Marvel has been having an impressive run of late. Sure, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wasn’t the best, but the release of movies like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 showed that the Marvel franchise has a whole lot to offer fans in its latest Phase – and we’re very excited to see what’s next.
If you’re anything like us, catching the latest Marvel movies and series has got you thinking about the full collection. Which ones did you enjoy most? Do you remember them well enough? Are there any worthy of a re-watch?
While there’s good reason to give the complete Marvel collection a watch on Disney+ in chronological order, some fans may prefer to skip the underwhelming movies and only tune into the best of the bunch.
The thing is, there are a lot of incredible titles to get through. So which Marvel movies and shows are considered the best? We consulted our favourite resource, Rotten Tomatoes, to find out.
The best Marvel movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes
As you’ll soon notice, loads of these films received tied scores which meant the top spots were shared between a long list of films. We’ve gone ahead and listed Marvel movies with a Tomatometer rating of 90% and above.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%
Captain America: The Winter Soldier follows the events of the Battle of New York and we see Cap (Chris Evans) settling into life in D.C as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Fans will recall that this is the film that gave us the “on your left” introduction to Falcon (Anthony Mackie).
The film follows as Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow attempt to neutralise a group of assassins, with the Winter Soldier (or Bucky) sitting as their central enemy. The Winter Soldier is an important one because we meet some soon-to-be key characters and learn more about super soldiers and HYDRA.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%
This is the one where all your favourite superheroes are fighting against each other. Following the destruction of Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron and the deaths of a number of aid workers in Lagos, the United Nations (and Tony Stark) decide its time to police the movements of the Avengers.
The Sokovia Accords is drawn up and the team is split over the call. In essence, you’ve got team Stark who agrees with the decision, and team Rogers who refuses to sign and ultimately goes into hiding.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the second film in Tom Holland’s collection of Spidey movies and it’s the one that sets up all the chaos that we see play out in No Way Home.
Following the events of Avengers: End Game, Peter is attempting to process it all and somehow live a normal life. That obviously doesn’t happen and he meets a unique villain in Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).
It’s unsurprising to see this movie in the list of Marvel’s best; it’s a great watch.
Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 91%
The Avengers movie that started it all. Marvel’s The Avengers was the first time all of our superheroes grouped together to fight a common threat (in this case, it was Loki).
This movie is an important watch because this is the beginning of Earth’s threat from Thanos – though we didn’t know it at the time – and if you watched Hawkeye, you’ll know these events inspired the birth of heroes to come.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 91%
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings exploded onto the scene as part of Marvel’s newer generation of films and it really did not disappoint.
Not just a big win for representation, Shang-Chi showcased incredible special effects, gripping fight scenes and fresh characters Shang‑Chi (Simu Liu), Katy (Awkwafina), Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Xialing (Meng’er Zhang)
(who are super likeable and damn funny, too).
More of this, please.
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%
Worthy of a top spot in a list of the best Marvel movies for its soundtrack alone, Guardians Of The Galaxy introduced us to a new band of misfit heroes in Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper).
In essence, this film follows Quill as he steals an orb that makes him the key target of a villain known as Ronan. With his colourful crew, Star-Lord navigates a wild and dangerous space adventure, while attempting to hold onto their lives.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%
Homecoming was the first feature film for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and in this movie, we see Spidey go up against Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) as he attempts to take on more challenging problems after working with the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War.
It’s an important film as we see Peter Parker’s relationship with Tony Stark develop while he gets himself into some complicated situations.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%
If you haven’t yet seen the third Spidey film starring Tom Holland, do yourself a favour and get out to watch it.
No Way Home follows the events of Far From Home where Mysterio has revealed Peter Parker’s identity to the world. In an attempt to fix all that, Parker goes to Doctor Strange and asks if he can make everyone forget he is Spider-Man.
