All MCU Movies Ranked 2024: The "Good" MCU Movies (B Tier)


We’ve got good MCU movies from here on out! All of these are fun to watch but are missing just a few things that could have made them even better. Let’s dive right in!

Worst in Tier: Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)


One could argue this movie belongs in C Tier, but I don’t believe there’s a bad Guardians movie. The ensemble cast is just too entertaining for any of these movies to flop in my mind and the soundtrack in this one is my personal favorite out of the three having grown up on my mom’s favorite songs from the 80s.

That said, this movie is clearly the weakest of the Guardians trilogy and I think that mainly stems from how annoying Ego is. I suppose that’s the purpose of him, but the maniacal, all-powerful father figure is a bit much for me. And really far too many heroes in the MCU have daddy issues (looking at your Gamora). Mantis also feels like a somewhat weak addition to the team, and the constant push and pull between Gamora and Nebula can get a bit old. Also I kinda liked when Starlord was just a dude from earth rather than a demigod, but I guess they have to stick to the original content.

Still, this movie somehow makes Yondu a meaningful character when I didn’t think much about him in the first film. We also get baby groot who can at times give baby yoda (I know, Grogu) a run for his money in terms of cuteness. And as always we get the entertaining team dynamics of the often dysfunctional Guardians. So it’s hard to go wrong with this movie, but there is better out there.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)


Before Steve Rogers became the most unbearable Avenger to me, he started off as a nice enough skinny guy from Brooklyn. I liked him far better that way.

Yet another origin story, this one goes through careful lengths to convince us Steve deserves to be Captain America long before he ever takes the serum. It’s mostly convincing, and even after he does take the serum you see him maintain his sense of beliefs throughout the movie, especially with his sacrifice at the end. Unfortunately I can’t say he maintains these beliefs throughout the series, but I’ll try to stick to just this movie for now.

The First Avenger also benefits from being a historical movie where we get to see a superhero in the past which was at the time a rare occurrence in the MCU. It adds a whole element to the story since technology and lifestyle were obviously different back then, but Captain America’s abilities are the same. We also got introduced to the great character of Peggy Carter who I’m glad got to personally shine in Agent Carter and What If? It’s a shame they ruined her character arc at the end of Endgame as well. She clearly showed she’s okay without Steve.

Overall, Steve Rogers is in his most likable form in The First Avenger, and I enjoy the World War II and Hydra plotline. Also I love tracking the infinity stones in the movies leading up to Endgame and though the Tesseract is obviously the Space Stone, it’s very interesting to me that Red Skull is really the only connection to the Soul Stone before Infinity War. I miss when the MCU felt this connected.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2023)

This movie is sad in a way you don’t usually get from the Guardians. We get to know a lot about Rocket’s traumatic past, and the alternate Gamora never fully learns to love the Guardians as the other version did. But along with the somber parts of the movie there is a touching tone as you can feel the friendship between this group that has been to hell and back together and for the most part stayed in one piece, unlike the actual Avengers. 

I really thought Star-Lord was going to die in this one. I was shocked it wasn’t the case. I actually think it would’ve made more sense if he had. The ending of the movie felt like the end of the Guardians, and even though it was nice Peter reunited with his grandfather, it seemed a quiet way for his story to end. Not every superhero has to die a heroic death I suppose, but it felt like that’s where Peter was headed. 

All good things must come to an end. And I hope they don’t bring back the Guardians too soon. This seemed like a good end to their legacy and their playlist. 

Black Widow (2021)


If I was ranking these films on how many times I’ve watched them, Black Widow would be close to the top. Natasha is easily my favorite MCU character, and the addition of Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in this is pure gold. 

However, all the best parts are front-loaded in this movie. It starts out exactly how you would want with Jason Bourne type of vibes and a credit roll that is darker than anything the MCU has put out to date. This is what you’d expect from a Black Widow backstory, as Natasha’s history is one of the more traumatic experiences any character in the MCU has gone through. As a result, Natasha is gritty and fierce. She has no powers so always has to dive into the fray without any significant line of defense. One big hit and it’s over for her.

For these reasons I didn’t want Marvel to water this story down, and while this movie could have easily been R-rated if they really went into her backstory, the beginning of the movie doesn’t pull too many punches. It sets up a darker and more intriguing tone, with the fights on the bridge and in the Budapest apartment following the format of so many great spy films before. Yet around the halfway mark it clearly turns back into a flashy superhero story, and not a great one at that. The CGI is notoriously bad, and the tone goes from gritty to fantastical in terms of the action sequences and locations. I would’ve much preferred the continuation of the Jason Bourne tone we got in the beginning but it didn’t last.

Even with the negatives, Black Widow would’ve been a great launch to a whole trilogy for Natasha. But that’s the other big problem with this movie. She’s already dead. So the stakes are lower because you know she’s not going to die in this film, but you’re also not as invested because her character is already gone. All the other MCU characters that got a standalone film got multiple, and it feels they just threw in Black Widow at the last minute to appease some fans. I guess thanks for throwing us some bone for her character, but really Natasha deserved far better in the MCU. 

Also please tell me how she can survive falling 30,000 feet from the Red Room with no parachute but not the fall on Vormir? We were robbed of seeing Natasha with Yelena in the future and I’m still not over it. 

Best in Tier: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)


I’ll take great hand-to-hand combat over large CGI fights every day of the week and Shang-Chi has loads of that. The fight scenes on the bus and in the skyscraper in Shang-Chi are some of the best I’ve seen as an avid action movie consumer and make this movie constantly entertaining to rewatch.

This is an origin story of sorts, but our hero is already refined in terms of fighting and ability. Awkwafina is her usual great comedic self, and the “Mandarin’s” prolonged cameo was fantastic in every way. The only negative was actually the final fight scene where yet another Marvel CGI fight enters the picture. Why go from some of the best hand-to-hand combat in the whole MCU throughout the movie to them fighting on two dragons at the end? At the very least they could’ve used more of the Ten Rings considering that’s what the movie is supposed to be about.

Shang-Chi was in my opinion entertaining from start to finish, but felt a bit unrelated to some of the other MCU content that came out around that time. They threw Wong in to be some sort of connection, but I’m not really seeing Shang-Chi traveling the multiverse. Still, I’m interested to see what they do with a sequel now that he is the official owner of the Ten Rings.

There’s still 12 more movies left and only 2 more tiers. Tune in next time to see if your favorite is at the top of our list!

Ranking the MCU in 2024

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