The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 32nd film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is out and I was able to see it last night.

Seems like an appropriate time to rank them. This is, of course, just my opinion and it’s certainly subject to change:

32*. The Incredible Hulk.

This one draws an asterisk because it’s the only MCU film I haven’t actually seen. And since they replaced Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo for the character moving forward, is it really an MCU film?

31. Thor: Love and Thunder

You’ll notice a lot of recency bias in this list, so this one maybe isn’t the worst MCU film I’ve seen. But it’s down there. I likely was influenced negatively by the Jane has cancer storyline as well; a little too close to home.

30. Thor: The Dark World
29. Thor

I wasn’t a big Thor fan, as you can tell by the placement of his solo movies on this version of the list. The best Thor was in Ragnarok and Infinity War.

28. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Other than giving me a reason to mimic James Spader saying “strings” and Steve Rogers’ budging Mjolnir (ok, that’s another cool Thor moment), this one was just… eh.

27. Eternals

I know, I know. I’m giving this one the benefit of the doubt because maybe it’s setting up some better movies down the line?

26. Iron Man 2

Initially, I had this one and Iron Man 3 flipped. But Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin edges Sam Rockwell in the campy villain department.

25. Doctor Strange

I feel like we get a better sense of Stephen Strange’s character in later movies.

24. Iron Man 3

See No. 26.

23. Captain Marvel

Honestly, this feels kind of a low ranking for this one, but it’s starting to get crowded at the top.

22. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The scare factor courtesy of Sam Raimi is great but the further we get away from the wow factor of Reed Richards and Professor Xavier in the MCU, the less cool it is.

21. Black Widow

Loses points because the timing of its release made it seem like an afterthought.

20. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 

A cool movie that loses points with the big CGI battle at the end. I know, it’s how the MCU rolls, but still…

19. Iron Man

Seems odd to place the first MCU film this far down the list but, as mentioned before, there’s a lot of great stuff above it.

18. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 

This one gets bumped down from where I originally had it because of the whole Jonathan Majors issue.

17. Spider-Man: Homecoming 

An aside: the best Spider-Man movie is Into the Spider-Verse but since that’s not officially an MCU movie…

16. Spider-Man: Far From Home

Shame we didn’t get more Mysterio.

15. Ant-Man and the Wasp
14. Ant-Man

What can I say, I like Paul Rudd. Apparently more than I like Thor.

13. Spider-Man: No Way Home 

“You were an Avenger? Is that like a band?”

12. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

It may have got a little dusty in the theater a time or two.

11. Guardians of the Galaxy

I have to be honest, when I first heard that this was going to be a movie, I thought it was a bad idea. Glad I was wrong.

10. The Avengers

A caveat: I’m not sure this is really one of the top 10 MCU movies but I feel like it has to be in there for now. As you can tell, this is a very thoughtful and scientific list.

9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

So, yeah, recency bias rears its ugly head. But I stick by this ranking. For now.

8. Avengers: Infinity War

I was on a work trip in Alabama when this came out but received my better half’s blessing to see it without her. I think that’s the last time I haven’t dragged her to one of these. She’s a champ.

7. Black Panther

And I think this is her favorite MCU movie so this one’s for her. And me, too: great movie.

6. Thor: Ragnarok

This one finally turned me into a Thor fan. Plus, we finally got “Immigrant Song.” Perfect needle drop.

5. Captain America: The First Avenger 

You’re going to notice something in common with four of my top 5. Maybe the guy whose name is in the title of 3 of them?

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

It took me a couple times to get into this one, I admit. Once I found the patience to watch the whole movie, it was worth it. I did make the mistake of rewatching it a few months after my dad passed; Yondu sacrificing himself for Peter hit even harder that time.

3. Captain America: Civil War
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 

I honestly could go either way with these. And either would be a worthy No. 1 if not for…

1. Avengers: Endgame 

I’ve rewatched this one so many times. So amazing. It’s all downhill from here.

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