This is every single MCU Phase 4 Marvel movie in order. Today, we’re gonna have a fun video about the top movies of phase four. So, I’m gonna give you my entire list from bottom to top to build a little bit of excitement.
Although, I’m pretty sure everybody knows what my number one is going to be of the movies that came out during phase four.
Now, keep in mind that phase four has not been completed just yet. We’re still waiting for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” holiday special to come out in a couple of weeks, and that will finish up the entirety of phase four, moving us into 2023 and the beginning of phase 5, which is gonna be a pretty wild ride.
But phase four has been a complicated part of MCU history, and the inclusion of the Disney+ series is definitely worth a conversation for another day.
Just for the simplicity of it, we’re going to talk about movies coming from phase four only. I want you guys to go down and before I go through my list, give me your top movies from top to bottom from phase four.
That includes, in no particular order, “Black Widow“, “Eternals”, “Shang Chi”, “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness”, “Thor: Love and Thunder”, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, and “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.
So hopefully, by now, you’ve got the order of your list from these movies locked in. Of course, these are all opinions, guys, so we can debate and argue, but let’s keep it fun.
7. Black Widow (2021)
Here’s my list. Coming in very last place, I have to put “Black Widow”. Now, there are a few reasons, and I will give them to you, but I want to start off by prefacing them.
I don’t think any of these movies could actually be considered bad movies. I think they’ve all, in their own way, have a very Marvel-sequel feel, a very Marvel movie, and serve the purpose that they were designed to serve.
I do not have the opinion that phase 4 is falling off. I have the opinion that phase four is a building phase that we’re following after and game in “Avengers: Infinity War”, the big ending to the first three phases of the MCU with “Iron Man“, “Captain America“, and “The Avengers”.
People have a hard time with that change. I think phase 4 has been a very successful building stage. I just think “Black Widow” was a little past its time. I think this would have been an even cooler movie had it come out during the Infinity Saga, maybe at the very beginning of phase 3.
It would have given us that background to a character who sacrificed everything leading up to her giving the ultimate sacrifice in order for The Avengers to save the day. But, it didn’t happen that way, and for that, this movie actually comes in last place to me.
We can talk about the bad CGI or a lot of the different complaints about casting and the overall story, but I just feel the story would have hit harder home and people would have enjoyed the sentimental aspect of it more had it not come out in phase four. For that reason, it’s my last-place movie.
6. Eternals (2021)
The next movie is Eternals. Now, this one I struggled with placement a lot. It very easily could have been my top three or top four. It ended up being my second to last.
The reason, my explanation for that, is because I think this is one that’s going to need to marinate for a while. And by that, I mean in the future as we get more stories for the Eternals, it’s going to be fun.
Something I thoroughly enjoyed about Eternals, and why it would have been so high up on my list, is because it was a really cool way of telling the story. It came from a different perspective in a Marvel movie than we had really ever seen before.
And they are building up to something really, really exciting and grand. We’re just not there yet. And when you compare it to other films that came out in this phase, it has to go a little lower down.
Because that excitement of knowing these characters and their story isn’t quite there just yet. But I think it was a beautiful movie.
The cast was very, very well selected, and they all did a fantastic job. There were moments that, for superhero movies, you don’t really see this in this specific style, and it was really exciting to me to get this group introduced to the MCU. I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.
5. Thor Love And Thunder (2022)
Coming up disappointingly, I would say, Thor Love and Thunder. Now, I loved this movie as an individual film.
It was so much fun. I don’t think I would place it above Thor Ragnarok, which is my favorite of the Thor films. It was very similarly paced and it gave us a really cool introduction to the cosmic side of the MCU in phase 4.
We got to see eternity and we really got to see this really cool adventure across space as Thor was not only trying to figure out who he was in this phase 4 moments but what was happening to all of his friends, the gods, who were being butchered.
He met his hero, who turned out to be kind of a loser and there’s a lot of looming second story there as well, which we’ll meet further on. The reason it’s as low as it is on the list is that I think Thor has higher expectations.
Being one of the OG Avengers definitely carries weight and Thor had a responsibility as one of those OG characters to really bring something super special to the big screen.
I think at times, the movie may have lost itself, and this is the reason why it felt a little lower down on my list. Thor definitely requires a little bit more attention as we move forward into the future.
People are ready to see a powerful, angry Thor, and once we do see a Rune King-like Thor, who in the comics is just a ruthless, strong character, people will definitely start putting Thor a little higher up in their list of exciting movies and exciting characters.
In my opinion, hopefully, the lollygagging, goofing-off, not-very-serious Thor has come to a conclusion and I’m alright with what we got. I’m just ready for something else.
4. Black Panther Wakanda Forever (2022)
Following this, I’m going to put Black Panther Wakanda Forever, and here’s my reasoning. This was a really good movie.
I know a lot of people are actually even going to put this on their top two, maybe the top three, in their list. It’s a little lower down on mine, it didn’t quite make the top three, and the reason for that is I feel the weight of Chadwick Boseman not being in the movie.
