We've rounded up the Metacritic scores for every MCU project across both movies and television. Here's how they stack up
Ranking things for arbitrary values is a time honored internet tradition--and something so inherently subjective it's basically just designed to start passionate arguments in any given comments section. And, honestly, we respect the hustle. There's nothing quite like passionately defending your number one choice in any given category. But, that's not what we're going to do today. Rather than let you know our ranking of MCU movies and TV shows, we're going to let crowdsourcing data do its job. We've combed through our sister site, Metacritic, for a list of every MCU movie (and the Disney+ TV shows) and generated a list from "worst" to "best" based on their review scores. For those who may be unfamiliar, Metacritic is a review aggregator that creates its scores on a 100 point scale, based on the scores given by critics. A movie with a bunch of positive reviews will score higher than one with mixed, or one with negative--you get the picture. That said, there are certainly some surprises to be found in this ranking. Where did your favorite MCU story wind up and do you agree with its placement? What would you put in first place or last place? Let us know in the comments below.
31. Eternals
Score: 52 Eternals was a divisive entry into the latest Marvel phase, and an ambitious one at that. Perhaps it suffered for trying to introduce an entire team's worth of new characters while also experimenting with the tried-and-true MCU formula.
30. Thor: The Dark World
Score: 54 For years, the second Thor movie was widely understood to be one of the worst, if not the worst, MCU movies around. So these numbers probably won't surprise you--hey, at least we got that extremely funny subway scene out of it. It's all about finding silver linings.
29. Thor
Score: 57 The first Thor movie is the lowest rated of the three Phase 1 origin story movies. Seeing as how beloved Thor is now, especially in the wake of Ragnarok, he's a real "started from the bottom" story in the franchise.
28. Iron Man 2
Score: 57 The Iron Man arm of the shared universe saw a sharp decline with both 2 and 3--but somehow, we were still surprised to find 2 less favorably ranked than the controversial third movie.
27. Iron Man 3
Score: 62 Iron Man 3's bait-and-switch with the Mandarin was a baffling anomaly that, as it turns out, would ultimately pay off almost a decade later when Ben Kingsly reprised his gag roll for Shang-Chi. Unfortunately that good will isn't retroactive, however, because this score is still pretty low compared to the rest.
26. Ant-Man
Score: 64 Not a lot of love for the first Ant-Man movie, but that might not be all that surprising. Production was famously troubled and lost cult favorite director Edgar Wright about midway through. It did pay off in the long run, however, because the sequel wound up a lot more favored.
25. Captain Marvel
Score: 64 Captain Marvel gets the distinction for being Marvel's first female-lead solo movie, which caused some controversy given that Black Widow had been a bit player in the team movies for several years at this point. Still, the movie's 90s setting and abundance of new mythology proved divisive for critics.
24. Captain America: The First Avenger
Score: 66 A pretty huge jump up from Thor, the first Captain America movie was a pretty decent hit for a Phase 1 movie--though not the favorite Phase 1 movie, as you'll see later in this list.
23. Hawkeye
Score: 66 Our first Disney+ TV show of the list, Hawkeye, comes in around the middle of the pack. It's also the lowest ranking of all the current Disney+ shows, which may or may not surprise you depending on your feelings about the Avengers' resident archer.
22. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Score: 66 Coming in as a tie with Hawkeye is the frequently disparaged Age of Ultron, the second Avengers movie and the introduction of Vision--as well as Ultron who most people only remember now for James Spader's incredibly bizarre voice acting.
21. Black Widow
Score: 67 Black Widow came at an awkward time--not just for the character, who was already dead by the time this flashback movie was released, but during the pandemic which caused it to be shunted off to Disney+ for digital release. Whether or not that affected people's opinions of it is difficult to say, but either way, it stands around the back of the pack now in terms of reception.
20. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Score: 67 Unfortunately, Guardians Vol. 2 failed to live up to the giddy heights of the first movie--though it's not for lack of trying. This movie's soundtrack was just as charming as Vol. 1 and the characters were just as irreverent, but the magic wasn't captured twice.
19. Avengers: Infinity War
Score: 68 A bit surprising, considering the hype and mystery surrounding the release of Infinity War and Endgame but it would seem that the movie's dark cliffhanger of an ending didn't hit well with every critic.
