Our Definitive MCU Rankings

In preparation for "Avengers: Endgame," I spent several weeks re-watching movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). While doing so, I re-ranked the films, in order from worst to best. Before we get into that, let me explain a couple things:

Out of the blue, I thought it would be a good idea to watch "Avengers: Age of Ultron" because I hadn't seen it in years. After that, I wanted to watch "Ant-Man" again. Then, a few days later, I re-watched "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." At that point, I figured that I may as well continue to watch the rest of the existing movies to get ready for the re-match with Thanos. One by one, I knocked out the movies in a sporadic, completely illogical order. Looking back on it now, I cannot recall nor explain the logic behind the way I did it. No one may ever know, and for that, I apologize.

I watched or re-watched 18 of the 21 movies that were released before "Endgame," with the following exceptions:

• I didn't watch "The Incredible Hulk" for reasons that will be explained later in the blog.
• I didn't re-watch "Ant-Man and the Wasp" because I watched it a couple months ago and didn't feel like another viewing would be necessary before "Endgame."
• I didn't re-watch "Iron Man 3" because I ran out of time. Also because I hate it. I did, however, watch a nine-minute recap on YouTube, which I consider sufficient to justify its ranking.

Finally, let me point out a couple other things:

• Just because I gave a movie a low ranking doesn't mean it's not good. Marvel put out 21 movies prior to "Endgame" and there literally isn't room for all of them in the top five.
• Just because a movie is funny doesn't mean it's good. If humor was a major factor in my rankings, "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Ant-Man" would be at the top of the list, but comedy alone was not justification for me to move a film up on the list.
• I considered the films' overall impact on the "big picture" of the MCU as an indication of how highly they should be ranked. Look no further than "Ant-Man and the Wasp" and "Spider-man Homecoming," which are both "good" movies but just aren't that important in relation to the "big picture." More on that later.
• Social and cultural pressures did not sway my rankings. In particular, "Black Panther" and "Captain Marvel" both came with overwhelming, considerably divisive baggage regarding diversity in film making (i.e., "If you don't like this movie, you're a racist/sexist," etc.). The race and/or gender of the characters in all of these movies did not affect where I ranked them.

If you have any additional questions about how or why I decided upon these final rankings the way that I did, I'd be glad to discuss them with you. In the end, I feel confident in my choices and believe that I have valid reasoning behind all of them.

Finally, it is presumed that by continuing to read past this point in the post, you have either seen all of the Marvel movies or do not care about major details and plot twists. Consider this your SPOILER ALERT.

With no further ado, I present to you my definitive list of MCU movies, from worst to best, along with a brief explanation of my thought process:

21. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Technically, this movie is included in the chronological timeline of the MCU. However, it was released right around the time I was getting home from a two-year mission and I never got around to seeing it in theaters. In fact, I never got around to seeing it at all. Why, you ask?

Because this movie starred Edward Norton, who Marvel subsequently replaced by casting Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, never addressing the fact that a different actor previously played the same character ever again, which, in my mind, makes Norton's Hulk seem totally obsolete.

I treat this movie as if it doesn't exist, have ranked it accordingly and believe that I'm better off for it. Next!

20. Iron Man 3 (2013)

At the time of its theatrical release, I was really excited to see "Iron Man 3." To say that the movie was a complete and utter disaster would... well, I don't think it would be an exaggeration.

I've got a couple major issues with this movie - not the least of which was that it was a Christmas movie that was released in May. Secondly, there is a huge continuity error called the "Clean Slate Protocol." Remember that - where, at the end of the movie, Tony Stark commands JARVIS to destroy all of his Iron Man suits? Other than a fleeting instance when Tony mentions it in "Civil War," that whole thing appears to have been retconned.

And then there's the biggest problem of all - the most grievous of MCU sins: the Mandarin, as portrayed (or so we thought) by Ben Kingsley. The trailer made him seem AWESOME! Unfortunately, as the movie rolls on, it is revealed that the man we believed to be the Mandarin was some stupid, drunk, soccer-loving actor named Trevor Slattery. Sooooo dumb!!! I don't often get upset in the movie theater, but this swerve was one of the most atrocious things I have ever experienced. Never before had I seen something that not only disappointed me so deeply but also left such a long-lasting stain on a film. To me, this was a completely unforgivable mistake, and I've never been able to get over it.

Everything that happens after that plot twist is just a blur to me. Aldrich Killian (played by Guy Pierce) turns out to be the real Mandarin, War Machine becomes the Iron Patriot, there's a pretty decent scene where Iron Man saves a bunch of people from a plane crash, and Tony initiates the "House Party Protocol" to bring dozens of automated Iron Man suits to defeat Killian. Tony feels that his fascination with being Iron Man is destroying his relationship with Pepper, so, after replacing his internal arc reactor, he wipes the slate clean by destroying most of his equipment.

The largest takeaway here is that the Great Mandarin Debacle of 2013 completely, irreversibly ruined this movie for me, cementing itself as the worst Marvel movie that I actually count as "canon."

By the way, I had forgotten about this post-credits scene, but - my, is it relatable?

Same, Bruce. Same.

19. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Aside from a great story arc for Yondu (including one of the best quotes ever), the introduction of mind-reading Mantis, and another incredible soundtrack, "Guardians 2" feels like two hours of insults, unnecessary commentary about male anatomy, a shocking amount of truly aggressive laughter and a touch of lighthearted murder; the scene where Rocket Raccoon, Yondu and Baby Groot nonchalantly slaughter an entire ship of minions with smiles on their faces is particularly distressing. This was the first Marvel movie where I thought to myself, "I'm sure glad I didn't bring my little nephews to the theater."

Baby Groot is the major takeaway from this movie. Story-wise, we find out a lot about Peter Quill's family - that is, we learn that his father is a sex-crazed alien who put a tumor in his mother's head. That's pretty messed up. Perhaps the only noteworthy thing that occurs during this entire film is that we see some development in the sibling rivalry between Gamora and Nebula. Nebula eventually decides to join the Guardians in the fight against Thanos. Woo hoo.

By and large, we've got ourselves a pretty unremarkable and inconsequential sequel.

18. Iron Man 2 (2010)

The first true sequel of the MCU can be summed up thusly: Tony upgrades his arc reactor, we meet Black Widow and War Machine suits up for the first time. The villain, Whiplash, looks like a boss in that Indy car race scene, but ultimately devolves into an upgraded version of Iron Monger from "Iron Man 1." 

Seeing Don Cheadle replace Terrence Howard (the original James Rhodes) is visually jarring; they look nothing alike, but viewers are tasked with accepting the switch at face value, which is exactly what Marvel did with the Bruce Banner character. Very strange.

Another nit-pick about Early-MCU casting: after you've seen a couple other movies, realizing that Howard Stark has been portrayed by three separate, very different-looking actors (Dominic Cooper, John Slattery and Gerard Sanders) is mind-boggling.

Other observations: Black Widow and War Machine each have their best fight scenes of any MCU movie. One thing that I didn't remember is that the senator who infamously whispers, "Hail HYDRA," in "Civil War" is extremely prominent in this movie. Those guys infiltrated the government early on and we had no idea until years later.

17. Thor (2011)

I saw "Thor" reluctantly - in the dollar theater, no less - after weeks and weeks of hearing grown women gush about how attractive Chris Hemsworth was with his shirt off. (Don't get me started about that double-standard.) The movie wasn't terrible, and the otherworldly scenes in Asgard were definitely a change of pace, compared to the earlier, Earth-bound Marvel films, but the Thor origin... the... "Thorigin"... didn't quite live up to the hype that surrounded it. Thanks, ladies.

"Thor" succeeds as a sort of fish-out-of-water tale, with the banished God of Thunder struggling to understand life (and manners) on Earth. It also gives us the tragic backstory of the Asgardian Trickster, Loki, who still stands as one of the top two or three villains in the entire MCU. Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston (who look like little babies in this movie!!) have great chemistry together, but Thor is an unlikable jerk for half of the film and, aside from that duo, character development falls flat across the board. The "Warriors Three" (who? - exactly) and Sif feel completely irrelevant, Natalie Portman does nothing for me as Jane Foster, Agent Coulson still feels like little more than an irritant, and Hawkeye's MCU debut is so minuscule that I completely forgot that it happened in this movie.

If all you can remember about "Thor" is a bunch of people trying to pull Mjolnir out of a crater, and something about a gigantic robotic furnace monster in the middle of New Mexico, well... yeah, that sounds about right.

• Loki Death Tracker: 1

16. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

The first post-"Infinity War" film brought with it one massive question: how did Thanos' snap affect Scott Lang and company? The answer doesn't come until the mid-credits stinger, during which, Hank Pym and Janet and Hope Van Dyne turn to dust, leaving Ant-Man adrift in the Quantum Realm without viable means of rescue.

