Every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, ranked from worst to best

Conventional critical wisdom holds that the floor and the ceiling of the 15-year-strong Marvel Cinematic Universe, a.k.a the MCU, are not so far apart—that in devising a recipe for success, the company has managed to avoid any outright disasters, even as its principle of quality without risk more or less negates the possibility of a true pop masterpiece of the genre. Still, as anyone who’s sat through both Eternals or Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania and the Oscar-winning zeitgeist phenomenon Black Panther can surely attest, there remains a range of quality within this franchise of franchises. Which is to say, while most MCU movies have been hits, they are not all created equal.

How does Marvel’s latest cinematic installment, The Marvels, measure up to the 32 movies that have come before it? Here The A.V. Club offers our comprehensive ranking, from worst to best, for every Marvel movie to date, going all the way back to Iron Man in 2008. Like the studio, we wouldn’t dream of spoiling our endgame, but here’s a hint: Ed Norton fans, this won’t be your day of vindication.

This list was updated on November 10, 2023.

32. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Even back in 2008, the then-nascent MCU’s new version of The Incredible Hulk was something of a hedge. It recast and rebooted the character just five years after Ang Lee’s divisive (and memorable!) , yet left enough wiggle room for less attentive audience members to assume it was some form of sequel. When the role was recast again for The Avengers, this Universal release was further consigned to also-ran status, and with good reason. Though Ed Norton is well-cast as both soft-spoken Bruce Banner and his furious alter ego, and director Louis Leterrier knows his way around pulpy action, this watchable, forgettable movie’s brain-to-brawn ratio is all out of whack, perhaps in part due to Norton’s squabbles with the filmmakers over the movie’s tone. At the time, this was considered part and parcel with the actor’s difficult reputation. Years later, though, Edgar Wright, Joss Whedon, and others had their own behind-the-scenes struggles with the Marvel machine to relate. [Jesse Hassenger]