6. Thunderbolts* (2025)
Fans weren't quite sure what to make of Thunderbolts* prior to the release of any material from the movie. It sounded like a lot of fun but it was coming at a time when the MCU was struggling with too many offshoots and spinoffs. Could this one defy the odds? What was working in its favor was the fact that all of the promotional material released for it ensured that it indeed didn't look like anything less than a good time. But then the early reviews came out and it soon became clear that this was going to be something very special.
Thunderbolts* is a true gem of a movie. On the surface, it's an entertaining, highly enjoyable romp that pits some of the MCU's most beloved supporting characters up against each other and eventually sees them join forces. But it's so much more than, as it wears its heart on its sleeve, dealing with thoroughly emotional themes like mental health. trauma, grief, and the importance of friendship through all of that.
Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman are standouts, delivering powerful performances that have solidified them as the future of the MCU, but everyone in this ensemble delivers, ensuring that we'll all be talking about this one for years to come. Thunderbolts* is deceptively important in ways we just didn't see coming, packing an emotional gut punch and cementing itself as one of the most unexpectedly game-changing entries in the MCU's Multiverse Saga.
A pleasant surprise all around, Thunderbolts* isn't just one of the best MCU movies of the past few years; it's one of the best Marvel movies of all time.
5. The Avengers (2012)
The Avengers was undoubtedly a huge gamble for Marvel, if for no other reason than the fact that it was their initial endgame. If it hadn’t worked, everything they had been building towards for five years would have been for nothing, and it would have left the MCU in a state of uncertainty. But it didn’t just work, it excelled.
We could waste this entry going on about the film’s impressive box office takings or the legacy that it left behind, but quite frankly, none of that would have been possible if the film wasn’t up to scratch. And it was, it oh-so-was.
Bringing together the heroes already established in previous films, Nick Fury had a plan to have Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow and the Incredible Hulk form what he initially referred to as the Avengers Initiative in a bid to stop Loki’s reign of terror. However, Loki ended up dragging both Thor and Hawkeye into the mix and, just like that, the world’s greatest heroes were united.
The Avengers was, in many ways, a well-oiled machine, tasked with showing us that the long-awaited team up was indeed worth waiting for, but that it wouldn’t be smooth-sailing. The conflict all felt very natural and the dynamics were great – and it all set the stage for one hell of a showdown in Manhattan as the disagreeing heroes came together to battle the Chituari in one of the greatest film scenes of the decade.