6. "Ant-Man"
Year: 2015
Director: Peyton Reed
Actors: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, T.I. Harris, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Martin Donovan
It may be the funniest film in the Marvel universe so far, a smart choice when dealing with a character and a power set as potentially silly as "Ant-Man". It's also one of the smartest thematically pieces, which is sort of remarkable considering how public the development struggles were on the film. The film deals with family, first and foremost, and how we pass things along to our children, both literally and figuratively. Corey Stoll's character struggles with his feelings about his gifted mentor, Hank Pym. Hank wrestles with the guilt of having left his daughter Hope without a mother, as well as his fears about losing Hope as well. And Scott Lang literally steps into the suit simply to be a better father. Lots of attitude and some fun puzzle piece moments make this a standout, with one of the most charming and clever third acts the company has ever produced.
5. "Avengers: Age Of Ultron"
Year: 2015
Director: Joss Whedon
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Claudia Kim, James Spader
This mega-sequel has more than its fair share of jaw-dropping moments and interesting character beats, but it also serves to highlight the cracks in the Marvel movies in some ways. While we're all excited to see where the films go in the future, the movies in the present can't feel like they're just doing legwork for something we won't see for another five years. Still, Bettany's The Vision is such a great, weird, oh-so-comic-booky addition to this universe that we ain't mad at cha, Marvel. Here's hoping the weird is coming in a big way from the studio in the next few years.
4. "Iron Man"
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gywneth Paltrow, Terrance Howard, Jeff Bridges
The year 2008 was a very different time. Robert Downey Jr. was a risky prospect after a stint in rehab and Iron Man wasn't exactly a household name. In an alternate universe, "Iron Man" bombed, Downey was regulated to "Where Are They Now?" specials, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe died in infancy. Luckily for Marvel, that was not the case. Downey's believability as an aimless billionaire man-child shaken awake by tragedy still holds up as one of the best entries to the MCU six years later.
3. "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Year: 2014
Director: James Gunn
Actors: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Peter Serafinowicz, Lee Pace, Djimon Hounsou, Karen Gillan, Josh Brolin
Can you believe that opening weekend? If there has ever been a reason for Marvel to celebrate, it's now. After all, they took characters who even Marvel fans thought were useless on the big screen and they managed to get them to one of the biggest opening weekends of the studio's short life. Why? Because they made the movie look like fun. People don't care if they already know the characters or not as long as you make it look like it's worth their while. One thing's for sure… people definitely know Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, and Drax now, and the sky's the limit for the sequel in 2017.
2. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
Year: 2014
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Stars: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Smauel L. Jackson, Robert Redford
With all the origin stories finally out of the way, "Winter Soldier" delves into the meat of the Marvel universe without preamble. A post "Avengers" the world should never be the same again as humans scramble to quantity and control the unknown, and Marvel went all in for "Winter Soldier." The move paid off in spades as audiences turned out in droves to see the blossoming friendship between two broken people (Steve and Natasha) set against a backdrop of the biggest and farthest reaching plot twist to date. It also featured Bucky Barnes as the secondary titular role, a truly compelling villain.
1. "The Avengers"
Year: 2012
Director: Joss Whedon
Stars: Robert Downey, Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Gwyneth Paltrow
Pulling one superhero centric movie off is hard enough. Joss Whedon pulled off arguably the impossible by telling a team origin tale that still provided enough time for each Avenger to get their moment in the spotlight. The film took Hiddleston's Loki character to a completely new level and used visual effects to allow the "team" to work together in ways comic fans had only dreamt of. It could have been the Robert Downey, Jr. show. It could have been an action adventure with nothing at stake. Instead, "The Avengers" lived up to the hype and proved real superhero team movies weren't just the stuff of fanboy dreams.
