The Marvel Cinematic Universe is more than 15-years-old and during that time the popular movie franchise has experienced its share of highs and lows. Hopefully, history will show that the remaining MCU entry scheduled to debut this year (The Marvels) will be counted among the series' achievements and not its setbacks. Until then, here's the hierarchy of the MCU's awe-inspiring capabilities:
34. Thor: Love and Thunder
33. Eternals
The biggest detractors of the "Snyderverse" generally resent those films for not being more like Marvel movies. And WB executives, craving the rival studio's box office numbers, panicked along the way, ordering ill-advised alterations to their own projects (Suicide Squad and Justice League, especially) in order to mimic the sensibilities of the competition's output. The funny thing is, the MCU's 26th entry is essentially their version of Justice League. Eternals director and co-writer Chloe Zhao revealed in a recent interview that she was inspired by fellow director Zack Snyder's first Superman film, Man of Steel. One of Eternals' stars, Richard Madden, even seems to have been cast mainly because of his similarities to Henry Cavill. The former's Ikaris is clearly modeled after Cavill's Superman; they even possess the same basic power-set and alien origins. MCU-architect Kevin Feige publicly named MoS follow-up Batman v. Superman his favorite film. So in an ironic twist, it appears that more than a few people at Marvel want their work to be more like that of the DCEU.
However, the fatal flaw in Eternals' Snyderverse leanings, characterized by thoughtful deconstruction of superheroes and an examination of their impact on humanity, is the fact that its titular characters are complete unknowns to the general moviegoing public. It's hard to care about how strangers fit into the world and a single film is nowhere near enough to familiarize us with these 10 people. On the other hand, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have been household names for decades.
The first MCU movie to receive an official "rotten" designation on Rotten Tomatoes, Eternals' vaunted diversity seems to be an example of the maxim, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." While the story features the studio's first deaf superhero as well as its first Pakistani superhero, the lone Black male do-gooder among the titular alien protectors is depicted as the only coward of the bunch. Throw in lots of shoddy-looking CGI -- especially, the Deviants (monsters with little-to-no personality) -- and you've got yourself the worst MCU flick to date.
If Marvel's intention was to produce a cut-rate Justice League movie, then: Mission Accomplished. If only Hawkeye had gotten a movie and the Eternals had gotten the Disney+ series.
32. Captain Marvel
29. Doctor Strange
From the fake-looking costume to the mind-numbingly repetitive ending, this poor man's Inception and example of Hollywood's continuing commitment to white-washing is Marvel Studios' biggest shame. Although the original, comic book version of the Ancient One is definitely an outdated racial stereotype, there were certainly better options than to just make the character -- a legendary Asian sorcerer -- white. There's no upside to this nadir of an otherwise amazing actor's (Benedict Cumberbatch) stellar career.
28. The Dark World
With one huge exception, the MCU is particularly prone to sophomore slumps with regard to its sub-franchises. While Captain America and Doctor Strange boast sequels that are exponentially better than their debuts, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and even Iron Man hit foul balls during their respective second at-bats. But like his fellow Avenger, Ant-Man, Thor struck all the way out.
Without doubt the worst part of an already terrible movie is Loki showing off some of his illusion tricks, which is mostly a lame excuse to feature a sort of Captain America cameo (This would be his first, but unfortunately not his last, trash cameo in another hero's film series). Why bring Steve Rogers into this sh-- show?
Where to start? The Dark Elves are even more bland and unmemorable than the first movie's Frost Giants. And the Viking Age iconography, laser guns and starfighters make for a truly gobbage combination. The tone is all over the place, careening recklessly from completely unfunny attempts at humor to wholly uncompelling and woefully over-the-top melodrama. Rumor has it that Marvel was going for a Game of Thrones vibe with this trash (director Alan Taylor did helm 7 episodes of GoT) but Thor 2 doesn't even live up to the widely-hated final season. Don't get me started on the weirdly sappy yet simultaneously unconvincing "love" story.
