Easily the highest grossing franchise of all time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has released 23 movies since the release of Iron Man back in 2008.
The movies have changed the face of modern cinema and took the world by storm. It is hard to choose but here are the absolute best the MCU has to offer (in our opinion).
5
Guardians of the Galaxy
IMDb: 8.0
Stars you may know: Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel & Dave Bautista
Director: James Gunn
Box Office: €648,978,897
Year of Release: 2014
Running time: 2 hours 1 minute
One of Marvel’s biggest gambles, this movie features a loveable team of misfits who unlike Iron Man and Captain America, weren’t as well known to most audiences.
From its wonderful soundtrack to its witty humour, James Gunn manages to create a movie that is fun from beginning to end.
The fact that the movie gets you invested in its core characters, including a racoon and a talking tree, goes to show how great this movie really is.
4
Thor: Ragnarok
IMDb: 7.9
Stars you may know: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston & Mark Ruffalo
Director: Taika Waititi
Box Office: €716,544,090
Year of Release: 2017
Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes
It is safe to say that the first 2 Thor movies are rarely anyone’s favourite Marvel movies.
Ragnarok decided to go weirder and more fun than ever before as it set out to reinvent Thor’s character and the Thor franchise as a whole.
Teaming up with fan favourites such as the Hulk and Loki, Thor’s latest movie is colourful, hilarious and witty, while still managing to provide thrilling action scenes and charismatic performances.
3
Avengers: Endgame
IMDb: 8.4
Stars you may know: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans & Chris Hemsworth
Directors: Joe Russo & Anthony Russo
Box Office: €2,347,272,610
Year of Release: 2019
Running time: 3 hours 1 minute
Marking the end of the Infinity Saga, this movie had to find a way to create a perfect culmination of the 21 movies that came before it and it did this splendidly.
A worldwide cultural phenomenon when it was released, even non-Marvel fans had to watch Avengers: Endgame.
Every superhero you ever loved in an MCU movie has their time to shine in the final battle and the directors manage to create fulfilling conclusions to your favourite characters, specifically Iron man and Captain America.
2
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
IMDb: 7.7
Stars you may know: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson & Scarlett Johansson
Directors: Joe Russo & Anthony Russo
Box Office: €599,442,799
Year of Release: 2014
Running time: 2 hours 16 minutes
One of the most mature stories told in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Winter Soldier adds political subtext and story ramifications that heavily affected the movies that followed it.
This movie finds time to give more screen time to characters such as Nick Fury, Black Widow and the titular Winter Soldier as it goes deeper into their character than ever before.
7 years after its release, it still manages to offer some of the most brutal and thrilling action scenes ever put to comic book movies.
1
Avengers: Infinity War
IMDb: 8.4
Stars you may know: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans & Chris Hemsworth
Directors: Joe Russo & Anthony Russo
Box Office: €1,718,661,374
Year of Release: 2018
Running time: 2 hours 29 minutes
A decade of set up ultimately led up to the proper introduction of Thanos, one of the most memorable and iconic super villains put to cinema.
The first-time comic book movie fans watched all their favourite characters teaming up, Infinity War rewards die-hard fans for watching all the previous films.
What sets this movie apart from the rest, is that it actually allows its villain to win for once, creating one of the most jaw dropping endings to a superhero movie ever put to cinema.
