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With Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming to a close with the release ofThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, it seems like a good time to go back and rank the best and worst offerings. Phase Four has been bigger and with more content than the previous three phases combined, and over a significantly shorter period, meaning that for a lot of people, Marvel-fatigue was a real thing, and many consider the Phase Four to be the weakest of the phases so far.
17Thor: Love and Thunder
The fourth film in the God of Thunder’s own franchise, and unfortunately the worst not only in the franchise, but Phase Four as a whole. Pacing issues, a wasted villain in Gorr the God Butcher and a wasted actor in Christian Bale, and more besides. Unlike Ragnarok before it, Love and Thunder is a mess.
16The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
One of the few grounded and street level entries in the franchise,TFatWScould and should have been better. Like the next entry in the list, it was plagued by production issues thanks to Covid, but for the most part, the whole show feels like filler.
15Black Widow
Released five years too late, the whole film feels wasted thanks to Natasha’s sacrifice inAvenger’s Endgame.You can skip the whole film and watch just the after-credit scene with Yelena and still be caught up on Phase Four.
Related:‘She really tried rushing Thanos with a taser’: As Marvel Confirms Official Black Widow Sequel, Fans are Trolling Scarlett Johansson’s Infamous Infinity War Moment
14Eternals
A stellar cast, Oscar-winning director and the knowledge and experience of years of world-building before it should have made this a homerun, but a forgettable villain, story and introducing too many characters proved to be too many issues for audiences to buy in to.
13What If..?
An anthological series based on the famous comic book series of the same name, showcasing some of the biggest questions and alternate realities of the multiverse? Count us in. Not overtly bad, just not weird and wonderful enough with it’s different realities.
12Moon Knight
More a character study about mental health issues and identity crises than a superhero show,Moon Knightwas criticized due to its lack of the titular character being suited and booted. One thing that can’t be debated is the quality portrayal of main characters by Oscar Isaac, so here’s hoping he’ll be back again in the future!
Related:Moon Knight Season 2 Release Date Reportedly Confirmed as Oscar Isaac Preps To Fight More Rogue Gods
11Ms. Marvel
The debut of the first Pakistani-American superhero on television garnered huge reviews and critical acclaim, but like many of the shows onDisney+,bar a couple of important scenes, the show isn’t pushing the MCU any further forward. At least not in a clearly defined way just yet.
Hawkeye, Pizza Dog and Kate Bishop at Christmas, fighting the returning Kingpin played by Vincent D’Onofrio? What’s not to love?
9She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Fourth-wall breaking, smart-mouthed cousin of the Hulk finally makes her big screen debut, and it may be contentious to a lot of people, but the show definitely lent heavily on doing exactly whatever they wanted.
8The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Kevin Bacon makes his MCU debut as himself! Forty five additional minutes of the Guardians is always a good thing, and it gave us two of the catchiest original songs the MCU has to offer.
Arguably the most important television show of not only Phase Four, but of the Multiverse Saga, with the concept of multiple universes, variants of established characters and of course He Who Remains,Lokiintroduced the building blocks of everything to come.
Related:“I don’t even call him Kang”: Jonathan Majors Reveals Loki’s He Who Remains May Not be a Kang Variant, Teases Terrifying New Villain for Ant-Man 3 That’ll Make Thanos Look Puny
6Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Sam Raimi directing the migraine-inducing visual splendour of Doctor Strange is already a winner, but add on several huge cameos and a particularly terrifying turn by Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, and there’s no surprise why this is so high up.
5Wandavision
Talking of Wanda,Wandavisionintroduced the driving force of her character’s motivations in the previous entry, as well as showcasing her increased abilities and the frankly horrific way she was dealing with her grief over losing Vision.
4Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings
With Phase Four being the most inclusive so far, it makes sense that we finally get the long-muted debut of Shang-Chi, the first Asian superhero to be on the big screen. A fantastic story, fight choreography to rivalThe Raid, and an intense, bloody opening means this is one of the most rewatchable and fun films of Phase Four.
3Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
With the sad loss of the late Chadwick Boseman, theBlack Panthersequel had a lot to live up to, and not many thought it would stick the landing. A film as much about processing our grief as it was about the character’s doing the same, the introduction of fan-favourite Namor and the elegant and respectful handling of the lead actor’s death meant there wasn’t a dry eye in most showings.
Related:Angela Bassett Creates MCU History With Black Panther 2, Becomes First Marvel Actress to Get Oscar Nomination for 95th Academy Awards
2Werewolf by Night
About as far a departure from anything else Marvel Studios had attempted,Werewolf by Nighthad every reason to be campy schlock, never to be revisited or attempted again. From the artistic direction to the way we finally get to meet ‘Ted’, or Man-Thing as he’d normally be known, the Special Presentation proves Marvel can do R-rated, and it can do it well.
1Spider-Man: No Way Home
With three generations of Spider-Man on the screen at once, the third installment in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy was always going to be massive, but nobody expected it to be this good. A good mixture of fan-service, years long catharsis (especially for Garfield’s Parker) and variant teamups, this film is not only good in its own right, its the best of Phase Four, and really shows what we can expect from variants of the established characters going forward.
What order would you have put the television shows and films featured in Phase Four? Let us know below!
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Luke Addison
Former Head of Gaming
Articles Published :462
Luke Addison is a Former Video Game Critic and Gaming Editor. As likely to be caught listening to noughties rock as he is watching the latest blockbuster cinema release, Luke is the quintessential millennial wistfully wishing after a forgotten era of entertainment. Also a diehard Chelsea fan, for his sins.
