The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Avengers, etc.

[Raja]

My MCU best to worst before Ant Man is released:

 

Captain AmericaThe Winter Soldier

Iron Man

Avengers Age Of Ultron (it is still too soon to lock this in place)

Guardians Of The Galaxy

The Avengers

Agents of SHIELD

Iron Man II

Agent Carter

Iron Man III

Thor

The First Avenger

The Incredible Hulk

Thor The Dark World

[anyanka323]

I thought Avengers AOU was a step back for Marvel after their 2014 releases.  Both Winter Soldier and Guardians were well made cohesive movies that didn't feel too formulaic. 

[KatWay]

I'd rank the first Iron Man movie as the top one actually, it's the one that set the tone for everything else. I liked CA:TWS but I wasn't as enarmored with it as everybody else and thought the third act and big climax was kind of weak. Whatever happened to that awesome technology that allowed Black Widow to look and sound exactly like another person (that senator)? How come people don't use this all the time?

 

Guardians of the Galaxy might be my favourite one though. Mostly because of the awesome soundtrack.

 

I also thought Agent Carter was much better than Agents of Shield. Peggy Carter & Jarvis >>>> Phil Coulson & Skye.

[Sakura12]

My rankings as of now are:

 

Guardians Of The Galaxy

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Avengers

Agent Carter

Iron Man

The First Avenger

Agents of SHIELD
Avengers Age Of Ultron

Iron Man II

Iron Man III
Thor
The Incredible Hulk
Thor The Dark World

[vb68]

I can't wait to see the movie, but for various scheduling reasons I probably have to wait until Tuesday evening.

 

Anyway, a question about the rankings above, is there a reason people are including Agents of Shield and Agent Carter but not Daredevil?  Just curious.  I was confused on that. 

Edited May 3, 2015 by vb68

[Raja]

I can't wait to see the movie, but for various scheduling reasons I probably have to wait until Tuesday evening.

Anyway, a question about the rankings above, is there a reason people are including Agents of Shield and Agent Carter but not Daredevil? Just curious. I was confused on that.

I dropped Netflix years ago so I can't rank it.

[JessePinkman]

The Avengers (seeing a comic book movie that felt like a living comic book is something I just never expected to see, that they embraced the comic book-ness of it all will always have a special place in my heart)

The Winter Soldier

Daredevil (I'm sticking this in here because it was just that fantastic)

Age of Ultron

Iron Man 3

Iron Man

The First Avenger

Thor

Iron Man 2

The Dark World

GOTG (I'm one of two people who do not understand the praise for this movie, it was full of conventional, predictable jokes. Just FULL of them. But I liked Groot and Rocket so there's that)

 

I'll be honest, I think Agents of SHIELD has hurt the brand. It's so bland and boring and meandering.

[HoodlumSheep]

Ooohh...we're ranking things? I'll give it a go!

And this list only includes the stuff I've seen, so it's more incomplete than yours:

Iron Man--will probably forever be my fave. It was a great movie. I love Tony Stark. He's a wonderful, complex character. I don't understand why so many people seem to hate him.

Agent Carter--after watching this I love Peggy more than I like Steve. Great characters, great story, great show.

Winter Soldier--a very solid movie, but I don't think it's the most amazing thing ever like some people seem to think

Guardians of the Galaxy--I enjoyed it. I like the whole band of misfits stuff. Wish we could have more Ronan. I feel like he could have been a little more fleshed out. I wish we could have seen a bit more fighting between Ronan and the Guardians, the dance scene was great (and very in character), but I felt it was a little anti-climatic.

Avengers--just a fun superhero movie. Loved the action.

Captain America--I wasn't too impressed with this movie when I first saw it. It was a step down compared to Iron Man. It's grown on me though, and I enjoy it very much nowadays.

Agents of Shield (the eps involving Bill Paxton)--the back half of season 1 was pretty spectacular.

Thor--this movie has also grown on me after repeated watching. I think they did a better job with Loki's character than with Thor's. i just cannot get into Thor and Jane. I just can't see the chemistry.

Iron Man 2--Whiplash was bland, didn't care for Hammer Tech guy (or whoever he was), liked War Machine, liked Fury, didn't really care for Black Widow, still liked Tony, neutral on Pepperony.