That's pretty much all you need to know (for now). Whether the villain, Ghost, or Lawrence Fishburn's Bill Foster come back into play in the future remains to be seen. Paul Rudd is still hilarious and Evangeline Lilly is a better fit for The Wasp than I initially thought she'd be. Luis and his pals are back, and just as funny as they were in "Ant-Man."

This is a fun movie, certainly, giving us another comedy-fueled heist and presenting a couple new characters, but it's a movie I wouldn't recommend sitting down to re-watch before "Endgame."

15. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Let's get the important things out of the way: Thor gets awesome, totally incredible new powers.The Hulk is back. Thor loses an eye. Mjolnir gets obliterated. Korg was hilarious. The Matt Damon cameo was a funny. Asgard gets destroyed. Loki becomes a good guy (again, sort of) for like 15 minutes, although it is heavily implied that he steals the Tesseract (spoiler: he does). We get Jeff Goldblum in glorious eyeliner.

But since when did Thor turn into an aspiring comedian? Although there are a couple scenes that elicit a laugh, the God of Thunder was way funnier when he stuck to smashing coffee mugs. It is such a sharp departure from his personality in his previous MCU appearances. Is he funny? Yes. Does it feel natural? Not hardly.

So many of the jokes in "Ragnarok" feel forced. The two main offenders are the scene where Thor throws a ball and it bounces off the wall and hits him in the face, and that part toward the end where Bruce Banner jumps out of the spaceship and belly flops on the Bifrost. Slapstick comedy just doesn't feel like a good fit for the "Thor" movies. We've already got the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man. We don't need any more goofballs.

Plus, all the anatomy jokes about were cheap and unfunny. Stranger still is the notion that anytime anyone says something dirty, the other characters feel the need to repeat the line back multiple times. (Go back and watch for yourselves. It's true.) We heard you the first time, guys.

My biggest problem with this movie is that the trailer gave away a couple really big surprises. Namely, the preview shows that Hela crushes Mjolnir and that entire scene where Thor fights Hulk in the Grandmaster's arena was completely given away. Both of those scenes would have been major shockers if Marvel could have kept them secret.

"YES! We know each other! He's a friend from work!" That part should have been hilarious in theaters. Because I'd already seen it online 20 times, it wasn't funny at all.

14. Thor: The Dark World (2013)

I can count the number of people who have told me that they like "Thor 2" on both hands. But I'm here to contend that it is actually the best installment of the "Thor" trilogy.

Sure, the Dark Elves are lame. Yeah, it features way too much Jane Foster. Of course, there are those awkward scenes with Dr. Selvig running around at Stonehenge. Admittedly, that stuff isn't great.

But "The Dark World" is, far and away, Tom Hiddleston's best performance as Loki. It's also genuinely and casually funny, without willfully beating viewers over the head with humor like "Ragnarok." Plus, that Captain America cameo is legitimately hilarious.

There's some good, old fashioned family drama - most notably the death of Thor's mother. The cosmic "Convergence" and the looming threat of a powerful weapon called the Aether give us our first knowledge of the Infinity Stones.

The mid-credits scene introduces Benecio Del Toro's wacky portrayal of the Collector, who, for the first time in the MCU discusses the existence of , which would (obviously) become central to Thanos' quest in the Infinity Saga.

• Loki Death Tracker: 2

13. Spider-man: Homecoming (2017)

I was hesitant to get yet another Spider-man reboot. Heaven only knows what I would have done if I had to suffer through a third origin story or watch Uncle Ben die again. Thankfully, "Homecoming" spared us the spider bite and pumped out a pretty good story without having to hold our hand along the way. Tom Holland isn't Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield - and there are pros and cons to that - but he does a good job of giving us a similar but unique take on Peter Parker. If nothing else, he proved that Spider-man movies can still be enjoyable.

After putting a surprisingly cool spin on a classic character, Michael Keaton's take on Vulture winds up settling in as, arguably, one of the top three or four villains in the entire MCU (along with Loki, Thanos and Killmonger).

The Spider-man stand-alone film another movie that I wouldn't deem "essential viewing" when ramping up for movies like "Infinity War" or "Endgame." All you really need to know is that Peter and Tony Stark have a really close relationship. Other than that, what did we get? Ned, who was kind of funny. A young Aunt May, who Marvel really, really wants us to think is hot. A lame revelation at the end of the movie that the rude Hispanic girl is apparently the MCU's "MJ." And a lot of crude references to male anatomy (again, totally unnecessary).

12. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Set to one of the more underrated musical scores of the MCU, this is the underdog tale of Skinny Steve, a true American hero. And what makes Captain America's origin story so special? Well, he "knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times," for one. You can never go wrong with beating up Nazis. Indeed, he is the "Star-Spangled Man with a Plan," going from lovable loser to movie star to bonafide super-stud, all in the span of two hours and four minutes.

Because it was set 70 years prior to the Iron Man origin story, this movie feels largely disconnected from current-day MCU movies. It's intentionally old-fashioned - one of Marvel's only true period pieces - and Young Steve Rogers has come a long way to develop into the man who stood toe-to-toe with Thanos.

'Twas the beginning of a will-they/won't-they romance between Cap and Peggy Carter and a bromance with Bucky Barnes... But the Steve-and-Peggy thing literally gets lost in time, and Bucky never truly fells important until he returns - presumably from the dead - in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

Back in 2011, I didn't totally understand what Marvel was building with the MCU. Now, I realize that "The First Avenger" has its fingerprints all over the Avengers saga. For instance, HYDRA's infiltration of SHIELD was the basis for "Winter Soldier" and totally re-shaped (and vastly improved) the TV series "Agents of SHIELD." It has also been nice to see Cap-1 Easter eggs like Red Skull's surprising appearance in "Infinity War" paying dividends nearly a decade later.

All in all, this isn't a movie that many people look back on as being one of the bright spots in the MUC, but it was a decent way to kick off (unquestionably) the best Marvel trilogy.

Additional note: there are some really great actors in this movie. Stanley Tucci. Hugo Weaving. Tommy Lee Jones!

11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Though overshadowed by the other "Avengers" movies, closer analysis and a fresh reassessment of "Age of Ultron" confirms that it is a pivotal piece of storytelling in the broader spectrum of the MCU.

After re-watching "Ultron," I realized how much important stuff happens during its two hour, 21-minute run time, and I've bumped this movie up five spots from my initial rough draft. Most importantly, it introduces Vision, lays the groundwork for "Civil War" and gives us a clearer understanding of the Infinity Stones. But it also produces the hilarious hammer-lifting scene, the Hulk vs Hulkbuster fight and the Battle of Sokovia (which is actually quite good). Looking back, this movie stands as a "mile marker" for the Infinity War arc, several movies down the road.

Other memorable moments: We learn about Captain America's affinity for clean language, get an adorable look into Hawkeye's personal life and are left with cliffhangers regarding the whereabouts of Thor and the Incredible Hulk, whose absence would be felt for the next couple team-up movies before being reunited in "Thor: Ragnarok."

On the other hand, the movie was marred by a couple notable criticisms: two absolutely terrible Russian accents; the dumb, out-of-the-blue romance between Hulk and Black Widow; and the inclusion a less-cool version of a character (Quicksilver) that had been introduced to the X-Men franchise in "Days of Future Past" just a year earlier. Ultron is a sleek-looking and physically imposing villain, but his sarcasm is a bit grating, and much of the dialogue (by Ultron and others) during the final 30 minutes gets really corny. Really bad.

From a big-picture standpoint, there is just so much going on in "Age of Ultron" that it's hard to keep everything straight, which is likely why I ranked it so much lower before watching it again recently. (For instance, I was surprised that other storylines kept us from meeting Vision until an hour and a half into the film.)

10. Black Panther (2018)

"Black Panther" is, tonally and stylistically, a much different movie than any of its predecessors. Set primarily in the hidden jungles of Wakanda, the movie provides more insight into T'Challa's reluctant rise to power, after he was vaguely and hurriedly introduced in "Civil War." Highlights include the gladiatorial fight scenes, Shuri's James Bond-like gadgets and Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger. The movie also catapulted Chadwick Boseman to "cultural icon" status. Finding out that Killmonger was a potential heir to the throne - and the ramifications of that knowledge - was a good twist. "Hey, Auntie."

A relatively popular (and legitimate) complaint about "Black Panther" is that the final fight between T'Challa and Killmonger looks like a cut scene from a video game. Upon further review, I can validate these concerns; there is a lot of CGI in the final 25 minutes. Not all of it looks believable.

Along with being Marvel's most overtly political movie - almost distractingly so - it is also the most polarizing; it brought with it a lot of positive hype (including a "Best Picture" nomination) and a lot of baggage (Rotten Tomatoes review bombing, debates about racism, etc.). Such radical reception on both ends of the spectrum was an unfortunate annoyance and, in the end, besmirched the film's lasting legacy, which is too bad.

