MCU Franchise RANKED | Ant-Man 2015 SPEED-ART
Hey Jack! I'm back, and with me another Speed-Art, this one of Ant-Man from the original MCU movie. Now this time I'm going to be ranking every MCU Film Franchise, now that means every MCU duology, trilogy, or quadrilogy, and I won’t be including TV Shows yet, since I haven’t watched Ms. Marvel, and I guess that’s apart of the Captain Marvel franchise, so I basically can’t include the Loki TV series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, or She-Hulk into their respective franchises. So I will be ranking the movie franchises only, meaning Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers Films, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther will all be ranked. These will be both ranked as how they function as their own franchises, how each film in the franchise is, and my own preferences. So from number 9 to number 1 let’s get to the ranking!
9. Thor Quadrilogy
Coming in at 9th place is the Thor Quadrilogy. It’s crazy to me that Thor is the only MCU character to thus far get their own Quadrilogy, but most of his films have pretty mediocre reviews. Now I don’t actively hate any of his movies, I think that his first two films are a little boring and a little strange, although there is a lot of good things in them, like the sets and acting. While on the flip side the newest film feels like a parody of Thor now with sets that seem a little too outlandish. Meaning the only film that I think is really good is Thor: Ragnarok, while I know some people complain that Thor is too much of a joke in it, I actually think the movie itself is really good. But I think the best thing this series has going for it is Chris Hemsworth who has so much charisma and elevates the material quite a bit. But, for a 1 out of 4 positive rating for his movies, Thor’s franchise comes in last place.
8. Doctor Strange Duology
Coming in 8th place is the Doctor Strange duology. Now I think both of these films are okay, but the first film was a little too boring, while the second felt a little too clunky, although I think it was a little stronger than the first film. Much like Thor, it kinda relies a little too much on the charm of the lead star, who was perfectly cast. I also think because the second film is a quasi-sequel to a Spider-Man film you can’t really watch it without some of the other MCU baggage and the CGI was a little spotty in certain sections. So for a set of films that I’m only okay with, Doctor Strange comes in second.
7. Spider-Man Trilogy
Now 7th place is gonna be where people probably disagree pretty strongly with me, like I fully expect people to not agree here, but remember this is only my opinion, if anyone likes films that I don’t I think that’s amazing, I want people to like whatever they like, so with that said in 7th place is the Spider-Man MCU trilogy. Now my main issue with these films is they feel like they don’t have much heart or soul to them, it might be because I’ve already gotten a Spider-Man trilogy that spoke more to my sensibilities, but everything just seems so flat. The relationships, the writing, the villains, it just doesn’t match what I know is possible for this character. But Tom Holland is well cast and does his best with the material, maybe it’s just my expectations are a little higher for a character I grew up loving, than characters who are a bit more of a blank slate to me. I don’t know, I just wish these films did a little more for me. Even No Way Home relied heavily on previous versions of this character who I think carried that film. So all in all, they aren’t horrible movies, they just aren’t particularly my cup of tea.
6. Black Panther Duology
Coming in 6th place is the Black Panther duology. Now the first film is a pretty great origin to Black Panther and Chadwick gives it his all, they also lucked out getting Michael B. Jordan to play Killmonger, and despite some spotty CGI, the movie is quite good. Now the second film suffers because of Boseman’s passing, obviously that is no fault of the film makers and is actually quite sad, but because of this the film feels more like a funeral for a character rather than a film of it’s own. It’s well shot, has great music, and Namor is the highlight, but all together it’s just feels like it would be upsetting to watch it again. I also think the Iron Heart stuff felt a little too shoehorned in to set up her own show, like they could have thought of a better reason to propel the plot forward without her, but none the less these are both solid if not somewhat somber movies to watch now.