This results in the blending of alternate universes and former foes. It’s a gripping watch from start to finish.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%
Poor Thor had a bit of a dull run before he got the Taika Waititi treatment. In Thor: Ragnarok we see Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) unite to take down their nasty-ass sister Hela (Cate Blanchet) who has turned up to try and take over Asgard.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%
I mean, what can we say about this one? Avengers: Endgame showcased the battle of all battles. Our favourite heroes banded together to fight Thanos and reverse the blip – and many of them lost their lives in the process.
Easily one of the best Marvel movies ever made.
Iron Man (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%
Well this is kind of gutting, isn’t it? The beginning of Iron Man’s journey and the end of it are tied in second place together.
If you haven’t yet seen Iron Man, the film introduces us to Robert Downey, Jr as billionaire genius Tony Stark/Iron Man and follows his journey in building the suit and vowing to use his tech to protect the world from harm.
Black Panther (2018)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%
Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther continues to reign supreme in the number one spot, and for good reason.
The film is a classic tale of a family battling for power, just set in the striking and supremely technologically-advanced African nation of Wakanda.
After the loss of his father and the events of Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa/Black Panther, returns to Wakanda to take his place as king, only to be challenged by his cousin N’Jadaka/Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).
An epic, emotional battle follows as the Black Panther fights to stop the power of Wakanda from ending up in the wrong hands.
If you’re wondering where the rest of your Marvel favourites sit on the list, here are the remainder of the MCU titles and their critics’ scores on RT:
- Doctor Strange – 89%
- Ant-Man and the Wasp – 87%
- Avengers: Infinity War – 85%
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – 85%
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – 84%
- Ant-Man – 83%
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 81%
- Captain America: The First Avenger – 80%
- Captain Marvel – 79%
- Black Widow – 79%
- Iron Man 3 – 79%
- Thor – 77%
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – 76%
- Iron Man 2 – 71%
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – 74%
- The Incredible Hulk – 67%
- Thor: The Dark World – 66%
- Thor: Love and Thunder – 63%
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – 47%
- Eternals – 47%
The best Marvel Disney+ series, according to Rotten Tomatoes
With the introduction of Disney+, the MCU isn’t just in cinemas these days but has expanded into streaming series too. Here are the top ones per Rotten Tomatoes.
WandaVision
The first series in Marvel’s Disney+ era was WandaVision, a thrilling tribute to sit-com series of all decades. It follows the dream life of Wanda and Vision as they raise their kids in suburbia, but wait a second… didn’t Vision die in Avengers: Endgame? Something isn’t right here.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 91%
Hawkeye
Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is one of the remaining original Avengers team members and is looking down the barrel of retirement for a nice Christmas holiday with his family. That is until he runs into Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), an archery protege, who helps him fight the enemies of his past.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%
Loki
Tom Hiddleston’s mischievous god may have met his demise once or twice before, but he always manages to weasel his way out of it and has done so gain in his solo series Loki.
This time we’re introduced to the ideas of Variants, alternate timeline versions of characters, and the Time Variance Authority which keeps track of them. Loki is naturally a problem case and joins the TVA to help track down one of his more dangerous Variants.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%
What If…?
The animated Marvel series What If…? explores the possibilities of the Multiverse. Ever wondered what would happen if Peggy Carter was given the super soldier serum? Or if a zombie virus infected the Avengers? What If…? will show you.
Some of the episodes are hit or miss, but overall it’s earned a high RT rating.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%
Ms Marvel
We wholeheartedly agree with Rotten Tomatoes here. Ms Marvel is a charming, youthful adventure set in the MCU with wholesome values and an inspired piece of casting with Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.
The show balances teen problems like high school social cliques and overbearing family members with a superhero narrative as Kamala discovers she has superpowers and sets out to be like the heroes she’s always looked up to.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98%
As for the rest of the MCU Disney+ series, here’s how they currently stand. (We haven’t included the ex-Netflix Marvel series but you can see a separate ranking of those here).
- Moon Knight – 86%
- The Falcon & The Winter Soldier – 84%
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – 80%
You’re able to find all these movies and more (including some of the less popular ones) over on Disney+.
This article has been updated with additional titles since its original publication.
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