"Black Panther" was a perfectly good movie. I enjoyed it and I understand why it was such a massive hit with certain demographics. But, in my opinion, it wasn't even the best Marvel movie of the 2018, let alone a contender for the Oscar for "Best Picture." (For the record, I think "Infinity War" and [the non-MCU] "Into the Spider-verse" were better.)

9. Captain Marvel (2019)

Another polarizing MCU movie was 2019's "Captain Marvel," which drew heavy praise from women and feminists but was much maligned on the Internet by ignorant sexists and mindless idiots. The introduction of Carol Danvers answered a handful of lingering questions following "Infinity War" and was a big step forward toward gender equality in the superhero wing in Hollywood. It featured some good action, was surprisingly funny and (in spite of a couple heavy-handed choices) had a nostalgic '90s-inspired soundtrack.

Brie Larson was terrific in the lead role and this is the most fun Samuel L. Jackson appears to have ever had throughout his numerous appearances as Nick Fury. A surprise twist involving the true motives of the Skrulls, who are typically villains in the comics, was unexpected for many fans who expected an eventual "Secret Wars" storyline, and Ben Mendelsohn seemed to be having a blast playing Talos.

While Captain Marvel and her superpowers will undoubtedly play an integral part in "Endgame," it does kind of feel like odd timing to release her origin story. The first act is a bit confusing as the audience (along with Danvers) struggle to understand who she truly is and what happened to her. There is a lot of stage-setting going on throughout, as well, but this shouldn't be a huge issue in any future "Captain Marvel" sequels.

I have a couple nitpicks about Goose the Flurken (cat): 1) Its fighting style seems almost identical to the way Groot fights in "Guardians 1" - copy-and-paste, almost, and 2) The way Fury loses his eye felt a little pathetic, and it doesn't appear to fit into the continuity of "Winter Soldier," when Fury says, "The last time I trusted somebody, I lost an eye."

Those didn't have any real impact on my enjoyment of the movie. Just observations. Also, Ronan the Accuser is just as lame as I remembered him being.

The mid-credits scene where Carol meets some of the surviving Avengers is awesome. That alone got me the most excited to watch "Endgame."

8. Doctor Strange (2016)

"Doctor Strange" may be the most underrated movie in the MCU, and is possibly my favorite stand-alone origin story so far. It managed to simplify the mystic arts in a way that came off less like an anime adaptation or martial arts movie and more like a blockbuster superhero movie. Benedict Cumberbatch was a big name for Marvel to snag, and he does a tremendous job as the narcissist-turned-sorcerer Stephen Strange, blending the right amount of sarcasm and smarts to go along with the comedic relief provided by his two sidekicks, Wong and his magical cape. Visually, the movie is stunning; the "Inception"-style fights and time-altering CGI provide some of the best special effects of the franchise. The repeated emphasis and close-ups on characters' hands and watches are also a nice touch.

From a religious standpoint, "Doctor Strange" is the most doctrinally accurate film in the MCU, and is the only movie of the bunch that taught me actual life lessons. "Silence your ego and your power will rise." "Death is what gives life meaning." "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all[:]... It's not about you." There is some powerful stuff in this dialogue. In fact, I based an entire Elders Quorum lesson around it on the Sunday of opening weekend.

There isn't much wrong with "Doctor Strange," but if I had to nit-pick for flaws, that sequence with Dormammu could come off as confusing and Benedict Cumberbatch's American accent is a bit unnatural. Other than that, it's all pretty good stuff.

7. Ant-Man (2015)

I didn't want to see this movie. I have no shame in admitting that. I thought it sounded utterly stupid. But in some Pavlovian way, Marvel has conditioned many people (myself included) to go out to the movies, regardless of how dumb the premise may seem. I went. I loved it.

I really have to give Marvel props here: they actually got me to believe that miniature super-soldiers would be a viable means of national security. Perhaps even more surprisingly, I liked "Ant-Man" even better the second time I saw it. Because of its relative "stand-alone" nature, this origin story is one that you can watch over and over without having to make a marathon out of it.

"Ant-Man" exceeded my expectations in practically every way. Along with being one of the funniest films in the MCU (rivaled only by "Guardians 1"), I love that it is a heist movie - totally different than any of the MCU movies before it - with a fun original score and the best training montages of any Marvel film to date. The concept of size manipulation made this one of the most imaginative ideas to watch on screen in ages. In many aspects, this is "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" on steroids. That Thomas the Tank engine stuff is hilarious.

Paul Rudd is tremendous as Scott Lang and Michael Peña slays his scenes as Lang's hysterical sidekick, Luis. Just as surely as the fact that Baskin Robbins always finds out, everybody loves Luis. This also features a nice little (albeit a bit robotic-sounding) cameo from Anthony Mackie's Falcon, who I never mind getting a little extra love, and the post-credits scene foreshadowed the division between Captain America and Iron Man, which would come to fruition in "Civil War."

6. Iron Man (2008)

I don't believe it would be a stretch to call "Iron Man" one of the most important movies made in the past 20 years. At the time, I (and many other moviegoers) knew next-to-nothing about Tony Stark. But this 2008 blockbuster changed the landscape of Hollywood forever. Although the initial Captain America movie was called "The First Avenger," it was really Stark's origin story that set the ball in motion for an entire universe of films - something that had never before been done so successfully. And, as far as origin stories are concerned, this is one of the best ones I can ever remember seeing.

The combination of superhero action and Robert Downey Jr.'s snarky, career-resurrecting performance as the titular character is a blast to watch. Let's face it: Tony Stark is a jerk. But he was a funny, cool jerk with a really cool suit. Over the last decade, RDJ has owned that character so much that it has become impossible to imagine any other actor in that role, similar to what Hugh Jackman did with Wolverine in the X-Men franchise.

I'm not sure whether this is a terribly unpopular take, but I actually liked Terrence Howard as James Rhodes. I had also forgotten that Jeff Bridges plays the partner-turned-villain, Obadiah Stane, which is cool.

Looking back all these years later, it's interesting to see how well the story has aged (and the CGI, for the most part, holds up pretty well until some parts of the final act). Tony and his technology have come a long way.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

A tree. A talking raccoon. I didn't think it would work. But, somehow, it did. And it turned out to be one of the best movies of the entire MCU.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" takes Marvel movies deeper into outer space, with a more "alien" feel than the "Thor" trilogy. Set to a rocking soundtrack dubbed, lovingly, "Awesome Mix Vol. 1," "Guardians" manages to string together the origin stories of five ragtag scoundrels in a relatively "brief" two-hour run time. I was hooked from the second Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" hit.

This movie turned Chris Pratt into a legitimate movie star, successfully integrated a professional wrestler (Dave Bautista) into a major movie (which is not an easy task), and got some viewers to cry using dialogue from a character that literally only knows how to say four words. Pretty great stuff. We learn quite a bit about the Infinity Stones as the Guardians meet the Collector for the first time, which sets up almost every subsequent film in the Thanos storyline. On top of that, "Guardians" is one of the two funniest, most re-watchable movies in the MCU (along with "Ant-Man"). It also produced one of the most memorable scenes of any Marvel movie to date - Star-Lord's "dance-off."

The only major knock on "Guardians" is that Ronan the Accuser ended up being super lame, despite having the name and physical appearance of a kick-butt villain. (He was confirmed to be as bland as I feared him to be after his appearance in "Captain Marvel." Very disappointing.)

• Groot Death Tracker: 1

4. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

"Civil War," which is essentially "Avengers 2.5," was one of the most anticipated Marvel movies in the MCU. Thankfully, the third installment in the Captain America trilogy lived up to all the hype.

I only have a couple nitpicks. First of all, this is a very long movie. However, it never feels that way because the of the consistent action and thought-provoking plot. "Civil War" was tasked with trying to cram two brand new heroes into an already jam-packed movie, and I'm afraid that Black Panther and Spider-man didn't quite make the impression I was hoping for. It felt like those two were pretty much plopped into the movie and we were expected to fall in love at first sight. For me, it's been a bit slower of a journey with those two, and my stance has softened a quite a bit after seeing "Black Panther" and "Spider-man: Homecoming."

On the positive side, the airport battle scene is so great. I didn't think they'd be able to fully incorporate so many characters into one movie, but I think they did a good job, even when characters like Ant-Man and Peter Parker are really only in the movie for about 15 or 20 minutes.

The "Pick a Side" marketing campaign for this movie was terrific. I was always #TeamCap, all the way, but both sides had valid arguments for their side of the Sokovia Accords debate. Tony did come off as a jerk through most of the movie (what else is new?), so seeing him realize that he was (at least partially) wrong was gratifying. But boy, does that shocking reveal that Bucky killed the Starks pack a punch?

