List of Marvel Cinematic Universe Films (Release Order, Ranking, and Box Office): The Marvel Cinematic Universe films are a series of superhero films produced independently by Marvel Studios. Currently, there are 23 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are split into three phases which are collectively known as “The Infinity Saga”. The saga started with Iron Man in 2008 and concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019.
There are at least 14 more movies in development as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase Four will start with Black Widow (November 2020) and it will be concluded with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Here is the list of Marvel Cinematic Universe films ordered by release date:
1. Iron Man (2008)
The first-ever Marvel Cinematic Universe film tells the story of a wealthy magnate and innovator Tony Stark (portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.) who gets kidnapped and coerced into making a destructive weapon. Using his genius and inventiveness, he creates a suit of iron which helps him evade his detainers. Back home, he works on the suit, enhancing its features and improving it to the point of perfection. Iron Man is born.
This is the highest-rated movie in the Iron Man trilogy. With a budget of $140 million, the film earned over $585 million in cinemas globally. The success of this movie enabled Marvel to continue with the other movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If this movie hadn’t succeeded, we probably wouldn’t have seen any other movie in the series.
In a post-credits scene of the movie, we are introduced to Nick Fury, director of a covert organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D., who visits Stark to discuss the “Avenger Initiative”.
Best Scene: Intro scene in the Hammer with the soldiers while AC/DC is playing in the background.
2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
The Incredible Hulk tells the story of Bruce Banner, a scientist who was part of a military experiment with gamma radiation run by General Thunderbolt Ross. During an experiment, Banner developed a condition that turned him into a Hulk, a huge green monster, whenever he is in a stressful situation. Due to the fact that the military wants to weaponize him, Banner goes on the run, while searching for the cure at the same time.
Meanwhile, a new threat has emerged. An officer who was hunting Banner has injected various serums and Bruce Banner’s blood which turned him into a creature more powerful than Hulk.
In the last scene of the movie, Tony Stark approaches General Ross telling him that he knows about Hulk and informs him that the team (meaning Avengers) is being put together.
3. Iron Man 2 (2010)
Iron Man 2 is set six months after the events in Iron Man. Now that everybody knows Tony Stark’s secret, the government tries to persuade him to share the technology used in making Iron Man. Meanwhile, a new menacing force is emerging – a Russian scientist who is eager to harm the Stark family, revenge being his motive.
Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approaches Stark and explains that Vanko’s father and Tony’s father Howard worked together, but things didn’t end well between the two. Nick will also reveal that Howard Stark was a S.H.I.E.L.D. founder.
In Iron Man 2 we will be introduced to Natasha Romanoff also known as Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson). She is an undercover spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury will send her to pose as an assistant to Stark to check if he is worth being a part of the Avengers Initiative.
In a post-credits scene, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson is in New Mexico calling Nick Fury to report that the item was found. The final shot will reveal that the item was Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, telling us that the Thor movie is what is coming next.
4. Thor (2011)
There is a realm called Asgard and it’s one of the nine realms (Earth being one of those). Odin, king of Asgard, has waged a war against Frost Giants who wanted to conquer the nine realms almost 1000 years ago. He defeated the enemy and seized the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.
In the present, Thor, son of Odin, is preparing to ascend the throne, but the ceremony is interrupted when the old enemy resurfaces and tries to retrieve the Casket. Against his father’s will, Thor decides to go to Jotunheim to confront the Frost Giants leader Laufey. After King Odin intervenes and saves Thor and his companions, he then banishes Thor to Earth and strips him of his powers.
While trying to find a way to reclaim his powers, Thor becomes close with astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). In the meantime, Thor’s brother Loki has seized the throne of Asgard. When a powerful enemy Destroyer is sent to Earth to kill him, Thor must defeat him and go to Asgard to confront his brother.
In the post-credits scene, Nick Fury makes a cameo in the S.H.I.E.L.D. the facility where scientist Erik Selvig is brought to study Tesseract (one of the six Infinity Stones).
