Movies: The Best Series In the MCU (According to HF)

[94 Oil Drops]

For the record, there aren't many Marvel movies that I "love" per say. The ones that really stuck with me however were the Guardians of the Galaxy films. I'm a sci-fi lover and I really enjoy the humerus interactions between the characters. The characters themselves are great too. Avengers is my second choice. So what's your favorite MCU series? Or do you simply not care for any of them?

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[Unholy Diver]

Black Panther?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

GOTG pretty easily

 

[NyQuil]

Black Panther?

Of all the ones to forget.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Season one was meh. Seasons 2-7 were great. Seasons just kept getting better till the very end.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Of all the ones to forget.

I'll admit that was dumb of me. Lol guess my brain kept thinking about trilogies and not much else. I kinda fixed that in the poll.

 

[NyQuil]

I'll admit that was dumb of me. Lol guess my brain kept thinking about trilogies and much else. I kinda fixed that in the poles.

No worries.

I think I'd have to vote based on consistency of quality, so I'd probably go:

1. Captain America (I think all 3 movies are solid)
2. Avengers (Also very good, I just think it's cheating a bit because of the novelty of getting the band together)
3. Iron Man (I just really like Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark)

My top 5 individual films are probably:

1. Captain America: Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. Black Panther
5. Avengers: Endgame

Edit: I’m swapping in Thor: Ragnarok for the 1st Avengers film which in retrospect was sort of by the numbers.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Guardians for me though Winter Soldier is my favorite MCU film. 1st Captain America was OK. Civil War felt more like an Avengers film.

 

[HanSolo]

GotG by a long shot imo. The most consistent. Guardians 1 is, to me, the best non Avengers MCU movie. Guardians 2 is the low point but it's still a pretty good movie bogged down by the silliness (and not the fun kind of silly) of the Ego plot.

Avengers quadrilogy (Age of Ultron seriously holds it back. What a disappointing mess that movie was)

Spiderman (doesn't hit the highest highs of the MCU but if No Way Home is the low point, it's a pretty serviceable, consistent, if safe trilogy)

Captain America (First Avenger is big wasted potential some great moments bogged down by really stupid shit)

Thor (Ragnarok is the only good movie in the set. It's great, but the rest range from meh to awful)

Ant Man (all the movies were mediocre. All of them. Ant man works better as a side character. Quantumania is especially disappointing given the hype)

The Disney+ shows shouldn't count. none of them reach the heights of the best of the MCU.

 

[HanSolo]

Of all the ones to forget.

Black Panther is only two movies. It's not really a series yet. If you include it, you have to include Doctor Strange and soon, Captain Marvel.

 

[NyQuil]

Black Panther is only two movies. It's not really a series yet. If you include it, you have to include Doctor Strange and soon, Captain Marvel.

It’s not a trilogy but it is a series.

This is just semantics anyway.

If someone values the Black Panther (or Dr Strange) movies that highly they should get a poll option and they do now.

In any event, it was more of a joke because of the subject matter of the Black Panther films.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I voted Guardians of the Galaxy. I think it's a good step ahead of everything else.

- I really don't like the first Captain America film, which sinks an otherwise pretty good trilogy.
- The last Iron Man film's final third is pure crap, ruins the trilogy.
- Can't stand the first two Thor, so bye bye. The third is top tier though.
- The spidey films are the most consistent, and pretty good, I guess they'd end up second on here for me.
- The Black Panther film is probably my favorite of the whole thing, but the sequel was meh.
- I rewatched the last two Avengers films recently and thought they were very good, not much of a fan of the first two though.
- Antman sucks.
- Both WandaVision and Loki's first few episodes are great, but they couldn't maintain it throughout and they drag...

But then again, I'll repeat myself and add that IMO the Netflix shows were better than the MCU. Well, certainly Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Punisher. The rest was average / below average.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

I voted Guardians of the Galaxy. I think it's a good step ahead of everything else.

- I really don't like the first Captain America film, which sinks an otherwise pretty good trilogy.
- The last Iron Man film's final third is pure crap, ruins the trilogy.
- Can't stand the first two Thor, so bye bye. The third is top tier though.
- The spidey films are the most consistent, and pretty good, I guess they'd end up second on here for me.
- The Black Panther film is probably my favorite of the whole thing, but the sequel was meh.
- I rewatched the last two Avengers films recently and thought they were very good, not much of a fan of the first two though.
- Antman sucks.
- Both WandaVision and Loki's first few episodes are great, but they couldn't maintain it throughout and they drag...

