The MARVEL-ous And Not So MARVEL-ous Cinematic Universe
Like it or not, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a part of our collective pop culture lives for almost 20 years now. And in that time, they have made almost 40 movies. Some, the critics and audiences agreed on and others, not so much.
So, in an effort to truly rank the entire MCU movie franchise as accurately as possible, we've looked at both the critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and the audience score and added them together to get a final rating. Starting with...
Eternals (2021)
Total: 124
Critics: 47
Audience: 77
One of only two MCU movies to get a "rotten" score from critics.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Total: 124
Critics: 79
Audience: 45
Now, that's a large gap between the two scores, but it isn't the largest of the franchise.
Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Total: 128
Critics: 46
Audience: 82
Here's the largest disagreement between critics and audiences. What side are you on?
Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Total: 137
Critics: 68
Audience: 69
Are we the only ones that still think Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk movie is the best?
Marvel, The Incredible Hulk (2008
Thor: Love And Thunder (2022)
Total: 137
Critics: 63
Audience: 76
As you will see—this isn't the only Thor movie audiences and critics don't agree on.
Marvel, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
The Marvels (2023)
Total: 143
Critics: 62
Audience: 81
Critics didn't find The Marvels very marvelous.
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Total: 142
Critics: 67
Audience: 75
Director Alan Taylor has since said that he isn't happy with the movie and that Marvel made significant changes during post-production.
Marvel, Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Total: 143
Critics: 72
Audience: 71
The worst of the three Iron Man movies...agreed?
Thor (2011)
Total: 153
Critics: 77
Audience: 76
Chris Hemsworth's first time grabbing the hammer had critics and audiences pretty much on the same page.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Total: 155
Critics: 80
Audience: 75
Critics and audiences agree that this is the worst Captain America movie of the three. Do you?
Marvel, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Total: 157
Critics: 79
Audience: 78
Given how popular Iron Man is—and how important the first film was in booting up the entire MCU—it's interesting to note that neither of the sequels got a rating in the 80s from either critics or audiences.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)
Total: 158
Critics: 76
Audience: 82
Everyone seems to agree that, while good, Age of Ultron is the worst of the four Avengers films. What do you think?
Marvel, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)
Total: 159
Critics: 74
Audience: 85
This multiverse brought with it a multitude of varying opinions from audiences and critics.
Marvel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018)
Total: 166
Critics: 87
Audience: 79
This is the critics' favorite of the three Ant-Man movies (but not the audience's).
Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Ant-Man (2015)
Total: 168
Critics: 83
Audience: 85
This was the audience's favorite Ant-Man movie. Is it yours?
Black Widow (2021)
Total: 170
Critics: 79
Audience: 91
Black Widow was the third most pirated film of 2021.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 (2017)
Total: 172
Critics: 85
Audience: 87
(Setting aside the 2022 Holiday Special) According to critics, the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie was the second best—audiences thought it was the worst of them. Although "worst" is a relative term when the rating is still as high as 87.
Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Total: 175
Critics: 89
Audience: 86
Doctor Strange's origin story had audiences and critics excited.
Black Panther (2018)
Total: 175
Critics: 96
Audience: 79
This is the highest-rated MCU movie on the critics' side.
The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
Total: 175
Critics: 94
Audience: 81
It did stream directly on Disney+, but it was a movie and is part of the MCU continuity. It also marked the end of Phase 4.
Marvel, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
"Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3" (2023)
Total: 176
Critics: 82
Audience: 94
This was the audience's favorite film in the Guardians franchise.
Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Total: 177
Critics: 85
Audience: 92
Audiences liked this one a little more than critics—and they showed it by making it the first superhero film to break the $2 billion mark at the box office.
Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Werewolf By Night (2022)
Total: 178
Critics: 90
Audience: 88
This first Marvel Studios Special Presentation was released on Disney+ in 2022. Shot in black and white, they did put out a color version in 2023.
Marvel, Werewolf by Night (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Total: 178
Critics: 84
Audience: 94
Just like with the first Black Panther film, critics and audiences have a pretty big gap between them—although this time, it is the audience who liked it more.
Marvel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Total: 179
Critics: 90
Audience: 89
Captain America: Civil War opened Phase 3 of the MCU.
Marvel, Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Total: 179
Critics: 92
Audience: 87
This movie earned Tom Holland a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records—as the youngest actor to play a title role in the MCU.
Marvel, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Total: 180
Critics: 93
Audience: 87
Of the four Thor movies in the MCU, this one is by far the best—according to both audiences and critics.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Total: 182
Critics: 90
Audience: 92
The highest scoring of all the Captain America movies.
Marvel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
Total: 182
Critics: 91
Audience: 91
Marvel ended Phase 1 with the MCU's first billion-dollar grosser.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Total: 184
Critics: 94
Audience: 90
With a box office haul of $2.799 billion, it was the highest-grossing movie of all time until March of 2021—when Avatar took back the crown following a re-release of the film in China.
Marvel, Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)
Total: 184
Critics: 92
Audience: 92
They couldn't agree more.
Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Iron Man (2008)
Total: 185
Critics: 94
Audience: 91
The movie that started it all—and still one of the best, according to fans and critics.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Total: 186
Critics: 91
Audience: 95
The second Holland Spider-Man movie and the second highest-rated one of the three.
Marvel, Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Total: 190
Critics: 93
Audience: 97
The third Holland Spidey film and the highest-rated thus far. If there's one superhero that seems to be a guaranteed hit, it's Spider-Man.
Marvel, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021)
Total: 190
Critics: 92
Audience: 98
If someone had asked you what MCU movie has the highest audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes—would you have guessed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? Well, it does.