Character Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, master archer, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and one of the founding members of the Avengers, made his first cameo appearance in this movie.
The best scene in the movie is when Thor gets his powers back.
5. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
In the first Captain America movie, we learn how a sickly man Steve Rogers became a super-soldier. During World War II Steven Rogers is determined to help in the fighting but is constantly rejected because of his physical problems. When Dr. Erskine offers him to be a part of an experiment, everything changes. Rogers bravely undergoes the experiment and from a weak man, he is transformed into a strong and fast soldier. Captain America is born.
Young Howard Stark, Tony Stark’s father, appears in the movie as the man who aided the Super Soldier Project that made Captain America. He was also the one who provided Steve Rogers with a uniform and the trademark shield.
The main villain in the movie is Schmidt a.k.a. the Red Skull. He is the commander of Nazi Germany’s secret organization called HYDRA whose plan is world domination through the power of Tesseract.
When Rogers defeats Schmidt in his aircraft he is forced to land in the Arctic. Stark tries to locate him but he is not successful. The last scene in the movie shows Rogers waking up in a hospital room which he will soon realize is not real. When he runs outside he finds himself in the present day. He is approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury who then informs him that he has been “asleep” for 70 years.
6. The Avengers (2012)
When Thor’s brother Loki, who is the main villain in the movie, takes the Tesseract from the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, the world is in great danger. Loki has teamed up with the extraterrestrial race Chitauri who provided him with the army for Earth invasion in return for Tesseract. Loki’s plan is to subjugate the Earth and be the king.
In response to the invasion, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury reactivates the “Avengers Initiative”. He assembles the team of Earth’s mightiest superheroes to save the world. The Avengers are Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Steve Rogers), The Hulk (Bruce Banner), Thor, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), and Hawkeye (Clint Barton), even though Barton is under Loki’s influence in the first part of the movie.
It’s worth mentioning that in the comics the original Avengers were: Ant-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and the Wasp.
With The Avengers, phase one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was concluded. It is the first movie in the MCU that surpassed $1 billion at the box office.
7. Iron Man 3 (2013)
After the Battle for New York (with the Avengers), Tony Stark is living out his days with an almost broken spirit. Prone to anxiety and panic attacks, he struggles with sleep and the relationships in his life. Meanwhile, an elusive figure known as Mandarin plans a terrorist action in the U.S. In a clash with his murderous associates, Stark will be forced to flee in an Iron Man suit not properly functional, calling his survival into question.
The film became an instant success and earned $1.2 billion in cinemas globally (almost as much as the first two films together, but in terms of ranking, the first movie in the series is still best ranked).
8. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
A few years after the devastating invasion on Earth, Loki is imprisoned on Asgard for his crimes. Meanwhile, Thor and his companions are winning some wars in the Nine Realms. The Asgardians will soon learn that a rare alignment of the Nine Realms is about to happen which means portals linking the worlds will start to appear.
On Earth, Thor’s girlfriend, astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster, has accidentally located such a portal and is teleported to another world. There she will release and absorb a weapon called the Aether which will awaken Malekith (the main villain in the movie) and his Dark Elf army. Thor must team up with his nemesis brother Loki to stop Malekith and save the Nine Realms from the Dark Elves.
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
While working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and trying to adjust to the modern world, Captain America will face a threat from the past. After being attacked by an assassin known as Winter Soldier, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury visits Steve Rogers and informs him that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised with infiltrated HYDRA agents.
When HYDRA was defeated in 1945, their scientist Arnim Zola was brought to S.H.I.E.L.D. because of his expertise, but he used his position to rebuild HYDRA within the agency.
After HYDRA is exposed, S.H.I.E.L.D. will fall apart and its agents, including Natasha Romanoff and a high-ranking agent Maria Hill, will leave the agency. Captain America will join forces with Black Widow and Falcon to uncover the conspiracy, face Winter Soldier, and defeat HYDRA.