Three final notes: 1) They should have killed off War Machine; it would have really raised the stakes for the in-fighting between characters. 2) In retrospect, this movie is a bit less re-watchable than it used to be, now that we know that all the Avengers are back on the same side. (I realized that I haven't watched "Civil War" in several years.) 3) And finally... God bless Captain America for that helicopter scene.

3. Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

If ever there were one piece of cinema that gave me undeniable chills, it would have to be the iconic "money shot" (shown above). The triumphant theme by Alan Silvestri swells in the background as the camera rotates around the six original heroes, standing in the rubble of New York City streets. The original Avengers had finally assembled. Awesome.

That scene - and this movie, as a whole - changed the future of filmmaking (for better or worse) in many ways. The greatest thing "The Avengers" did back in 2012 was confirm to us that putting that many characters on the screen at the same time was not only possible but that it was indeed as glorious as we hoped. It's a marvel (pun intended) to see what has become possible in the years that followed. Growing up, I never would have thought movies with the magnitude of "Civil War," "Infinity War" and "Endgame" would have been possible back then, but today they are, thanks to the  "Avengers 1."

The Battle of New York is a jaw-dropping spectacle. Everywhere you look, there's something going on - a different hero stepping to the plate, with action on the ground, up the buildings and in the sky. It's an all-out brawl on the grandest of scales and it works magnificently. The build-up from start to finish is also tremendous, as we watch Iron Man and Captain America recruit Thor, later to be joined by Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Incredible Hulk.

One side effect of the final fight is that it gave birth to a string of movies (like the second rebooted "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie and "Suicide Squad," to name only a couple) that involved aliens fighting out of a giant portal in space. It also urged the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) to rush the production of their "Justice League" franchise, which (as much as I hate to admit) stumbled considerably through its first several installments.

Although the Chitauri are another of Marvel's infamous generic, faceless armies, they presented the notion that superhuman threats lurked not only on Earth, but throughout the galaxy, as well. Loki gave the movie a true villain who, despite his utterly non-intimidating physical presence, would go on to establish a long-standing rivalry not just with Thor, but with all of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes for years to come.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Dang near perfect.

After re-watching "The Winter Soldier," I found only one tiny thing to complain about: Marvel has a real problem with killing off major characters. They did it for Agent Coulson in "The Avengers." They've done it with Loki numerous times. And they did it in "Winter Soldier" with Nick Fury. Offing Samuel L. Jackson here would have been completely unexpected and really felt profound, but after a couple white-knuckle shootouts, they had Fury revived by SHIELD two-thirds of the way through the movie.

This was a bonafide political thriller, and its consequences were far-reaching; the re-emergence of HYDRA completely altered the course of the TV show "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." The relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes is deep, complicated and adds an extra layer of complexity to an already solid story. The set pieces are sprawling - from a naval ship to an underground bunker, from a highway chase scene to a fistfight in the sky. Plus, what's not to love about that elevator fight scene? Awesome.

It's far and away Black Widow's best movie. It's not only Falcon's first film but also his strongest outing. The Winter Soldier is one of the best-looking villains of the MCU. And Cap proved himself to be both the hero we all aspire to be and the tough guy we wouldn't want to mess with. The movie, not unlike its main protagonist, stands confidently with the posture and composure of an all-time great, among the best superhero movies ever made.

1. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Particularly after having re-watched basically all of the previous MCU films, it is clear within 35 minutes that "Infinity War" tops all the movies that came before it. There are, clearly, some really good Marvel movies that pre-dated "Infinity War," but, as the culmination of 10 years of superhero blockbusters, seeing them all come together on the same screen at the same time with one common goal is incredibly impressive. I remember fearing that they wouldn't be able to fit 20 heroes into the same movie, but "Infinity War" does it in such a way the everybody feels included and nobody really seems to be getting the short end of the stick.

The story puts the pedal to the medal from the get-go, with two major character deaths (Heimdall and Loki) in the very first scene. Thanos is clearly not messing around. And if anyone thought that losing two familiar faces was something to shake a stick at, there were literally FIFTEEN OTHER DEATHS by the time everything was said and done. The conclusion to the Battle of Wakanda is a jaw-dropping twist of epic proportions. Other than "Civil War," this may have been the only movie where audiences can't have felt sure that any characters were safe. Two and a half hours later, against all odds, almost all of the new characters are turned to dust by the Infinity Gauntlet. I am not sure anybody saw that coming.

...which leads me to my only real complaint about this movie.

Prior to "Infinity War," Marvel had been so public about its upcoming movie schedule and the contract negotiations of the actors that the initial shock of Thanos' "Snap" wore off even before the lights came back up in the theater. I was completely stunned - for about two minutes, at which time I realized that Marvel had already verbally confirmed their intended production for sequels to "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Black Panther," "Doctor Strange" and "Spider-man." It was perfectly safe to assume at the time that these characters would all somehow get resurrected during "Endgame."

But with that gripe set aside, there are many really great things about this movie. Thanos, who we had never really gotten a great, extended look at, improved by leaps and bounds. He's a sympathetic character, but he's also so easy to hate. He just sucks - not because he's lame, but because he's so powerful that he wiped out half the population - and half of our beloved heroes - with a snap of his fingers. His possession of all six Infinity Stones makes the odds seem truly insurmountable - a feeling that Avengers fans were not accustomed to in any of the movies leading up to this confrontation.

The Red Skull reveal is brilliant. We'd all long since forgotten about Captain America's old nemesis, so seeing him show up half way through the movie is indeed a surprise.

The fight scenes are great. The set pieces are wonderful, from the Sanctum Sanctorum to that train station in Scotland, and from the battlefield in Wakanda to the far reaches of space. Such a variety of locales further impress the vast reaches of the Infinity War. Truly, this feels like a global event with universal consequences.

Finally, the development and character progression of the Avengers is on full display in "Infinity War." I don't believe there is a cooler version of Tony Stark than the one we get here. Thor goes from a babyfaced demigod to a thunder-toting baller. Captain America has a beard. Black Panther is finally fighting on the right side. Spider-man has had a movie and a half to figure out his abilities. And is there anybody who improved more greatly than Doctor Strange? Seeing so many of these characters in their prime, teaming up with each other, is an absolute blast from start to devastating finish.

• Loki Death Tracker: 3
• Groot Death Tracker: 2

***

There you have it! What did I get right? What did I get wrong? Surely, I've offended a few people in this process. I'd love to debate you.

Keep in mind that I saw "Endgame" on opening night, but I'm not quite ready to put that in my rankings yet. I'll need to watch it again before I decide where to place it.

Let me know how your own rankings stack up to mine in the comments section below.

#140Characters: 'Avengers - Infinity War' preview

Back in my day, Twitter had this thing called a "character limit." They gave you 140 characters, including spaces and symbols, and that was it. Who even knows what it is these days? You just keep typing until it tells you to stop. I'm not sure I've ever hit the new limit. Composing the perfect tweet used to be a challenge. It was back then, in yonder days of letter limitation, that I thought it would be cool to do a thing on the blog called #140Characters, where I would have to write the blog as if it were a series of 140-character tweets. Now, that's not really a thing anymore, but I figured I'd give the idea another run (I did it once before), for the sake of brevity and in order to pump out a quick blog before the worldwide release of the new movie "Avengers: Infinity War."

Ten years of Marvel movies have led to this moment, as "The Mad Titan" Thanos encounters the Avengers and the other protagonists of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his search for the six Infinity Stones. The collection of these powerful gems and their subsequent placement inside a huge glove called the Infinity Gauntlet would grant Thanos virtually unlimited power and the ability to wipe out basically whatever he wants. "Infinity War" will undoubtedly be an action-packed, star-stuffed blockbuster with widespread, far-reaching and long-lasting consequences for the MCU for years to come.

I've got my Character Counter warmed up and ready to go. Let's ask some questions to help us look forward to the silver screen showdown this weekend - in #140Characters or less.

What are you most looking forward to about "Avengers: Infinity War"?

This is the culmination of 10 years of amazing movies! It will be amazing to see all these superheroes all be on the screen together.

Character count: 133

What are you least looking forward to about "Avengers: Infinity War"?

Gonna be honest - Marvel superfans drive me NUTS! Not looking forward to seeing/hearing them geek out like this movie is life and death.

Character count: 136

Which characters are you most excited to see interacting with each other?

Guardians of the Galaxy and pretty much anybody else. I think they'll be funny with Thor, and Star-Lord/Iron Man will be hilarious.

Character count: 131

Are there any characters that you are not looking forward to seeing?

Black Widow. She's the worst. Does anyone like her? And giving her a new hairstyle for every movie isn't magically going to make her "cool."

