MCU Phase One Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
From Iron Man to The Avengers, we rank every film in Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The MCU's Phase One is often remembered as a triumphant origin story for the franchise, and in broad strokes that is fair. What gets lost in the retrospective warmth is how much of it was Marvel making things up as they went with a casting that didn't carry over, a sequel that nearly derailed the whole project, and a crossover that worked despite narrative shortcuts it could only get away with once. With Doomsday arriving this summer, here is an honest look at how Phase One actually holds up.
6. The Incredible Hulk
From the Author
The Incredible Hulk bottoms out the list because it is just so forgettable. That may have something to do with the fact that Edward Norton's casting did not carry over or the fact that so little of this movie felt canon to the MCU at the time of its release, but there is nothing memorable about this movie at all. The fight with Abomination is boring, Blonsky as a character is kind of squandered despite his unique motivation, and so much of the middle of the movie just feels like cinematic malaise.
5. Thor
From the Author
Thor and Iron Man 2 are interchangeable to an extent, mostly because both have the same second act problem: it slows to a crawl and gets pretty boring. The reason Thor ends up lower is because the antics that happen in New Mexico are way less interesting than what goes on in Iron Man 2, even if both are kind of forgettable. Marvel still hadn't quite figured out what to do with Thor as a character yet but there are a few small glimpses of what he would eventually become throughout this film. The biggest sin is the underutilization of Tom Hiddleston who steals the scene every time he's on screen but is a little underdeveloped.
4. Iron Man 2
From the Author
I love Sam Rockwell. That's it. That's all I got on this. Yeah the middle slows down but the action sequences consistently through the movie are fun enough and Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark drinking himself to death as he's slowly being killed by the Arc Reactor is both fun and painful to watch. The consistency of performance through the middle of the movie is why this beats out Thor. That's not to say that Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings give worse performances, it's just hard to compete with Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson.
3. The Avengers
From the Author
I think the biggest issue with The Avengers is that this is the first time these characters are uniting for a crossover like this. For the initial watch, that allowed audiences to be a little forgiving on narrative shortcomings. The other big issue it caused is that the falling out of the team means less because they don't have an established history together. That said, Loki is compelling to watch and the sky beam with the circle of garbage third act trope really started here so it's forgivable.
2. Iron Man
From the Author
Iron Man works and holds up surprisingly well as the anchor that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's grounded, feels realistic all things considered, and relaunched the career of now Academy Award-winner Robert Downey Jr. The movie is not perfect; some of the effects are a little spotty by today's standards and Obadiah is a little underdeveloped, but it's still a ton of fun almost 20 years later.
1. Captain America: The First Avenger
From the Author
The MCU has a problem where they tend to make the villains in their movies have the similar powers to the hero. Iron Man fights a bigger Iron Man, Ant-Man fights Yellowjacket, and Hulk fights Abomination. Captain America and Red Skull obviously fall into this category since Red Skull was Erskine's first failed attempt at the super soldier. In the other cases, this feels like (as it was put in She-Hulk) the thing the hero needs to overcome is the power, not the other person. This is because the ideological difference between the two is not as clearly articulated as it needs to be for this to be consistently interesting.
The defining character trait of Steve Rodgers is defined almost immediately. He doesn't need to grow into Captain America; he is Captain America before he even gets his powers. He doesn't like bullies and stands up for what needs to be stood up for. He's a man of principles and that's what makes this movie work. It also helps that Joe Johnston knows how to craft a war movie and make it riveting to watch outside the superhero aspect, but this is easily the best movie of phase one. That said, modern audiences may be a little confused when Captain America fights Nazis rather than trying to debate them in the marketplace of ideas, but the movie is still good.
