The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers (2012)
Rating: ★★★★
May 4, 2012Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
The culmination of one of the most ambitious cinematic exercises ever conducted, with Marvel weaving storylines through several films to finally merge here with flawless regard. The characters get far more depth than in all of their previous films

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Rating: ★★½
Nov 9, 2013Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
Sequel to Thor that earranges the same basic elements much more satisfyingly than the first film – the actors (with the exception of a tranquilised Natalie Portman) seem more at home in their roles and a director who is more confident with the effects and superheroics. That said, it is starting to feel like Marvel is shuffling the same plot ingredients around between films

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Rating: ★★
Apr 5, 2014Comic-Book Superhero
Captain America's second solo outing feels more like a Mission: Impossible film or an episode of 24 than a superhero film. Lots of Marvel continuity and fanservice and you are taken aback at how political it is prepared to be

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Rating: ★★★★
Aug 2, 2014Marvel Comics Adaptation/Space Opera
A triumphal Marvel Comics adaptations that manages to mainline the spirit of the original Star Wars, while in in its wryly, self-deflating culture savvy suggesting a Star Wars rewritten by a 14 year-old Quentin Tarantino

Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 18, 2015Marvel Comics Miniature Superhero
While there is little doubt that Edgar Wright would have made a much better film, this emerges with an engaging likeability. Less epic superheroics, this plays out more as a caper comedy where a good ensemble and comedic playing carry the show

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Rating: ★★½
May 2, 2015Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
The first Avengers film came with a massive anticipation in seeing the characters come together and the snappiness of their interplay; here this seems more flat, while the rest is overrun by wall-to-wall action

Doctor Strange (2016)

Doctor Strange (2016)
Rating: ★★★½
Nov 19, 2016Marvel Comics Magician Superhero
Scott Derrickson acquits himself well taking on one of Marvel's magician superhero. He replicates well the psychedelic esoterica that gained the comic book a cult following and Benedict Cumberbatch anchors the show perfectly

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Rating: ★★★½
May 14, 2016War Between Comic-Book Superheroes
Less Captain America 3 than The Avengers 3 – the entire film has been conceived as a massive superheroic punch-up. The results move with an exhilarating pace, but the Russo Brothers haven't yet mastered Joss Whedon's hand with character humour

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Rating: ★★
Feb 3, 2018Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The third of the MCU's Thor films. This time Kiwi director Taikia Waititi gives much more of a comedic emphasis where you get the impression the intention has been to push the film in the direction of Guardians of the Galaxy. On the other hand, the superheroics are routine

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)
Rating: ★★
May 20, 2017Marvel Comics Adaptation/Space Opera
Guardians of the Galaxy was an audience winner with its eccentric humour and effortless charm; this sequel feels buried under bloated production overkill where the charms of the original remain thinly drawn

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Rating: ★★
Nov 3, 2018Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
Marvel’s third Avengers film, uniting almost every superhero under their roof, resulting in some thirty characters on screen and a plot that becomes a blur of changing locations and superheroic punch-ups

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Rating: ★★
Dec 15, 2018Marvel Comics Miniature Superhero
Ant-Man was a lightweight but perfectly enjoyable entry in the horde of Marvel Comics adaptations. This sequel has amplified the comedy element, seemingly with the intent of being the joker among the MCU pack

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Rating: ★★
Aug 10, 2019Marvel Comics Superhero Team-Up
Marvel conclude the cliffhanger they left Avengers: Infinity War on and offer up a bigger-than-big line-up, overspilling with just about every MCU character to ever appear on screen up to that point

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Rating: ★★½
Nov 20, 2021Marvel Comics Martial Arts Superhero
The Marvel onslaught continues with this resurrection of a martial artist superhero character from the 1970s. Amid the mostly ho-hum MCU offerings of the 2020s, this becomes an energised action vehicle

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Rating: ★★
Jul 1, 2022Marvel Comics Magician Superhero
Doctor Strange was one of the better MCU films. Here Sam Raimi takes over in the director's chair. This readily delves into multiverse themes but requires a major crash course in a plethora of Marvel tv series to follow

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Rating: ★★
Feb 11, 2023Marvel Comics Superhero
The MCU’s sequel to Black Panther. This offers the peculiarity of a work in which the superhero of the title never actually appears and is instead set around his absence following the death of Chadwick Boseman

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Rating: ★★½
Apr 29, 2023Marvel Comics Miniature Superhero
The third of the films devoted to Marvel’s miniature superhero. This ventures into multiverse themes works well when it comes to introducing the MCU’s big new super-villain who ended up never happening

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2023)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2023)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 15, 2023Marvel Comics Adaptation/Space Opera
Third of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, this successfully recaptures the nature of the goofy ensemble comedy caper that made the first film such a winner but seemed to be missing in the second

The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025)

The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025)
Rating: ★★
Oct 4, 2025Comic-Book Superheroes
After several other film incarnations that went nowhere, The Fantastic Four make their first appearance in The MCU. The film creates a wonderful retro world of 1960s futurism based on their original comic-books for them to inhabit