They're very well-made entertaining movies that tell universally appealing and relevant stories with themes that resonate in any culture or time. There's more to it than that but that's enough.
kalbahamut, your comments are excellent, and seem to come from someone with decency and sense. It's refreshing, especially with so many trolls out there.
Some of the movies are really awesome, but it has gotten a bit stale now. I think it may time for a pause in superhero stuff, and Disney needs to sell Star Wars to someone with a brain, and do the expanded universe stories. Lots of bozos running these great series into the ground. The last few Avengers movies have just seemed identical to a regular dude like me, who doesn't follow it too closely. It is just a huge CGI fustercluck, with a bunch of crap going on while one group fights the other over some magical stone or doohickey, and the plots are interchangeable and forgettable, with one or a few heroes dying at the end, but then something happens in another realm or in hell or space to set off the next chapter, and so forth. Kind of getting cheesy at this point. Might be excited for one by 2030 LOL.
I agree Disney has run Star Wars straight into the ground... but IMO the Marvel universe is still going very, very strong. Captain Marvel and Black Panther both kinda sucked, for MCU movies (in spite of the latter getting nominated for Best Picture), but other than those two? They haven't put out a single bad movie since Age of Ultron. WandaVision and Falcon & the Winter Soldier on Disney + were both great. Loki looks to be good, too. And even the very worst MCU movies (the 3 already mentioned + Iron Man 3 and the Dark World) are still leagues better than stuff like... Suicide Squad... or Jurassic World... or any Fast & Furious movie... or Twilight or Hunger Games or Harry Potter. If people are sick of superhero movies, that's fine, kill off the DCEU those movies mostly suck anyway. (Fox Xverse is already dead) But can't really hate on Marvel for being so successful that everyone is trying to copy them and cash in.... that's just Hollywood for you.
Superhero movies just aren't my thing, but I get why they're popular. I saw "Iron Man" because friends were going, and I actually enjoyed it. (I think I also saw the first Hulk movie, which was okay) But then I think someone loaned me a DVD of one of the ones with Chris Pratt in it, and it was everything I dreaded in these. Stupid dialogue, contrived "drama"....I didn't get very far into the movie and just couldn't take it.
Zero desire to see any others. I'm not a comic book person to begin with. But all I need is to get a whiff of a movie that eschews subtlety and nuance and that is so afraid the audience might not pick up on certain details that they simplistically spell everything out, and I'm looking for the remote. I certainly wouldn't spend $20 and 2 hours in a theater to see it.
I guess my ability to suspend disbelief for these types of movies just isn't there. As an older friend of mine used to say, "Everybody's entitled to their own stupid opinion." And that's mine. :-P
I think you would enjoy Thor: Ragnarok. It's very witty and charming (in a much different way than Guardians of the Galaxy, trust me) and has many memorable moments beyond what people would call "movie trailer eye candy". Taika Waititi is a treasure as director. You might be in the dark on a lot of the plot details but it might be worth it. Much of the same can be said for Spiderman: Homecoming. Also I really really like Captain America: The Winter Soldier but that one's a lot more classic action movie-esque so only check that one out if you end up liking my other recommendations, I guess.
^Agree. Thor Ragnarok definitely had a different feel to it than other Marvel movies. I enjoy Marvel movies, but sometimes they all feel the same, so it was a nice breath of fresh air compared to the others. Also, if you like comedy, both of the Ant Man movies are really great!
Yeah, I have been to see several with the family, and I enjoyed most of them, but the whole thing is getting kind of tired and silly at this point. They release so many now that they all feel the same, and interchangeable. If you have seen one, you have seen them all. One group of mutants or heroes takes a stance, and then the other group opposes them. Cue a battle with 500 magical creatures in a CGI circus that goes on for an hour, while they talk about some magic underwear or stones or space rocks or something. Some beloved character dies, even though he withstood a million bullets and lasers in the first half of the saga, and now bites the dust from a super javelin of capacity or something. We see something brewing in another galaxy or alternate reality, and the demons are getting ready to attack in the next movie. On and on and on, with some social messages and cheesy script. They can be fun, but getting old at this point. Maybe a break is needed for a few years.