The main villain in the movie is Alexander Pierce, the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the secret head of HYDRA. The secondary antagonist is his henchman Winter Soldier (who is actually Steven Rogers’ childhood friend turned into an enhanced and brainwashed assassin).
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier we are first introduced to another future Avenger Sam Wilson, better known as Falcon. He is Steve Rogers’ new friend and a former pararescueman who uses mechanical wings to fly.
At the beginning of the movie, there is a villain who fought Captain America and it was played by former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
10. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Twenty-six years after being kidnapped by alien smugglers led by Yondu, Peter Quill a.k.a Star-Lord travels the galaxy looking for valuable items for resale. After stealing a mysterious orb on the planet Morag, he becomes a target. Ronan the Accuser, a fanatical Kree renegade, sends assassin Gomora after him. Ronan made an agreement with Thanos that he would retrieve the artifact in exchange for the annihilation of his enemies.
When Quill tries to sell the orb, Gomora ambushes him but the fight draws a pair of bounty hunters, a genetically enhanced Rocket Raccoon, and a tree-like humanoid Groot. Eventually, they all end up in prison where they will run into Drax the Destroyer. They will form an uneasy alliance in order to escape, sell the orb, and share the profit. When they run into Ronan he will take the orb and destroy their ship.
Selling the orb (which is actually one of the Infinity Stones) is no longer important because Ronan (who is the main villain in the movie) wants to use it to destroy the galaxy. Star-Lord and his companions are the only ones who can stop him. Guardians of the Galaxy are born.
While all the previous superheroes are somehow connected, in Guardians of the Galaxy we were introduced to a whole new group. What will connect them with the original Avengers is the mutual nemesis and the main antagonist in the whole Infinity Saga, Thanos.
Besides the Avenger series, Guardians of the Galaxy is the only movie in the MCU that has a rank of 8 on IMDb. It is also one of the two movies on the list (the other being The Avengers) that has more than a million votes on IMDb.
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
After a raid on the HYDRA base in Sokovia, the Avengers manage to retrieve Loki’s scepter used by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. In the base, they encounter two powerful enemies who work for Strucker, Quicksilver with superhuman speed, and Scarlet Witch, a telepath with telekinetic abilities.
When Stark and Banner use a scepter to create a defense program with artificial intelligence called Ultron, they soon learn that it was a huge mistake. Instead of helping them, Ultron will see the humans as a threat and set the goal to destroy them.
There is another entity that will be created called Vision (it’s Stark’s J.A.R.V.I.S in the synthetic body). Luckily for the Avengers, this one will choose their side. On one side there is the Avengers team (Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Falcon) plus Vision, and on the other side is Ultron (and his robots), Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch.
Nick Fury will appear to help the Avengers formulate a plan against Ultron. At the final battle in Sokovia, Fury and a group of former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will appear with Helicarrier to help save people. A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill works for Stark.
The best line in the movie comes from Hawkeye and it goes: “The city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense.”
12. Ant-Man (2015)
Dr. Hank Pym worked for the S.H.I.E.L.D. but when he discovered that they wanted to replicate his shrinking technology called Ant-Man, he resigned in 1989. In the present, Hank is pushed out of his company by his protégé Darren Cross who is working on his own shrinking suit, the Yellowjacket. Luckily for Hank, he still has an insider in the company, his daughter Hope van Dyne.
Meanwhile, Scot Lang, who just got out of prison, accepted a heist proposed by a former cellmate. When he cracks a safe in the targeted house, the only thing he finds is a suit. After trying the suit on he accidentally shrinks himself which is a terrifying experience. He decides to return the suit but ends up arrested. It turns out that Dr. Hank has plotted the whole thing because he wants this guy to be the man who wears the suit. He chooses Scot Lang to be Ant-Man, a superhero who will stop Cross.