Character count: 140

How do you feel about Thanos? The MCU has been teasing him for years, but we've never really gotten a good look at him.

Not digging him so far. He is ugly and seems like a wuss, so he's really going to have to be a baller in this movie to earn my respect.

Character count: 135

Based on trailers and commercials for the movie, what have you seen that has gotten you the most hyped for the film?

Cap blocking Thanos' punch (Man Crush intensifies) and that cliche #HeroShot in Wakanda with the entire army running toward the camera.

Character count: 135

What is the likelihood that we get a major character death at some point in the movie?

100%. It has to happen. Thanos needs to raise the stakes and show that he isn't messing around.

Character count: 95

Which five characters do you think have the greatest chance of dying in "Infinity War"?

1 Vision - Infinity Stone in his head
2 Thor - Asgard is gone
3 Gamora - Thanos' kid
4 War Machine - expendable
5 Hawkeye - the heartbreaker

Character count: 140

Who would you be sad to see die?

1 Captain America - Popular theory. DON'T DO IT.
2 Hawkeye - Would be sad
3 Star-Lord - Not likely
4 Groot (He's safe)
5 Bucky (Also safe)

Character count: 138

Who, if anyone, would you like to see die?

1 Black Widow - sucks
2 War Machine - don't care, lamest character
3 Nebula - so annoying
4 Iron Man - he'd deserve it
5 Aunt May - lol

Character count: 135

Which character do you think will steal the most scenes and become the audience's sleeper favorite?

Ant-Man, Star-Lord or Black Panther's sister, Shuri.

Character count: 52

You blogged about your reaction to "Captain America: Civil War." Have any of your opinions changed since then?

I wasn't impressed by Black Panther in CA:CW, but I did enjoy his stand-alone movie much more than I expected to. Saw it twice, even!

Character count: 133

Make a bold prediction for the movie.

We're going to have ourselves a good old WWE-style heel turn! One of the Avengers will join Thanos.

Character count: 99

Make a stupid, totally unreasonable prediction for the movie.

Batman cameo.

Character count: 13

Give us your final thoughts, heading into this weekend.

This will be the best Marvel movie so far, but will not be as good as the sequel. Also, #TooManyHeroes, not enough screen time to go around.

Character count: 140

--

What are you looking forward to, heading into #InfinityWarWeekend? Who do you want to see die? What are your bold predictions? Let us know below, in #140Characters or less.

Oh, and follow us on Twitter: @atownmania & @sottunderground

Avengers, ASSEMBLE!

Virtual Roundtable: "Captain America: Civil War"

We here at The Underground kept our mouths shut for FIVE MONTHS following Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. We didn't say a word, out of respect and courtesy for those who hadn't seen the movie and didn't want it spoiled for them. In retrospect, that was ridiculous. If a good movie comes out, we want to talk about it!

With that being said, an enormous blockbuster movie came out over a two weeks ago: Captain America: Civil War. Perhaps you've heard of it. Aaron has rounded up a crew of guest bloggers and they've got a whole lot to talk about.

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR YET, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO GET OUT UNSCATHED. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FILM WILL BE DISCUSSED BEYOND THIS POINT.

All right, if you've scrolled down this far, we assume you've seen the movie and want to discuss it. At this point, we'll welcome in our panel of bloggers for the very first "Virtual Roundtable," which will work as, basically, a podcast for your eyes. The Underground has compiled a list of questions and our bloggers will share their thoughts, feelings and predictions.

Before submitting their answers to the questions that will follow hereafter, with the possible exception of Amy and Cole, who are married and live together, none of the bloggers for this "Virtual Roundtable" discussed their answers with each other. This will make way for two possibilities: the conversation, admittedly, may seem a bit disjointed, but it also may provide some common threads among responses. [Editor's note: At minimum, you will notice that it will be quite obvious which characters were most and least popular among these five bloggers. Kind of interesting.]

But before we get to that, let's quickly introduce our bloggers:

Aaron Christensen - Main contributor for SotT: Underground, former journalist of Deseret News and Salt Lake Comic Con fame, the former college radio DJ forevermore known as "A-Town."

Cody Christensen - First-time contributor to The Underground. That's all he could think of.

Cole Morgan - First-time contributor. Newlywed. X-box user. A real-life hero. Also, one of the biggest Tony Stark lovers ever to walk the earth.

Amy Morgan - First-time contributor. Newlywed (see above). The one and only Christensen sister. Brought up in love by overprotective brothers.

Curtis Anderson - First-time contributor. Californian, which supposedly makes him a Golden State Warriors fan. But, overall and sports allegiance notwithstanding, a giant, lovable teddy bear.

All right, now. Let's get to it!

TOPIC 1 - EXPECTATIONS:

QUESTION: What expectations did you have for the movie? What were you expecting to happen?

Aaron: I had incredibly high expectations for Civil War. Not the same as Star Wars because Star Wars is Star Wars, but I couldn't wait for this movie to hit theaters. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen because, unlike Batman v Superman, where we all knew WAY beforehand that they'd fight for a second and then end up on the same team, I only thought there was about a 95% chance of Cap an Iron Man kissing and making up, so to speak, at the end of i.

Cody: I had fairly high expectations going into the movie because of the high bar that Marvel has set with its previous movies. I was worried about spoilers - seeing things like the commercials for Suicide Squad - I feel like that movie has kind of been ruined because they've shown so much about it already. I was worried that there was going to be a lot of publicity for Civil War, but I wanted to go in, not knowing very much about it.

Cole: I had some previous knowledge of the Civil War, not from the comicbooks, but rather from the video game "Ultimate Alliance 2." I was expecting to see Iron Man on the side of superheroes registering, and Captain America against the proposal. Although I am an Iron Man fan, I went into this movie with the belief of Captain America being in the right.

Amy: At first, I expected this movie to be really good. I haven't met a Captain America storyline that I haven't liked yet. I was a little nervous after watching Batman v Superman if I would like having two "good guys" pinned up against each other. It ended up being a good storyline, though, and it exceeded all of my expectations.

Curtis: As far as expectations are concerned, I tried to keep mine very realistic. Keeping in mind that I did think a major character was going to be killed off, I wanted to be very surprised, yet also didn’t want to be let down, so keeping mine at mid-range was appropriate. I did expect Thor to show up towards the end and warn them of the coming danger due to the Infinity Stones and the Ragnorak, thus kind of shifting the Avengers' focus from their debate to the real problem.

QUESTION: For starters, were your expectations met? Yes or no.

Aaron: Absolutely, yes.

Cody: I feel like nothing got ruined for me beforehand, so yeah, I would say that they were met.

Cole: Yes, they were.

Amy: Yes.

Curtis: Overall, I would the say the expectations were met as a whole. 

TOPIC 2 - #TEAMCAP, #TEAMSTARK AND REAL-WORLD CONNECTIONS:

QUESTION: Going into the movie, had you already determined whose team you were going to be on?

Cody: I think that I went into it pretty open-minded, as to a team, but as the movie developed, it solidified who I liked more.

Amy: #TeamCap

Aaron: Last summer, I read about a third of the extended "Civil War" storyline in the comics, so, if the movie was going to end up anything like the comics, I knew I'd be #TeamCap.

Cole: I went into this movie as a staunch and proud Iron Man supporter.

Curtis: Going into it, I was on Team Iron Man.

QUESTION: While watching the movie, did your opinion of which team was in the right change at any point?

Cody: I think it solidified my choice more than it changed it.

Amy: Sort of. I could see why each party felt like they were right and my opinion was swayed a few times during the movie. I didn't agree with having the government controlling the Avengers, necessarily, but I ended up agreeing that the group needed to be in check.

Aaron: It's tricky. No, I'd say my opinion didn't change. I was in Cap's corner the entire time, but I can see valid arguments for each side.

Cole: My opinion did change. I expected to side with the morals of Captain America, but I was drawn towards the side of Iron Man. One of the many reasons that I love Iron Man is his ability to change. Tony Stark is known as the arrogant, egotistical and prideful billionaire, but that’s all a cover. The whole basis of Iron Man is Tony taking responsibility for what he had done in the past. He learns from his mistakes. This is what led him to shut down the weapons development at Stark Industries and to pursue villains.

Curtis: I did feel the struggle of trying to choose a side to be on, although my position on Iron Man’s side was solidified throughout the movie. That being said, I do see right and wrong opinions from both sides.

QUESTION: Were you sympathetic to the other team, even for a moment?

Cody: I felt sympathetic toward Iron Man toward the end when we found out about his parents, but I wasn't sympathetic toward the cause; I was more sympathetic toward the person.

Amy: Yes, I was. I felt like Tony Stark's point of view was valid. I feel like it was a real wake-up call for him when that woman confronted him about her son's death after his presentation to the college students. He found out that fighting with the Avengers was doing more harm than he thought. It was something I hadn't considered before. People were getting hurt or killed in the process of the Avengers saving those cities.