So don't go see them, bozo. They'll make a billion dollars instead of a billion and fifteen dollars. and a few years later there'll be more so you can go back to see them with the rest of us.
I think you accidentally explained the thing you don't get. Anything this super popular, no matter how good, is going to attract a lot of hate and criticism, deserved or not. There are many, *many* films made every year worse than anything in the MCU, but they don't usually make anywhere near as much money (unless they have the words fast and/or furious in the title), and so don't invite the same level of scrutiny, envy, and resentment. And there's no virtue points won by signaling publicly that you don't like them.
3000 is the latest sequel to 300. In this one, 3000 Spartans attack the Avengers for control of the Death Star, which then destroys Sauron, which causes his twin brother and evil cousins to look for Thor, who was framed for the whole thing by Iron Man, who is really the guy who killed Peter Parker's uncle. Great film...
Somehow this whole series just missed me. I'm not above mainstream franchises, but for some reason the MCU just doesn't interest me at all. I saw Guardians of the Galaxy and Ragnarok. I thought they were both okay (probably like 6/10, if I were to rate). I have noticed, among the bits and pieces of the other films I've seen, that they all seem to have the same tone, pacing, etc. They feel like different episodes of the same TV series. It gets old pretty quick. Glad the big payoff seems to be landing for the people who invested all the time and energy into it.
You happened to watch the lightly toned funny ones. The story arc of the individual characters really pays off as the movies develop, especially when it comes to Iron Man and Thor.
While there are differences between films (Ant-Man is quite a bit different tonally than Captain America, or even take Thor 2 vs Thor 3 it's quite a bit different), there are also many similarities so your comment isn't unfair. That said... if you really loved a TV series, would you stop watching before it got to 22 episodes?
Kinda agree with jmellor. I used to absolutely love Marvel movies, but some of that started to die off once I realized how similar they all are. For the most part, the plots of these movies kinda revolve around just defeating the villain, with no real plot beyond that.
That being said, I still enjoy watching these movies, and there are definitely some that stand out in my mind. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies are hilarious and have a great soundtrack. "Ant Man" is also pretty funny and I really love how Scott Lang is the relatable, everyman hero in the franchise. "The Winter Soldier" and "Civil War" both had some interesting political/societal implications, "Black Panther" was all around a great movie, and, as mentioned above, "Thor: Ragnarok" was pretty witty and felt very different from the other movies.
I may have been a bit early jumping off the Marvel train, but I think most of the general public is jumping off now as well. The recent ones have been pretty bad I've heard, both in terms of critical reception and popularity. I think it's starting to become less of a "watch-every-movie" type thing and more a "pick-the-good ones" at this point; I'll watch the new Black Panther at some point but don't feel a need to see The Eternals ever.
They're not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Logan is part of Fox's X-Men universe, while Into the Spider-Verse and Venom are each their own thing from Sony.
I'm not much of a movie guy, so probably showing my ignorance here - but why do two Spiderman movies make this list, but not the scores of other Spiderman movies?
Because the Marvel Cinematic Universe refers specifically to a set of interconnected movies with a shared continuity (i.e., actors and characters from Iron Man show up in Thor; events in Avengers: Age of Ultron are important to the plot of Captain America: Civil War; characters, items, and plots from all the previous movies show up in Avengers: Infinity War; etc.) Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home are the only Spider-Man movies that are part of that shared continuity. All other Spider-Man movies (Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, the two Amazing Spider-Man movies, and the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse all have their own separate continuity, unconnected to the MCU movies.
I mean, these movies are inescapable. I've only seen two myself, but I got all but five of them. I see them listed in my Netflix, on billboards, TV ads, social media comments, even in the newspaper. They're a cultural phenomenon.
