Top 5 Marvel Movies

(Up to and including Endgame, but spoiler free!)

These movies have become a cultural phenomenon and defined my 20's almost as much as Harry Potter defined my childhood. In fact, it wasn't until recently that I realised they would have been a Harry Potter-like experience for many people, who started watching them at 10 would easily be 20 now.

I like positivity, so I don't rank all movies from worst to best. Instead, I like to pick my top five, the ones that stood out to me in some way over the rest. There are some movies in the MCU that I don't like as much as the others, but the fact that they all come together to make a cohesive universe is something to behold.

Also... this is my personal opinion on them! I shouldn't really need to say this, but if you think I left out a movie, write your own list. We all have different preferences, and that's okay, because that's what keeps life interesting!

5. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.
Surprised to see Vol. 2 on this list but not Vol. 1? I actually prefer it. I think that as we knew the characters better in this one, they could get right on with doing what they do best - cracking jokes and snarking at each other. I love the soundtrack for both of these movies, too. And the bright colour palette, too. Proof that not all sci-fi needs to be in muted tones. I love movies that use a lot of colours in every shot, I think it makes them a real visual treat. And speaking of...

4. Black Panther
Every shot in this movie looks amazing. Many are shot in the daylight, and the night scenes are well-lit. I really like when movies show cities lit by several tiny lights. There's so much colour, too, in the clothing, the jungles of Wakanda, and even the Seoul scene. To add to that, this was the movie that gave us (Disney Princess) Shuri, Nakia and Okoye. And it does what sci-fi does best - becomes a way for us to reflect on our own world and the reality we live in.

3. Captain America: The First Avenger
I love historical fiction, and this is almost a WW2 movie with a little alternate history thrown in. Also a catchy musical number. I love Peggy, and Cap is my favourite Avenger, so maybe this is slightly biased. But you can also see a lot of thought and detail put into things like the fashions of the time (Victory Rolls!) and it also introduced us to one of the overarching plot points of the whole MCU, the Tesseract. And there's a World Fair in it!

2. Avengers: Endgame
To be fair, I think focusing on a smaller group of people benefited this movie compared to it's predecessor, not needing to have 3,000 plot threads going at once. But it tied up the franchise amazingly well, taking risks I wasn't expecting it to. While there are a few minor quibbles, I think it was my favourite Marvel movie since 2012's Avengers. It certainly felt more like it, and showing a few scenes from that movie was a treat. There were some epic moments in the final battle, and even with the bleak premise, they managed to keep humour going throughout. This rank may be liable to change as time goes on, since it's still fresh in my memory at this point, but as of right now, this is where it stands for me.

1. Avengers (2012)
I think this movie is an absolute masterpiece of a team movie, and is the one I will rewatch more than any other. It's one of my favourite movies of all time. We get to see the Avengers come together, with help from Nick Fury and Agent Coulson. After a rocky start, they really gel. The chemistry between the original six just clicks. And the humour is bang-on, hitting just the right notes at the right points. New York is a very personal place to see attacked for a lot of people (I get the same way in Thor: The Dark World) which just drives home how terrifying a threat like this would be in real life. The movie was epic in scope, but it wasn't trying to top anything else. It did that on it's own, and set the standard for the other movies in the MCU. What a movie, what a franchise, what a cinematic experience.

Honorable mentions to Captain America: Civil War, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Iron Man 2. (Yes, 2. Yes I know. This is my list.)

Now, if you need me, I'll be working out how soon tickets for Spider Man: Far From Home will be on sale.