack, a superb director, super awesome costume design.
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming
“Can’t you just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?”
It’s a reboot of a reboot, but this time in the creative hands of Marvel. Not to knock on Andrew Garfield or Tobey Maguire, but in my opinion, this is the best iteration of Spider-Man to date.
Tom Holland nails the youthful innocence of Peter Parker, trying to find his own way into being a superhero while still trying to be a kid. The Vulture is another relatable hero, screwed over by Tony Stark and goes into a life of crime to provide for his family. Michael Keaton goes from nice guy to downright scary as sh*t in his talk with Peter in that twist mid-film. Iron Man is a part of the adventure just to throw him into the MCU but doesn’t steal the show away from the main attraction, and that’s Peter Parker’s story. The fact the conflict is localized and not some end-of-the-world situation really brings the hero back home after dealing with alien invasions and apocalyptic robots, making this a real “homecoming”.
6. Doctor Strange
“Surrender, Stephen.”
Out of my MCU top tens this might be the weakest story. A cocky but super skilled doctor with a photographic memory crashes his car because he checks his phone while driving and he has to learn a valuable lesson about being selfish and care about things other than himself while learning magic from monks.
But this movie is so well-made that I’m able to look past all that. The crazy visual effects really make you believe that magic can exist in this universe. Navigating the different astral planes is such a cool experience that seeing this movie in 3D is a must.
5. Thor: Ragnarok
“So much has happened since I last saw you! I lost my hammer, like yesterday, so that’s still fresh. Then I went on a journey of self-discovery. Then I met you.”
If you’ve been reading along my reviews you already know by now I thought the other two Thor movies were whatever. The third Thor “solo” outing, on the other hand, is super fun.
The funniest movie in the MCU hands down. Thor, Loki, Hulk, Valkyrie (love Tessa Thompson by the way), Korg, and Jeff Goldblum being Goldblum are all hilarious. Hela is a formidable foe, probably the hottest villain after Killmonger.
It’s a great standalone adventure if you ignore where it fits in the Infinity Saga and I’m happy to see where they’ll take Thor in the future.
4. Captain America: Civil War
“This job… we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn’t mean everybody. But if we can’t find a way to live with that, next time… maybe nobody gets saved.”
I’ve had many arguments with my friends about who’s right, who’s wrong in this story. I’m Team Cap. The fact we can have this never-ending argument is a testament why I loved this movie so much.
In a year we had other movie versus moments (Anybody remember Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice or Transformers?), Marvel really outdid themselves up to this point in an amazing airport battle scene. This movie could have easily sucked – we got new heroes in Black Panther and (MCU) Spider-Man and we had all the Avengers minus 2 show up, and yet everything going on does not take away from Cap’s struggle with the only family he knows and his duty to his country, which brings him directly in conflict to Iron Man’s journey. It’s an interesting story with a lot of superhero stuff thrown in to keep it entertaining. I can re-watch that airport battle again and again.