But then again, I'll repeat myself and add that IMO the Netflix shows were better than the MCU. Well, certainly Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Punisher. The rest was average / below average.

GOTG pretty easily

No worries.

I think I'd have to vote based on consistency of quality, so I'd probably go:

1. Captain America (I think all 3 movies are solid)
2. Avengers (Also very good, I just think it's cheating a bit because of the novelty of getting the band together)
3. Iron Man (I just really like Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark)

My top 5 individual films are probably:

1. Captain America: Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. Black Panther
5. Avengers: Endgame

Edit: I’m swapping in Thor: Ragnarok for the 1st Avengers film which in retrospect was sort of by the numbers.

Guardians for me though Winter Soldier is my favorite MCU film. 1st Captain America was OK. Civil War felt more like an Avengers film.

GotG by a long shot imo. The most consistent. Guardians 1 is, to me, the best non Avengers MCU movie. Guardians 2 is the low point but it's still a pretty good movie bogged down by the silliness (and not the fun kind of silly) of the Ego plot.

Avengers quadrilogy (Age of Ultron seriously holds it back. What a disappointing mess that movie was)

Spiderman (doesn't hit the highest highs of the MCU but if No Way Home is the low point, it's a pretty serviceable, consistent, if safe trilogy)

Captain America (First Avenger is big wasted potential some great moments bogged down by really stupid shit)

Thor (Ragnarok is the only good movie in the set. It's great, but the rest range from meh to awful)

Ant Man (all the movies were mediocre. All of them. Ant man works better as a side character. Quantumania is especially disappointing given the hype)

The Disney+ shows shouldn't count. none of them reach the heights of the best of the MCU.

Glad you guys are showing some love for the guardians. I do actually think that the only series that comes close to trumping them was the avengers because Infinity War is my favorite Marvel film, followed by Guardians 2 and Guardians 1.

As far as the worst series? Probably Thor. Ragnorok was quite good but the first couple were meh. The fourth one is trash. I really disliked Captain Marvel and hated Loki. I found Loki so bad that I couldn't even finish it.

 

[HanSolo]

I voted Guardians of the Galaxy. I think it's a good step ahead of everything else.

- I really don't like the first Captain America film, which sinks an otherwise pretty good trilogy.
- The last Iron Man film's final third is pure crap, ruins the trilogy.
- Can't stand the first two Thor, so bye bye. The third is top tier though.
- The spidey films are the most consistent, and pretty good, I guess they'd end up second on here for me.
- The Black Panther film is probably my favorite of the whole thing, but the sequel was meh.
- I rewatched the last two Avengers films recently and thought they were very good, not much of a fan of the first two though.
- Antman sucks.
- Both WandaVision and Loki's first few episodes are great, but they couldn't maintain it throughout and they drag...

But then again, I'll repeat myself and add that IMO the Netflix shows were better than the MCU. Well, certainly Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Punisher. The rest was average / below average.

I really thought I was alone in thinking the first Avengers isn't that great. Like it's not bad. Certainly not as bad as Age of Ultron. But once you consider it for a re-watch the whole thing feels like it was built in a lab to make audiences cheer. It's campy fun, sure. But I think the best the MCU has to offer does a lot of things better.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Figured the Avengers would be running away with this. Age of Ultron was a swing and a miss because they had Spader play a funny Ultron but Guardians 2 was pretty ridiculous as well. I haven’t seen Guardians 3 yet to be fair.

Avengers 1 hasn’t aged well but if we’re being honest a lot of MCU movies don’t age well. At the time it came out A1 was a spectacle and a ton of fun. Infinity War was so well done not only is it the single best MCU content it’s an achievement for movie making as a whole. Finales are always tough but Endgame put a great bow on the MCU and the 12 year saga.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Glad you guys are showing some love for the guardians. I do actually think that the only series that comes close to trumping them was the avengers because Infinity War is my favorite Marvel film, followed by Guardians 2 and Guardians 1.

As far as the worst series? Probably Thor. Ragnorok was quite good but the first couple were meh. The fourth one is trash. I really disliked Captain Marvel and hated Loki. I found Loki so bad that I couldn't even finish it.

Hard to say worst for me.

