The MCU’s first 3 phases focused on the Infinity Saga. The saga lasted about 23 movies and the climax of the Saga was helmed by the Russo Brothers. These seemingly novices did a splendid job with directing Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Seeing the quality of their vision in that film, Marvel President Kevin Feigi entrusted them with the third Captain America film – Civil War. In that film, the Russo Brothers handled almost the all characters of the MCU, that to with ease. Handling every character’s separate tracks in a 2 hour confined film is not everyone’s piece of cake. I mean we saw what happened to Joss Whedon while directing Avengers: Age of Ultron. The outfall of Age of Ultron had put Marvel in search for a new director for their climactic end to the Infinity Saga.
Russo Brothers directing Civil War and managing each character very well acted as a saving grace for Marvel. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the two part finale for the Infinity Saga were helmed by the Russo Brothers and they were Marvel’s most successful films yet. Avengers: Infinity War grossed around $2.048 Billion worldwide while Endgame outdone everyone with its massive $2.7975 Billion box office haul. It beat Avatar to the race of the Highest Grossing Film of All Time. Although, Avatar regained its top spot back, it doesn’t take away any glory from Avengers: Endgame. Endgame has to be cinematic event whose scale is unmatched till now sheerly because of the amount of heroes it unites together. After Endgame came Spider-Man: Far From Home which was again a success, critically and money wise.
However, after that started the Phase 4 and today we’re here to rank every piece of content that Marvel has come up with in Phase 4 from Worst to Best (more like from “Worst to Not so bad”)
16) Thor: Love and Thunder
I don’t think I have to justify the low ranking of this film. I think we can all agree that this is the worst Marvel film simply because it was so absurd, in a bad way. The story didn’t land, performances were hammy, jokes were worn out, the talent involved was wasted especially Christian Bale, all because Taika Waititi was obsessed with comedy, he wanted the movie to be the funniest in the entire MCU. Well, he did that. He made a parody movie. Thor: Love and Thunder is the worst movie of the year after Jurassic World: Dominion and Morbius.
Rating: 4/10
15) Marvel ‘s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
She-Hulk was an absolute abomination, it started off fine. It was a light show with with no big stakes and huge VFX heavy fights. Tatiana Maslany is really great as Jennifer but the writing of the show which is constantly trying to make statements about the world, it is extremely didactic and in order to make a feminist, woke show, they’ve made an unbearable mess with a finale that really laughable. I mean breaking the 4th wall is something but what they did in the finale was nightmarish.
Ranking: 4/10
14) Eternals
Eternals unlike the other two movies on this list is that this is not a terrible or silly movie. This film is directed by Chloe Zao. She is one of the most talented filmmakers of this generation. However, the biggest problem with the film is her direction itself. It felt like she wants to make a different movie while Marvel still wants to make a Marvel movie. The film struggles to work as it plays this tug of war constantly. The film has an incredible cast but the film is very inconsistent which it makes a pain to get through.
Rating: 4.5/10
13) Black Widow
Black Widow is another film which is not trying to be silly or unconventional but the biggest problem with the film is that it feels inconsequential to the entire MCU timeline. It is coming out in Phase 4 but the story they’re exploring is of Phase 3 after Civil War, making it feel like a filler movie only made to mint some more money after seeing the success of Wonder Woman from Warner Bros. The cast of the film is very good but the film struggles to keep you engaged.
Rating: 5/10
12) Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel tries but it never succeeds, the biggest problem with the series is that is is boring and innovative at all. It is extremely boring with no stand-out performances. Marvel’s pursuit of presentation feels like telling the world we can represent your culture better than you can. I feel Marvel should’ve done some more research about the Indian culture and had an 8 episode run than 6.
Rating: 6/10
11) Marvel ‘s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
This much like Ms. Marvel where the series is just boring and not really that interesting. There is nothing in the series to get hooked about or fanboy about. It is better than whatever we’ve discussed so far but overall the series definitely doesn’t work.
Rating: 6.5/10
10) Marvel ‘s Moon Knight
Moon Knight has many flaws but the one thing that works in its favor is Oscar Isaac and it doesn’t feel boring. If you can look past narrative flaws then Moon Knight will be good watch for you. Oscar Isaac is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood right now.
Rating: 6.5/10
9) Marvel ‘s Hawkeye
Hawkeye has moments where it feels like it is a compelling character story but then once again it falls into the trap of becoming a Marvel content and another problem is the 6 episode run instead of 8. The insistence of Marvel to not let characters feel real emotions and instead replace pain with Humor baffles me. Hawkeye struggles with this.
Rating: 6.5/10
8) Marvel ‘s WandaVision
WandaVision is the first piece of content on this list which I can good. Until now the shows or movies discussed are either terrible or outright average. This is good but the point is it doesn’t quite do beyond that. It limits its potential to be once again a Marvel series. However, this series did have a compelling story which could’ve been better.
Rating: 6.5/10
7) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
This is very similar to WandaVision as it is more like a sequel to WandaVision than a Doctor Strange film. The film is good and even entertaining at times but the biggest problem of the film is the title. It is not a multiversal story it is very much a simple story. The hype around the film was too much because of the way Marvel promoted it. Benedict Cumberbatch is great but the screenplay was bland where no huge twists where there for a title like Multiverse of Madness.
Rating: 6.5/10
6) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a tribute to Chadwick Boseman and very rightly so as he was a King. The film however, has many issues. There are too many sub plots, many characters, and it is extremely long. The action set pieces in the film were very poorly executed as well and VFX was forgettable as well. I appreciate for what Coogler was able to achieve as he had to rewrite the entire script after Boseman’s death. I appreciate the film but I’m aware of its problems.
Rating: 7/10
5) Marvel ‘s Loki
Loki is the best Marvel series ever produced, apart from the Netflix material like Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Tom Hiddleston is great and the whole element of time travel makes it so much more engaging. It can be cheesy and confusing at times but Loki was the best thing Marvel came out in the TV space. It is also the only piece of content until now which feels naturally connected to the Multiverse Saga as it introduces Kan the Conqueror.
Rating: 7/10
4) Spider-Man: No Way Home
Many of you would’ve probably picked this as the best Phase 4 film and you won’t be wrong but there is one film that beats it. No Way Home is extremely flawed. The entire premise of Peter trying to cure the villains because they’ll be killed seemed extremely contrived and childish. It is more logically flawed than almost anything on this list but it is so high on the list simply because it was one of the best theatrical experiences ever. The entire movie is based on fan service and I’ve accepted that and made my peace with. I love all the three Spider-Men together and Alfred Molina’s Dr. Octopus.
Rating: 7.5/10
3) Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
2) Werewolf by Night
Werewolf by Night is by far the most fresh Marvel content out there. It is just an hour long special but no Marvel content was so cinematic than Werewolf by Night. It is a homage to all the 40s and 50s horros movies that we’ve seen and the direction for the series is amazing. This is how you make a simple premise interesting and significant not inconsequential. This has every right to feel unwanted as it has no implication on the main timeline of the MCU but it still feels significant.
Rating: 8/10
1) Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Released just two days ago and it looks like Marvel was saving its best for the last. This is a another silly premise but because it is directed by James Gunn, the holiday special works as there is so much of character explored in the special of only 40 minutes. This much attention to character is not even there in Marvel’s long format content like movies and series. It is because of James Gunn’s brilliance that the special works and it has to be the most balanced piece of content from Marvel, which makes it the best.
Rating: 8.5/10
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will release on 7th November 2025 & Avengers: Secret Wars will release on 1st May 2026.
If you have any questions regarding Avengers: Secret Wars, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!
