Reranking The Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Marvel Studios has released 11 comic blockbusters since 2008. Iron Man kicked off their interconnected universe with a bang and comic book movies have never been the same since. So now that Marvel's biggest sequel yet Avengers: Age Of Ultron is tearing up theaters, the Informers decided to rank all 11 of the studios interconnected films. Let's get it going.

11. Iron Man 3 (2013)

Total garbage. The first Phase 2 movie takes Iron Man's greatest foe and turns him into a joke while placing Tony outside of his suit 98% of the run time. Shane Black and Drew Pearce successfully took Jon Faveru's Iron Man saga and turned it into shit.

10. Thor: The Dark World (2013)

2013 was not a good year for Marvel. After the debacle that is Iron Man 3, Thor got his sequel later in the year that wasn't that impressive. At this point if Loki wasn't in this franchise would anyone care? Malekith was absolutely forgettable along with Thor's crew of human sidekicks. Natalie Portman is really just picking up paychecks in these movies as Jane Foster. Less of her and more Lady Sif and the Warrior's Three for Thor Ragnorak, please.

9. Iron Man 2 (2010)

Love Mickey Rourke. Love Sam Rockwell. Just not in this movie. Neither villain really stands out or has an interesting plan. One could say the real villain could really be Tony's alcoholism. But despite all it's faults, RDJ and the addition of Don Cheadle as War Machine elevate this mediocre film to a decent one.

8. Thor (2011)

Not much to say here. Just an okay movie with some solid humor that helps set up the character for The Avengers. The Frost Giant battle is fun, but everything else comes off as alright.

7. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Abomination vs. The Hulk is the main reason I placed this film at number seven. Ed Norton makes for a convincing Banner/Hulk while on the other hand Liv Tyler is a pretty crappy Betty Ross. Mark Ruffalo has done a commendable job picking up Banner from Norton left off, but after seeing Norton put on an acting clinic in Birdman recently, I would have loved to see what he would have done with the character had he continued to portray the Green Goliath.

6. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

An interesting period piece about Steve Rogers and his transformation into this universe's first superhero Captain America. Loved the WW2 setting and Steve's motivations. What I didn't care for was a slow story that had a difficult time showing off Cap's abilities. If you used this film as a point of reference for Cap's superpowers you would have to assume his own ability is super leaping. He used his amazing shield the least in his opening appearance.

5. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Earth's Mightiest Heroes reunite for a second go around. This time against the evil AI Ultron. The same humor and action you loved from the first Avengers is here. Seriously they could make 20 movies just like this and I would love them all. In the MCU, I think there are 3 tiers in the hierarchy of the MCU. Those are Average, Good, and Great. I would say #11-9 are average, #8-6 are good, and here at #5 the great films begin. Which makes it hard to put this great film all the way down at 5, but with so many awesome films compromises needed to be made.

4. Iron Man (2008)

Single handedly kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe and rejuvenated RDJ's career all at once. Iron Man is one of the most important superhero films of all time. Aided by RDJ's charm and Jon Farveru's slick visuals this movie presents an interesting origin for Tony Stark while creating a world that has allowed for all these incredible superhero films to exist. Also ACDC!

3. The Avengers (2012)

The Avengers is the first ever giant superhero team-up on film. The final 45 minute battle alone could secure it a high spot on this list, but The Avengers has more going for it besides it's action. Joss Whedon expertly weaves in the each team members' different dynamics as the team forms to take down the villainous Loki (played by the great Tom Hiddleston). Solid performances across the board and hilarious moments make this movie a must for a superhero fans.

2. Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

When this film was initially announced, the general consensus was that this film would be Marvel's first real flop. Introducing five relatively unknown characters that include the likes of a talking raccoon and a tree sounded like a major risk at the time. Well, James Gunn proved all those people wrong and these five "losers" won the 2014 summer box office. GOTG is packed with humor + heart that just fit it's tone completely. Not to mention the best soundtrack in ages. Also Chris Pratt is the greatest.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Perfection. This film is an excellent adaption of a classic Captain America storyline that is great at infusing both drama and comedy. Directors the Russo brothers understand the Cap Universe and utilize the additions of Falcon as a sidekick, The Winter Soldier as an adversary, and Black Widow as Cap's moral foil propel this sequel way past it's predecessor. Best Marvel film period. Hail Hydra!

Thanks for reading! What's your favorite Marvel film? Which future movie are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews. You can also read my original rankings from August by clicking here.

P.S. These movies are dope and all, but Daredevil is the best thing Marvel has ever put out!

Avengers: Age Of Ultron Review

Earth's Mightiest Heroes are back on the big screen! Here is my review of the team's second outing with very mild spoilers. 