Thor and Iron Man series both pretty much only had one good film the rest were bad.

Antman hasn't had a good film though I'm not sure they were as bad as the Iron Man 2 & 3 or Thor 1 & 2?

I find the Tom Holland Spidey films dull but probably a notch above some of the other MCU films.

Avengers I find the first over-rated, Ultron one of the worst films in the MCU and Endgame disjointed. Infinity War was really good though.

 

[Hivemind]

All of their series with 3+ films have had at least one clunker. For as good as Thor: Ragnarok was (peak MCU right there), The Dark World is so bad that it drags it down. The Avengers movies are dragged down by Age of Ultron (holy shit was that movie awful). GotG has to deal with GotG2 (and apparently the holiday special, which GotG3 just assumes viewers will have watched). Etc etc etc.

So I voted TV show (Loki).

 

[HanSolo]

All of their series with 3+ films have had at least one clunker. For as good as Thor: Ragnarok was (peak MCU right there), The Dark World is so bad that it drags it down. The Avengers movies are dragged down by Age of Ultron (holy shit was that movie awful). GotG has to deal with GotG2 (and apparently the holiday special, which GotG3 just assumes viewers will have watched). Etc etc etc.

So I voted TV show (Loki).

Cause of one line that Mantis is Quill's sister? It doesn't affect the plot and it's not a big logical leap from GotG2 given what Ego was doing. The bigger thing is you can't watch volume 3 as a self contained part of only the GotG trilogy without watching Avengers Infinity War and Endgame. Like yeah Quill explains how Gamora died and "came back" but you don't get the emotional impact without those movies.

 

[I am not exposed]

Probably Spiderman as all three films have been good 8 out of 10 films. The most consistent imo. Doesn't quite hit the highs of some of the other series. But definitely does not hit the lows of them either.

Avengers: First one was good. Don't hate Age of Ultron like everyone else, but it is a stepdown from the first one. Infinity Wars and Endgame are decent and a good way of closing this phase of MCU. But don't love them as much as most people. Enjoyable enough but no temptation to watch them again.

Iron Man: First one is a bit overrated but still the best one. The sequels are just kind of there.

Captain America: First one is a little above average. Winter Soldier is one of my favourite superhero movies! Third one is fine, although didn't care for the ending.

Guardians of the Galaxy: First one is great! Second one is decent. Haven't seen the third one.

Thor: First one is boring. Think I preferred the Dark World a bit more, but still nothing special. Ragnorok is great. Great balance of action and humour. Fourth one is awful. Somehow worse than the first two.

Antman: First one is good. I think I watched the second one, but not too sure. lol

Doctor Strange: First one is good. Second one is mediocre. Saw it at the cinema, and I was so annoyed I spent money on this I don't think I've been back to the cinema since. Doesn't help it was released on Disney+ about a month after I saw it in the big screen!

Black Panther: First one is okay. A bit overrated tbh. Haven't bothered seeing the second one.

Loki: Only watched the first episode. Didn't entice me to enough to continue.

Wandervision: Didn't finish the 1st episode.

Moon Knight: somehow got to the 2nd episode, which was bloody awful. Almost threw something at my TV. Needless to say I did not continue.

She-Hulk: awful. My partner was watching this so I caught the odd clip. Each time I rolled my eyes.

Hawkeye: The best TV show from this phase of MCU. Really enjoyable.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Watched this all, but overall fairly boring. Had potential to be way better.

Secret Invasion: Watched the first episode but not enough to entice me to watch the next episode. Might check out the rest at a later date.

 

[NyQuil]

I did a full re-watch through the films recently (sort of middle of the night baby stuff) and I had a few changes of heart on a number of things. I think two movies in particular were better than I remembered them, and one was worse.

1. Captain America: Civil War

-Originally I thought it was just a few loosely connected set piece battles, but similarly to how some people approached Infinity War, it's more interesting to watch it with Daniel Bruhl's Zemo as the focal point.

-As he says, he knew he couldn't defeat the Avengers himself, but could he get them to defeat themselves? That final line where he's mocked by Agent Ross about failing so spectacularly - "Did I?"

-Ultimately, he came as close to defeating the Avengers as anyone, as just an ordinary man. It took Banner to actually contact Steve Rogers in the Infinity War Saga - Stark couldn't even do it himself.