That’s not anybody’s fault. It’s extremely difficult to navigate the waters of having your lead character, who the entire franchise’s shoulders were built on, not be in the second movie. It was unavoidable. There was nothing anybody could do about it.
But imagine for a moment if Chadwick Boseman actually made it to the second film. Now, this is a tragedy. It’s sad. It’s not an expectation.”Oh, how could Chadwick Boseman die?” It’s super sad and it was hard to deal with.
And I couldn’t imagine being the actors who had to relive the passing of a dear friend of theirs by acting for the passing of T’challa as well.
Because the reality of it is T’challa only passed because Chadwick Boseman passed, and they’re hopefully going to remedy that and be able, in the future, based on some of the information we got in that movie, to build a new weight, a new character, to hold the weight rather than the franchise.
We really had a huge hole in that, and everybody did their best with a terrible situation, but it did hold this movie back from being top three for me.
3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Coming in at number three is “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Now, I know a lot of people won’t agree with me, but I think many people will put this one lower down on their list, probably maybe the bottom three.
However, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t necessarily everything I wanted it to be; the “Multiverse of Madness” was more like the “Multiverse with a few moments of really awesome scenes.”
It wasn’t as multiverse-driven, but the Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, and America Chavez all did so well carrying this movie, and then the fun surprises of Mr. Fantastic, Black Bull, Xavier, and the others of the Illuminati however brief part of the film was really exciting to realize and watch in several different theaters, including the red carpet theater.
Some crowds went wild when they saw those characters for the first time and then were silent when they were gone.
That movie truly moved us to have an opinion, and my opinion was that it was overall a more horror-sequel-vibed movie that was very successfully put together by Sam Raimi. I’m excited to see stuff similar to it in the future.
2. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021)
Coming in at number two is “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Now, this is the opposite of “The Eternals.”
While I felt “The Eternals” were a bit more unknown and hard to get behind, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is one of the best origin stories for a character in the MCU.
The only character I would put ahead of “Shang-Chi” is “Iron Man.” The 2008 introduction of “Iron Man” is truly the beginning of the MCU, and I don’t think they will ever find a story more compelling and awesome with blades of fire and RDJ.
However, “Shang-Chi” came very close with a very compelling story for a previously unknown character. It was an outstanding origin story and a lot of fun to watch.
I can’t wait to find out the future of the Ten Rings organization and the entire story, as it seems like Shang-Chi might be playing a vital role with a possible connection to “Ms. Marvel.”
The visuals were stimulating, and the fight scenes, the Kung Fu style, and the culture all added to my enjoyment of “Shang-Chi.” That’s why it has been awarded the second spot.
1. Spider-Man No Way Home (2021)
The first spot, at no surprise, has to be Spider-Man: No Way Home. We can talk about fan service, nostalgia, and kind of cheating all you want, but it was done almost perfectly.
The scenes where all three Peters was on the screen, either as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker, were nothing but an absolute roller coaster of emotion.
I grew up watching the original, for me Peter Parker, Toby Maguire, then Andrew Garfield movies. I’ve always loved Tom Holland, I like all three of them individually as Spider-Man.
And then to see them share the screen and pull off some legendary memes, make some crazy references, and have an awesome fight scene, was nothing but amazing.
The only complaint I have is that I would have wanted more and it was already a really long movie.
They got the Spider-Man in there, they got them out, and we’re hoping to see more of this in the future, not only with the Spider-Man but with other Legacy characters from the X-Men franchise and the Fantastic Four franchise.
It really did create an awesome staple, but I also want to talk about the anticipation. As much as we were complaining about the insane marketing, it was part of what created so much hype around the movie.
Whether it was on purpose, accident, negligence, or brilliance, Sony really had us on the edge of our seats. We had a live stream waiting for a trailer that had 500,000 people come through in two hours.
These are moments I’ll never forget as a blogger and a fan of Spider-Man, and honestly, this movie is one of the best movies ever created for fans of comic books, for fans of Spider-Man, and for fans of cinema.
It was an iconic creation and it definitely has to be appreciated for what it was, that was a massive success, so it would be neglectful for me not to put Spider-Man: No Way Home in first place on this list.
Conclusion
So there you have it one through seven my favorite phase 4 MCU movies Spider-Man Away Home, Shang-Chi and the legend of the 10 Rings, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Thor love and thunder, The Eternals and black widow.
Again I want to emphasize I think they were all individually fantastic projects and definitely a lot of switching before I finalize my list as to what went where but when I sat down and I read this list to you guys.
I believe it and I stand by it I’m not going to switch off or change anything this is 100% my final list of Marvel phase 4 movies excited for phase five as you should be let me know what you thought about my list.
How many movies are in Phase 4 MCU?
One of the main challenges with Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is that many of its films try to tackle too much. Out of the seven films in this phase, most of them introduce an excessive number of characters and also try to serve the larger MCU goals by establishing multiple sequels and shows, all while maintaining a complex and interconnected storyline.
Is Marvel Phase 4 successful?
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 has arrived, and although Marvel Studios continues to hold a strong presence in popular culture, it cannot be deemed a complete triumph.