18. Spider-Man: Far From Home
Score: 69 There's something of a trend in these scores--no one seems to like the second movie in a series quite as much as the first. This holds true with Spider-Man, who is clearly experiencing a sophomore slump here, and his lowest rated MCU outing.
17. Moon Knight
Score: 69 The most recent Disney+ TV show is currently airing, but the reviews (which were based on the first four episodes) are locked in. Maybe things will change for ol' Marc Spector once the series finale has premiered.
16. The Avengers
Score: 69 Tying with Moon Knight is the first Avengers movie, which has garnered more and more criticism as time has gone on. It's hard to believe that these team-based movies started here--and that Loki, who is now a heroic darling in his own right, was the big bad.
15. Ant-Man and the Wasp
Score: 70 While the sophomore slump may hold true for most of these characters, Ant-Man saw a massive bump in his ratings for his second time around. Maybe The Wasp had something to do with it.
14. Captain America: Winter Soldier
Score: 70 Similarly, The Winter Soldier skyrocketed over The First Avenger--it might even surprise some of you to see it this far down on the last, considering it's widely regarded as a favorite among many fans.
13. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Score: 71 Newcomer Shang-Chi was a fresh face for Phase 4, though it did see a surprise return for Ben Kingsly's Mandarin from back in Iron Man 3. Thankfully this movie did considerably better reception-wise.
12. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Score: 71 The second Spider-Man film actually managed to fall in relatively close to the original, off by just a handful of points--which is pretty impressive, considering the normal trend for MCU movies seems to be a large disparity between sequels. Looks like Tom Holland's charm can beat any odds.
11. Doctor Strange
Score: 72 This one might be a surprise--the first Doctor Strange movie beat out a number of movies that many would consider more widely discussed and fondly remembered. Apparently those killer visual effects really made an impression.
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Score: 73 Peter Parker's debut outing for the MCU may have technically come in Captain America: Civil War, but his first solo movie achieved acclaim that is certainly nothing to scoff at. We're actually a bit surprised it fell this far down, and expected to find this one close to the top of the pile.
9. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Score: 74 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was intended to be one of the very first MCU TV shows on Disney+ but delays and rescheduling saw it pushed back to second place. The shake-up didn't seem to affect the reception, though--it comes in tied with Loki and well above the lowest ranking Disney+ show in the mix.
8. Loki
Score: 74 Loki arguably spawned the most memes and new fan favorites of the Disney+ show line-ups with alligator Loki being his own little breakout star and the TVA's creepy-cute mascot Miss Minutes becoming a merchandising juggernaut in her own right.
7. Thor: Ragnarok
Score: 74 This one will probably be a sticking point for some fans--the wildly loved Thor: Ragnarok is actually only 7th on the list, and sits below Civil War (though only by a single point.)
6. Captain America: Civil War
Score: 75 Captain America: Civil War was pretty much an Avengers movie in its own right, rather than a Captain America solo film. Maybe that's why it managed to hit such giddy heights--there really was something in here for everyone.
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
Score: 76 The first Guardians movie managed to capture fans' imaginations with the wacky, crude humor and nostalgic soundtrack. It's no wonder it ranks so highly--it was popular enough to stake a claim as Disneyland's first ever MCU-based theme park attraction. People love Guardians.
4. WandaVision
Score: 77 The first Disney+ MCU show is also, unsurprisingly, the most beloved MCU TV show. WandaVision not only gave us a catchy song about Agatha Harkness but a weird and completely unique style and a genre-jumping, decade-hopping gimmick that was hard not to love.
3. Avengers: Endgame
Score: 78 Endgame may be ultimately divisive between fans, but these review scores sure aren't. The Phase 3 finale movie holds up as one of the biggest movie releases of all time and the reviews prove the hype machine paid off. The culmination of a decade-plus of franchise building sealed the deal here.
2. Iron Man
Score: 79 The first MCU movie is also the second MCU movie--on this list, anyway. Only one entry into the line-up has managed to garner more acclaim than Robert Downey Jr's first ever turn as Tony Stark. It's really no wonder the MCU has lasted as long as it has, with a kick-off like this.
1. Black Panther
Score: 88 Finally, we have Black Panther, which is the highest rated MCU movie by a whopping 9-point margin. As far as legacy is concerned, the late Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa is absolutely untouchable. Long live the king.
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