Having said that, a coworker told me how excited he was to see Black Panther the day it was released, and I responded that I have always wished I knew a little more about Huey Newton. So...
I take it you didn't like the film, thanks for sharing, I doubt I could have lived without knowing your personal feelings about a film on a quiz website.
Snidely and sarcastically saying that you "doubt [you] could have lived without knowing [their] personal feelings about a film on a quiz website" was your very clear and unequivocal opinion about their post. To say otherwise is merely parsing words.
You mocked them for expressing their opinion, and then promptly offered your own about their post. That makes you look hypocritical, which is why I called it out.
I'd only seen a couple of these years ago, then our son got us hooked on Guardians of the Galaxy, then we watched Thor: Ragnarok with him, and soon it was the Avengers. Now this grandma can't wait to see End Game. (They say admitting something is the first step to rehabilitation.)
If you change the title of this quiz to MCU Phases 1-3, or MCU The Infinity Saga, you could save yourself the trouble of having to make future updates. Endgame wrapped up the whole infinity stones story and most of the major character arcs from Phase 1, and Spider-Man Far From Home has been described by the directors as an extended epilogue to Endgame.
then he shouldn't change the title. I just thought it would be a nice self-contained quiz as is, with no need to reset everyone's points 2 or 3x a year whenever a new movie comes out.
^ the number of MCU films each year since 2008. Pretty soon there will be one coming out every month and updates for this will get harder and harder to keep up with. :)
In recent news Marvel has confirmed that the plan for upcoming phases is to be releasing a new film every quarter, so that's 4 per year, not even counting Sony's Spider-verse which looks to become increasingly interconnected. Still on track...
You're probably right. Though they are very much not connected now, there is so much multiverse stuff going on in the MCU now that they may end up connected after all.
I actually meant that the X-Men characters are going to start showing up in the MCU played by new actors and eventually there will be X-Men movies from Marvel Studios. I wasn't considering the multiverse stuff, but... that's possible, too. But that wouldn't technically make the older Fox X-films part of the MCU even if they were sort of tangentially connected to them. Maybe through Deadpool.
I don't find Brie Larson "unlikeable" but I did think that her performance in Captain Marvel was quite underwhelming and possibly one of the worst things about the movie. As for the movie itself, as kal said, it's extremely mediocre, especially compared to most of the other MCU films released around the same time.
Yeah, they always have to rewrite everything today to make it super woke for some reason. Like, if a character happens to be a 4 armed dwarf minority with 89 genders, that is ok, but it seems like everyone needs to be rewritten or thrown in just to virtue signal nowadays. Diversity is great if it happens, but diversity for the sake of diversity is pointless. So is having a woman who looks like Gwenyth Paltrow throwing 300 lbs. men out of windows and arresting male Marines in TV shows and movies. Just absurd. Write something that makes sense.
You haven't actually seen any of these movies, have you, bozo?
I didn't like Captain Marvel... it was badly written, the lead was terrible in it, the plot made no sense, just a very very mediocre movie. And I *do* understand the Brie Larson hate if you have seen some of her social media posts you might understand where it comes from. But as for the movie itself being "woke"... not really. There were 3 or 4 obnoxious throwaway lines in it that were obviously intended to get applause from the angry feminists in the crowd, and at the end when they started playing that No Doubt song that was a bit on the nose, but other than that it was not a political or agenda-driven movie, really. The marketing for it was. And the social media accounts of some people who worked on the movie including Larson's. but the movie wasn't like that; that's not the reason it was bad.
and as for the physics of small girls throwing large men around..... yeah... sometimes you're right that doesn't make a lot of sense and is just Hollywood silliness like somebody getting blown backward through a window when hit by buckshot, or really "smart" characters always being able to instantly calculate the odds of anything happening off the top of their heads with no data.... but in the case of Captain Marvel... she's a comic book superhero. If you can suspend your disbelief and allow that Hulk.. a 600 lb naked green dude... can punch a million-ton space ship barreling directly toward him out of the sky without breaking the skin on his knuckles, liquefying every bone in his body, or turning his legs into plasma... then I don't see why it's not believable that a 120 lb female should be able to do the same.