5. Ant-Man Trilogy
And coming in smack dab in the middle is the little guy himself, Ant-Man. Now I know a lot for people don’t love his movies, but I think the first two are quite serviceable Marvel films. The first one in particular has a lot of cool sequences, some great casting with Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, and the shrinking tech fight scenes and training scenes are a lot of fun to watch. I think the second film builds on this, but gets a little clunky in trying to go bigger than the first film, but the heist stuff and fight scenes are still a lot of fun. Now the third film is probably the weakest of the batch, but it does a lot of things that I like. First Kang is great and it’s pretty awesome to see the flashback scenes with Janet in the Quantum Realm. I also like the weird stuff in the Quantum Realm, I just wanted more weird stuff, like why do any of the characters look human in that Realm, like make them more strange and alien like. I also like how the Ant’s sort of save the day with Hank getting more involved in the action. Although it does falter from some flat camera movements, spotty CGI, and a less than stellar script. I also think that Luis was sorely missing from the action in the third film. So with two films I like and one that’s okay, Ant-Man comes in 5th place.
4. Captain America Trilogy
In number 4 is the Captain America trilogy, now again the casting is just superb with these films, Chris Evans really feels like the character and he carries the first film, which overall is a fun movie, but never excels beyond what is expected of a Marvel Origin film. Red Skull is cool looking, and the final fight and sacrifice work well, but I don’t usually get the urge to re-watch it. The second film is probably one of the best films in the MCU, trading in the wartime setting for a more Jason Bourne style thriller was a great call and works well. Some of the color grading is a little washed out but the action sequences are great and Bucky as the Winter Soldier is a great twist. Civil War, which feels more like a mini-Avengers film is also really good, I don’t think it quite hits the heights of the previous films, but does a good enough job at leading to a squabbling between the Avengers and the eventual fight between him and Iron Man is well worth the price of admission, so that is why the Captain America films come in 4th place.
3. The Avengers Quadrilogy
Coming in third place is going to be the Avengers quadrilogy. Now I feel like the first two films can kind of be watched on their own and not much is lost, but if you want to enjoy the last two you basically need to see every film in Phase 1, 2, and 3. Thankfully that doesn’t hinder my enjoyment of the films as they do so much to pay off so many different franchises, and come together with a battle that is a little messy on screen but has a lot of emotional resonance. The first two films are also groundbreaking, especially the first one, nothing like it had ever been attempted before and it was a huge gamble. But the action scenes are clear and precise, especially in the second film. I also think the characters felt more like a family unit in the second film which helped to sell the characters relationships. So even though they can’t really be watched on their own, the Avengers films are great and come in third place.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Duology
Coming into number two is The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, now I can’t mention the Christmas special which was great, but it was technically a TV special so I’m only looking at the first two films. The first film is probably one of the best superhero origin films period, it perfectly sets up the universe it’s in and the characters, while widening how deep you can dive into the Marvel universe. The music choices are spot on and the characters just have a great rapport with one another, making it fun to watch them on screen. Now the second film is where I think they really nailed it, it’s possibly my favourite Marvel film. I recognize that there’s a little bit of clunkiness, like the strange CGI catch scene with Peter’s dad, but I think emotionally the film pays off in spades and always makes me tear up at the end. So for two films that I think basically nails it, Guardians comes in at number 2.
Iron Man Trilogy
But in first place is the original Iron Man trilogy. These are the films that got me into the MCU, Robert Downey Jr. embodies the role and really strikes the perfect balance of being a charming jerk that is fun to watch grow on screen. Not only that but the action sequences are fun to watch with the tech and the CGI actually holds up really well, probably helps that it’s more mechanical looking. It probably doesn’t hurt that the first film also sort of reminds me of RoboCop 2 a little bit with it’s action, so that’s fun as well. But really it’s just a solid trilogy, while the third film relies a little bit on seeing the first Avengers film, it works really well on it’s own and has a great arc for the character as a whole.
So that is my ranking of the MCU franchises, feel free to leave your own ranking below, and if you haven't seen it I have a new animation on my main channel going through Ant-Man's surprising Evolution, it’s actually pretty interesting as he has some weird 90s and 2000s versions that often get overlooked, so you can check that out on the main channel. Also, thank you to Charlie Ragsdale for joining the Patreon recently! So, until next time, I’ve been Aaron and I’ll tell you something later!