Agents of Shield (most of 1st season)--talk about a slow grind. There weren't really any characters I cared about except for May and maybe Fitz.

Edited May 3, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[VCRTracking]

 

 

 Whatever happened to that awesome technology that allowed Black Widow to look and sound exactly like another person (that senator)? How come people don't use this all the time?

 

The mask was used by someone in this season's Agents of SHIELD but it had permanently fused to someone's face when it was electrocuted, and the inventor was killed so....

 

 

I'd rank the first Iron Man movie as the top one actually, it's the one that set the tone for everything else. I liked CA:TWS but I wasn't as enarmored with it as everybody else and thought the third act and big climax was kind of weak.

 

I think the movie is great too but the third act keeps it from being perfect. If it had stayed a conspiracy thriller all the way through I would rank it the best. It's like The Fugitive with Harrison Ford, where the third act while not completely ruining the movie keeps it from achieving greatness.

 

Age of Ultron I would up there in the top, just for the Vision scenes alone.

 

Lowest rank for me would be Iron Man 2 which has great moments but has a poor script and is a disappointment compared to the first.

 

 

[Sakura12]

I forgot about Daredevil. It would rank under Agent Carter.

 

Guardians Of The Galaxy
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Avengers
Agent Carter

Daredevil
Iron Man
The First Avenger (to me known as "Agent Carter's Adventures with Captain America")
Agents of SHIELD
Avengers Age Of Ultron
Iron Man II
Iron Man III
Thor
The Incredible Hulk
Thor The Dark World

[stealinghome]

Keep in mind that I haven't watched Daredevil or the Hulk films, and I gave up on AoS last season because it was so awful, but right now, I'd say:

 

Cap 2/Avengers/Thor 1 (highly underrated imo)

Avengers 2

Iron Man

Guardians

Cap 1

Agent Carter

Iron Man 3

Thor 2

Iron Man 2

 

 

 

AoS

[Shannon L.]

I've always said that even the weakest of the Marvel movies are still pretty good.  I have a hard time figuring where to place Dare Devil or The Incredible Hulk because they are both vastly different (more so DD) in production style than the other Marvel movies. 

 

If I was going on pure entertainment value, leaving out plot devices/holes, story, how it relates to the comics ('cause I haven't read them or anything about them), etc., it would look something like this (depending on my mood):

 

Winter Soldier (this one would always be first on my list)

The Avengers (this one would always be second)

 

This is where it would really depend on my mood:

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

Iron Man I

Iron Man III

Thor I (I agree with stealinghome--it's underrated)

Agent Carter

Dare Devil*

Age of Ultron

Thor II

SHIELD

The Incredible Hulk

Captain America

Iron Man II

 

The second half of that list wasn't easy.  For ex. I liked the first half off Captain America I better than most of The Incredible Hulk, but the second half brought it down a notch, imo.  I don't even remember what Iron Man II was about except that it introduced Black Widow and had Mickey Rourke as the villain.

 

*A note about Dare Devil.  Like I said, this was such a dark, gritty program that it's hard to place.  In all honesty, it's probably better written, directed and acted than most of the Marvel movies, but I put it lower because the others are good vs. evil in a much lighter, humorous way which I'm more often in the mood to watch. Anyway, it's hard to compare it with the movies.

[Bruinsfan]

Here's my ranking:

 

The Avengers

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Guardians of the Galaxy

Iron Man and Iron Man 3 (I'm not sure which I prefer)

Blade

Thor: The Dark World

Blade 2

Thor

The Incredible Hulk

 

 

Blade: Trinity

Daredevil (the Ben Affleck movie)

Elektra

 

the Marvel characters segments in Disaster Movie

 

Iron Man 2

[Epeolatrix]

Regarding the Romanov/Banner relationship coming out of nowhere and making no sense: I've put my meandering thoughts behind a spoiler tag because 1) the observations are a little spoiling and 2) it makes the post shorter. If that's an inappropriate use of the tag, please let me know and I will amend my ways.

 

Natasha spent most of her interactions with Bruce / The Hulk genuinely afraid of him. It also gets brought up frequently throughout the series that she is an expert manipulator. Wouldn't it make sense for her to deal with her fear by trying to master it in the most direct ways she could? Control The Hulk with code phrases and gestures, which is in keeping with whatever she'd have learned about brainwashing as a spy. Manipulate Bruce with flirtation and affection, which encourages him to trust her, which lets her maintain control.

