24. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Sam Raimi’s influence over Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is instantly clear, as the much-anticipated sequel adopts a much darker tone than its predecessor right out of the gate, and it rolls with that for pretty much its entire runtime.
A vivid, tense and unexpectedly gory installment, the film follows Stephen Strange through the multiverse as he attempts to protect the universe-hopping America Chavez from perhaps the greatest threat that all of the worlds had ever seen. And joining him for that thrilling ride is Wong, Christine Palmer and Wanda Maximoff.
Elizabeth Olsen returns fresh off the heels of her Emmy-nominated turn in WandaVision and she is, without question, the greatest aspect of the film, bringing the Scarlet Witch to life with such radiance and poise that you couldn’t look away whenever she was on-screen. And that made it easier to overlook some of the film’s more questionable qualities.
Speaking of those, it struggles in the pacing department, occasionally gets bogged down in universe-building and has an odd tendency to jump from lengthy conversation to lengthy battle and back again. That said, it stands apart as one of the MCU’s most unique offerings (and a larger-than-life one at that!) and the performances from Olsen, Cumberbatch, Xochitl Gomez and Benedict Wong guide it through its flaws.
23. Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)
Hitting theaters in the same year as the jaw-dropping war spectacle that was Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and The Wasp was never going to be 2018’s most memorable MCU offering, but it might just be its most enjoyable. Granted, the former is a near-perfect film, but there’s a charm to Scott Lang’s second outing that just captured everything about the superhero genre to perfection.
Ant-Man was an unexpected mix of both comedy and heart that it almost seemed unlikely that they could recapture that – and yet that’s exactly what the sequel accomplished.
Our hilarious supporting characters played an even greater role as they attempted to set up their own private security firm, while the film’s central family of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas were both as heartwarming and hilarious as ever – a dynamic that was ultimately enhanced by the arrival of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet van Dyne.
Using that delicious tongue-in-cheek tone it’s now renowned for, the film managed to provide a worthwhile conclusion to Janet’s long-running vanishing arc, while also proving that it learned from its predecessor’s mistakes by featuring a layered villain that we could actually care about in Ghost.
It was funnier than its predecessor in just about every way imaginable. And much like Spider-Man: Far From Home was to Endgame, it was a delightful reminder of just how ridiculous the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be and, for a moment, it allowed us to forget the harrowing events of Infinity War.
Damn good light-hearted superhero fun.
22. Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)
The long-awaited direct sequel to The Avengers, 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron attempted to be bigger and better than its predecessor without actually destroying Manhattan in the process. Was it successful, though?
It’s true that, through Tony’s creation of Ultron, the film went down the Terminator route of highlighting the dangers that self-aware artificial intelligence systems can pose – which certainly made it more than just another alien smackdown in New York – but the execution of the story elements resulted in the whole thing coming off as quite muddled.
There are times when Age of Ultron poses some thought-provoking questions, but there are also times when it feels like it’s outwitting itself in its attempts to be clever. There’s also the rather sudden Natasha/Hulk subplot that progressed far too quickly and confused us even more than the complicated plot did.
All that aside, it was still successful in its attempts to be an entertaining superhero movie – so much so that it left us wishing that it would maintain the focus on the heroics instead of the overly-complicated Ultron narrative – and it’s worth it alone for that awe-inspiring fight sequence during the final act.
Only paling in comparison when compared to the other Avengers movies, Age Of Ultron is enjoyable enough without context and delivers some of the most impressive visuals in the entire MCU.