While Ant-Man is trying to enter the Avenger’s facility to take a piece of tech necessary for the mission, he runs into Falcon and they will have a brief fight. In the post-credit scene, Falcon is telling Captain America that he “knows a guy” (meaning Ant-Man) who can help them with Barnes (Winter Soldier).
Ant-Man is the last movie of phase two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
13. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
When the world leaders decide to restrict and regulate Avengers, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers will disagree over the matter. While Tony believes that it’s necessary, Steve Rogers doesn’t agree.
After the king of Wakanda is killed at the UN gathering, the investigation reveals that the Winter Soldier is responsible. Captain America doesn’t believe that and decides to help him which will make Captain America want to. All of this will cause not only a division in the Avengers but an all-out war between the two factions.
Tony Stark team: Iron Man, War Machine, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Vision.
Steve Rogers team: Captain America, Bucky Burnes (Winter Soldier), Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant-Man).
Besides Tony Stark and his team, there is one more mysterious figure in a black suit showing up to hunt Winter Soldier. It will turn out to be the son of the killed Wakanda king and the guardian of Wakanda – Black Panther.
Captain America: Civil War is almost like another Avengers movie. The only Avengers missing are Thor and Hulk. It’s the best-rated Captain America movie.
The main villain in the movie is Helmut Zemo. He is the one who organized the UN bombing and learned the trigger words that will ensure the Winter Soldier’s obedience. Helmut Zemo blames the Avengers for his family’s demise (in Sokovia) and his plan is to turn them against each other.
14. Doctor Strange (2016)
Stephen Strange is a talented neurosurgeon who suffered severe injuries to his hands after a car accident. Since he cannot perform surgeries anymore, Dr. Strange is set on a journey to heal his hands. After he learns about the paraplegic who can now use his legs, he decides to try the same. The man points him to Kamar-Taj in Nepal where he will meet the Ancient One.
Strange must put ego aside and cross from the world of science to the world of mysticism and magic. The Ancient One is reluctant to teach him because of his arrogance but eventually will accept him as a student. Dr. Strange will learn the ways of magic and other dimensions. With the set of new skills, Strange will soon discover that the world is in danger and he is the one who needs to protect it.
The best line in the movie (when the master of the mystic arts gives a card to Strange):
Dr. Stephen Strange: What’s this? My mantra?
Baron Mordo: The Wi-Fi password. We’re not savages.
At the end of the movie Doctor, Strange and Thor will meet, which is a pretty funny scene.
15. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Now known as heroes, Guardians of the Galaxy (Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Baby Groot, and Rocket) are hired by the leader of the Sovereign race Ayesha to defeat a huge monster and protect valuable batteries. When Rocket steals those exact batteries, Ayesha sends the whole fleet after them. Just when they think they are done, a mysterious ship shows up and destroys the whole fleet. Once crashed on the planet, Guardians will soon learn that the man who saved them is Ego and he claims to be a god and Quill’s father.
When they go to his planet everything seems perfect, but Ego’s secret will soon emerge. They will soon learn the Ego is the major villain.
16. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
After helping Stark with an internal dispute (in Captain America: Civil War), Peter Parker returns to his high school life. What he actually wants to do is to focus on fighting crime. He starts to run into criminals with advanced weapons. After he ends up in a lake, Stark will save him because he has a tracker in Spider-Man’s suit.
Against his mentor’s commands, Peter continues to investigate a mysterious arms trafficker, who will turn out to be the father of the girl he likes. He also has his own suit.
17. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Several years after he defeated Dark Elves and later battled Ultron with the Avengers, Thor finds himself trapped by the fire demon Surtur. That will be the least of his worries. He will end up fighting his fellow Avenger Hulk in a gladiatorial contest, but his biggest enemy will be his own sister Hela. She is the evil goddess of death imprisoned by Thor’s father Odin. Now she is free and wants to rule everything.
Thor will team up with his brother Loki, Hulk, and Valkyrie, the former legendary Asgardian warrior, to stop Hela.
