My MCU Phase 4 thoughts so far, amidst all the Phase 4 discourse that exists for some reason
Alright, now that we're 13 projects into Phase 4 I'm going to give my ranking of them all so far. I'm a pretty big MCU fan and honestly I haven't disliked any of the titles on this list, there's just some that are definitely better than others. My opinions change a lot though and so does my ranking but this is where it's at right now:
13. Black Widow
Before anyone says anything, this is not because I'm against female superheroes or anything like that. In fact, Captain Marvel is a top tier MCU movie for me and I defend and love it. However, Black Widow didn't go as far or deep as I feel like it could've with its subject matter. Maybe the coolest part of the movie is the opening credits set to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' that give glimpses of Natasha's past; unfortunately, that's pretty much all we get showing her training. The plot is pretty basic and the villain is one of the most forgettable in the MCU (Ray Winstone's character that is, I'm actually one of the few that liked the Taskmaster twist). Natasha didn't really get any major character moments, and frankly, Yelena steals the whole movie for me and outshines Nat. Yelena is easily the best part of the movie (David Harbour is good too, but underused). Again, I don't dislike any entry on this list and still enjoyed the film, but it's nowhere near the same quality as a lot of other MCU projects for me.
12. What If...?
What If...? has the disadvantage of being animated, and while it had some pretty great episodes, when ranked against the live action MCU adventures, it doesn't feel like it brings as much genuine heart or emotions to the table. The Captain Carter premiere episode was super underwhelming to me and felt like a rushed-through retread of First Avenger without much change. While there were some amazing moments in the series (The Doctor Strange episode was by far my favorite and left me speechless) as a whole, the anthology style doesn't allow for as much genuine emotional investment in the events of the show compared to the MCU at large. We got Star-Lord T'Challa though!
11. Eternals
I'm gonna start off by saying Eternals is nowhere near as bad as the reviews make it out to be and I genuinely enjoyed it on my first watch. It has some of the most memorable action in the MCU and absolutely got snubbed for Best VFX at the Oscars last year. The characters are as well fleshed out as can be expected for a movie that juggles the introduction of like 12 characters in one film. The plot could've been stronger, the runtime could've been cut down and the deviant villian was again a super forgettable character, but the Eternals themselves were intriguing enough, if not anywhere near as intriguing as the Avengers or the Guardians. My favorites were Phastos, Gilgamesh (RIP), and Makaari.
10. Thor: Love And Thunder
It's good. A solid movie. Could it have been better? Absolutely. But in my opinion, it feels like a smaller, more personal adventure for Thor in order for him to advance in his character development to more acceptance of past event and letting go of the past in order to embrace his next step in his journey (if you've seen the film you know what I mean). Christian Bale was awesome, I wish he got to kill more than one god onscreen but he still acted great. I think this movie would've benefitted with a longer runtime that included more emotional moments (like when Thor & Jane are talking on the boat while they flew past the space dolphins) and honestly I thought the entire scene of the God council was kind of useless to the plot but I still liked the movie and thought it was hilarious. The screaming goats somehow did not ever get old, I laughed every time.
9. Hawkeye
This show was carried by the bond between Clint & Kate. It's still a little confusing as to who the main villian of the show was (I guess Kingpin, but he didn't directly have a role in a lot of what caused Kate & Clint trouble) and there were some super convent things that felt out of place such as the LARPers teaming up with Kate & Clint and making them costumes and such. Negatives aside, Kate Bishop is one of the best Phase 4 MCU characters. It was a joy to watch her and Clint bond over the series. Yelena's inclusion was awesome too, and her & Clint's fight in the finale where Clint tells her about Nat was great. This was probably the only one of the live action series so far that I feel like could've been a movie (I know it originally was) since the emotional core was surrounded with a lot of stretched out and underdeveloped proceedings but when the show shined, it shined bright.
8. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
This might be a little bit of a controversial placement, but I mean it's sort of high placed... anyways Shang-Chi had some fantastic characters (and a few forgettable ones) and fantastic fight sequences, but the movie felt like it had a very by-the-numbers plot. Also, the second act of the film lags a bit as it spends maybe half an hour showing Shang-Chi, Katy & Xi-Ling training in Ta-Lo. However, the final fight between Shang-Chi and Wenwu with the rings is one of my favorite fights in the MCU, and I'm excited to see where Shang-Chi & Katy go next.
7. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
I liked this movie a lot more than most did. Sam Raimi's style felt really present, and Wanda served as definitely one of the better villains of Phase 4. I found the insights provided on the workings of the Multiverse to be interesting food for thought (especially dreams being windows into our variant's lives). Also, the Illuminati sequence was very gripping and I was psyched to see John Krasinski show up and very shocked to see Anson Mount's Black Bolt appear. His death scene was easily the most gruesome in the MCU and I liked how the movie shocks the viewer in going lots of different unexpected directions. The Stephen character development about his sister and being happy was interesting and the music fight was cool. I think America could've been fleshed out a little better and the third act was underwhelming to me after all the chaos that came before it but I liked the movie over all. Also, Danny Elfman!
6. The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
Yes, you read that correctly. I will defend this show to my grave. I was never not invested in the events of the show, and it also contains some of the best social commentary of any mainstream media project ever that I've seen regarding Isiah Bradley and his past. Sam and Bucky are great together and it's so cool to see their lives explored more, and watching Sam become Cap is so satisfying and I'm so glad for him. I found Karli and the Flag-Smashers to be compelling villains, which I realize is a super hot take but oh well I was genuinely interested in their involvement and their development. Zemo's inclusion was done well too and John Walker is one of the best acted Phase 4 villains so far (his scene at the end of Episode 4 is such a great scene). The only piece of the puzzle that felt out of place to me was Sharon, but I think she might be revealed to be a Skrull later, so there's that. Anyways, great show and a top tier Phase 4 project for me.
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Entering the Top 5, we have No Way Home, a movie with really fantastic emotional work that I think overshadows the fact that a lot of the build up towards it... isn't super strong. The first half of the movie is a little bit misguided upon rewatch, and I think a lot of it is forgiven by most because of the fact that the second half is so spectacular. But that little negative aside, seeing Tom, Andrew and Tobey together onscreen was so awesome and the character work that was displayed between all of them was great. The final fight is cool (although I personally believe it could've been a lot more visually appealing, the under construction Statue of Liberty is kinda a bland backdrop) and the emotional moments hit hard. Also, Willem Dafoe gives one of the best performances in MCU history as Green Goblin and just hits it out of the park. The apartment scene with him is so chilling. I freaking love Andrew Garfield.
4. Ms. Marvel
Going into this show, I did not expect it to end up this high, but boy does it deserve it. Iman Vellani is absolutely fantastic (Iman if you're reading this from your secret reddit account hi you're amazing) and Kamala and Bruno are two of my favorite Phase 4 characters (I ship it!). Right from the get go, the show grabbed my attention with its infectious energy reminiscent of Into-The Spider Verse, one of my favorite films of all time. In my opinion, only episode 4 felt a little bit weaker than the rest, cause episode 5 brought the awesomeness back with a fantastic backstory segment and the cool reveal that Kamala was the one who helped Nani find her way. Kamala has some of the coolest looking powers in the MCU. The show had great emotional moments and I gasped when Bruno said *the word*, did not expect that. I'm so excited so see Kamala on the big screen next year!
3. Moon Knight
Oscar Isaac is an acting beast. Moon Knight was so freaking good, from the lots-of-questions first episodes to the journey through mental health final episodes, and I'm crossing my fingers for the season 2 announcement at Comic-Con this week. Episode 3 felt a little bit weaker than the others since the plot became in danger of being too convulted, but that episode still ended with a super memorable scene and the show's highs waaaay outshine the few lows. The soundtrack was top-notch, Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy were also both great, and the action, while more sparse than one would expect, hit hard. Also, I am still of the opinion that Episode 5, 'Asylum' is the single-best episode of MCU Disney+ Television to date. Bring on Season 2, this show deserves it!!
2. Loki
Thankfully we already have Season 2 confirmed of this fantastic show. Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson as Loki and Mobius make one of the best MCU pairings to date, and Sylvie was also a pretty good character as well. The emotional journey through space and time that this show brought me on is not one I'd soon forget, and I really hope Season 2 can keep the same quality. The mystery of the hierarchy of the TVA crashing down combined with Loki's multiversal antics made for one of the best MCU projects to date and features what I can confidently call, IMO, the best MCU soundtrack to date. Natalie Holt crafted an amazing score to go with an amazing show. The finale left us with quite the cliffhanger, and I'm excited to see where it goes from here!
1. WandaVision
The first project of Phase 4 remains my favorite. The fact that we were given absolutely no context as to what was going on and got to spend 8 weeks theorizing as the cracks in Wanda's reality started to show was just awesome and this show single-handedly turned two B-roll Avengers into two of the most compelling MCU characters. The journey through grief interwoven with the mystery of what the heck is going on makes for top-quality viewing, and I also hold the opinon that the finale didn't drop in quality at all and is one of the best MCU show finales. I could sing this show's praises for a while. It's fantastic, and I'm glad there's not going to be a season 2 because it doesn't need one.
There you have it! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. What do you agree/disagree with most?
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