Chris Cooper ranks the Marvel Cinematic Universe…
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is now at twelve films. It’s huge, with connecting story lines and teases stretching out for years to come. Ant-Man marks the end of Marvel’s ‘Phase Two’, with ‘Phase Three’ kicking off with Captain America: Civil War next year.
You know how the internet loves a list, and even more so one that can anger those with their pants on a bit too tight. So here we are, the Marvel films ranked from 12 to 1.
I’ve not spoken to one person who agrees completely, and I don’t expect any of you either! My wife is still giving me crap about were I’ve put Iron Man 3 two years later. So it’s a good exercise in kicking the hornets nest and seeing who disagrees most vehemently.
Obviously I’ve had more time some to watch some of these films repeatedly, so in the future it could change.
So without further ado, let’s get onto #12…
12. Thor: The Dark World – 2013
“Oh, this is much better. Costume’s a bit much… so tight. But the confidence, I can feel the righteousness surging. Hey, you wanna have a rousing discussion about truth, honour, patriotism? God bless America…”
You’ll have heard before that ‘a hero is only as strong as their villain’. Well, The Dark World falls flat on its face on that front. Christopher Eccleston was clearly unhappy with the amount of time his character Malekith received on the press tour and it’s easy to see why. He’s underdeveloped and really quite dull.
Apart from that the film only really livens up when Loki and Thor are together on screen. Hemsworth and Hiddleston are comfortable in their roles and have great chemistry, whilst Natalie Portman is more a plot point than a character.
TDW just doesn’t leave a very good impression. It may have the best villain the MCU has to offer involved but it also becomes the perfect example of what the studio has done wrong with its other bad guys.
11. The Incredible Hulk – 2008
” Don’t make me hungry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.”
The 2003 Eric Bana Hulk was an odd beast. But with Iron Man doing well Marvel must have felt confident that with Ed Norton in the main role and a strong supporting cast they’d be onto another winner. Not quite unfortunately.
I liked Norton but the Hulk didn’t reflect him in appearance and they’d taken away his ability to get bigger as he got angrier, which was something I always thought was cool. Rather than fighting giant dogs and an energy blob this time the Green Goliath battles Tim Roth’s Abomination. Emil Blonsky’s fascination with Hulk and his thirst for a similar power is both interesting and gruesome.
The main issue with this film though is its disconnect with the rest of the MCU. Hints haven’t been followed up on (The Leader for instance), and bar a one-shot we’ve heard nothing of the captured Abomination since. So as much as I enjoy seeing two monsters beat the crap out of each other on ITV2 (who are always repeating it), it’s a bit of a misfit and almost seems forgotten in the grand scheme of things.
Originally published July 22, 2015. Updated November 7, 2019.
