Five Up, Five Down: Down the Drive’s Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Rankings

For 10 years, the folks at Marvel Studios have been building the foundation for this weekend. Well, this weekend and a weekend next summer as well. Avengers: Infinity War is set to crush the entire entertainment industry beneath its feet this weekend, as it brings in heroes from all 18 movies based in the Marvel universe together in one two and a half hour festival or special effects, action and comedy. They’ll do the whole thing again next year in the second half of the story.

With the first of the Infinity movies now out, its time to look back at how we got here, and figure out which movies built the foundation better than others. That’s why we will be ranking our five favorite and least favorite MCU movies on this week’s Five Up, Five Down. In an effort to avoid spoilers, we will not include Infinity War even if we’ve seen it already.

Clayton’s Five Up

1. Iron Man

Once I owned an Iron Maiden t-shirt and the R wore off so it became a Ron Maiden t-shirt. A similar wear pattern on an Iron Man t-shirt would bring into existence a similarly rad Ron Man t-shirt.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

Features Fulgencio Batista, who appeared for several years in the WWE and led Cuba to nearly two decades worth of sustained economic growth in the 1940s and 1950s.

3. Thor: Ragnarok

Appropriates the theme song of Fraggle Rock. Down in Ragnarok! Thump. Thump.

4. Spider Man: Homecoming

Inferior in every way to the literary masterpiece “Sweet Valley Teens: Homecoming.”

5. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2

I remember thinking that the trailer was not terrible. I was unware of the original film at the time. The original has an even better trailer.

Clayton’s Five Down

1. Iron Man 2

Iron Man kinda looks like Wolverine to me.

2. Captain America: Civil War

They had trailers for this movie for about 5 years. All of these movies are the same anyway. Why do they even need a trailer?

3. Thor: The Dark World

Not enough robots.

4. Ant Man

Not enough letters in the title.

5. Doctor Strange

I’m more of a Hardy Boys or Horsey Mystery kind of guy myself.

Phil’s Five Up

1. Captain America: Civil War

The fight scene at the airport alone would be worth a No. 1 spot. Plus, the introduction of Black Panther and Spider-Man was excellent. On top of that, this wasn’t a story about stopping a boring villain from destroying something. It was a story that focused on the repercussions of previous actions and played with the relationships between the heroes.

2. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Tom Holland is the GOAT. Sorry, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Not only did this have the incredible action and comedy of so many other MCU movies, but it somehow told a story that was both fantastical and relatable. Plus Michael Keaton’s Vulture was one of the best villains Marvel has put together. Killmonger from Black Panther is the only one better.

3. Thor Ragnarok

After two duds, the Thor franchise was taken over by Taika Waititi and he turned the formula on its head, bringing better visuals and comedy by the bucket, lifting Thor’s mass appeal in the process. In addition, Jeff Goldblum. That is all.

4. The Avengers

This was the first of its kind. We had seen superhero movies before but never one where franchise carrying characters crossed over and participated in a story together.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Both Guardians movies are top notch and really excel in pointing a finger at the genre and laughing. I’ll give the edge to Vol. 2 since its the one I watched most recently.

Phil’s Five Down

As always, in descending order.

5. Ant-Man

Paul Rudd is great. This movie was fine, but didn’t hit the heights of so many others.

4. Iron Man 3

Still not a big fan of the misdirection play with the Mandarin.

3. Thor

Did you know Kenneth Branagh directed this?

2. The Incredible Hulk

Remember when Edward Norton was the Hulk?

1. Thor: The Dark World

I remember watching this. I don’t remember much of it. I do remember that Kat Dennings was the MVP.

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Disagree with us? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter or via a FanPost. Also, if you want us to rank something specific next week, let us know.