Ian and Darcy's romance is more compelling than Thor and Jane's. And Anthony Hopkins has always been horrible at choosing roles in the action genre and his Odin in the Thor movies, especially this one, certainly upholds that piss-poor tradition. Aside from all of its other f----ups, The Dark World doubles down on the MCU's decision to give its Norse people off-brand Downton Abbey accents. You know, when you screw up royally, the best course of action is to stop what the f--- you're doing. They recast Warmonger, Fandrill and Bruce Banner AND even let Chris Hemsworth stop bleaching his eyebrows. But I guess they're sticklers for continuity when it comes to accents.
26. Thor
From the hokey, discount store-bought looking costumes to the boring villain to the unfunny jokes this was a mess through and through. The only good thing about Thor is the Sword in the Stone ripoff scene in which the original Thunder Cat picks up his beloved hammer.
This clown is the same guy that Ragnar and the rest of the cast of Vikings look up to and LITERALLY worship?! Can't be. And why exactly do the Asgardians all have British accents? Not having the cast sound Scandinavian is a huge missed opportunity.
25. No Way Home
24. The Incredible Hulk
Ironically, this least memorable of the Hulk's movie appearances features the best-looking Jade Giant to grace the silver screen and debuted a little over two months after Iron Man. But there's a reason that Marvel likes to pretend that The Incredible Hulk never happened. Unfortunately, it's not the worst entry in the MCU. There are plenty of other movies in the catalogue that should be disavowed.
23. Iron Man 3
The Iron Man trilogy just gets worse and worse. This shit only made a billion dollars because, being the first MCU release following The Avengers, moviegoers expected more of what they got in that movie. An Avengers sequel this was not. Intended to be an exploration of Tony Stark's attempt to cope with the PTSD he suffers as a result of his experiences during the Invasion of New York, Iron Man 3 is little more than a shit-show of bad CGI, lame storytelling and the corniest aspects of Iron Man lore (Extremis and the Iron Patriot -- smh).
Peter and the rest of the world adjust to the Big Resurrection following Thanos' snap. The world also mourns the loss of Steve Rogers, the Vision, Natasha Romanoff...and Tony Stark.
21. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
19. Homecoming
In the web-slinger's 2nd reboot in four years, a fifteen-year-old Peter Parker faces off against the Vulture. And the creative shot-callers behind the MCU should get kudos for making the Vulture compelling alone. He has always been exponentially lame on the page. But, surprisingly enough, he works onscreen. Oh yeah, a none-too-shabby Shocker comes along for the ride as well.
In fact, Spider-Man: Homecoming treats the villains much better than it does Captain America, who's back in his costume-shop-style suit from 2012's The Avengers -- even in a mid-credits scene which really amounts to a prank, as opposed to the usual future-movie-tease to which we've become accustomed.
That's just one of the changes. Flash Thompson is unfortunately no longer a jerky jock -- now he's a bench-warmer on the school's academic team.
The most significant alteration to Spidey's conventional history comes in the form of his mentorship by Tony Stark. And believe me, Homecoming could've used a lot less Iron Man. As a matter of fact, the web-slinger more or less comes across as Iron Man-in-training. This Spider-Man reboot essentially relegates the star to a sidekick. If you've ever wondered what a Robin solo film would look like -- this is it. The worst thing about the movie is the preponderance of Spider-gizmos and the Iron Man-style Spider-suit Peter Parker gets from Stark. You have to wonder how much inspiration the filmmakers drew from Inspector Gadget.
And I really could've done without seeing Peter whine because he worried that he was hopelessly trapped beneath a pile of rubble -- this despite the fact that he wasn't injured in the least when the various slabs of concrete landed on him to begin with. Note to Marvel: I know you guys pride yourselves on not taking yourselves too seriously but most of us would appreciate you not depicting our would-be heroes coming dangerously close to crying like bitches out of frustration or humiliating themselves while wearing cringe-worthy costumes in ridiculous PSAs.
