All Marvel Movies In The MCU Phase Five, Officially Ranked
Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a trying time for the franchise. The reality had begun to set in that Marvel was no longer the center of the pop culture landscape. Its brand had diluted significantly due to the sheer quantity of TV shows being pumped out onto Disney+. To make matters worse, Marvel had to significantly pivot and rethink its entire cinematic universe following the allegations made against Jonathan Majors, who was slated to be the Multiverse Saga’s primary antagonist, Kang the Conqueror.
February 2023 to May 2025 was a rough time for Marvel, one that it’s only just now trying to move past. Of course, troubled times don’t necessarily equate to bad movies, but Phase Five has the dubious honor of also including some genuine critical and commercial failures for the series. Now that Phase Five is officially completed and Phase Six is already underway with the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), let’s take a look at each Phase Five MCU movie and rank them from worst to best.
You almost have to feel bad for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In another world, this could have been a decent mid-tier action movie like the other Ant-Man films. Sadly, it can’t hold a candle to the earlier entries. Marvel’s extensive use of CGI has always been a crippling criticism for its post-Endgame (2019) films, and that’s no more apparent than here, where virtually all of Quantumania feels like oddly composited CGI.
The lighter tone of the earlier movies has also been ditched in favor of needless world-building and setting up the next several films. This is especially galling given how Jonathan Majors’ Kang would quickly be written out of the franchise, making all of the extensive setup legitimately worthless. The sad thing is that Majors was actually pretty good as Kang, but now that Robert Downey Jr.’s Dr. Doom has been made into the MCU’s new big bad, there’s very little reason to give Quantumania a watch, except if you’re a fan of Paul Rudd and like the charm he so effortlessly exudes.
For some reason, a lot of people absolutely loathe The Marvels. While it most certainly isn’t great by any definition, it is a fun film for those looking for a superhero blockbuster ripped straight from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. It’s simple, almost to a fault, but there are some redeemable elements to it. Iman Vellani makes a great Ms. Marvel, and it’s clear that she’s having fun in the role, which is more than can be said about her co-stars. The fight scenes utilizing the teleportation gimmick is pretty enjoyable, too. But… that’s about it.
The mercifully short hour and 45-minute length of The Marvels makes it feel like a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it movie, one that quickly sets up its conflict and just as quickly resolves it. Normally, I prefer shorter movies, but what makes this aggravating is the amount of homework someone needs to do to actually get up to speed with the plot So far, The Marvels has been the biggest box office bomb in the MCU’s history, and the only reason it’s not at the bottom is because if you remove it from the context of the MCU, it’s a perfectly serviceable action film.
Captain America: Brave New World didn’t have to be as disappointing as it was. It’s clear from the very beginning that the film underwent extensive reshoots, and by the time it was released, enough people at Marvel seemed to have thrown their hands in the air and given up, resulting in a movie that’s all over the place.
Nearly everything about Brave New World reeks of being focus-tested to oblivion, hardly having anything to say about any of the numerous topics it brings up. It’s a shame because the earlier Captain America films always had something to say about politics, moral/ethical issues, and the lengths a person will go to do the right thing. None of that is present here. Yes, the action is serviceable, and fans of Harrison Ford, in particular, will enjoy the pathos he mines from Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, but everything else is so aggressively mediocre. This is a true middle-of-the-road cinematic experience that die-hard MCU fans will surely enjoy, but general audience members will (and should) probably ignore.
You either love or hate Deadpool as a character, and there were concerns that when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, it would try to tone down Deadpool’s R-rated sensibilities. Fortunately, that never happened, and Deadpool was allowed to be as raunchy and violent as usual in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Honestly, the casting of Hugh Jackman definitely reads as a publicity stunt, especially given how Jackman’s interpretation of the character received the perfect ending in Logan (2017). That being said, seeing a Wolverine who’s allowed to curse and murder to his heart’s content is delightful, and fans of the character will be in heaven. The dynamics between him and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is what makes Deadpool & Wolverine shine, but it tends to go a bit overboard when the film pokes fun at 20th Century Fox. That will either delight fans of the X-Men movies or annoy them considering that Fox’s slate of movies has been effectively reduced to a punchline. Comedy is subjective, though, and if you liked the earlier Deadpool movies, you’ll like Deadpool & Wolverine.
Most people may have written off Thunderbolts* as a knock-off of DC’s Suicide Squad (2016), but that absolutely isn’t the case, as the film has much more to say than that cinematic misfire ever did. The concept is somewhat similar, revolving around a group of anti-heroes being forced to work together to stop a bigger threat, but the charm of Thunderbolts* lies in how it examines the inner demons of each character.
Depression, grief, loneliness, and irrelevancy are all explored, and it doesn't sugarcoat any of it, making it perfect for those seeking a darker and more mature superhero movie like The Dark Knight (2008) or Watchmen (2009). This is mostly thanks to the excellent cast assembled here, with Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, and Wyatt Russell doing the heavy thematic lifting. It even subverts the expected Marvel tropes in favor of telling a story that takes risks and sets up a status quo that appears interesting and exciting. It’s a shame this underperformed at the box office because Thunderbolts* is a remarkably good movie.
The Guardians of the Galaxy series is usually hailed as being one of the best subseries in the MCU, and while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may not be the best entry in the trilogy, it more than delivers a satisfying conclusion to a series that got its start back in 2014.
Viewers will have to do a bit of homework to figure out what happened between Star-Lord and Gamora, but the original story is emotionally gripping and effective. Rocket Raccoon’s past is simply heartbreaking, and Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary is one of the most detestable Marvel villains that you love to hate in the best way possible. If you adore a good bad guy, then you need to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Most importantly, it offers all of the characters the happy ending they deserve, which is rare in our modern-day cinematic landscape. Thanks to the film retaining James Gunn’s signature brand of humor and characterization, like in Creature Commandos (2024), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a must-watch for fans of Gunn or for those who want a good sci-fi action flick, making it the best Phase Five movie in the MCU.