In retrospect I think it felt overrated because the expectations were very low to begin with, and it was only somewhat decent due to Samuel L. Jackson as young Nick Fury
Kind of weird putting this out at the beginning of 2021 when it includes 4 movies that haven't been released yet. Wouldn't it make more sense to put it on the front page at the end of the year?
Howard the Duck, the New Line Blade movies, the Fox X-Men (and Wolverine and Deadpool and New Mutants) movies, the Fox Fantastic Four movies, the Lion's Gate Punisher movies, the Columbia Ghost Rider movies, the Sony Spider-Man movies before Homecoming, the first Universal Hulk movie, and that one Captain America movie where he had rubber ears are all movies that featured characters licensed from Marvel Comics. But none of them are MCU movies - movies produced by Marvel Studios which take place in the shared interconnected world of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).
The Sony Spider-verse movies like Venom and Morbius exist in some weird MCU-adjacent grey area.
Increasingly, given how Marvel seems to be handling the concept of the multiverse, it could be that ALL of these movies will be treated as MCU-adjacent. Not exactly in the MCU, but still in a way canon just in different parallel universes.
That could theoretically apply to Howard the Duck, too.
and it would have to be a parallel universe version of Howard that was in the 1986 film because a different version of the same character has appeared 3x already in the MCU - twice in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and once (very briefly) in Avengers: Endgame
I've seen every movie multiple times and have loved the Disney + shows that have been released so far... but I couldn't get in to the Fox or Netflix shows. I am halfway in to the first season of Punisher, about the same for Legion (not MCU, I know), about half way through season 2 of Daredevil, watched 2 or 3 episodes of Jessica Jones, couldn't make it through a single episode of Agents of SHIELD, never tried to watch Inhumans or several others. I don't know why they just didn't hold my interest. Legion was probably the most interesting out of the above; I might go back to it. and maybe the Punisher, too.
It's confusing but technically not MCU. Marvel Studios owns and produces films for all the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy except Universal still has distribution rights to any solo Hulk movie... but they have a weird joint-custody arrangement with Sony for Spider-Man. The arrangement allows for Sony to produce and profit from Spider-Man movies set in the MCU like Spider-Man Homecoming, while Marvel Studios has the rights to use Spider-Man in other MCU movies like Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War. However Sony still owns the rights to all other "Spider-Man" characters and that includes characters that first appeared as Spider-Man characters or villains such as Venom, Morbius, Carnage, and Black Cat. So Sony makes these other movies which are not technically part of the MCU... even though it's not clear but they might be MCU-adjacent. It's possible that Spider-Man No Way Home will clear some of this up. Or potentially make it more confusing. Multiverse rumors.
The Disney + shows in Marvel's Phase Four so far have been WandaVision, The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, and (currently ongoing) Loki.
Future Disney + shows include What If?, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel (which will follow Kamala Khan), Moon Knight, She-Hulk, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and possibly others. Not sure if Secret Invasion, Ironheart, Armor Wars and that Wakanda series are definitely happening or not.
As much as I look forward to all the new MCU shows and movies (and Star Wars shows for that matter) I feel like Disney is gonna be focused on too many projects and the quality of both franchises will depreciate, it seems like it'd be pretty hard to improve even more from this point
Mrs. Marvel was pretty mediocre, too. Felt more like a Disney Channel show than something that belonged in the MCU. Werewolf by Night was... interesting... but weird... obviously intentionally low-budget-looking in parts. The GotG Holiday Special was fun, but, consistent with the quality of the holiday specials of the 70s/80s/90s... maybe that's what they were going for but not something I'd want to see again. She-Hulk wasn't great but also wasn't as bad as some made it out to be. Moon Knight was good but not as good as the earlier shows IMO. Secret Wars looks pretty good... hoping that it turns around the trend toward the end of Phase 4.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Black Widow, Spider Man: No Way Home (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2022), Hawkeye (2023), What If? (2022)
Saw Eternals on IMAX at Udvar-Hazy last night. Not sure what the murmuring of negative reviews were about... those I saw it with all agreed it was very well done. Better than Shang-Chi or Black Widow, IMO. Coupled with the Disney + shows which have all been great (except for What If, IMHO), I'm very much looking forward to the rest of Phase 4...