 

I think she senses where the tensions are in her interactions, and then uses them to guide those relationships. With Clint, there was no personal tension, so they were able to forge the most honest and now familial friendship. With Tony she made it clear very early on that as much as he was good at playing with people, she was ahead of him in that game, so he had to respect her. Steve didn't trust her, so she kept flirting-teasing until it became a thing. Once she stopped, it gave him a sense of trust that she wasn't still trying to manipulate him. In the movie when he basically tells Bruce, "I've seen her flirting up close, with you she is being real." I don't think she was being real, I think she had just improved her game.

Edited May 4, 2015 by WertherEffekt

[Joe]

Sigh. Chris Evans talks Cap 3. Here's a worrying quote. “There are a lot of people in ’Cap 3,'” said Evans when he spoke with MTV’s Josh Horowitz about the upcoming movie. “It’s to help jump off into the next ’Avengers: Infinity War.’ ’Cap 3′ will be the set up for the real battle.”

 

Yeah. So not only does the movie have the whole gang, it's setting up another movie! I found AOU overstuffed, trying to do too many things. This looks like it's going to be worse. One of the things I liked about Cap 2 was it had a smaller cast and didn't feel like it was serving as a setup to anything else. Oh well, I'll probably see it anyway. And if I do, that'll only reinforce Marvel's decision to go this route. I just can't win.

[Raja]

Sigh. Chris Evans talks Cap 3. Here's a worrying quote. “There are a lot of people in ’Cap 3,'” said Evans when he spoke with MTV’s Josh Horowitz about the upcoming movie. “It’s to help jump off into the next ’Avengers: Infinity War.’ ’Cap 3′ will be the set up for the real battle.”

 

Yeah. So not only does the movie have the whole gang, it's setting up another movie! I found AOU overstuffed, trying to do too many things. This looks like it's going to be worse. One of the things I liked about Cap 2 was it had a smaller cast and didn't feel like it was serving as a setup to anything else. Oh well, I'll probably see it anyway. And if I do, that'll only reinforce Marvel's decision to go this route. I just can't win.

The entire ideal is once in you will want everything. Will it fall under its own weight? Will it fall as the actors age out and by design it is not rebooted to save a character? Or will Marvel Studios continue to provide a few billion dollars of content every year for the foreseeable future?

[Chrissytd]

Martin Freeman Joins Captain America: Civil War

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/05/martin-freeman-captain-america-civil-war

[Dandesun]

I love Martin Freeman so this is nothing but good news to me.

 

(Please don't be a bad guy. Please don't be a bad guy. Please don't be a bad guy.)

[Craphole Island]

*patiently waiting for an announcement about Emily VanCamp's return*

Edited May 5, 2015 by Craphole Island

[Spartan Girl]

SERIOUSLY.  Chris Evans said that Cap would get a love interest in this movie, and since it's highly unlikely that Peggy Carter, Black Widow, or (God help us) Scarlet Witch would be in the running for that category, that only leaves Sharon Carter.  Right?  Right?!

[Dandesun]

I can't believe they're diminishing Cap by making him all about romance. [/sarcasm]

[Craphole Island]

Welp. Looks like we got our wish!

 

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/06/casting-net-emily-vancamp-captain-america-civil-war

[Chrissytd]

Your wishes have been granted.

http://deadline.com/2015/05/emily-vancamp-captain-america-civil-war-revenge-sharon-carter-1201421946/

[Jazzy24]

Your wishes have been granted.

http://deadline.com/2015/05/emily-vancamp-captain-america-civil-war-revenge-sharon-carter-1201421946/

I don't dislike the actress but she's just so expressionless, her face has one expression ugh.

[Spartan Girl]

It's about damn time!!!!

So glad she's moving on after Revenge. I really thought she made the most of her small amount of time in Winter Soldier. And her short semi-flirting with Steve in the apartment had some potential. There was more chemistry in that scene then there was in the last 3 seasons of Revenge.

I really hope this means that Cap is going to have his shirt off at some point in the new movie. Hey, he can't be a 95 year old virgin forever, LOL.