There are some welcome additions as well. The object of Peter's crush is refreshingly not Gwen Stacy. Now he's got a thing for Liz Toomes -- captain of the academic team. And friendless oddball Michelle has a thing for him. And both of these new ladies happen to be African-American. Truthfully, Homecoming features more females of African ancestry in speaking -- even prominent -- roles than Wonder Woman. Having Michelle and an African-American security guard at the Washington Monument point out to a white academic decathlon coach that the structure was built by slaves was a nice touch as well.
Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the appearance of Donald Glover as Aaron Davis aka the Prowler. For those out of the loop, Davis is the uncle of Miles Morales -- the half-African-American and half-Puerto Rican Spider-Man in the comics. It gets deeper: Glover and the spidey pajamas that he wore on an episode of his former sitcom, Community, served as one of the inspirations that led to the creation of the mixed web-crawler in the first place. While Miles does get a mention in Homecoming, there are no plans to replace Peter in the MCU. Instead, Morales will be swinging to a theater near you next year in his own animated movie.
While most self-respecting superhero movies contain easter eggs related to comic books, Homecoming goes a step further. This thing is chock-full of references to classic high school films as well, including nods to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Risky Business.
The story details how a short and scrawny but tough and principled U.S. Army reject (Steve Rogers) becomes the first and last successful participant in the military's "super-soldier" program in which his strength, agility, endurance, healing, speed and reflexes are increased exponentially. He also grows taller and gains an astounding amount of muscle mass. His primary weapon, a shield made from vibranium, was designed by one of his contemporaries, genius-industrialist Howard Stark (Tony's father). Following Rogers' plane crashing into the Arctic Ocean, Stark retrieves an otherworldly device called the Tesseract (which was also on the plane) while attempting (unsuccessfully) to locate Steve and the aircraft.
After Rogers awakens in New York City after being frozen in the Arctic for seven decades, he's offered a mission by Nick Fury in a post-credits scene.
You won't see anyone flying through the clouds but watching Cap acquire his powers is entertaining enough. Like Iron Man, Captain America's worldview has an enormous impact on events to come in later movies.
More than anything else, the blue lasers derailed the middle of Captain America's origin story. But the beginning (filled with 1940's sci-fi and spy action) and the end (Steve Rogers discovering that he's a man out-of-time) are essential viewing.
The inconsistencies aren't limited to the film's tone either; they also extend to the well-established personalities of some of the characters.
There are some great moments: especially Black Widow's (nobody seems to remember that there are two arachnid-themed Avengers) ultimate sacrifice. But the best moments -- Cap's use of Mjolnir, Thanos' stoic acceptance of defeat and Iron Man's costly victory -- are all part of a sequence that takes two hours to get to!
Eventually, things get back on track: Hawkeye and Black Widow head to Vormir in order to get their hands on the Soul Stone, which costs Natasha her life; when Nebula visits 2014, Thanos discovers the 2023 Avengers' plan and decides to let them do his dirty work and then simply take the Stones from them; we get a battle royale between the Avengers and their allies and Thanos' vast army.
Even though we've all known for a year that Black Panther and Spider-man would be resurrected (a moment that elicited applause in the theater), it was great to actually see the two of them -- not to mention Falcon and Bucky -- step onto the battlefield.
While Endgame represents a step back in MCU quality in some respects (especially after the two giant leaps forward of Black Panther and Infinity War), the filmmakers seemed to have learned lessons from others' mistakes: Tony Stark gets the death that his DC counterpart and fellow billionaire/genius/playboy/non-superpowered hero (Bruce Wayne) should've had in The Dark Knight Rises; and Thanos is allowed the dignified end that his fellow galactic tyrant (Darth Vader) was denied in Return of the Jedi.
The movie's undisputed greatest line is delivered by the very mortal Tony Stark:
"I am Iron Man."
After a pandemic-related delay of over two years (105 weeks), the MCU, which had begun releasing three films a year before COVID, finally gave us another movie.
