Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked from Worst to Best

Captain Marvel follows an intergalactic warrior, played by Brie Larson, on a journey to discover her true identity (via some obligatory world-saving). It's the first female-led movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it comes out on March 8, which is also not-so-coincidentally International Women's Day.

Reviews so far haven't been glowing. "The raw material is all there, but filmmaking itself does not yield any truly thrilling, resonant moments," wrote Esther Zuckerman in Thrillist.

The Wrap critic April Wolfe agreed, saying the "story jettisons subtlety in its messaging of female empowerment and anti-imperialism to varying degrees of success. At times, the film has all the makings of a wildly effective Nike commercial."

They both echoed the consensus that for all its moves towards diverse, progressive filmmaking, the people behind Captain Marvel dropped the ball when it came to giving the superhero anything exciting to work with.

Captain Marvel already received backlash from misogynist comic book fans, who took umbrage with Larson's assertion that most of the people reviewing her movies tended to be "overwhelmingly white male," and that more diversity was needed in the film industry as a whole.

Following online complaints, Larson clarified her stance to Fox 5 in DC: "What I'm looking for is to bring more seats up to the table. No one is getting their chair taken away. There's not less seats at the table, there's just more seats at the table."

The movie, which is set in the 1990s, plays into a retro idea of girl power, including a soundtrack featuring Salt-N-Pepa and No Doubt—catnip to 90s kids who make up a big chunk of Marvel's audience. Hopes were high that the movie could capture some of the era's riot grrrl spirit.

But fans won't have to wait long for more offerings from the comic book giant—Captain Marvel is the first of three Marvel movies to be released this year. Avengers: Endgame is due for release on April 26, reuniting the surviving members of the superhero Avengers crew on their fourth outing. Spider-Man: Far From Home will follow on July 5, with British actor Tom Holland slipping into the Spidey suit to play Peter Parker.

The three films will bring the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon up to 23 movies, and Spider-Man: Far From Home will mark the first movie in Marvel's MCU Phase Four. Disney have been reticent on what will follow, but expect more Black Panther and Captain Marvel action.

Ahead of these new releases, we've ranked all the movies in Marvel's Cinematic Universe from worst to best, using review data from Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and IMDb. Captain Marvel doesn't have quite enough reviews to include yet, but so far it would rank among the bottom five movies.