-A good superhero movie needs a good villain and I think he did a fine job. I think the MCU has a tendency towards BIGGER = BETTER so it's creative to have a regular person step up and rip them apart.

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron

-I disliked this movie originally, and it certainly still has its awkward moments. I still don't like how the twins were used in the film.

-I've come around to appreciate James Spader's Ultron, but I think it's mainly because I like James Spader. It's basically just him in a metal suit (pretty much exactly as he's been in the Blacklist or Boston Legal), so if you don't like James Spader, you aren't going to like Ultron.

-I find his peculiar mannerisms unique, differentiating him a bit from a more conventional BBEG like Thanos who is generally stark and gloomy and dire for the most part.

-The film's opening sequence followed by the party does a good job of showing the progression of their interactions with each other, becoming more familiar and cozy. The original Avengers was obviously their formation movie, but a lot of the dialogue and interactions are pretty wooden in that flim as a result.

-On another note, does Andy Serkis just knock any role he plays out of the park? The guy is a total chameleon. I'm glad he got another go in Black Panther.

-The flying city is actually quite impressive visually, but the endless robot fight is just a rehashing of the endless Chitauri fight from the first movie.

3. Avengers - Infinity War

-I already knew the Infinity Gauntlet storyline before watching this, so it's wasn't much of a surprise or shock when it came to the ending.

-Thanos himself might be the only really interesting part of the film, and I know people have said that you should approach it as his movie (kind of how I advised approaching Civil War).

-Re-watching this, I found it fairly boring. It reminded me of the first Avengers movie. I didn't really care for the Children of Thanos as villains, and it just sort of jumps around from CGI overload battle to CGI overload battle.

-Endgame does such a better job of delving into the emotions of the characters from beginning to end.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I did a full re-watch through the films recently (sort of middle of the night baby stuff) and I had a few changes of heart on a number of things. I think two movies in particular were better than I remembered them, and one was worse.

1. Captain America: Civil War

-Originally I thought it was just a few loosely connected set piece battles, but similarly to how some people approached Infinity War, it's more interesting to watch it with Daniel Bruhl's Zemo as the focal point.

-As he says, he knew he couldn't defeat the Avengers himself, but could he get them to defeat themselves? That final line where he's mocked by Agent Ross about failing so spectacularly - "Did I?"

-Ultimately, he came as close to defeating the Avengers as anyone, as just an ordinary man. It took Banner to actually contact Steve Rogers in the Infinity War Saga - Stark couldn't even do it himself.

-A good superhero movie needs a good villain and I think he did a fine job. I think the MCU has a tendency towards BIGGER = BETTER so it's creative to have a regular person step up and rip them apart.

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron

-I disliked this movie originally, and it certainly still has its awkward moments. I still don't like how the twins were used in the film.

-I've come around to appreciate James Spader's Ultron, but I think it's mainly because I like James Spader. It's basically just him in a metal suit (pretty much exactly as he's been in the Blacklist or Boston Legal), so if you don't like James Spader, you aren't going to like Ultron.

-I find his peculiar mannerisms unique, differentiating him a bit from a more conventional BBEG like Thanos who is generally stark and gloomy and dire for the most part.

-The film's opening sequence followed by the party does a good job of showing the progression of their interactions with each other, becoming more familiar and cozy. The original Avengers was obviously their formation movie, but a lot of the dialogue and interactions are pretty wooden in that flim as a result.

-On another note, does Andy Serkis just knock any role he plays out of the park? The guy is a total chameleon. I'm glad he got another go in Black Panther.

-The flying city is actually quite impressive visually, but the endless robot fight is just a rehashing of the endless Chitauri fight from the first movie.

3. Avengers - Infinity War

-I already knew the Infinity Gauntlet storyline before watching this, so it's wasn't much of a surprise or shock when it came to the ending.

-Thanos himself might be the only really interesting part of the film, and I know people have said that you should approach it as his movie (kind of how I advised approaching Civil War).

-Re-watching this, I found it fairly boring. It reminded me of the first Avengers movie. I didn't really care for the Children of Thanos as villains, and it just sort of jumps around from CGI overload battle to CGI overload battle.

-Endgame does such a better job of delving into the emotions of the characters from beginning to end.

Part of me is still surprised they went through with the snap. I was afraid they'd wuss out of doing it and let the threat be enough danger.