[vb68]

It's also very interesting that they are bringing back William Hurt as Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross from the Hulk movie.

[VCRTracking]

You can make a "6 degrees of Glenn Close"  MCU game.

Glenn Close was Nova Prime in Guardians of the Galaxy

 Close's  co-star in Fatal Attraction is Michael Douglas who plays Hank Pym in the upcoming "Ant-Man".

Close's co-star in Jagged Edge, Jeff Bridges played Obediah Stane in the first Iron Man

Close's co-star in The Natural, Robert Redford played Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Close's co-star in The Big Chill, William Hurt plays General Thunderbolt Ross in Incredible Hulk.

 

Crossover to DC

Glenn Close' co-star in Reversal of Fortune, Jeremy Irons plays Alfred in Batman vs Superman

Glenn Close's co-star in Dangerous Liasons, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Catwoman in Batman Returns.

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Bruinsfan]

It's also very interesting that they are bringing back William Hurt as Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross from the Hulk movie.

They REALLY should have gotten Sam Elliot back for that role. He was the one standout element of the Ang Lee movie.

[Dandesun]

But I don't WANT to be against Sam Elliot! I'm totally fine being against William Hurt.

 

To be fair... I didn't want to be against Jeff Bridges, either... but he was so good at being bad that I had no problem hating Obadiah.

 

Now I'm torn.

[MadyGirl1987]

Renewal for Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter! http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/07/once-castle-shield-goldbergs-among-abc-renewals

[Dandesun]

Agents of SHIELD I expected but I am thrilled and delighted about Agent Carter. Peggy!!

[lovemytvshows]

Alleged Captain America Civl War script leak: http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/05/07/the-10-biggest-spoilers-from-captain-america-civil-war-s-script-leak-2915089?lt_source=external,manual

 

Original source that spilled was from 4Chan so take it with a grain of salt?

[Rick Kitchen]

The AoS spinoff is a no-go, however.

[VCRTracking]

 

I wasn't really excited about another Marvel show on network TV and I'm only sad only because Adrianne Palicki deserves her own show no matter what it's about. I am glad though because I've grown to really like Lance Hunter over the recent AoS episodes and his rapport with Coulson and Fitz has been fun.

 

 

[lion10]

So how do you guys think Thanos will work in the MCU?  I feel the MCU already kind of stretched the suspension of disbelief when they retconned Thor as an extremely advanced godlike alien but Thanos worships the personification of Death and wants Death to love him back .  How's that going to work/be explained?

[Joe]

You don't need the Death worship for Thanos. Just another megalomanic would work. A being who wants to destroy all he can't conquer.

[lion10]

But doing that would take apart his entire motivation. IIRC, Thanos doesn't want to conquer anything. He just wants to use the Infinity Gauntlet with the Stones to cause enough damage and death to the universe that Death has to take notice of him and return his affection.

[Joe]

I see what you mean, but it's not like the MCU is great at villains anyway. They're just becoming baddies for the heroes to defeat. What did Ronan want, again? I'm not predicting Thanos to be any better. Maybe he just wants to destroy everything, outright. Or was that Malekith's motivation?

[funkopop]

I came across a great YouTube channel that goes into depth of the comic lore for the upcoming storylines Infinity Gauntlet and Civil War. It is very well produced and I wouldn't be surprised if it were sanctioned by Marvel itself with the movie clips and comic book shots it includes. Everytime I see a Marvel movie I get super interested in the comics and this has been very helpful in providing that information. Especially when you can't get your hands on the comics itself. I see that The Infinity Gauntlet omnibus is sold out on Amazon.

The Channel is ComicsExplained

https://www.youtube.com/user/fluidicbeats

[Joe]

Actually, I think I know what I'd like to see in Infinity War. Thanos has the gauntlet with all the stones. The heroes lie battered at his feet. He raises his fist to finish them off, and then we hear... Ooga Chaka! The Milano blasts him away long enough for the Avengers to regroup.

 

Later, Tony asks, "Who are you, the Rebel Alliance?" Peter: "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Steve: "If you're with us, then you're with us. What does Thanos want, anyway?" Gamora: "He worships Death." Steve: "Death?" Peter: "Capital D. He believes the Grim Reaper is a hot chick, and if he kills enough people she'll be interested in him. The Infinity Stones give him a way to kill on a universal level."

