With the release of Ironheart's final three episodes last Tuesday, Phase Five has reached its end. Starting with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania in 2023, much has changed over the past two and a half years.
That movie was meant to introduce us to Kang and his many Variants after Loki set the stage for him to be the Multiverse Saga's big bad. As we write this, Kang is out, and Doctor Doom is in. Oh, and Mephisto just made his debut....on streaming.
It's been an unpredictable few years of storytelling, with the latter half largely devoted to Marvel Studios' attempt to move back to quality rather than quantity. Unfortunately, many of the movies and TV shows in this first half of our Phase Five ranking fall under the "quantity" category.
You can find out how we've ranked a tumultuous Phase Five by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
14. What If...?
What If...? season 1 had a couple of forgettable episodes, but for the most part, it offered viewers an exciting glimpse at the Multiverse's potential.
The same could not be said for the second and third seasons. Released a year apart, both underwhelmed, though season 3 was particularly bad. There were still some fun concepts and stories, but the show ended up being a misfire and became less "What If...?" and more "WTF?" as the focus shifted to just telling silly, outlandish stories.
Worryingly, What If...?'s Matthew Chauncey is now set to serve as X-Men '97's showrunner following Beau DeMayo's departure.
13. Echo
Marvel Studios dumped the entirety of Echo on Disney+ in a single day, and this "Marvel Spotlight" series was forgotten almost as quickly as it arrived.
Vincent D'Onofrio was on top form as The Kingpin, as was Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez. However, while we appreciated the respectful, deep dive into Choctaw Nation history and lore, it was a strange way to give a street-level character superpowers and, unfortunately, felt a little tacked on.
Echo was somewhat butchered in the editing room, with a flashback episode chopped up and dispersed throughout the remaining episodes. Still, Daredevil's brief cameo was fun.
12. Secret Invasion
Even with the controversial death of Maria Hill (a huge waste in hindsight), Secret Invasion started strong and remained a showcase for what an incredible talent Samuel L. Jackson is from start to finish.
Unfortunately, the series declined in quality massively as it continued. The heroic Skrull concept was a misfire, and the less said about the visual effects used to bring the Super-Skrull to life, the better. We'd criticise the villain, but can't even remember his name.
Still, there were ideas here that worked, and Jackson massively elevated the material. It's just a shame this event and concept were wasted on a largely forgettable streaming series.
11. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
The decision to shoot Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania almost entirely on The Volume made it a largely soulless affair that proved the technology was no substitute for real locations and sets.
The threequel had a lot of redeeming qualities, including a superb performance from Jonathan Majors and a long-overdue exploration of the Quantum Realm and its place in the Multiverse. However, wasting Kang the Conqueror on an Ant-Man movie was an insane decision that cut the Saga's big bad off at the knees.
Majors' legal troubles didn't help matters, but it was this movie that marked the beginning of the end for Kang and opened the door to Doctor Doom.
10. The Marvels
The Marvels wasn't that bad, but it was a disappointment. What should have been an epic event movie played more like an extended episode of a Disney+ TV series, and it's still baffling that it ignored the events of Secret Invasion, seeing as Nick Fury and the Skulls were front and centre.
Very much a "quantity over quality" movie from this era of MCU storytelling, the Captain Marvel sequel bombed. Still, the cast was on top form, there were some legimttaley great gags and fight scenes, and a post-credits scene featuring a freaking X-Man!
Similar to how Avengers: Endgame made Thor: The Dark World a more pivotal, memorable adventure than it was in 2013, the same might eventually be the case for The Marvels after Avengers: Doomsday is released.
9. Ironheart
Ironheart was no masterpiece, but the three-year wait from the end of production to release ensured the VFX were top-notch, and that made a huge difference.
Riri Williams' story hit a lot of familiar beats and rarely broke new ground. Still, The Hood was a compelling villain, and the long-awaited introduction of Mephisto should be a game-changer for the MCU (the casting of Sacha Baron Cohen was also pitch-perfect).
Like Echo, Marvel pretty much just dumped this series on Disney+ and moved on. With Armor Wars scrapped, we don't know when or where Ironheart's characters will return, but we definitely want to see (most of) them again.
8. Captain America: Brave New World
Make no mistake about it, Captain America: Brave New World was almost certainly one of the MCU's most reshot movies. While we can cry and complain about The Leader's redesign and the MIA Serpent Society, something about that original cut clearly wasn't working.
The movie we got was fine. It introduced Adamantium, featured some stellar action scenes, and delivered an epic Red Hulk battle that left us wanting more. Anthony Mackie also cemented himself as the MCU's new Captain America.
The Leader's arc, everything about The Falcon, and the largely pointless Sidewinder remain weak points, but this movie was solid. Still, like Captain Marvel, this Captain deserved better and will hopefully be redeemed in Avengers: Doomsday next December.
Check back here later this week to find out how we ranked the rest of the Multiverse Saga's Phase Five offerings!