All MCU Movies Ranked 2024: The Worst MCU Movies (F Tier)

 I was lucky enough to live through the golden age of the MCU through my middle school, high school, and college years with Endgame released in my senior year of college. I’ve seen almost every one of these movies in theaters and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of those Marvel credits first rolling. Some MCU movies are at the pinnacle of great blockbusters, but not every movie can be number one. In fact, some MCU movies are very far down my list of overall good movies, so let’s see what those F Tier ones are!

Note, though these are broken out by tier, I do rank them within each tier from worst to best in that tier.

Worst in Tier: Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)


Luckily, I didn’t waste money on seeing this one in theaters, but I vividly remember when I saw it. This was the first MCU movie after Infinity War, and while that is a tall order to live up to, Ant-Man and the Wasp has to be one of the biggest crash landings in the MCU after such major success just a few months before. 

I watched this movie in my college dorm with some friends and half way through I remember saying, “this is not a good movie.” Everyone else in the room immediately agreed as if they had also been thinking the same thing. We even considered turning it off in the middle of it but we didn’t in hopes there would be some good Infinity War easter egg at the end. There was something I suppose, but not nearly enough to justify the two hours of my life wasted. I don’t exaggerate either when I say everyone else in the room felt that way as well. 

I’ll be honest, Ant-Man is one of my least favorite avengers. I don’t find him all that compelling. But this movie especially felt like a tease. How do you go from such an expansive, high-stakes, story in Infinity War, to a seemingly trivial prequel story that barely connects? Sure saving Hope’s mom is a nice thought, but we just watched half the MCU dissolve into dust. I was hoping for a bit more in the movie right after that. We didn’t get it. 

This is one of the few MCU movies I’ve never rewatched and I don’t ever plan to. 

The Incredible Hulk (2008)


I sort of feel bad for this movie since it clearly is the odd one out when it comes to the MCU given the actor change of the main character. It feels like a story told too early, when the world was still just getting behind Iron Man. The tone of the movie was darker and more serious after coming off an exciting thrill from the introduction of RDJ’s Tony Stark. It was a hard sell.

I’m not sure what fully went into Marvel’s decision behind choosing the original six, but somehow the Hulk makes the least sense to me, even if he’s the most powerful. Part of the reason he isn’t one of my favorites is that the Hulk is necessarily a CGI alter-ego whereas many of the other Avengers still get to have their personality shine through in superhero form. I suppose Bruce Banner as a character is interesting, but I prefer Tony as the genius of the group.

Still, despite being the only superhero without a consistent main actor from the start which naturally put it behind the eight ball, I don’t have a strong dislike of this movie, unlike Ant-Man and the Wasp, so it sits at second to last. 

Eternals (2021)


It’s well known that the MCU post-Endgame has been…less than its usual standard in many cases. And while there have certainly been some other recent MCU flops, this feature film really had me worried about the downward trajectory of MCU content (which luckily has picked up the last few months). 

In short, I felt like I was watching a recent DC movie. Which in my mind isn’t much of a compliment. DC in many ways is the opposite of Marvel, with more serious tones and way overpowered heroes that don’t have great team chemistry. You get exactly this in Eternals, but at least in DC you’re familiar with the characters. 

The lack of team chemistry was unfortunate because I do like many of the actors individually in Eternals, but together I wasn’t sold on the team. Maybe that’s because Marvel has done teams so well in the past (Avengers, Guardians, etc) that I have high expectations, but I also just couldn’t get into the overall story that much either. It felt too big. Which is a common problem you’ll see I have with a lot of post-phase-three MCU. How are we supposed to believe everything going down in Eternals is just ignored by the rest of the Avengers? It’s hard to. But we have to stretch our imagination like this constantly in our post-Endgame world. 

Also I find it impossible not to cringe at the Harry Styles cameo, even if it went nowhere. 

Best in Tier: Captain America Civil War (2016)


I almost put this movie at the very bottom out of spite because it is honestly the most frustrating one for me to watch. You’ll see on this blog my dislike of Captain America, and it’s in full force in this movie. I could go on a page-long rant about everything wrong in this movie, but I’ll try to keep it contained to a few paragraphs. 

First off, the whole Sokovia Accords debate seemed contrived specifically so we could get to see the Avengers fight each other. And sure, that could be fun, except for the fact that the reason behind it seemed so unbelievable and out of character for everyone involved. Are we really supposed to believe Clint and Natasha would fight over something as trivial as the Accords? I mean Clint was sent as a SHIELD agent to kill Natasha when they were on opposite sides and even then wouldn’t, so how are we supposed to believe they suddenly would be fighting just because Steve and Tony can’t agree? And what about that shot from Vision that paralyzed Rhodey? He says he was distracted, but why is this super logical computer who can literally pick up Thor’s hammer suddenly firing off shots that could kill against former teammates? In so many other movies we see these heroes try to find peace first, but you’re telling me that none of them stepped in to stop them from destroying each other in that airport lot? Just doesn’t make sense for these characters. 

And don’t even get me started on that end fight with Steve and Tony. I’m sure I’ll get to my full comments on Steve Rogers in a future post, but his trajectory in the entire series seems like the opposite of Tony’s path to self sacrifice. He starts as a selfless soldier, but grows into an arrogant outlaw who thinks that because his name is Captain America that he is above everyone. I get he wants to defend Bucky who was under mind control, but Tony is valid in being angry at Bucky for killing his parents no matter the circumstance. There’s no need for Steve to beat Tony within an inch of his life just because Tony’s upset with Bucky. And then Steve ditches Tony to go on the run just to add insult to injury. A decision that most likely results in half the population dissolving just a few years later. I mean, if Captain America and Iron Man were fighting Thanos together in Wakanda, do you think they would have lost? Me neither.

Okay, I know my opinion on Civil War is harsh. I’m sure a lot of people enjoy this movie because of how many heroes are in it, and there is objectively good action. But I just can’t get over the actual Civil War in the film. Sorry, everyone.

So there’s the F Tier, the worst of the bunch. I may have been critical of the films in this tier, but there are only 4 out of 34 MCU movies here which I think still speaks to how great much of the MCU is.

Ranking the MCU in 2024

Follow us on social media!


Youtube

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ranking All 8 Harry Potter Movies

Best 10 Villains in MCU Movies

Ranking All Seven Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors