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Iron Man and the 5 Marvel Phase One movies ranked from worst to best

By Bryce Olin

IRON MAN - For Disneyphiles everywhere, Freeform will air beloved Disney classics from "Disney-Pixar's Toy Story" to "Disney's The Jungle Book (2016)" and everything in between during the month of September as they celebrate "30 Days of Disney." (Marvel)
IRON MAN - For Disneyphiles everywhere, Freeform will air beloved Disney classics from "Disney-Pixar's Toy Story" to "Disney's The Jungle Book (2016)" and everything in between during the month of September as they celebrate "30 Days of Disney." (Marvel) /
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Marvel Phase One movies
HOLLYWOOD, CA – APRIL 11: (L-R) Director Joss Whedon, actors Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgard, Cobie Smulders and President of Production, Marvel Studios and producer Kevin Feige attend the premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Marvel’s The Avengers” held at the El Capitan Theatre on April 11, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage) /

Marvel Phase One movies, ranked

Almost 15 years ago, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was formed with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the Marvel Phase One movies. Now, there are 31 movies in the MCU so far and even more Marvel movies are on the way in 2023.

Looking back, it’s wild to think how it all started with Phase One and the introduction of a few main characters: Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and Thor, which led the way to The Avengers in 2012.

With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and even more new MCU Movies coming later this year, we thought it would be a good time to revisit and rank the Marvel Phase One movies from worst to best.

Here are the Marvel Phase One movies in order:

  • Iron Man (2008)
  • The Incredible Hulk (2008)
  • Iron Man 2 (2010)
  • Thor (2011) 
  • Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 
  • The Avengers (2012)

Let’s get the list started with, unfortunately, the worst of the Marvel Phase One movies, The Incredible Hulk. 

Marvel Phase One movies
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – JUNE 08: (l-R) Universal Studios’ Ron Meyer, actor Edward Norton and Universal Studios’ Adam Fogelson arrive at the premiere of Universal Pictures’ “The Incredible Hulk” held at the Universal City Walk on June 8, 2008 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) /

6. The Incredible Hulk

  • Release Year: 2008
  • Director: Louis Leterrier
  • Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, and Christina Cabot

The Incredible Hulk is the second movie of the MCU. It tells the origin story of Bruce Banner, played by Edward Norton, who becomes the Hulk and is one the run from the US Military who is trying to use him as a weapon. In the film, Banner is tracked by Emil Blonsky, played by Tim Roth, who becomes obsessed with Hulk and begins taking experimental doses, which turns him into Abomination. Hulk and Abomination get into a huge battle, but eventually, Hulk wins and flees New York City only to be tracked down by the one and only Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr.

The Incredible Hulk is one of the first and only misses in the MCU so far! The movie was released one month after Iron Man, which in hindsight was probably a big mistake. Overall, The Incredible Hulk is not a bad movie, but considering the quality and standards we’ve seen from Marvel over the last 10 years, it just wasn’t good enough.

Marvel cast Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk following The Incredible Hulk. We haven’t seen any other Hulk movies, but the character has been a major part of the MCU stories and will continue to be in the future.

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