The story, set between Civil War and Infinity War, begins with Natasha's efforts to remain under-the-radar after having been branded a fugitive (along with Steve Rogers and James Barnes) following her violation of the Sokovia Accords at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport. Her decision to switch sides has put her in the crosshairs of Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross. And after Yelena Belova, who posed as Natasha's sister as part of a Russian sleeper cell in Ohio, reaches out, the former assassin heads to Budapest. Though she fears the consequences of returning to the city following her defection, fellow-assassin Yelena explains that no one wants to be targeted by "one of the big ones" (like Thor) who'd come to avenge Natasha's murder. After discovering that the Black Widow program is still active, the two determine to dismantle it once and for all. But first they have to find its director. And that means reuniting with the spies who posed as their parents 21 years earlier.
Though no other Avengers appear onscreen, plenty get shotouts (T'Challa, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Tony Stark, Ant-Man, Thor) and Clint Barton's voice is heard over an earpiece. The 24th MCU movie starts out pretty great but it goes from sugar to rat-shavings once the action moves to Hungary, which is pretty early on. Among other things, including the nearly non-stop and sometimes literal man-bashing, the inconsistent tone is a huge problem. It seems like the director couldn't decide whether the vibe should be sincere action drama or goofy comedy and went with both. There are certain dramatic moments that are outright ruined by the forced injection of intended humor, which turns out to not be funny anyway. The end-credits scene is a prime example.
Widow also follows the trend of excusing the behavior of movie characters with blood on their hands by reinventing their explicitly stated or implied origins (Maleficent, Cruella). Now, Natasha is no longer really guilty for all of the "red in her ledger", she's a victim of psychological conditioning. Even the little girl she tried to blow up in order to take out her father somehow survived. And her fellow assassins are victims of chemical brain-washing. But it's worth noting that she intended to murder a little girl and did kill a bunch of dudes on the boat in The Winter Soldier after leaving the KGB. And whatever happened in San Paolo and the hospital fire that Loki mentioned in The Avengers are still glowing bright red in that ledger.
And as head-scratching a decision as it is, Widow plays out like a sitcom for most of its runtime. Natasha's pseudo-father, Alexei Shostakov, is a bumbling fool while her fake-sister, Yelena Belova, is the best in her field and her faux-mom, Melina Vostokoff, is a scientific genius. Alexei embodies all of the long-running tropes for a sitcom father: he's a well-meaning moron; oafish; and inadvertently insensitive. He even has a "dad bod", despite being a recent prison inmate and having the same super-soldier serum that's kept Steve Rogers and Bucky looking like gym rats for 80 years. And of course, he's always wrong while his assigned wife and daughters are always right. Alexei seems more like a live-action version of Homer Simpson than a superhero. There are some genuinely funny moments (Melina announcing that she's "clearly injured" and Yelena's excitement over her multi-pocketed vest) but none of them are related to the stale sitcom cliches.
Some of the problems are just dumb. For instance, the late-stage reveal of the villain's identity -- the story's big twist -- is as predictable as hot summers. Also, Olga Kurylenko, who's five years older than Scarlett Johannson's Natasha Romanoff, portrays a character who Scarlett Johannson's adult Natasha Romanoff attempts to kill as a child. The problem is that Kurylenko is five years older than Johannson, and obviously so. What's more, Natasha doesn't dye her hair until after returning to (and leaving) Budapest -- the city in which she most feared being discovered. There's also a scene in which Natasha fights Yelena to a draw. But given that the former has more experience -- Yelena's trained with the Red Room while Natasha's trained with the Red Room, with S.H.I.E.L.D. and fought robots (Ultron clones), supersoldiers (Bucky) and alien invaders (the Chitauri and Thanos' minions) -- her little sister should've been light work. Most perplexing is the fact that Melina speaks broken and heavily-accented English for the majority of her screen-time, which makes her a strange choice for an agent tasked with posing as an American soccer mom.
Where the movie really loses its individuality is in the spy/assassin elements. There is an homage to the James Bond franchise in the form of a scene of Natasha watching Moonraker while mouthing all of the dialogue. But the many superspy elements in Widow aren't even cliches; they're more like specific pieces of other movies in the genre strung together in order to fill the runtime. Widow is closer to a late 80s rap song packed with samples than an actual film.
Here are some of those samples:
The protagonist is a female Russian assassin (Salt, Anna, Red Sparrow); a Russian sleeper cell in suburban America is exposed (Mile 22); a spy uses a high-tech face mask to deceive other spies (almost every Mission Impossible movie); the villain explains his plan to the protagonist (a disturbing number of James Bond movies); two assassins fight in a kitchen using household items (The Bourne Supremacy); a female assassin is out to get lethal revenge on the man/men responsible for the death(s) of her family (The Rhythm Section, Peppermint); Olga Kurylenko is a cast-member (Quantum of Solace); there's a villain wearing a mask featuring metal teeth (the character "Jaws" actually has metal teeth in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker); a "good spy" pilots an out-of-control helicopter (Spectre, Mission: Impossible -Fallout); there's a Russian prison break (Ghost Protocol); a female spy is killed remotely by a small detonation to the head (M:I III); there's a motorcycle chase (M:I 2, Rogue Nation, Fallout); there's a Russian spy indoctrination program (Red Sparrow); female spies are recruited from the dregs of society (La Femme Nikita, Point of No Return); a female assassin suddenly remembers who she is (The Long Kiss Goodnight); a fugitive assassin causes mayhem in Russia (The Bourne Supremacy); and a female assassin brutalizes and/or kills several men (Ava, Atomic Blonde).
Sampling aside, the primary reason that Black Widow works is because it's essentially a remix of The Winter Soldier with a little bit of Civil War thrown in for seasoning. This is Steve and Bucky's reunion story with Natasha playing Steve and Yelena -- and at times, Taskmaster -- in the role of the Winter Soldier.
While Widow does feature a cast with diverse ethnic backgrounds, it also includes the troubling Hollywood tendency to tease interracial romances between Black men and white women that never actually pay off (The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Force Awakens, The Rise of Skywalker, Suicide Squad, Into the Spider-verse). There's certainly more romantic chemistry between Natasha and Rick Mason than in the proposed 'ships between Sam Wilson and Bucky or Finn and Poe Dameron. Speaking of how the movie treats Black men, the film is full of statements about destroying the patriarchy, acted out with plenty of violent confrontations showcasing women remorselessly beating up on dudes (contrasted by the fact that every time a woman lays a finger on another woman, she's wracked with guilt -- even though all of the women involved are assassins). But given that the story takes place in Hungary, Russia and Siberia, a scene featuring Yelena beating down a Black male surgeon with no compunction is particularly problematic; these are places where Black men are significantly absent from the upper levels of the reigning power structure. And the writers conveniently look past the fact that Melina -- a white woman -- is the person who developed the brainwashing chemical in the first place, and has been actively facilitating the human trafficking that the film rails against.
While Widow doesn't crack the MCU's top 5, it more than makes up for the unwatchable WandaVision and the phenomenally overrated Loki.
The big question is: Now that Natasha's off the hook (only according to this movie) for the many murders that she committed -- and attempted -- during her career as an assassin, will Hawkeye get an excuse too?
The best exchange:
Natasha: "Everybody good?"
Melina: "I am clearly injured."
Like Blade, Ant-Man was one of those comics that was pretty good for lining the cat's sh#tbox. His solo comic, anyway. Thanks to Quicksilver and, especially, Hawkeye, he was never in danger of being the worst Avenger. His strength was always in his contribution to the team. So, when he was completely left out of the team's first nine movies (that's not even counting those out-of-place Hulk joints) it seemed like it was a wrap for his chances at getting onscreen. Hey, he created Ultron and he wasn't even mentioned in that movie. But, maybe the shot-callers at Marvel Studios and Disney are hip-hop wannabees who took a page from true deejays (the ones who scratch vinyl, not the laptop kind) and decided to focus on maximizing hidden potential instead of only reusing the people's favorites. Or maybe they just figured that nobody would care if they made changes to the wack stuff. Who the hell knows?
