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Third Powers: Ranking the MCU’s parts three

By Evan Bevins - | Jun 8, 2023

The release of “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” gives me the opportunity to combine two of my favorite things: the Marvel Cinematic Universe and subjective list-making.

“Guardians” is the seventh franchise within the MCU to reach a third installment. Since my rankings of all 31 films is still a work in progress, seven seems a more manageable number. So here, for your consideration, is my assessment of the Marvel parts three.

I’ll save the best for last, but I wouldn’t call this a worst-to-first order. I unapologetically love most of the Marvel movies and even found positives in “Eternals,” which I should probably watch again at some point. Your mileage may vary, of course, but lists like these aren’t definitive; they’re conversation-starters (and filler for Candice Black’s pages).

Spoilers follow.

Iron Man 3 — I think this is widely regarded as being in the bottom tier of MCU movies, but it has its strengths beyond the introduction of Trevor Slattery. The story is solid, even if the arc where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) gives up being Iron Man is undercut by the next five movies in which he suits up.

Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania — It isn’t this low because of the hate it’s received since being released; I just think the other entries are better. Quantumania was an interesting change of pace from the first two Ant-Man movies, even though there was nothing wrong with the lower-stakes and scale heist trappings. Good for Marvel for trying something different, rather than rehashing the same formula. The absence of Luis (Michael Pena) is disappointing, and points for bringing back a villain who initially seemed to have been killed off like, well, most MCU villains.

Captain America: Civil War — The airport battle where the majority of the MCU roster clashes is a comic book fever dream, and the introductions of Spider-Man and Black Panther build the universe without undercutting the fact that it’s a Captain America story first. It falls behind the others for me a little because it doesn’t quite connect emotionally as well as the others and the central Sokovia Accords are (somewhat necessarily) undone offscreen later. But overall, it’s a great entry.

Spider-Man: No Way Home — This would rank higher if I hadn’t been so ticked off at the end. The final (for now) fate of the web-slinger made perfect sense from a story perspective, but it left me frustrated. Still, the movie manages to deliver fan service on an epic scale without sacrificing the heart of the character or the story. It also redeems the previous Spider-franchises by reminding viewers how good a lot of what they offered really was.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 — I love the interconnectedness of the MCU, but sometimes it can be a bit distracting. This is a Guardians story through and through, and writer/director James Gunn never loses sight of that in his Marvel swan song. The movie manages to produce desired, expected moments while being unpredictable in the right places. Definitely the darkest of that particular trilogy, but Gunn and the cast continue to deliver genuine emotion and heart in the midst of that darkness and violence.

Thor: Ragnarok – The best of the Thor movies for my money. Some people don’t appreciate this even-less-serious-than-the-first-two take, but it’s balanced by terrific stakes and personal drama. I’d buy the argument that the comedy undercuts the drama more if the lines weren’t delivered so perfectly. It features the introduction of Korg (director Taika Waititi), possibly the most delightful character in the MCU, and gives us the most classic Hulk portrayal yet.

Avengers: Infinity War – — It’s a downer of a movie that pretty much focuses on the MCU’s biggest bad, but it’s executed so well. Even rewatching it, you feel like the heroes are going to pull it off and their inevitable defeat can’t possibly happen.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo give all their stars moments to shine and deftly handle the first part of an impossible task of tying together roughly two dozen movies. To me, it’s outshined only by the next installment, “Avengers: Endgame.”

Evan Bevins is the writer of the webcomic Support Group, and you can find more of his thoughts on comics, movies, comics about movies, etc. at asterisk51.blogspot.com.