and No Way Home was almost flawless. MCU (MCM?) still going very, very strong. Maybe stronger than ever. Sadly, Sony can't seem to get their s#*t together to keep up quality controls as consistently as Marvel does. Let There Be Carnage was a big let-down and Morbius is one of the worst comic books movies I've seen since the 90s. Which, I think, just makes Marvel Studio's incredible consistency all the more impressive. First episode of Moon Knight was great, too. Looking forward to more and hoping that Sony doesn't muck things up too bad.
I think my wife and I are about the only people in the world who actually enjoyed Morbius. Not my favourite, by any stretch, but I was entertained from start to almost finish (one of the last scenes bothered me a bit, but not my wife, no spoilers)
It didn't work for me, either. Poorly shot action scenes and a lack of interesting characters. When I went back and watched them all at the end of phase 3, this was the only one I didn't bother to finish.
I'll have to remember this post so I know not to listen to you on movie recommendations. Winter Soldier was the best Marvel movie. It might be my favorite movie ever, just perfect.
Can you plz update til the end of 2022? Including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder and finally Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as well.
Craziest thing happened. So i remember hearing that there was a new Black Panther movie coming out some time soon and i was down the the last two 2022 movies. I guessed Black Panther 2, didn't work, so i just typed Black Panther Wakanda...nothing. So i stuck forever at the end and wouldn't you know it. That was without a doubt the craziest get i've ever gotten! HAHA!
I can get why people like them and I don't judge people for that (I have enjoyed a couple even though they're not my thing) yada yada. But MAN I wish the over-saturation of these damn movies would start to die out. The Superhero, over-the-top special effects trend in movies is getting so freaking old!
they're only getting bigger. And, honestly, at this point, if you took away superhero movies it's likely that cinemas themselves would go away in many places. If you like other types of movies, you should love Marvel movies, too (even if you never go see them). They're the only thing keeping cinemas outside of China profitable and open.
Would it be possible to accept the number instead of the title of the movie? For example, I missed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever the first time because it wouldn't accept "Black Panther 2" as an answer.
It was mine, too, for a long time. But I think I've decided now that Infinity War and Endgame were both much better, and Civil War, Ragnarok, and No Way Home were all better movies, too. The original Avengers was amazing for what it was and when it was, but the MCU has evolved so much since then.
Please don't encourage them to make this more forward-looking than it already is. Expecting people to know every Marvel movie coming out in the next year, before they've been released, is already asking a lot for anyone who isn't a superfan.
IMO it would make more sense to update this quiz at the end of every year rather than at the beginning. Though maybe that's to avoid complaints from nerds coming here and demanding updates upon each new film's release...
nope actually you forgot that Morbius is not MCU yet. However thanks to the mid-cred scene in Let There Be Carnage, the Venom movies are MCU now. (or will be from this point on anyway)
As of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I have seen 29 of the 30 movies upon theatrical release. The only one I didn't see at the cinema was The Incredible Hulk.