I really enjoyed the frantic pacing. It really highlights the desperation on the Avengers side and cranks up how dangerous Thanos is if he has them all scrambling and panicking. It almost plays like a horror movie where they're desperately trying to stay 1 step ahead.

Ultimately I loved Infinity War because of Thanos. He's such a complex and nuanced villain. He's a zealot who's convinced he's saving the universe but you also see him struggle with the weight of the cost to do it.

It adds a layer for me to view it as Thanos being the protagonist.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Guardians over Avengers by a hair, just due to the strength of all 3 Guardians movies. Infinity War is the best MCU movie for my money though.

 

[HanSolo]

I did a full re-watch through the films recently (sort of middle of the night baby stuff) and I had a few changes of heart on a number of things. I think two movies in particular were better than I remembered them, and one was worse.

1. Captain America: Civil War

-Originally I thought it was just a few loosely connected set piece battles, but similarly to how some people approached Infinity War, it's more interesting to watch it with Daniel Bruhl's Zemo as the focal point.

-As he says, he knew he couldn't defeat the Avengers himself, but could he get them to defeat themselves? That final line where he's mocked by Agent Ross about failing so spectacularly - "Did I?"

-Ultimately, he came as close to defeating the Avengers as anyone, as just an ordinary man. It took Banner to actually contact Steve Rogers in the Infinity War Saga - Stark couldn't even do it himself.

-A good superhero movie needs a good villain and I think he did a fine job. I think the MCU has a tendency towards BIGGER = BETTER so it's creative to have a regular person step up and rip them apart.

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron

-I disliked this movie originally, and it certainly still has its awkward moments. I still don't like how the twins were used in the film.

-I've come around to appreciate James Spader's Ultron, but I think it's mainly because I like James Spader. It's basically just him in a metal suit (pretty much exactly as he's been in the Blacklist or Boston Legal), so if you don't like James Spader, you aren't going to like Ultron.

-I find his peculiar mannerisms unique, differentiating him a bit from a more conventional BBEG like Thanos who is generally stark and gloomy and dire for the most part.

-The film's opening sequence followed by the party does a good job of showing the progression of their interactions with each other, becoming more familiar and cozy. The original Avengers was obviously their formation movie, but a lot of the dialogue and interactions are pretty wooden in that flim as a result.

-On another note, does Andy Serkis just knock any role he plays out of the park? The guy is a total chameleon. I'm glad he got another go in Black Panther.

-The flying city is actually quite impressive visually, but the endless robot fight is just a rehashing of the endless Chitauri fight from the first movie.

3. Avengers - Infinity War

-I already knew the Infinity Gauntlet storyline before watching this, so it's wasn't much of a surprise or shock when it came to the ending.

-Thanos himself might be the only really interesting part of the film, and I know people have said that you should approach it as his movie (kind of how I advised approaching Civil War).

-Re-watching this, I found it fairly boring. It reminded me of the first Avengers movie. I didn't really care for the Children of Thanos as villains, and it just sort of jumps around from CGI overload battle to CGI overload battle.

-Endgame does such a better job of delving into the emotions of the characters from beginning to end.

Civil War gets unfairly panned as I think your analysis is fairly on point. That said, the writing is a bit..tortured in its attempt to manufacture its conflict. Tony's stance on the Sokovia Accords feels contradictory to his character but at least they made a decent enough effort to lay foundation for his motivations. Everyone else it just felt rushed, which it had to be given the size of the cast. So by the time you get to the airport scene everything feels shoehorned to, like I said, manufacture conflict. But overall the movie is strong and I'd say it still fits into the upper "good" half of the MCU.

As for Age of Ultron, yeah there's some good things going on in it. But you could feel Whedon's exhaustion emanating from the movie. The dialogue is lazy, the pacing is bad, some of the writing decisions are downright stupid, and ultimately it's a memorable story only because it's a massive superhero team up flick, but it's not a story I think many look back on fondly. There's just not a lot of joy to be found in it. For all of the first Avengers' flaws, at least it's campy fun. Age of Ultron is mostly a miserable experience. But yes, the visuals are pretty strong.