Aaron: Yeah, I think so. I thought the film did a great job of showing the frustration and desperation of the ever-confident Tony Stark. (His "Come on, man" plea stood out to me.) He seemed like a pretty frustrated dude and yeah, it made me feel kind of bad for him. It was almost like Batman v Superman, in the sense that I can understand why both Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne would have been really upset about their circumstances. Understanding someone else's perspective makes it hard to be like, "Kick his trash! Get him!"

Cole: I ended up siding with Iron Man, but not the government. I think that Tony doesn’t want to become a government employee - there would have been many debates on what restrictions could be placed, and I’m hoping that the council that would have had oversight over the Avengers would have been made up of politicians and superheroes. For this reason I also had sympathy towards Cap and his crew. Cap saw the worst in this bill, and he also had more knowledge of the context behind the bombing at the UN (information that nobody else had), so I think that both sides acted in what was right, based upon the information they each had.

Curtis: I would say I was more sympathetic to the characters, rather than the team as a whole.

QUESTION: Obviously, it's fictional, but what do you think "Civil War" teaches us about the role of government in today's society?

Cody: When we found out about the Sokovia Accords, it showed how corrupt the government can be, because, like Captain America was saying, once the government takes sides, it shows the government's true agenda. It goes to show how people react when they are given ultimate power, as opposed to checks and balances.

Aaron: If we learned anything from the Hillary's America trailer that preceded the actual movie last night, we learned that government can be a scary thing. I understood why Secretary Ross and the United Nations wanted to pass the Sokovia Accords, but it seemed to me that, despite all the good I'm sure they had intended, there were going to be a lot of dangerous consequences if the Avengers got their hands tied. (The audience's reaction to the end of the "Hillary's America" trailer was HILARIOUS, by the way. We only laugh to keep from crying because we all know it's coming. Heaven help us.)

Cole: Oversight is good, but not if it restricts us from doing what is right. If oversight is necessary, then the overseers must be extremely qualified.

Curtis: That it can be too involved and not set on a moral basis, per se. I would have signed, but only because I agree with Tony that we have to accept limitations or we aren’t any better than the bad guys. I do agree with Cap that agendas do change, but it is our moral responsibility to disobey an unjust law. However, it has to be a law first in order to tell its true nature.

QUESTION: There was some talk about standing for your beliefs, despite what others or "the world" might pressure you to do or say. Did you see any religious parallels in the movie?

Cody: Similar to the War in Heaven, there was a decision that needed to be made - there were two options: either everything was going to be decided for you and if you didn't do it, you were going to be punished, or the other option was that you were given the opportunity to choose for yourself and deal with the consequences accordingly. I think that both sides have their merit in this movie, however, one is more understandable to follow than the other.

Amy: Now that you bring this up, yes. With the world's values changing, the right decision is usually the unpopular one. Despite what our friends may think or do, we need to be willing to make a stand for our beliefs.

Aaron: Yeah, I'm always looking for hidden religious messages in the stuff I watch, so I did find it interesting to listen to the "sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth" conversation between Steve and Tony. Cap argues that the Sokovia Accords take away the Avengers' right to choose and act for themselves. Sounds like Satan's plan to me! Also, I thought Agent 13's speech at the funeral was good. I liked the part about standing tall when the world tells you that what you're doing is wrong, even though you know it's right. "No, you move." Nice.

Cole: Captain America is always right. It’s in his nature, and his ideals on the place of personal accountability are very similar to LDS beliefs on agency. We all have a choice, we should do our part and have faith in people that they will do the same.

Curtis: Absolutely. Can you truly believe in God without recognizing and following certain lines of conduct or order, in a sense? Maybe it comes from living in Europe and having immigrant parents and also being raised in a faith, but you can't sit on the fence between the world and God. Sides have to be chosen in almost everything we do and say.

TOPIC 3 - CHARACTERS:

QUESTION: Aside from Captain America and/or Iron Man, who was your favorite character in the movie? Why?

Curtis: Black Panther, hands down, without a doubt. He was so focused on his mission, but never so focused he couldn’t listen to reason, and could therefore end up making the right choice. He was very thought-provoking due to his nature and the dialogue that character had.  And he isn’t white… finally!

Cole: I loved Ant-man. His humor made the movie so much more enjoyable and he’s so excited to be doing what he thinks is right. I was also stoked to see the emergence Giant-Man.

Cody: Ant-man. I think he is very underrated. When he had screen time, he didn't disappoint.

Aaron: Ant-man was great. That guy is hilarious. It's funny... the first time I saw Ant-man, I thought it was all right. (I went in with really low expectations.) I watched it again on Blu-ray and liked it much more than the first time around. And, as time goes on, the more and more I like him. I love that he's just a regular, star-struck dude with a sense of humor and some awesome super powers. Flying on Hawkeye's arrow? Are you kidding me??

Amy: Ant-man! He is so real and people can relate to that! I think it's hilarious how star-struck he is when he meets Captain America mainly because I know I would do the same thing. I also appreciate his humor. Ant-man continues to impress me.

QUESTION: Which character was the most surprising to you?

Curtis: Truth be told, Cap was the most surprising for me. Before the movie, I slightly understood what was going on, as far as the dilemma, but didn’t fully grasp the entire thing. I really thought Cap would be the last one to say that we don’t need limits. I do see where he is coming from, that agendas do change and so do the people with those agendas, but, then again, Cap himself has changed. He really cannot live without a war or some kind of fight. Not accepting limits is the eventual rise of a warrior who doesn’t have to answer for what was done, whether it be good or bad.

Cole: Spider-man blew me away. I’m excited to see a him portrayed as a young kid.

Cody: I'd say Scarlet Witch because she was more confident in herself. In the second Avengers movie, she was very unsure of her powers, but in this one, she's more confident, more understanding of her role, and now, in this movie, she just needs to learn about the consequences of her powers. It gave us a greater opportunity to see the person that she can develop into.

Aaron: I actually really liked Bucky. The Winter Soldier was always kind of a baller, but I really liked seeing Bucky fight with the good guys. I don't think I was expecting that.

Amy: Spider-man - He was so much younger than previous Spider-man actors and I liked that a lot. He looks like he actually belongs in high school. He was a little awkward and nerdy and I also thought it was funny how he was looking for Tony Stark's approval for everything he did in the fight. "What do you want me to do, Mr. Stark?"

QUESTION: Which character were you most disappointed by?

Curtis: I think this one goes to Cap, as well. I think, just as the question before, not accepting limits proves the reality of true self. I wanted them to sign as a group, but, honestly, even I would go help someone, even if I was told I couldn't enter that situation. Papers are pure formality and I think they saw the bill as an ultimate decision. I was just a little surprised to not see Cap be the one to sign. 

Cole: I was not all that impressed with Black Panther. I thought he was cool and he’ll be a great fighter. I just don’t really care much for the way he was introduced into the universe. He just seems angry. However, he did seem to change by the end of the movie. I’m hoping for greater things.

Cody: I would say either Black Panther or Vision. I think both of them are cool. You don't really see them very much in this movie, however, Vision got little-to-no screen time and Black Panther... I think he has a cool back-story, but the entire time, he was on a manhunt and he kind of got the wool pulled over his eyes. You can see how vengeance really took control of his character. Vengeance destroyed his credibility with me.

Aaron: Black Panther. Sure, he's a pretty good fighter, but I just wasn't super impressed by him. I think most of my problem stems from the fact that he was wrong for like 90% of the movie. He kind of redeemed himself a bit there toward the end, once he realized that Zemo had duped him, but yeah... He didn't blow me away. It's just hard when they introduce a character that I'm supposed to like on a team that I'm not cheering for.

Amy: Black Panther. I didn't like how he was consumed by revenge for so much of the movie when he's supposed to be a superhero. That's a characteristic for a villain, in my opinion.

QUESTION: Who gets the "Most Improved Avenger" award?

Curtis: I’m going to say Spider-man, due to the fact that the previous movies have been letdowns and the character fulfillment has never really hit is peak. I always felt that Spider-man (due to writing and cast) was always more of a lower/mid-level hero. This new rebooted Spidey has really set the bar high. I’m excited to see how they go with him in the future. 

Cole: I give this award to the Scarlet Witch. She seems to have put a lot of her irrational emotions aside and is turning out to be a valuable fighter.

Cody: I'd say Falcon or Bucky. You see Bucky re-develop his memory in this movie and you see how someone who had so much evil potential turn it into good. I think with Falcon, he developed more as a character - not just as Captain America's sidekick like he was in Captain America 2, where he was just a "yes-man," but here he developed into a hero.

