My wife, son, and I recently went through the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and watched all the films in release order. I had seen most of them before (many only once, several multiple times) but a few were first time viewings for all three of us. While almost all of the films are enjoyable, there's definitely a fluctuation in quality, but that's got to be expected with the vast amount of films in the series.
While a lot of people give Marvel flack for several (legitimate) reasons, you have to give them credit for what they've managed to do over the last 11 years and 21 movies. It's an astounding achievement and that's coming from someone who doesn't even like a few of the movies. As a whole, they've created a cohesive story that spans time, space, and even different planes of existence with more than a dozen main characters and probably close to a hundred supporting characters. All the films are well put together on a technical level and most feature at least one or two memorable characters and/or performances. Back in 2008 when I sat in the theater to watch Iron Man, I had no idea what I'd be in store for.
For the categories below, I decided it would be more fun to put a limit on the Favorite Character and Favorite Performance sections: a character and actor can only appear once. Otherwise, I might have been tempted to select Tony Stark, Rocket, or Captain America for several characters, and RDJ, Samuel L. Jackson, or Mark Ruffalo for several performances.
I will include my ranked list at the end of this piece, but I'm going to go through the movies first in their release order.
Iron Man (2008)
First Time Viewing Format:Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: DVD (owned)
Favorite Moment: Tony announcing that he's Iron Man.
Favorite Character: Tony Stark
Favorite Performance: Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
My Rating: 8.5/10
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
First Time Viewing Format: DVD (rented)
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (rented)
Favorite Moment: The "birth" of Abomination.
Favorite Character: Samuel Sterns
Favorite Performance: William Hurt as General Ross
My Rating: 5/10
Iron Man 2 (2010)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (rented)
Favorite Moment: Tony using the briefcase on the racetrack to transform into Iron Man.
Favorite Character: James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Favorite Performance: Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko
My Rating: 4/10
Thor (2011)
First Time Viewing Format: DVD (rented)
This Time's Viewing Format: VUDU (streaming)
Favorite Moment: Odin saving Thor and his buddies from the Frost Giants.
Favorite Character: Darcy Lewis
Favorite Performance: Stellan Skarsgard as Professor Erik Selvig
My Rating: 3.5/10
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
First Time Viewing Format: DVD (rented)
This Time's Viewing Format: DVD (owned)
Favorite Moment: Steve getting the flag down when everyone else failed.
Favorite Character: Steve Rogers/Captain America
Favorite Performance: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
My Rating: 8/10
The Avengers (2012)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: DVD (owned)
Favorite Moment: Hulk repeatedly smashing Loki into the ground.
Favorite Character: Bruce Banner/Hulk
Favorite Performance: Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
My Rating: 7.5/10
Iron Man 3 (2013)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (rented)
Favorite Moment: The Mandarin's actual identity being revealed.
Favorite Character: The Mandarin
Favorite Performance: Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin/Trevor
My Rating: 6.5/10
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
First Time Viewing Format: VUDU (streaming)
This Time's Viewing Format: Same (first viewing)
Favorite Moment: The end credits rolling.
Favorite Character: Loki
Favorite Performance: Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
My Rating: 2/10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: DVD (owned)
Favorite Moment: Steve Rogers running laps around Sam Wilson
Favorite Character: Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Favorite Performance: Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
My Rating: 7.5/10
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: DVD (owned)
Favorite Moment: The Guardians deciding to stand up (literally) against Ronan.
Favorite Character: Rocket
Favorite Performance: Dave Bautista as Drax
My Rating: 9/10
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: VUDU (streamed)
Favorite Moment: Quicksilver sacrificing himself to save Hawkeye.
Favorite Character: Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Favorite Performance: James Spader as Ultron
My Rating: 7/10
Ant-Man (2015)
First Time Viewing Format: DVD (rented)
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (rented)
Favorite Moment: The final fight scene with the toy train set.
Favorite Character: Dr. Hank Pym
Favorite Performance: Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man
My Rating: 6/10
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater (Jackson's first Marvel movie in the theater!)
This Time's Viewing Format: DVD (owned)
Favorite Moment: Ant-Man growing HUGE during the airport fight.
Favorite Character: Ant-Man
Favorite Performance: Tom Holland as Spider-Man
My Rating: 6.5/10
Doctor Strange (2016)
First Time Viewing Format: Netflix (streamed)
This Time's Viewing Format: Netflix (streamed again)
Favorite Moment: Doctor Strange tricking Dormammu in the end.
Favorite Character: The Ancient One
Favorite Performance: Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Steven Strange
My Rating: 7.5/10
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (2017)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (rented)
Favorite Moment: Yondu's ravenger's burial.
Favorite Character: Yondu
Favorite Performance: Michael Rooker as Yondu
My Rating: 8.5/10
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
First Time Viewing Format: Blu-ray (rented)
This Time's Viewing Format: VUDU (streamed)
Favorite Moment: Peter watching his home video from the events in Civil War.
Favorite Character: Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Favorite Performance: Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/Vulture
My Rating: 6/10
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (owned)
Favorite Moment: Bruce Banner falling on the bridge with a thud.
Favorite Character: Korg
Favorite Performance: Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster
My Rating: 6.5/10
Black Panther (2018)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (owned)
Favorite Moment: The challenge on the waterfall between T'Challa and M'Baku
Favorite Character: Shuri
Favorite Performance: Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger
My Rating: 7/10
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Blu-ray (owned)
Favorite Moment: Thor arriving in Wakanda!
Favorite Character: Thor
Favorite Performance: Chris Hemsworth as Thor
My Rating: 9/10
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
First Time Viewing Format: Netflix (streamed)
This Time's Viewing Format: Same (first viewing)
Favorite Moment: Luis's flashback storytelling.
Favorite Character: Scott Lang/Ant-Man
Favorite Performance: Hannah John-Kamen as Ava/Ghost
My Rating: 7.5/10
Captain Marvel (2019)
First Time Viewing Format: Theater
This Time's Viewing Format: Theater again
Favorite Moment: Carol's "standing up" montage.
Favorite Character: Nick Fury
Favorite Performance: Brie Larson as Carol Danvers
My Rating: 7.5/10
And here's my ranking and ratings for all (so far) of the 21 movies:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy - 9/10
2. Avengers: Infinity War - 9/10
3. Iron Man - 8.5/10
4. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 - 8.5/10
5. Captain American: The First Avenger - 8/10
6. Captain Marvel - 7.5/10
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp - 7.5/10
8. Doctor Strange - 7.5/10
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 7.5/10
10. The Avengers - 7.5/10
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron - 7/10
12. Black Panther - 7/10
13. Iron Man 3 - 6.5/10
14. Captain America: Civil War - 6.5/10
15. Thor: Ragnarok - 6.5/10
16. Ant-Man - 6/10
17. Spider-Man: Homecoming - 6/10
18. The Incredible Hulk - 5/10
19. Iron Man 2 - 4/10
20. Thor - 3.5/10
21. Thor: The Dark World - 2/10
With my excitement building and building for Avengers: Endgame, I've found myself counting the days until April 26. My son might be even more excited - if that's possible - and Endgame is going to be his first ever opening night theater experience. I hope the movie can live up to our expectations and keep Marvel's recent momentum going strong!
What are some of your favorite films, moments, characters, and performances from the MCU?
Are you as excited for Avengers: Endgame as my family is?
I look forward to hearing from everybody! Thanks for reading!
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