Anyway, Ant-Man bears the distinction of being the only superhero movie that belongs to the "heist film" genre (or at least the only one that I can think of off of the top of my head). Our hero pulls off four -- count 'em, four -- such heists before the credits roll. If you really are counting, there's: the VistaCorp burglary that lands him in state prison; the theft of his future super suit; the infiltration of Avengers HQ; and the attempted swiping of the Yellow Jacket suit. Happy now? Both Ethan Hunt and Danny Ocean might have trouble keeping up with this guy. And how great was it to see the Falcon in action again? After being criminally under-used in The Age of Ultron, Wilson is a sight for sore eyes. Although, the more colorful suit is a step in the lame direction.
Ant-Man represents the very rare occasion in which a heavy emphasis on comedy in a superhero movie was a good idea. As much as people criticize comic book movies for taking themselves too seriously, Green Lantern, Superman III, Superman IV, The Green Hornet, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, The Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer, Steel, and The Phantom serve as reminders of the dangers of not doing so.
8. Wakanda Forever
7. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
6. The Avengers
5. Age of Ultron
Though his origin was unnecessarily altered, Ultron made for an interesting adversary and owing to James Spader's extremely charismatic characterization, should enter the pantheon of cinematic automatons. As villainous as he is, Ultron is more or less the physical manifestion of Tony Stark's megalomaniacal ego. And he accurately (unfortunately) calls out the Avengers for the killers that they are.
Although, I gotta say, I'm not sure his evil plan to drive mankind to extinction made much sense. If Ultron had succeeded in killing off billions of people by dropping the Sokovian capital city of Novi Grad from the upper atmosphere, wouldn't it have been much more difficult for him to function in the long term? Despite his best intentions though, Ultron did not tally up the highest body count. That honor belongs to the Hulk, who went on a rampage in an African city before ultimately being subdued by Iron Man and Veronica -- which is a name that's, thankfully, a hundred times more mature than "Hulkbuster armor". This isn't one of those movies in which the African-American dude is the first casualty, but having an Avenger kill off countless Africans, civilians included, and later saving the lives of an entire population of a European city sort of misses the point.
And why, why -- Why go back to the stupid-ass blue lasers from Captain America: The First Avenger? And right off the bat, at that? Fuck, man.
But hey, at least Cap had some great lines. Some of the best actually - even better than Iron Man's. They include:
"I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science invented was me."
"You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed - walk it off."
"What kinda monster would let a German scientist experiment on him to help his country." (Sarcastically referring to himself and the Maximoffs)
The depictions of the Scarlet Witch, and especially, Quicksilver, were much better than expected. Although, the idea that their superpowers were derived from "experiments" using Loki's stupid wizard staff is a reminder of how far these movies haven't progressed. I suppose Marvel felt compelled to maintain a certain consistency in regards to idiocy -- it lines up nicely with the first movie's illustration of the magic stick's ability to grant it's wielder mind-control powers. I realize that 20th Century Fox owns the exclusive rights to mutant powers, but couldn't the filmmakers have just left the origin of the twins' powers unsaid (We all know they're Magneto's kids)? Mystery is far superior to lameness. And, if one of them had to die, why couldn't Wanda have been the one left in the dirt? I personally prefer physical superpowers to magic. For one thing, they're easier to quantify. And the last thing this franchise needs is more ludicrousness. Seriously, Maria Hill and Robin Hood survive and we lose the best version of Quicksilver, ever? South Korean geneticist Dr. Helen Cho takes a shot from Ultron at close range and she survives too? Come the fuck on.
The Age of Ultron is by no means profound and to most people it's an entertaining distraction at best, but AI researchers would do well to view it as the latest in a long line of cautionary tales.
