With Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming to a close with the release of The 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.
17. Thor: 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.
16. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
One of the few grounded and street level entries in the franchise, TFatWS could 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.
15. Black Widow
Released five years too late, the whole film feels wasted thanks to Natasha’s sacrifice in Avenger’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.
14. Eternals
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.
13. What 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.
12. Moon Knight
More a character study about mental health issues and identity crises than a superhero show, Moon Knight was 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
11. Ms. Marvel
The debut of the first Pakistani-American superhero on television garnered huge reviews and critical acclaim, but like many of the shows on Disney+, 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.
10. Hawkeye
Hawkeye, Pizza Dog and Kate Bishop at Christmas, fighting the returning Kingpin played by Vincent D’Onofrio? What’s not to love?
9. She-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.
8. The 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.
7. Loki
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, Loki introduced the building blocks of everything to come.
6. Doctor 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.
5. Wandavision
Talking of Wanda, Wandavision introduced 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.
4. Shang-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 rival The Raid, and an intense, bloody opening means this is one of the most rewatchable and fun films of Phase Four.
3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
With the sad loss of the late Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther sequel 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.
2. Werewolf by Night
About as far a departure from anything else Marvel Studios had attempted, Werewolf by Night had 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.
1. Spider-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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