The MCU began over a decade ago and is concluding this decade long story with Avengers: Endgame on April 25th. With the Infinity Saga ending, I am beginning a series of reflecting and ranking each MCU phase leading up to Endgame. Phase 3 will be done the weekend of Endgame to account of the closure of Phase 3! Phase 1 is definitely the weakest overall of the three phases so far, but it has built the foundation needed to have what we have now! With all of that, let the ranking of Phase 1 begin!
6) Thor
Thor is a very bland movie. It has humorous moments and a better villain, Loki, than its sequel. However, Loki still feels okay. Tom Hiddleston does a great job portraying what he’s given, but what he’s given isn’t much. Chris Hemsworth does a great job as Thor, but the supporting cast is not memorable at all. The entire plot is also not too memorable. A typical Phase 1 origin movie. I wish Thor had more memorable movies, but at least we got one, six years after the first movie.
5) The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk is another forgettable origin movie. Which is a theme in Phase 1, but hey whatever works! The story is interesting where they don’t show his exact origin, but show the progression of him trying to get rid of Hulk. A theme throughout the universe has been Bruce Banner and Hulk being at odds with each other. So that is still part of the universe. The only other part of the movie that still exists is Thunderbolt Ross. However, everything else has not been mentioned since. I do enjoy the performance by Tim Roth who plays Abomination and the performance by Edward Norton somewhat. He began a decent foundation for Bruce Banner which all of the main Avengers have done in their first movie. Incredible Hulk is a very okay movie but now offers nothing to the universe.
4) Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2’s villain is not on the same level at all with Iron Man’s first MCU villain. Sure that’s okay, but you have so many options, and you pick a combination between Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo with an annoying cockatoo. Okay. Sure Justin Hammer is also partly the villain, but that isn’t much better still. Robert Downey Jr. still does a great job as Tony Stark and Don Cheadle being added into the cast has been a great addition to the overall MCU cast. This movie also introduces us to Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson. She does a great job for what she has, but the way she is presented really shows the age of the movie. The story is mostly forgettable but is fine I guess.
3) Captain America: The First Soldier
The First Soldier lays a good foundation for the future of the Captain America franchise by building off the friendship of Bucky and Steve. While the story is pretty average, the performances are pretty great for the central story characters. Chris Evans started to become the legend we know him as of today because of this movie! There are humorous moments in the movie which are decent enough, but the main attraction for me is the expanding of the universe with the inclusion of the Tesseract leading into Avengers.
2) Iron Man
The one that began it all. Iron Man is the perfect beginning MCU movie because it depicts the world in a grounded, but still fun way. Casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man has got to be the best choice in all of the MCU. It began this great journey making the connection between Tony Stark and Downey Jr. very compelling. The villain is pretty average, but it would probably be the best villain out of the four origin movie villains they have in the phase. The dynamic and acting experience between Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges really stands out as a perfect way to begin building this new potential universe. The secondary characters also build the world that Tony Stark lives in quite well, He’s an isolated character, other than his party life, and the three friends he has.
1) The Avengers
The Avengers is easily the best Phase 1 movie. It is the culmination of all of the movies that have come before it, starting with Iron Man. The direction of the story is a great way to see how these characters would all mesh together to save the world from an alien invasion. One of the positives that have come out of this movie is the great acting job of Tom Hiddleston who actually has good material to work with this time. A compelling villain along with a great cast of heroes, and some great comedic moments like Thor being slung around by Hulk, make this movie truly memorable. The clearest great thing about this movie was the importance of staying until the end where we met our villain now, Thanos. Even if the previous movies all had end-credit scenes! This one was truly important to see for the overall future of the universe.
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my beginning love for this great universe! Till next time!
Comments