Every Avengers Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best

“Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” are on the way, and their collective cast will be even bigger than we thought (even though they won’t be including every single Phase 4 character). The Russo Brothers are also returning to their directors’ chairs to bring this next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a climactic ending. Oh yeah, and Robert Downey Jr. is back, this time as supervillain Doctor Doom.

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As we gear up for a fresh era of MCU cross-over mayhem, it’s fun to look back on the legacy that built the foundation for these monumental cinematic projects. There have been four live-action Avengers movies, in particular, in the MCU to date. The first one kicked off the eponymous group’s run on the big screen way back in 2012, with the last one bringing Thanos to his knees seven years later.

Each “Avengers” flick is special in its own way. But which ones are better than the others? Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane by ranking the quartet of films in the “Avengers” franchise from worst to first, shall we?

The first one on the list, and the most lackluster of the four films, is “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Now, right out of the gate, let’s make one thing clear: All four of these movies are incredible projects with good acting, plenty of splashy visual effects, and compelling stories that make them worth watching.

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Case in point: Even though this one generally comes in last on most ranked lists (and is often fairly low in MCU rankings in general), it is still chock-full of important and memorable moments. This is the story where Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) comes into her own. It explores the Mind Stone, helping to set up the Infinity War saga to come. It witnesses the birth of Vision (Paul Bettany), along with the creation of Ultron (James Spader), and introduces Hawkeye’s (Jeremy Renner) family. It also sets up the tensions for “Captain America: Civil War” and gives Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) his initial Mjolnir-moving moment. And don’t forget about that end credit scene where Thanos (Josh Brolin) prepares to “do it himself,” too.

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Like all MCU crossovers, there’s a lot to dissect here — and a lot to enjoy, too. However, this is also part of what drags this one down. The movie lags a bit, partly due to its own burdensome weight of multiple character arcs and over-extended storytelling. It lacks direction (apart from the obvious Ultron business) and is more important as a way to set up exciting events outside of its own 141-minute runtime. Suffice it to say, while critical, this is not the Avengers experience that naturally rises above the others on its own merits.

When it came out, “The Avengers” was the show-stopping experience of a lifetime. After four years of end-credit teases and minor character cameos, this was the first major multi-hero intersection in the MCU. The movie shepherds the original six Avengers through their initial formation and early growing pains. It shows them rally around Agent Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) death and go through their initial trials as they attempt to stop a Thanos-backed Loki (Tom Hiddleston). It also doubles as the first time we see the Mad Titan on the screen, and reveals more about previous crossover characters like Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye. On top of all that, the film introduces the recast Bruce Banner (with Mark Ruffalo taking over after Edward Norton’s tenure as Hulk created an institutional shift in MCU operations).

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All around, this movie has so much to offer, and it absolutely sticks the landing when it comes to its function as an introduction to this critical crew in the MCU. That said, it comes in third out of the four “Avengers” films simply because it isn’t big enough. The movie, in essence, is an origin story (albeit for a group rather than an individual), and while those are exciting, they’re rarely the most interesting and compelling narratives. When executed well, they provide a necessary foundation that lays the ground for the more intriguing drama to come — and that’s something “The Avengers” does with aplomb.

“Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War” are neck and neck for the top of this list. They are both incredible feats of cinema that successfully juggle dozens of well-known actors, complex storylines, and a universe that is bursting at the seams both in size and scope. That said, one of them had to come in second, and “Endgame” does so for a few different reasons.

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Let’s start with a simple statistical analysis. Both of these “Avengers” films currently rank among IMDB’s top 250 movies of all time (the other two do not). But while they each have an 8.4-star rating, “Endgame” is 75th, whereas “Infinity War” is 61st. Of course, our ranking is based on more than an IMDB rating, but the crowd-sourced nature of that list says a lot when it comes to a comparison this close.

“Endgame” is epic and complex, but as is the case with “Age of Ultron,” complexity can be a two-edged sword. There is so much going on that it becomes difficult to tend to every individual and storyline and still move toward a satisfying conclusion. Speaking of conclusions, any movie where you have to bring a decade of intertwined cinema and dozens of hours of overlapping stories to a happy ending faces a nearly impossible task. No matter how you slice it, someone (and often many someones) is going to be upset with every decision you make. From the decision to kill off Black Widow and Iron Man (Downey Jr.) to the way Thanos died to the use of time travel as a “We can do it all” MacGuffin, there’s just enough dragging this one down to keep it from the top spot. That leaves us with…

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“Avengers: Infinity War” is the greatest “Avengers” movie to date. Along with being the highest-ranked of the four films in the franchise by the wider public, the movie accomplishes the impossible: to tell its enormous story, maintain incredible emotional stakes, and build remarkable momentum without getting bogged down in the details.

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The key to this success? Thanos.

Thanos is the clear central figure of “Avengers: Infinity War.” He drives the story forward and, critically, he brings the disparate, far-flung elements of the MCU together into a single, awe-inspiring narrative. The MCU version of Thanos is also imbued with a crusader-like sense of destiny, which elevates his comic book storyline and helps focus the plot on a single, furiously driven purpose throughout the entire two-and-a-half-hour experience. Add the scale and scope of the movie into the mix, and you have a recipe for success.

All of this doesn’t even touch on one of the biggest things that helps this one stand apart: the ending. The final moments of “Avengers: Infinity War” (which Mark Ruffalo famously spoiled a year early) sets the stakes as high as possible and then doesn’t pull its punch. At the first watch, it leaves fans devastated and desperate for the next chapter of the saga. From its central villain to its crossover power to its high-stakes plotline, this one creates one of the greatest experiences in the entire MCU canon. The only way it could be supplanted at this point is if RDJ’s return as Doctor Doom could somehow take this cinematic comic book universe to even higher heights. Our suggestion to pull that off? Don’t pull your punches. Nuff said.

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