4. The Winter Soldier
Despite my reaction to the trailer, the Falcon's inclusion was a great decision. He's no more a sidekick than Black Widow is and wings are way, waay more realistic than Jackson's wardrobe. Incidentally, he is Captain America in the comics, as he's currently traded in the wings and taken over the costume, shield and duties from Steve Rogers.
Aside from the costume, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers hasn't changed drastically. His hallmark sincerity and stoicism's still there but he's a little more suspicious of people's motives now and there's the suggestion that he's disenchanted with his role as a soldier in today's world. This only serves to broaden and deepen the character and Evans portrays the new depth perfectly.
There are a ton of superhero movies out there and lots more are on the way. Honestly, most of them are a big waste of time and money. Only a handful of them are actually good. As of 2015, there's the Dark Knight trilogy, The Avengers, this movie, and then there's everything else. In that order.
Winter Soldier is the 4th highest-grossing film in the U.S. for 2014 and 7th highest-grossing film of the year, worldwide. It might have been #1 if it'd had a better trailer director.
3. Civil War
For the second year in a row, two big movie franchises released films that told almost the same story. In 2015, Mission: Impossible's Rogue Nation and the unwatchable James Bond flick, Spectre, were both about the revelation that underground international intelligence organizations existed and were out to wreak havoc on the world. Each movie also featured British superspy/assassin and a villain behind a wall made of bullet-proof glass.
In 2016, two blockbusters told the story of superheroes involved in mass destruction and accidentally causing mass civilian casualties during their struggles against super-powered enemies, and the subsequent attempts at government oversight of said heroes. One of those films is Batman v. Superman and the other is this movie.
Civil War is a very loose adaptation of the 2006 comic book storyline of the same name. In the movie version, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.N. step in after the last straw in Avengers-related mayhem -- the Scarlet Witch's accidental killing of a bunch of bystanders during a mission to catch The Winter Soldier's Brock Rumlow. During a meeting between the team and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, some of the previous missions that ended in collateral damage come up, including: the NYC invasion; the heli-carrier crashes in D.C.; Iron Man's fight with the Hulk in Wakandia; and the Sokovia battle. But aside from a grieving mom slapping the shit outta Tony Starks for accidentally killing her son, and Helmut Zemo's revenge mission, there's no real focus on the actual victims. Speaking of victims, it seems to me that the Scarlet Witch should've had a much harder time getting over her brother's death in The Age of Ultron -- her twin brother and only family, at that. But, what do I know?
And, hey, Ant-Man's finally a part of the team. But if he was gonna be included, why change the Ultron story so that Starks and Bruce Banner are his creators instead of Henry Pym? It's a fairly fundamental change, too. I gotta say, that puts a whole lotta dirt on Starks' resume. He was an international arms dealer and he devised a killer robot that nearly succeeded in destroying the planet? This guy's beginning to look like a threat to humanity. It's a lot.
In some respects, Civil War represents a setback for Captain America's story. The Falcon has lost some of his sincerity and gained some cheesiness, like the less realistic costume. And the stupid drone is one of those things you leave in the comic book. Actually, it's too dumb for comics, too. Black Widow is still running around on combat missions having not bothered to tie her hair back, and this time around, despite the fact that she's superpower-free, she's not bothering to bring firearms along. Wtf? It's stuff like this that makes it a good idea for neither of them to have their own movie. And they were both so great in The Winter Soldier. As they say: "One step forward and two steps back." As popular as it is, Civil War definitely registered a few spikes on the ridiculosity meter.
The best things about Civil War are: Captain Rogers' finally-resumed hunt for the Winter Soldier; the Black Panther's and Zemo's respective quests for vengeance; and the brawl involving Iron Man, the Captain and Bucky. By the way, props to the Russo brothers for not putting Zemo in costume. It was also nice to see Rogers finally get some action -- even if it was only a kiss.
Batman v. Superman has been criticized for not being "fun". But if Falcon and company don't appreciate the gravity of the situation, why should we? In the future, maybe the Avengers should take a cue from T'Challa and Zemo -- and get serious.
2. Infinity War
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