After 17 years and becoming the most successful film franchise in history, it’s possible to pinpoint the ten movies that came to define the MCU. These are the movies that both embody the spirit of the franchise and provide the building blocks with which future MCU installments have been crafted.

When it commenced with Iron Man in 2008, the MCU capitalized on a burgeoning genre that arguably began with such Marvel movies as 2000’s X-Men and 2002’s Spider-Man. Now, the MCU is the definitive superhero franchise that provides quintessential adaptations of Marvel Comics’ foremost characters.

Adapting these characters faithfully is one of the MCU’s most defining characteristics. Definitive MCU movies mostly embody the lighthearted tone of the franchise, which contrasts, in particular, with many DC adaptations. They also embrace the spirit of the shared cinematic universe, which helped to make the franchise so successful.

10

Iron Man

Iron Man not only launched the MCU but laid the groundwork for the tone that future installments would follow. It remains one of the most critically acclaimed movies in the entire franchise and set the MCU in good standing after grossing $585 million worldwide.

A huge part of its success was Robert Downey Jr., who remains one of the perfect casting choices in the entire MCU. His eminently charismatic portrayal of Tony Stark set him on a path to becoming the de facto protagonist of a sprawling shared universe.

Iron Man struck a balance between plausibility and sci-fi magic that would come to define the MCU before future installments like Doctor Strange would lean into more fantastical elements. It also set the standard for the classic MCU post-credits scene that sets up future events.

9

The Avengers

The Avengers was the ambitious result of four years’ worth of set-up, and it paid off in spades. After grossing $1.5 billion worldwide, it became the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time (and the third-highest-grossing movie ever, at the time) and vindicated the concept of a shared universe.

Although the perfectly balanced humor that has come to define the MCU arguably began with Iron Man, The Avengers helped to crystallize the practice. The playful banter shared between the тιтular team members was widely appreciated at the time, even if some audiences would regard it as stale in future performances.

The Avengers also proved how the post-credits teases of preceding movies were invaluable to the franchise. As the first movie to tie hanging plot threads together, it came to define a formula that the Multiverse Saga has arguably suffered from in its absence.

8

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home capitalized on one of Marvel’s most bankable characters in a big way by starring all three modern interpretations of the тιтular character in one movie. By tripling up on one of Marvel’s most beloved superheroes, Spider-Man: No Way Home became the MCU’s third-highest-grossing movie.

Short of being a simple cash-grab, however, Spider-Man: No Way Home was the foremost example of the MCU’s proficiency in paying homage to the superhero genre as a whole. Reintroducing some of the most highly regarded actors from the superhero movies of yesteryear struck a chord that remains one of the best uses of the multiverse concept.

Spider-Man: No Way Home was arguably the epitome of the MCU’s use of an interconnected universe, extending that concept to the universes of other franchises. Needless to say, it was also rife with the humor, spectacle, and heart that typify MCU productions.

7

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame was the culmination of more than a decade’s worth of setup, releasing at a time when the MCU was at its zenith. It was, therefore, a surprise to very few that it would become the MCU’s highest-grossing movie, grossing $2.7 billion worldwide.

Part of the reason for its success was that Avengers: Endgame starred almost every character that built the MCU until that point, spotlighting the progenitors of the franchise. After the MCU debuted such characters as Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch, it embodied some of the most outlandish aspects of the source material.

Avengers: Endgame also set an impossibly high bar that future MCU installments will forever struggle to clear. Balancing the characteristic irreverence with some of the most heartbreaking scenes in the MCU, it expertly drew a line beneath one of the MCU’s most iconic character arcs and an entire saga.

6

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

As one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the MCU, Captain America: The Winter Soldier reinvigorated the franchise with a new take on the standard formula. It set a new precedent for what MCU movies and shows could strive for, establishing how a spy thriller take on a Marvel story could work perfectly.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is also a prime example of the MCU’s cohesion, building on the established facets of the shared universe by centering SHIELD, which played a pivotal role in The Avengers​​​​. Its focus on central characters and their relationships while deftly incorporating new ones exemplifies the MCU formula.

5

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine

Although one of the newest additions to the MCU, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine is paradigmatic of some of the MCU’s most beloved characteristics. Like Spider-Man: No Way Home, it embodied the respect that the MCU has for the superhero genre and the comic books on which it is based.

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine even struck a chord before releasing in its incorporation of characters from a now-defunct franchise. The comics-accurate depictions of the тιтular Wolverine and characters like Gambit were as expected as they were appreciated, with ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool himself lambasting the previous reticence to adapt a comics-accurate Wolverine.

It also established a new precedent for the MCU in being its first-ever R-rated movie. With it, the MCU has telegraphed its willingness to adapt R-rated outings for similarly violent characters like Blade.

4

Black Panther

Black Panther’s debut was teased through several MCU Easter eggs, which finally paid off with his debut in Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther wasn’t just a prime example of the MCU following up on piecemeal teases in the shared universe, but also one of the most highly rated.

Black Panther was additionally one of the preeminent world-building movies within the MCU. With vibranium playing an integral role in the franchise as early as Captain America: The First Avenger, the mythical material was central to Black Panther.

It was definitive in the MCU’s ability to deliver rich storytelling with compelling characters, both heroic and villainous. To this day, Killmonger remains one of the best examples of the MCU sticking to Stan Lee’s golden rule regarding sympathetic villains.

3

Guardians of the Galaxy

Towards the tail-end of MCU Phase 2, the MCU started to debut lesser-known characters, such as those within Guardians of the Galaxy, and proved how it could pull it off. Guardians of the Galaxy remains one of the franchise’s best-rated movies, as well as one of its most off-the-wall.

Despite the likes of Iron Man and The Avengers establishing a particular comedic tone within the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy was its most overtly comedic yet. The likes of Ant-Man, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & and Wolverine would then double down on this humor, although Guardians of the Galaxy remains the MCU’s comedic forerunner.

2

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor was the star of the MCU’s worst-rated movie by the time his third, Thor: Ragnarok​​​​, reinvented the character and improved his fortunes. While embodying the typically colorful palette of the MCU, Thor Ragnarok was possibly the most irreverent MCU movie until ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine.

This tone was orchestrated by the movie’s director, Taika Waiтιтi, who, like James Gunn, left his mark on the MCU with his unique directorial style. Although a potentially risky move (that arguably hampered Thor: Love and Thunder), delivering a tonal shift proved to be a mᴀssive strength for the MCU that helped to make Thor: Ragnarok stand out.

1

Avengers: Infinity War

While The Avengers set the standard for the MCU’s propensity for team-up movies, Avengers: Infinity War set an ambitious new bar. It embodied everything that is now synonymous with the MCU, spotlighting almost every character that starred in standalone movies in a perfectly balanced narrative.

Not only did Avengers: Infinity War exemplify all the MCU’s most definitive characteristics, but it also helped to distinguish the MCU with a distinctly unique ending. Having the heroes lose re-established stakes for the MCU ahead of its newest saga, proving that the MCU wasn’t afraid to subvert expectations in order to keep its universe fresh and unpredictable.