Thor: Ragnarok is definitely the best movie in the Thor series and one of the best on the whole list here. The best scene in the movie is the final battle with the Immigrant song in the background when Thor releases the thunder.
Dr. Stephen Strange will appear in the movie where he will help Thor and Loki to locate their father Odin.
18. Black Panther (2018)
There is a hidden technologically advanced kingdom Wakanda somewhere in Africa. After his father and the king die, T’Challa is the rightful heir, but he is challenged for the throne by a powerful enemy. He is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire kingdom and the rest of the world in danger. In order to defeat enemies and save the kingdom, T’Challa must gather his allies and release the full power of the Black Panther.
Black Panther grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide. As a character, he appeared for the first time in Captain America: Civil War (2016). It’s the first superhero movie to receive a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards and the first Marvel film to win an Academy Award ( Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design).
19. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
In Infinity War, the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy will team up to fight their biggest nemesis yet, Thanos. He wants to collect all six Infinity Stones which will allow him to kill half of life in the universe.
Having acquired the Power Stone and later Space Stone from Loki, Thanos sends his lieutenants after the remaining stones. Time Stone is with Dr. Strange and Vision has the Mind Stone. Thanos himself is going for the Reality Stone at a location known as Knowhere. The last stone is the Soul Stone on Vormir and requires whoever wants it to sacrifice someone they love.
The superheroes must divide their forces to stop Thanos from getting the rest of the stones. Thor is accompanied by Rocket and Groot to Nidavellir in order to create Stormbreaker (a battle-ax that can kill Thanos).
Stark, Parker, and Strange will meet with Peter Quill, Drax, and Mantis on planet Titan, where Thanos is.
In Wakanda, Steve Rogers will team up with Bucky Barnes, Black Widow, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Bruce Banner, and Black Panther. They need to stop Thanos’ army before they reach Vision and take the Mind Stone. Thor, Rocket, and Groot will also arrive to reinforce.
Thanos will still manage to collect all the stones and activate the completed Gauntlet. He snaps his fingers and teleports away. Immediately, half of life disintegrates, including heroes Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Star-Lord, Groot, Drax, and Mantis as well as Nick Fury and Maria Hill.
With 8.5, Avengers: Infinity War is the highest-rated movie in the saga and probably the best one. Next to Endgame, it’s the only one that surpassed $2 billion at the box office.
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
After his involvement with Avengers (Captain America: Civil War), Scott Lang is on house arrest and monitored by the FBI. Meanwhile, Hank Pym and his daughter Hope van Dyne discover that they can open the tunnel to the quantum realm where Pym’s wife might be trapped. When Lang previously visited the quantum realm, he became entangled with trapped Janet without even knowing it. Now he receives a message from her.
Hope and Pym manage to kidnap Lang leaving a decoy for the FBI. The trio now works to build a stable tunnel to the quantum realm so they can go in to retrieve Hope’s mother. For that, they need apart from the black-market dealer Sonny Burch who decides to double-cross them. Also, superpowered Ava Starr has an interest in quantum tunneling technology.
Unlike the first movie, in this one Ant-Man has an ally Hope van Dyne who has her own suit in which she becomes the Wasp.
21. Captain Marvel (2019)
Vers is a Starforce member of the Kree Empire and she suffers from amnesia. During a rescue mission, Vers was captured by Talos, the commander of an enemy race of shapeshifters called Skrulls. She managed to escape and crash in Los Angeles which drew Skrulls to Earth too. Her presence on Earth has attracted S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury.
With the help of Nick Fury, Vers will begin to discover her past. She is actually a pilot Carol Danvers, who was testing an experimental light-speed engine on Earth. When destroying the engine, Danvers absorbed the energy from the explosion which led to her memory loss, but she gained extraordinary powers.
It will turn out that Denver is on the wrong side. Talos and Skrulls are refugees and Knee is the real enemy. They are responsible for Danvers implant which suppressed her powers.
22. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The last part of the Avengers saga continues from the events from the previous one (Avengers: Infinity War). The remaining Avenger members regroup in the final attempt to put a stop to Thanos’ evil-minded doings and re-establish order in the universe.
This is the 22nd Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, following those of 2012, The Avengers, 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron, and 2018 Avengers: Infinity War. A box office record-breaker, Endgame earned almost $2.8 billion and exceeded the prequel. It also became the highest-grossing movie ever.
23. Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
After Thanos is defeated, Peter Parker wants to take a break from being Spider-Man. He goes on a Europe trip with his school. Meanwhile, Nick Fury and Maria Hill are in Mexico investigating some unnatural storm when they encounter an Elemental creature.
When Elementals starts to attack all over the world, Peter Parker will find himself recruited by Nick Fury to help.
24. Black Widow (2021)
Given that Scarlett Johansson has been an integral part of the MCU since 2010’s Iron Man 2, her 2021 debut solo feature seemed long overdue. But the wait may have been worth it, as Black Widow feels much more like a stand-alone movie than probably any other solo outing in the MCU and introduces a solid new cast of characters, including Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, a fellow Black Widow and sister-like figure to Johansson. It largely follows the Marvel formula of action, action, and more action and plays out more like a Bond film in that way—which isn’t a bad thing—but it also contends with the very specific issues of female independence and the effects of surviving trauma. While it allowed longtime fans to dive deeper into the past of Johansson’s notoriously mysterious Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow), it also—finally!—gave audiences the chance to see a slightly different and more vulnerable side of the Avenger. It’s just too bad it took Marvel more than a decade to finally give fans that moment.
25. Eternals (2021)
Eternals faced an uphill battle, as it was one of the first movies to get caught up in Covid-19 delays. While it originally completed shooting in February 2020, the bulk of its post-production was handled remotely and reshoots had to be done nearly 10 months later. Add several delays from movie theater closures, and fans ended up waiting about three years to see it. But rather than an easy slide into this new world of the Eternals—an alien race of immortal superheroes who have been living in secrecy for thousands of years—audiences got a full-on, Avengers-style epic they weren’t quite ready for. While the film garnered praise for its sumptuous visuals and innovative direction by Chloé Zhao, and for bringing a whole new philosophical bent to the MCU, it ultimately felt like a futile exercise.
26. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
While the idea of adapting Marvel’s Shang-Chi comic for the big screen was first broached in the early 2000s, it took nearly two decades for the film to get there. Simu Liu made history in the role of Shang-Chi, the MCU’s first Asian superhero, who led a predominantly Asian cast. In the present day, Shang-Chi works as a parking valet—an occupation that helps him mask his past as a highly trained martial arts expert who carried out an assassination when he was just 14 years old. But as Shang-Chi is dragged back into the world of a mysterious group known as the Ten Rings, his past comes bubbling up to the surface, which proves to be both a blessing and a curse. A sequel is currently in development.
27. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the unthinkable happens: Spider-Man’s identity is revealed to the world, putting both the superhero and the people he loves in danger of being targeted by his enemies. So Spidey does the only thing he can think to do: call in Dr. Strange to help the world forget what they’ve learned about him. While the film maintains the sense of wonderment and fun we’ve seen in previous Spider-Man tales, it also plays with the fact that we have seen a lot of web-slingers come and go, and it goes so far as to bring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back into the fold as Strange tries to help Peter Parker with his identity crisis.
28. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Twenty years after first bringing Spider-Man to the big screen in a pre-MCU world, Sam Raimi officially crashed the Marvel party with this Doctor Strange sequel starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen. Basically, there are a lot of versions of their characters, Dr. Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff, some of whom are up to no good. Like the first Strange film, this one feels like it exists just outside of the MCU—or more to provide connective tissue between other segments of the superhero universe than as a full-fledged solo effort. The movie does, however, feature some of the franchise’s most notable talents (count the Oscar nominations) and the sequel brings Raimi back to his Evil Dead roots, making this a movie for superhero aficionados and horror movie fans alike.
29. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Not even Taika Waititi could live up to the incredibly high standard he set with the universally beloved Thor: Ragnarok. While Waititi’s comic tendencies are on full display, Love and Thunder—much like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 before it—feels a little too familiar to its predecessor to fully stand out on its own. Still, Chris Hemsworth is utterly charming as the flawed and vulnerable God of Thunder, who is forced out of retirement in order to stop a new enemy, Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), from doing exactly what his name implies. Together with his King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Waititi), and his newly superhero-empowered ex, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Thor sets about stopping Gorr and uncovering the reason behind his hatred of the gods in the first place.
30. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
It’s possible no Marvel movie will ever top Black Panther; that’s why it’s number one on this list. But if you think of Wakanda Forever as a movie that honors the legacy of Chadwick Boseman—who played T’Challa in several Marvel films and tragically died in 2020—while continuing the story of the nation of Wakanda, this is a worthy sequel. Director Ryan Coogler not only introduced the world to a new Black Panther, he also brought along Riri Williams (aka Ironheart) and Namor. It’s as gut-wrenching as it is action-packed.
31. The Marvels (2023)
All Marvel Cinematic Universe Films Ranked According to IMDb
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – 8.5 with 780,000 votes
- Avengers: Endgame (2019) – 8.4 with 726,000 votes
- The Avengers (2012) – 8.0 with 1,233,000 votes
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – 8.0 with 1,014,000 votes
- Iron Man (2008) – 7.9 with 913,000 votes
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) – 7.9 with 554,000 votes
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) – 7.8 with 635,000 votes
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) – 7.7 with 710,000 votes
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) – 7.6 with 540,000 votes
- Doctor Strange (2016) – 7.5 with 570,000 votes
- Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) – 7.5 with 294,000 votes
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – 7.4 with 486,000 votes
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – 7.3 with 710,000 votes
- Black Panther (2018) – 7.3 with 584,000 votes
- Ant-Man (2015) – 7.3 with 545,000 votes
- Iron Man 3 (2013) – 7.2 with 730,000 votes
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) – 7.1 with 289,000 votes
- Thor (2011) – 7.0 with 723,000 votes
- Iron Man 2 (2010) – 7.0 with 698,000 votes
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – 6.9 with 715,000 votes
- Thor: The Dark World (2013) – 6.9 with 575,000 votes
- Captain Marvel (2019) – 6.9 with 414,000 votes
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) – 6.7 with 422,000 votes
- Black Widow (2021) – 6.7 with 410,000 votes
- Eternals (2021) — 6.3 with 371,000 votes
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) — 7.4 with 418,000 votes
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) — 8.2 with 838,000 votes
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) — 6.9 with 457,000 votes
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) — 6.2 with 381,000 votes
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) — 6.7 with 288,000 votes
- The Marvels (2023) — not released yet
Marvel Cinematic Universe Films Box Office Performance
- Avengers: Endgame (2019) – $2.798 billion
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – $2.048 billion
- The Avengers (2012) – $1.519 billion
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – $1.403 billion
- Black Panther (2018) – $1.347 billion
- Iron Man 3 (2013) – $1.215 billion
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) – $1.153 billion
- Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) – $1.132 billion
- Captain Marvel (2019) – $1.128 billion
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – $880 million
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) – $864 million
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) – $854 million
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – $773 million
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) – $715 million
- Doctor Strange (2016) – $678 million
- Thor: The Dark World (2013) – $645 million
- Iron Man 2 (2010) – $624 million
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) – $623 million
- Iron Man (2008) – $585 million
- Ant-Man (2015) – $520 million
- Thor (2011) – $450 million
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – $371 million
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) – $265 million
- Black Widow (2021) – $379.75 million
- Eternals (2021) — $402 million
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) — $432 million
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) — $1.92 billion
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) — $955 million
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) — $760 million
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) — $859 million
- The Marvels (2023) — not released yet