Ranking Phase 5 Of The MCU

While we wait for Josie to watch Thunderbolts* so we don't have a recreation of the Phase 4 ranking incident, why don't I just give my personal ranking for the movies that came out during Phase 5 of the MCU. This excludes the shows on Disney+ and only consists of the movies between Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thunderbolts*.

6. Captain America: Brave New World

Captain America: Brave New World is one of the worst entries in the MCU to date. It is disjointed, messy, boring, and oddly disconnected from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The end result is clearly the product of studio interference from a company trying to make the movie as "apolitical" as possible. Well, you were successful and look at the result. Brave New World is the first theatrical entry featuring a black Captain America, who faces off against the president of the United States, who transforms into a giant, raging monster while answering tough questions from the press. Gee, who could they have possibly been alluding to there? Just commit fully and the result would have been more divisive but a better movie overall.

5. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania existed from its inception to show value to shareholders for things Disney had invested in recently. The movie is shot almost entirely on The Volume (Disney's proprietary alternative to green screen that you've seen in any Star Wars show) and does all the heavy-lifting for the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Oh wait, nevermind, all the lore of this movie was thrown away because they ditched Kang and replaced him with Doctor Doom. The only reason this is not lower is that the plot is somewhat cohesive and the narrative makes sense, even if it is silly at times. Like, at least this movie was corporate-minded from the beginning and the corporate interference wasn't injected after the movie had completed production.

Also worth noting that the movie is called Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, presumably to carry over the branding from 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Hope has very little to do in this movie while Janet is reduced to a vehicle for exposition. They probably should have called it like Ant-Man and the Quantum Realm or something like that but that's the least of this movie's problems.

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Having Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 below The Marvels might be a bold choice but how much someone enjoys Guardians 3 will come entirely from how much they're cool with the fact that it has to do all the narrative legwork to exposit Rocket's entire backstory. Yeah it's probably the best-looking of the Phase 5 movies, but too much time is spent retconning the previous two to try and make it seem like the High Evolutionary was secretly this overarching force for the Guardians. That said, I do really like the way they handle Peter Quill and Gamora's relationship here by not forcing the two of them back together.

3. The Marvels

Iman Vellani is great, the cast has great chemistry, and The Marvels is just a ton of fun. The stakes are small and (other than the very ending with Monica) is unlikely to have a ton of impact on the MCU as a whole, but that's fine. Maybe the villain is underdeveloped, but that's not what this movie is about. This movie is about these three women, how they relate to each other, and how their relationship makes all three of them better. Plus, coming off Secret Invasion, it was really fun to see a more light-hearted Nick Fury.

2. Deadpool and Wolverine

The first glass broken in case of emergency was expediting Deadpool 3, bringing back Hugh Jackman, and calling the movie Deadpool and Wolverine. Aside from that, the movie does a great job of being a multiverse story that works because we actually care about these characters. The multiverse cameos work, the movie works as a send off to some of the Fox characters, and it feels uniquely like a Deadpool movie that gets to play in the MCU sandbox. I hope some of the rules surrounding the "anchor beings" end up not sticking around, but this was a very solid entry to the MCU.

1. Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers

The decision to call this movie Thunderbolts* until the week after it came out will haunt Marvel Studios and Disney for years to come. Maybe you would have had the entertainment manosphere chuds complaining about this lineup for a movie called The New Avengers, but The New Avengers is a million times more marketable than Thunderbolts* ever was. It's a shame because this movie is great. I'm a massive MCU fan and watched all the show and walked into this unable to care less about John Walker and Red Guardian but I left with a newfound appreciation and desire to see them more. Even Ghost, who was forgettable in her own movie, is great here and is given a chance to shine. The emotional moments are not overshadowed by poorly timed jokes, and the story is given time to breathe. As a result, the story will leave a lasting impact on viewers, because for a movie about fighting, a character like Superman, Yelena's arc is incredibly grounded in a way I don't think any Avengers movie has done before.