Aaron: Tough question. The first to come to mind would be Falcon. He stepped it up big time since Cap 2. I like the drones and you can tell that he's more of a leader and less of a sidekick now, so that's good. Scarlet Witch also had some cool moments and there were a few times with Vision where I thought, "Now that's just not fair!"

Amy: Surprisingly, Black Widow. I don't like her because she always has one cool fight in the movie and then she stands by for the rest of the movie. This time she had a few more fight scenes so I felt like she was less pointless. Congratulations, Black Widow... *slow clap*

QUESTION: Which character did you think deserved more screen time?

Curtis: Aunt May… We all know why...

Cole: I wish that we could have seen more of Hawkeye. I was so excited when he showed up and he’s turning into one of my favorites. I also think he could have weighed in more to the conflict seeing as he is the only “family man.” His opinion would have been quite valuable as I think it relates more to the "normal" people.

Cody: Vision.

Aaron: Hawkeye.

Amy: It's a toss up between Hawkeye and Ant-man. I've always liked Hawkeye because his super power is being super good at archery - not because he was exposed to gamma rays or injected with some cool serum. He seemed to be passionate about the cause in this movie. And then for Ant-man, I really just like his humor.

QUESTION: Did watching the movie decrease your opinion of any of the Avengers?

Curtis: A little, yes, but not to the point where I would not see them in some sort of positive light.

Cole: The movie actually made Vision seem a little less powerful to me. He has this mindstone which apparently can destroy the world if used properly, and yet he didn’t even seem to be able to fight with much power.

Cody: It did for War Machine and Iron Man. War Machine has always been a sidekick and now I feel like he'll never be anything more than that. And like Black Panther, now Iron Man is driven by vengeance at this point.

Aaron: War Machine annoyed me so bad. He's like a yappy little chihuahua - obviously not the big dog (that would be Iron Man), but still running his mouth like a tough guy. Not a good 146 minutes for Rhodey.

Amy: As I've talked to Cole, I've realized I'm a little disappointed in both Captain America and Iron Man. Captain America, because he knew a pretty big secret that Bucky killed Iron Man's parents. Of course he decides to tell Iron Man at the worst possible time. I would feel disappointed and mad at one of my good friends if they were keeping something like that away from me. I wish that Iron Man would have realized that Bucky was not in control of himself at that time though. In my opinion, the last fight scene between Cap, Bucky, and Iron Man was epic and almost too real for me. I had to close my eyes when Cap took off Iron Man's helmet because it looked like he was going to kill him. I was glad that the letter Captain America sent at the end of the movie helped to resolve things, though.

QUESTION: Did it improve your opinion of any of them?

Curtis: Not so much increase my opinion as it did increase my empathy for them from both sides.

Cole: I’ve never been a fan of Black Widow, but she seems to be growing on me after this movie. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still my least favorite, by far, but she is getting more trustworthy and likable. It may be her relationships with the newer characters and also her ability to fight.

Cody: Scarlet Witch - you see her grown into her own. She becomes a hero.

Aaron: Scarlet Witch, probably. She didn't do much in Age of Ultron, but she definitely pulled her weight in "Civil War." Also, you can tell that she really does care about the people they're protecting. She was devastated after blowing up the building in Lagos.

Amy: Again, Hawkeye has impressed me. He came out of retirement and away from his family because he wanted to stand up for what he felt like was right. I think Hawkeye might be the most under-appreciated Avenger.

QUESTION: How did you feel about the introduction of the rebooted Spider-man?

Curtis: I loved it... pure joy, for sure. The new Spider-man will be amazing, especially since this actor is visibly much younger than any of the others. My only worry is they will do the same old villains as they have in the past. I'd actually like to see them have Daredevil and the new Spidey join up once in a while - more so as a Daredevil cameo in a Spider-man movie. But, in reality, I would like to see Spider-man have more Avengers-oriented villains than the ones we've seen in his previous films.

Cole: I think that the new Spider-man is going to be really good. He’s an actual high school aged kid, which adds some diversity, and I felt like Tony Stark designing his suit made a lot of sense. He also added a lot of humor which I think helped the movie.

Cody: I'm kind of sick of Spider-man, to be honest. The fact that this is going to be the third version of this character... I'm not thrilled that it took them five movies to get to this point. Like the Fantastic Four, they rebooted it and it sucked both times. I'm sure that once you start seeing "Infinity War," I'll be ok with him, but for now, I'm just sick of him. I'm sick of the Uncle Ben spiel, but dude... Aunt May is hot! I wouldn't mind seeing her in another Spider-man movie. I'd go just for her!

Aaron: I thought Tom Holland did a good job. ... And THANK THE MAKER that we aren't going to have to see him get bit by another spider or witness the death of Uncle Ben for a third time. Tobey Maguire is still THE Spider-man, in my opinion, but I'd almost basically trust Marvel and Disney with my life, so we'll see how things go with the reboot.

Amy: I felt like it was perfect. Tony Stark recruiting him was brilliant! That way, it wasn't Spider-man just randomly showing up to this fight he wasn't really involved with. It was a good way to introduce Spider-man to the Avengers, in my opinion.

QUESTION: At any point, did you think a major character was going to be killed off?

Curtis: I thought during the ending fight that Cap was going to be killed or severely hurt to the point of no resistance, but I was always hoping that Bucky would be killed off. 

Cole: I had read in some obscure website months ago that Civil War was going to be the end of Captain America and that Bucky would then step in, but I was glad that it didn’t happen.

Cody: Genuinely, I thought that Bucky was going to die in that final fight. Everyone was out for Bucky and everyone wanted him dead. Iron Man wanted him dead, Zemo wanted him dead and the people just wanted him dead, but I knew for a fact that Iron Man wouldn't die.

Aaron: I thought I saw a spoiler the night before we saw the movie that mentioned characters being killed and the name "Scarlett," so I was pretty sure Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) or the Scarlet Witch would die. I was so mad when I glimpsed that comment. I wasn't heartbroken over the possibility of Black Widow dying because I don't like her character, but I was livid that a major death had supposedly been spoiled for me. Neither of those characters ended up being killed, so whatever I thought I saw was apparently just some idiot trying to be funny, but I was really relieved. Toward the end of the movie, I thought they might actually kill off Iron Man, which would have been shocking, but that didn't happen, either.

Amy: I thought Cap was going to kill Tony at the end...

QUESTION: If you had to change the story and kill off one of the Avengers, which would it have been?

Curtis: I'd kill Bucky, hands down, mostly because he is the problem child of the whole scenario. There were other options besides freezing him. He needed to answer for what he did, but I don’t think prison was the answer.

Cole: I don’t want him to die, but I feel like if War Machine would have been killed (not by Vision), then that would have enhanced the story. War Machine is cool, but not that necessary. It would have further sparked the conflict and I think that it would have given Tony a better reason to fight.

Cody: War Machine.

Aaron: War Machine.

Amy: I would typically say Black Widow, but she was decent in this movie... So I would say Black Panther; he really didn't do anything of value until the mid-credits scene.

TOPIC 4 - MOMENTS:

QUESTION: What was the funniest moment of the movie?

Cody: I think one of the funniest moments was when Captain America kisses Agent 13 and turns around and Falcon and Bucky are nodding at him. Either that or when Ant-man meets Cap and says, "Thinks for thanking of me."

Amy: This is off the top of my head: 1) When Agent 13 and Captain America kiss and the camera pans to Falcon and Bucky just chilling in the car, looking proud of Cap. 2) Peter Parker saying he can't help fight because he has "... homework." Tony's reaction was priceless! "I'm going to pretend like you didn't say that." #TearsOfJoyEmoji

Curtis: Oh, for sure, the introduction of the new Spider-man, but that scene also has some really pretty perks...

Aaron: Either Ant-man's new power, which was hilarious, or Falcon and Bucky in the car. "Can you move your seat up?" "No."

Cole: Tony Stark listening to Ant-man rant, and then responding, “Who are you?”

QUESTION: In your opinion, which one or two scenes were the most exciting?

Cody: The airport scene. That and the fight scene after Iron Man found out that Bucky killed his parents. That was intense.

Amy: The airport scene. Also, I think that last fight scene was really exciting and almost a classic battle scene. It was cool to see Iron Man take on these two genetically enhanced soldiers but, again, it was a little scary to watch because things got so intense. I think that's what made it so exciting for me.

Curtis: Excitement was the emotion I had the whole length of the movie. The peak for me, though, was that last fight. The accumulation of all the struggle and emotion came down to one moment and it was intense. Also, Aunt May...

Aaron: The airport scene, obviously, and I also liked the sequence where Cap and the Winter Soldier bust out of Bucky's apartment and fight Black Panther for the first time.

Cole: The airport fight because there was so much going on. Also, the moment when Ironman is firing directly at Captain America’s shield. It was a very iconic image. It raised my heart rate and lead me to wonder, “Who will come out on top?”