And last, your points on Infinity War and Endgame are good. I'd agree that the strength of the movie is the handling of the post snap reality and emotional costs associated with fighting back against Thanos. It's in the upper tier of MCU movies with Infinity War for me but where the emotional resonance sings, a lot of the time travel stuff feels cheap. The effect of all the heroes coming back from the "blip" wears off after the first watch and the final fight, while visually spectacular feels really...shoddily put together. It's just a montage of cathartic moments that on reviewing kind of cheapens Tony's big sacrifice a bit. I don't mind the movie's flaws because it's meant as a bombastic send off to three phases of interconnected films, but Infinity War works better as a movie front to back and is commendable for working such a functional narrative around so many characters.

I think it also deserves praise for the characterization of Thanos between solidifying the big threat of the Infinity War and delving into his back story. And that backstory, coincidentally, resulted in Nebula and Gamora ending up becoming two of my favorite MCU characters. I could talk about that a lot more but the point is the level of character work they managed to do with like 70+ characters squeezed in is impressive.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Tough call between Guardians and Avengers.

Gave Guardians a slight nod since all 3 movies are great and Age of Ultron is just meh, which brings down the Avengers average a bit, even though those other are 3 movies are great and Infinity War might be my favorite MCU movie.

Captain America probably gets the bronze. Winter Soldier is probably my 2nd favorite, Civil War probably lands in my Top 5-7 and the first one isn't bad either.

All of the Spider Mans are good too, but the last one is probably the only one that cracks my top 10. As someone else said, they're safe.

 

[NyQuil]

Civil War gets unfairly panned as I think your analysis is fairly on point. That said, the writing is a bit..tortured in its attempt to manufacture its conflict. Tony's stance on the Sokovia Accords feels contradictory to his character but at least they made a decent enough effort to lay foundation for his motivations. Everyone else it just felt rushed, which it had to be given the size of the cast. So by the time you get to the airport scene everything feels shoehorned to, like I said, manufacture conflict. But overall the movie is strong and I'd say it still fits into the upper "good" half of the MCU.

As for Age of Ultron, yeah there's some good things going on in it. But you could feel Whedon's exhaustion emanating from the movie. The dialogue is lazy, the pacing is bad, some of the writing decisions are downright stupid, and ultimately it's a memorable story only because it's a massive superhero team up flick, but it's not a story I think many look back on fondly. There's just not a lot of joy to be found in it. For all of the first Avengers' flaws, at least it's campy fun. Age of Ultron is mostly a miserable experience. But yes, the visuals are pretty strong.

And last, your points on Infinity War and Endgame are good. I'd agree that the strength of the movie is the handling of the post snap reality and emotional costs associated with fighting back against Thanos. It's in the upper tier of MCU movies with Infinity War for me but where the emotional resonance sings, a lot of the time travel stuff feels cheap. The effect of all the heroes coming back from the "blip" wears off after the first watch and the final fight, while visually spectacular feels really...shoddily put together. It's just a montage of cathartic moments that on reviewing kind of cheapens Tony's big sacrifice a bit. I don't mind the movie's flaws because it's meant as a bombastic send off to three phases of interconnected films, but Infinity War works better as a movie front to back and is commendable for working such a functional narrative around so many characters.

I think it also deserves praise for the characterization of Thanos between solidifying the big threat of the Infinity War and delving into his back story. And that backstory, coincidentally, resulted in Nebula and Gamora ending up becoming two of my favorite MCU characters. I could talk about that a lot more but the point is the level of character work they managed to do with like 70+ characters squeezed in is impressive.

The ending of Endgame is really the worst part of the movie.

The travelogue through various parts of the MCU and particularly Steve and Tony’s trip to the 1970s is where it really shines.

I think Brolin does a decent job of differentiating the two Thanos’, which gives him a bit more gravitas because you see the cost of his quest with the first iteration emotionally as opposed to the second just grabbing all the stones piece meal.

What’s interesting about Ultron is that I focus on the in between filler scenes more than the actual main plot. The dialogue is funny, like all of the various scenarios where Thor’s hammer could be lifted, or Claw’s fear of cuttlefish. Also the scenes at Hawkeye’s home. The battles are forgettable.

As for Civil War - it’s definitely contrived. I mean, they level a civilian airport fighting each other. At some point, Stark just buying everything they destroy just seems shallow.

Ultimately, that whole battle is basically a diversion that has nothing to do with the real threat, and is more reminiscent of a comic book’s “What If?” query than a consistent and realistic universe.

I remember thinking, “er, doesn’t this prove that the accords are necessary?”

The fight at the end among the three of them made a lot more sense to me.