 

Something along those lines, anyway.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Joe

[ChelseaNH]

What did Ronan want, again?

 

Ronan could have been an interesting villain, but that would have required spending time on the Kree history and culture and politics, which wasn't how the movie was set up.  The villains really are just challenges for the heroes to overcome.

 

The whole worshipping-an-incarnate-Death thing is probably not going to fly, but there's room for a more philosophical approach.  Again, that requires spending time on the villain, rather than assembling your ever-increasing cast of heroes.

Edited May 11, 2015 by ChelseaNH

[lion10]

But I find Thanos appealing in his simplicity. Instead of being philosophical about life being an unnatural divergence in the beautiful and baren universe, it's simple. He loves Lady Death and he wants her to love him back and if he has to kill the entire universe to make that happen, well that's just the price of love. At Thanos' core, he's a guy with a crush :P.

[Fukui San]

Actually, I think I know what I'd like to see in Infinity War. Thanos has the gauntlet with all the stones. The heroes lie battered at his feet. He raises his fist to finish them off, and then we hear... Ooga Chaka! The Milano blasts him away long enough for the Avengers to regroup.

 

Later, Tony asks, "Who are you, the Rebel Alliance?" Peter: "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Steve: "If you're with us, then you're with us. What does Thanos want, anyway?" Gamora: "He worships Death." Steve: "Death?" Peter: "Capital D. He believes the Grim Reaper is a hot chick, and if he kills enough people she'll be interested in him. The Infinity Stones give him a way to kill on a universal level."

 

Something along those lines, anyway.

 

If Infinity War were to start with Uatu the Watcher onscreen talking to the screen about what we're about to see, would that be the best or worst idea ever?

[Joe]

 

If Infinity War were to start with Uatu the Watcher onscreen talking to the screen about what we're about to see, would that be the best or worst idea ever?

I'd like it, but I'm not sure the regular moviegoing populace would.

[anna0852]

Actually, I think I know what I'd like to see in Infinity War. Thanos has the gauntlet with all the stones. The heroes lie battered at his feet. He raises his fist to finish them off, and then we hear... Ooga Chaka! The Milano blasts him away long enough for the Avengers to regroup.

 

Later, Tony asks, "Who are you, the Rebel Alliance?" Peter: "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Steve: "If you're with us, then you're with us. What does Thanos want, anyway?" Gamora: "He worships Death." Steve: "Death?" Peter: "Capital D. He believes the Grim Reaper is a hot chick, and if he kills enough people she'll be interested in him. The Infinity Stones give him a way to kill on a universal level."

 

Something along those lines, anyway.

Best. Thing. Ever.

 

Feige? Russo brothers? Are any of you on this board? Take note please.  To put Evans and Pratt together on-screen in these personas would be perfection. As would the general group reaction of the Avengers meeting the Guardians.

Edited May 13, 2015 by anna0852

[scarynikki12]

They definitely need to play up the silliness of Thanos doing all of this to make Death his girlfriend.  Thankfully, we have plenty of examples of silliness working out well in the MCU so I'm not at all worried.

[JessePinkman]

If Infinity War were to start with Uatu the Watcher onscreen talking to the screen about what we're about to see, would that be the best or worst idea ever?

 

I bet Uatu is part of the Fantastic Four movie universe.

[Danny Franks]

Marvel/Disney are really disappointing the shit out of me with their apparently casual neglect of female characters and customers. Here's the latest affront (which, although I say 'casual', this may well be deliberate):

 

http://toybox.io9.com/black-widow-absent-from-a-toy-based-on-one-of-her-coole-1703705181/+laurendavis

[Dandesun]

Marvel's CEO doesn't give a shit. And Marvel exists to lure in the boys (oh, that sounds dirty) because Disney already has a lock on the girls. I mean, never mind that they could get MORE girls by giving them some super hero stuff... it's a very myopic view from the top. Its irritating as fuck and I hate it but it's not going to change until someone at the top decides they should even bother.

[bmoore4026]

So many low positions for the Thor movies.  Guess he really is the Superman of the Marvel Universe.

 

My hope is Hercules showing up at some point.  Hopefully played by rugby player Ben Cohen.  Slurpily hot Ben Cohen.