QUESTION: Which was better: the airport fight in Civil War or the Battle of New York in The Avengers?

Cody: I think they both have merit. I think the Battle of New York kind of established the Marvel universe - that the Infinity War is possible, that there's an alien race out there that's coming for the Avengers. The airport scene shows that the Avengers don't always agree on things and it shows their true colors as individuals. If I had to choose, though, I'd choose the airport scene.

Amy: This is a tricky question... The Battle of New York was fantastic because this was their first big fight together as the Avengers. When the Avengers' theme song comes on combined with all the action, you get chills. It's just so well made. The airport fight was more comical, which I appreciated! It was hard to see all these superheroes fight against each other, until they showed Hawkeye and Black Widow fight and they joked about how they're still friends, as long as they don't hit too hard. Then I realized this wasn't really a personal fight but they were just sticking up for their beliefs.

Curtis: Civil War, I believe, is just better all around, as far as a good fight.

Aaron: I think I've got to go with Civil War. The Battle of New York was so great because it was the first time we had seen that many heroes fighting together, but the airport scene was nuts because they were fighting EACH OTHER! Nobody cared about the Chitari, and Loki isn't some magnificent gladiator, so watching 10 characters that you actually do care about duke it out like that was nothing short of awesome.

Cole: Tough call, but I’d say New York. I miss the Hulk and Thor and I liked seeing the Avengers use their powers to complement each other more than finding weaknesses.

QUESTION: What did you think were a couple of the most shocking plot twists?

Cody: When Zemo brainwashes Bucky, because it causes him to require going back into cryostasis. Also the fact that the Avengers are split up and aren't all on the same team anymore.

Amy: When we find out that Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, brutally murdered Tony Stark's parents. Everything was fine until that point... And then we find out that even Cap knew. That was rough to watch and also it made a ton of sense. That was just straight-up crazy.

Curtis: Other than Bucky being the assassin of the Starks, I think Black Widow turning sides and helping Captain escape. It really does leave Tony with just Vision and Peter Parker on his side, due to Black Panther also changing sides.

Aaron: There was an army of Winter Soldiers!! I understand why Zemo did what he did, but, man, that would have been a heck of a battle to watch. Another one was Black Widow stopping Black Panther to let Cap and Falcon escape. Did not see that coming. Oh yeah - I was also shocked that Agent 13 actually did something in this movie.

Cole: Bucky killing the Starks. I was freaking out in my seat.

QUESTION: Let's talk about the bomb that was the assassination of the Starks... Thoughts?

Cody: I did not see that coming! When they finally talk about the events of December 1991, that's when I became sympathetic to Iron Man. Then, hearing that Captain America didn't say anything about it for his own selfish reasons, I think that would have been extremely difficult for Tony.

Amy: :( Too soon... But really, it was sad to watch that scene. Watching Tony go through what he wished would have happened the last time he saw them at the MIT conference was sad enough but then for him to relive it again was rough. I wonder how Cap felt about it, though. He worked with Howard Stark quite a bit in the first movie. Was it just as hard for him to realize his best friend had killed the man who helped Cap become a lot of who he is as a superhero?

Curtis: It was needed to fulfill the story line of the movie. Plus, it finally allows Tony to understand his past (what happened to his mom and dad), therefore allowing him to move on if he chooses to do so. If it were me, I know it would be hard, but I know eventually I'd face the facts, move on and focus on the greater good.

Aaron: Dang, dudes. Like I said earlier, I understand how that would have absolutely crushed Tony Stark's world - and the fact that Cap knew about it and didn't say anything? Oof. Wow.

Cole: It’s tough for me to debate this. I know that the Winter Soldier was not able to control himself, but would any of us react differently to watching our parents getting punched repeatedly in the face? I mean, the man just watched them get BRUTALLY murdered, and then to find out that the man who he thought was his friend hid it from him? I’d be pretty pissed, myself. I think that I would have wanted to punch Bucky, too.

TOPIC 5 - THE FUTURE:

QUESTION: What did you think about the post-credits scenes?

Cole: I thought that the mid-credits scene sets up the Black Panther movie, and the final one was just neat. Neither one was that important, but they were cool to see.

Cody: At the beginning of the movie, I was very indifferent toward Black Panther, but it made me excited because now it ties Bucky into the plot line of Black Panther.

Curtis: I love the direction that the new Spider-man is taking, or at least the direction that the ending scene is implying.

Amy: The first one was interesting - how Bucky decided to put himself under - but it was for a good reason. He didn't want to be a threat anymore. I think it sets up the Black Panther movie nicely. The second one wasn't that spectacular, in my opinion, and I think they could have done away with it.

Aaron: I thought the Black Panther scene was the best one. I can now actually say that I'm excited for his movie because it looks like we know what's going to happen - somebody's coming for Bucky!

QUESTION: So what happens next?

Cole: I think Iron Man should have another movie, and in that movie he should find himself even more humbled and in need of the rogue Avengers. This way they can mend the rift between them. As for Bucky, I don’t know what should become of him. I’m curious. Does he come out to fight? Or should he just be frozen for a good, long while?

Cody: I wish that they would finish the other movies that they have planned. I wish they would finish the "Thor" movies because I feel like that ties directly into the "Infinity War" movies, since that's what Thor is hunting. But right now they're doing all these other movies like "Doctor Strange" and "Black Panther," and they're starting new franchises when they haven't finished the ones that are already started.

Curtis: I marry Aunt May... but, in reality, the next Thor movie will tie in more heroes, and that will be the big reshaping of the Marvel universe. I expect a few people will die and everyone will come back together and maybe join a few new characters to fight the Infinity War. Civil War, as a movie, was a great plot, but I don’t think it reshaped anything in its entirety. 

Amy: Well... "Spider-man will return" and I think the Black Panther movie will definitely have to do with the Black Panther protecting the unconscious Winter Soldier.

Aaron: Seems like we haven't had a Thor movie in forever.

PREDICTION: Make a bold prediction about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, moving forward.

Cole: Cap will die, and then Bucky will surface. I know that’s found in the comics, but it happened during Civil War. I think that Cap needs to be murdered to strengthen the avengers moving forward.

Cody: I think that one of the main characters that they've already established is going to die before the end of the second "Infinity War" movie. I don't think that there's any way that all of them come out of that alive.

Curtis: Thanos wins and all the heroes die in the Infinity War... but Aunt May lives.

Amy: I wonder if they will follow the Marvel Comics at some point. In the Civil War comics, Captain America died and Bucky kind of took over the role of Captain America. I would be intrigued to see if that will happen. I mean, I'm sure Bucky will come to consciousness in future movies. It's more of a thought than prediction, but that's all I've got.

Aaron: At least one of the Guardians of the Galaxy will show up in Thor: Ragnarok.

TOPIC 6 - CONCLUSION:

QUESTION: Any other thoughts you'd like to share?

Cole: I’ve been mulling this over and working it out in my mind. I was disappointed to see Tony throw the first punch before the final fight scene. I just felt like there wasn’t quite enough there for Iron Man to brutally attack the Captain, BUT I had to put myself in Iron Man’s shoes.
Iron Man’s fury towards Captain America can be backed with a few arguments:

1. Captain America never felt the need to tell Tony Stark how his parents really died. 
2. Iron Man did not understand that Bucky couldn’t control himself, and Siberia was not the time to break that news to him.
3. Steve Rogers was good friends with Bucky, but is that old friendship worth more than what he’s been through with Iron Man over the course of the past four years?

It’s not just that he was lied to, but Captain America won’t look out for Tony in the slightest. He appears to only be loyal to an old friend. I’d feel pretty betrayed too if I were Iron Man. The man you called a friend won’t even hear you out, and is actively fight against you, that’s messed up.

QUESTION: In closing, is Captain America: Civil War the greatest superhero movie ever made? And if not, which movies would you rank higher?

Aaron: Top three, for sure, alongside The Avengers and The Dark Knight. But yeah. It was incredible and I definitely want to see it again soon.

Cody: I'd say it was the greatest compilation of superheroes in one movie. It was definitely better than Batman v Superman, in my opinion, where they also had multiple superheroes. Movies that have multiple superheroes in the future are going to have a hard time because this is what they'll have to compare to. Overall, I'd say this is easily top three, along with Iron Man and The Dark Knight Rises.

Cole: I’d say the most real. In ties into our lives so much, but I’m not sure that I’m ready to say it was the greatest.

Curtis: Yes.

Amy: Absolutely. I would be willing to see it in theaters some more before it's released on video.

There you have it! Have you seen the movie yet? (We certainly hope so if you've made it this far!) Did you have a favorite moment? Who would you have wanted to be killed off? What did you think about the Winter Soldier assassinations? Join the conversation in the comments section below!
And, until next time...
Avengers...