There's a lot of talk about superhero fatigue at the moment, and while we believe it's being blown out of proportion by comic book movie-hating journalists, 2023 has been a rough year for both Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. soon-to-be-defunct DC Extended Universe.
The MCU's Phase 5 began with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and was followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Secret Invasion, Loki, and The Marvels. The animated I Am Groot impressed and What If...? season 2 is right around the corner, but for now, we're focusing on Marvel's live-action offerings.
Unfortunately, those have been nothing if not hit-or-miss, and we're today sharing our ranking of them from worst to best. All of these movies and TV shows have generated debate among fans and you'll no doubt have plenty to say about where we place each of them!
To take a look through this ranking, all you need to do is click on the "Next" button below...
5. Secret Invasion
Secret Invasion started strong, with a shocking death and some of Samuel L. Jackson's best work as Nick Fury. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there as the story meandered along and we found ourselves ending the series with yet another CG-heavy battle.
The Super-Skrull concept had heaps of potential but felt largely wasted and the last couple of episodes felt like they'd been thrown together because much of what was shot probably didn't work. In fact, aside from some action beats, the finale was plain bad and Secret Invasion's impact on the wider MCU was minimal.
Relegating this storyline to a TV series was always a misstep on Marvel Studios' part. There are some great moments and performances scattered throughout, but this is one of those rare MCU projects which has no "rewatchability" factor to it whatsoever.
4. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Like Secret Invasion, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is no epic disaster. Jonathan Majors delivers a terrific performance as Kang the Conqueror and the character dynamics remain one of this franchise's saving graces. Unfortunately, the Quantum Realm was a massive let-down.
The decision to shoot on The Volume was by no means a bad one; just look at what it's done for Star Wars. The problem is, this subatomic reality - which has been teased since 2015's Ant-Man - was a drab, CG landscape with no interesting characters or visuals; filmmaker Peyton Reed just didn't have the necessary imagination.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's ending also fell flat, likely because it was the product of reshoots mere weeks before the threequel arrived in theaters. Ultimately, this was not the start that Phase 5 needed.
3. The Marvels
The Marvels is destined to go down in history as Marvel Studios' biggest box office flop, but we don't think it deserves that. Is it perfect? No. This should have been a high-stakes epic adventure and, instead, it's a breezy and fun team-up which feels more akin to a Disney+ TV series than a blockbuster movie.
Outside of the underwhelming villain, it is fun to spend time with these characters and Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani are hard to find fault with. Heck, there's even a game-changing post-credits scene which, somehow, has become just another Multiversal cameo in the eyes of many fans.
That speaks to significant problems within the wider Multiverse Saga, but The Marvels didn't deserve to be a victim of that. There's fun to be had here and, if you decided to miss it in theaters, we'd recommend making the sequel a priority on Blu-ray or Disney+.
2. Loki Season 2
The first season of Loki was among Marvel Studios' best TV shows and that trend continued with the second batch of episodes. It may have been light on Variants and cameos, but the series more than made up for that with compelling character arcs, high-stakes, and incredible performances from its cast.
Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson once again stole the show, while Ke Huy Quan established himself as one of the MCU's best new characters. As for that bittersweet ending, it gave the Multiverse an origin story and set up a fascinating new status quo for "God Loki."
Marvel Studios has struggled when it comes to delivering consistently good TV shows. However, Loki is proof it can be done and that it's possible to deliver big screen visual effects on streaming; unfortunately, we don't anticipate a third season and likely won't see this character again until the next Avengers movies.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
For a time, it looked like James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might not happen. Thankfully, it did, and heading into the threequel this past summer, we expected the filmmaker to deliver one of the best MCU movies to date. And guess what? He did exactly that.
Rocket's origin story was a heartbreaking experience and there were plenty of tear-inducing moments to be found here. However, there was also a superb soundtrack, plenty of laughs and a tonne of heart, all of which made Vol. 3 a very special experience.
That left us with one of Marvel Studios' best movies to date and the fact Gunn is now jumping ship to DC Studios and the DCU is a huge loss for this franchise. Still, he went out on a high and we're optimistic that another director will be able to do Star-Lord and company justice in future movies. It will be hard to top this, though!