I saw The Incredible Hulk in Seoul. Had a very cute date, too... but never saw her again. Before anyone implies it, this had nothing to do with the quality of the movie. :-)
Have seen all of these in theaters. Some multiple times. Can't imagine not going to see any new ones in cinemas, preferably on opening night with a packed theater of diehard fans, they're just so much fun. But... maybe 2023's The Marvels? I kind of hated Captain Marvel and didn't really like the Kamala Khan Disney + show so if I were going to skip one and just catch it later on TV it would be that.
i'm glad to see kalbahamut being nice for a change
they do make comments so much funnier tho
Zero desire to see any others. I'm not a comic book person to begin with. But all I need is to get a whiff of a movie that eschews subtlety and nuance and that is so afraid the audience might not pick up on certain details that they simplistically spell everything out, and I'm looking for the remote. I certainly wouldn't spend $20 and 2 hours in a theater to see it.
I guess my ability to suspend disbelief for these types of movies just isn't there. As an older friend of mine used to say, "Everybody's entitled to their own stupid opinion." And that's mine. :-P
That being said, I still enjoy watching these movies, and there are definitely some that stand out in my mind. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies are hilarious and have a great soundtrack. "Ant Man" is also pretty funny and I really love how Scott Lang is the relatable, everyman hero in the franchise. "The Winter Soldier" and "Civil War" both had some interesting political/societal implications, "Black Panther" was all around a great movie, and, as mentioned above, "Thor: Ragnarok" was pretty witty and felt very different from the other movies.
Having said that, a coworker told me how excited he was to see Black Panther the day it was released, and I responded that I have always wished I knew a little more about Huey Newton. So...
It's not only good for us, it's good for your health.
You mocked them for expressing their opinion, and then promptly offered your own about their post. That makes you look hypocritical, which is why I called it out.
They only show spider-man
^ the number of MCU films each year since 2008. Pretty soon there will be one coming out every month and updates for this will get harder and harder to keep up with. :)
No Way Home comes out.
No spiderman done by Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield that does not have Tom Holland in it is MCU.
I didn't like Captain Marvel... it was badly written, the lead was terrible in it, the plot made no sense, just a very very mediocre movie. And I *do* understand the Brie Larson hate if you have seen some of her social media posts you might understand where it comes from. But as for the movie itself being "woke"... not really. There were 3 or 4 obnoxious throwaway lines in it that were obviously intended to get applause from the angry feminists in the crowd, and at the end when they started playing that No Doubt song that was a bit on the nose, but other than that it was not a political or agenda-driven movie, really. The marketing for it was. And the social media accounts of some people who worked on the movie including Larson's. but the movie wasn't like that; that's not the reason it was bad.
Although I think I'm going to adopt "Sliderman" and write a story that some day may start its own cinematic universe of superheroes!
The Sony Spider-verse movies like Venom and Morbius exist in some weird MCU-adjacent grey area.
Increasingly, given how Marvel seems to be handling the concept of the multiverse, it could be that ALL of these movies will be treated as MCU-adjacent. Not exactly in the MCU, but still in a way canon just in different parallel universes.
That could theoretically apply to Howard the Duck, too.
Future Disney + shows include What If?, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel (which will follow Kamala Khan), Moon Knight, She-Hulk, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and possibly others. Not sure if Secret Invasion, Ironheart, Armor Wars and that Wakanda series are definitely happening or not.
After San Diego Comic Con we now have a bunch of new movies confirmed, including all Phase 5 films plus 3 from Phase 6
IMO it would make more sense to update this quiz at the end of every year rather than at the beginning. Though maybe that's to avoid complaints from nerds coming here and demanding updates upon each new film's release...
#nerdsownthefuture
yet. However thanks to the mid-cred scene in Let There Be Carnage, the Venom movies are MCU now. (or will be from this point on anyway)Thor : magic incarnate
yet they exist in the same universe and star in the same movies
Have seen all of these in theaters. Some multiple times. Can't imagine not going to see any new ones in cinemas, preferably on opening night with a packed theater of diehard fans, they're just so much fun. But... maybe 2023's The Marvels? I kind of hated Captain Marvel and didn't really like the Kamala Khan Disney + show so if I were going to skip one and just catch it later on TV it would be that.
Ant-Man and the Wasp : Quantumania is out now