In the 17 years of its existence, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone through many peaks and valleys, from the heights of Avengers: Endgame closing out over a decade of storytelling, to the lows of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania revealing the cracks in Marvel Studios’ foundation. Now, with 37 movies and 5 phases completed, it’s time to look back and determine: Which MCU movie is truly the best?

In the early years of the MCU, there was a palpable sense of excitement around every new Marvel release, especially after the studio stuck the landing of their first major crossover, The Avengers — to the tune of $1.5 billion. Once the MCU made it to Phase 3 and began building to the two-part finale of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, it seemed like Marvel could do no wrong, releasing hit after hit.

However, the studio floundered in their post-Endgame era, called the Multiverse Saga, with television stumbles like Secret Invasion, and the MCU’s biggest box office bomb to date, The Marvels. Marvel Studios has since done an internal overhaul, which hopes to right the ship so they can close out the Multiverse Saga on a high note and launch the franchise into a whole new era.

Now, with Phase 5 officially done, and Marvel Studios having released only one film of Phase 6, we’ve entered a rare drought of MCU movies. The next film on the slate is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which hits theaters in July 2026, almost a year after Marvel’s most recent release. Currently, Brand New Day is one of only three upcoming MCU movies, with the other two being Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Given the break in the slate, it’s the perfect time to reflect on all the MCU movies that have come before. Which Marvel films have stood the test of time? Which MCU movies from the last five years transcend the franchise’s overall stumbles? These questions will all be answered by our official, definitive ranking. But first, a little more on the ranking itself.

How ScreenRant’s MCU Movie Ranking Was Determined

To make sure ScreenRant’s expert voices were heard equally, we polled members of the site’s dedicated Superheroes team as well as movie buffs from the larger team. We collected these experts’ individual rankings, and combined them into a single list. This was done by weighting each movie based on how high it appeared in the individual lists, and ranking the movies by their average scores. So everyone who submitted a ranking had their opinion factored in.

Then to finalize the list, I, ScreenRant’s Superheroes Senior Editor; our Movies Deputy Editor, Todd Gilchrist; and our Star Wars Senior Editor, Tom Bacon (who has a long history of covering comics and the MCU) made any adjustments we felt were needed. Our ranking must hold up to scrutiny of the films themselves. So, for example, while Avengers: Infinity War is a beloved Marvel movie, it’s not the best MCU film the studio has produced, and its place in the final ranking reflects that.

In addition to my, Todd’s and Tom’s individual opinions, the official ScreenRant MCU movies ranking includes votes from Superheroes editor Zoe Miskelly as well as Superheroes writers Andy Behbakht, Ben Gibbons, Felipe Rangel, Lewis Glazebrook, Nicolas Ayala, Ollie Bradley and Richard Craig. ScreenRant’s Movie News Senior Editor Fariba Rezwan and Content Director & Operations Manager Alex Leadbeater also contributed.

Why ScreenRant’s MCU Movie Ranking Is Definitive

Those who contributed to ScreenRant’s official MCU movie ranking have years, if not decades, of experience covering Marvel movies. We have all been following the MCU since its inception in 2008, whether professionally or as fans. The Superheroes team has, for the last two and a half years, covered every Marvel release with in-depth analysis on the projects themselves and how they fit into the larger MCU narrative.

No one knows the MCU better than ScreenRant’s Superheroes team. No one is better equipped to rank all the MCU movies from Iron Man to The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

As such, this ranking is a cohesive list, where every placement was determined based on expert opinions and scrutinized to ensure it reflected the film’s quality as well as its spot in the larger franchise. This is not one individual’s take on the MCU, and it is not determined by an aggregated score averaged from hundreds of reviews. It is a discerning collection of expert opinions.

This week, starting tomorrow, we’ll be posting ScreenRant’s official MCU movie ranking on the site, and we encourage our fellow Marvel fans to give us their take on the franchise as well as our list. We welcome all debate in the comments, especially when we reveal our #1 MCU movie on Friday.

Read More From ScreenRant’s MCU Ranking Week:

• The Iron Man Decision That Defined A Universe
• Why The Marvel Cinematic Universe Still Matters