Description: Avengers: Age of Ultron, the epic follow-up to the biggest Super Hero movie of all time. When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

High Points:

• Excellent opening sequence. Very cool to see the team fully formed and going on raids together.
• Hail Hydra! Everyone's favorite evil organization shows up just in time to get it's ass kicked.
• Captain America is my favorite Avenger. Joss Whedon finds about 150 new ways to use Cap's shield in battle this time around. #TeamCap #FuckStark
• Hawkeye gets some much deserved screentime in this flick. He was brainwashed for the majority of the first outing, so it was great to spend some time with Clint and see what makes him click.
• Humorous throughout. One liners were being thrown all over this joint.
• Well done action sequences throughout. 
• Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen's accents are the funniest things ever.
• Cool insight into Black Widow's past. Since last year's CA: TWS, Agent Romanoff has really opened up and become a captivating character in the MCU.
• A little Andy Serkis never hurts! Neither does a little Wakanda.
• Joss Whedon took those Man Of Steel criticisms about not protecting civilians to heart because the Avengers are going out of their way to protect every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Seeing heroes be heroic is never a bad thing.
• Great performances throughout the cast. Each actor has really bonded with their character now that they have all had multiple outings.
• The Vision's entrance was a bit awkward, but his payoff was pretty great.
• Age Of Ultron feels like a global film. Action takes place all over the globe.
• Fun to see the Avengers kick back and dick around. The whole party scene is a lot of fun. 
• I dug the Black Widow/Hulk romance. Two different types of monsters that have come together.
• The science bros reunited for some more (you guessed it!) science!
• DAT CUT SCENE!

Be careful Natasha that shit is dangerous.

Low Points:

• Ultron was an okay villain. James Spader was good acting as an almost pseudo-Tony Stark, but he never got the full focus he deserved. For starters we never saw how he came across his first full form. He just instantly had it and was off to the races. With so many characters I understand it is hard to balance all of them. The main villain should really stand out though and once again Ultron falls into the MCU's pantheon of under developed villains.
• Thor's side quest was to further inform us more about the Infinity stones. Sometimes the connective universe has it's movies looking ahead instead of dealing with what in the present.
• I understand that because Scarlet Witch had come into the fold that mind control was back in play, so I'm okay with seeing it as a big plot device again, but this has to be the last time we see it in an Avengers movie. I don't want every movie to have the team be at each others throat because they are psychically being inclined to. Especially with Civil War coming up, mind control should play no role whatsoever. Have it be a fight of ideologies.
• The final fight scene was pretty anticlimactic. Yes a sacrifice was made, but defeating Ultron and his goons was pretty simplistic. Also because I asked for the end of mind control in the last bulletpoint, I'm also gonna ask for this to be the last the Avengers face a giant faceless army. For Infinity War, let's see them fight a different threat. Like the Masters of Evil or maybe a space brawl.
• Enough with the Disney parallels. Ultron keeping signing Pinocchio. Banner and Ramanoff are supposed to be Beauty and the Beast. I get that Disney owns Marvel and that allows for this kinda stuff to happen, but there was enough of it that I have expected Steve Rogers to start singing "Be A Man" from Mulan in the final scene.

Didn't Scarlet Witch's powers look a lot like Poison Ivy's magic dust?

Verdict: Age of Ultron delivers on action and humor. Sometimes it can feel like mindless popcorn entertainment, yet it never reaches Transformers levels of mindless violence. Something is always at stake and you care about the people who are fighting.
         Ultron could have used a bit more focus and sometimes the building of the future of the MCU occasionally hurt it as a standalone film, but there is such more positive stuff going on that you really don't care. This movie did it's number one job: Kept me entertained for 2+ hours. The characters you have grown to know and love are all there taking names and kicking ass. What's not to like about that? Overall I'm giving Avengers: Age of Ultron a 8.0 out of 10. Fun movie and the first must see of the summer.

Thanks for reading! What did you think of Age Of Ultron? What future MCU movie are you most excited for?  Let us know in the comments or tweet at us @Caped_Informers or me @cstrand73. And make sure to tune in for our weekly Arrow, Flash, and Daredevil reviews. Also make sure to look for my remodeled list of the best Marvel movies. Coming soon.

The New Avengers Trailer Is Amazing

HOLY SHIT BALLS! Now that is how you pump up your fanbase! I need to see this movie and I need to see it now.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron hits theaters on May 1st.

New Avengers: Age Of Ultron Premiered Last Night!

A few days ago, Marvel Studios released a teaser trailer for their upcoming diminutive superhero flick Ant-Man. The overall reception was mixed. Some people did not like the serious tone because it did not mix with the humor included in it. Other defend it claiming it's just a teaser meant to elicit buzz about the film. Well, let me be the first to say that no one is going to criticize this new Avengers trailer, it's glorious.

That's what happens when you drink Tony's booze

Now that is how you sell a movie! Not by having Michael Douglas giving Paul Rudd a speech about redemption, but rather having two of your lead characters beat the shit out of each other in the street. Just pure action awesomeness. Trailers are supposed to be like foreplay. You got to tickle your fans balls to get them riled up. Ant-Man's didn't elicit anything emotionally (or sexually) for anyone. This teaser however has everyone sporting woodies saying that May can't get here fast enough. If that gif above doesn't make you giddy with joy you must be one miserable fuck or your soul must be trapped in the Shadow Realm. Well done on this one Marvel, well done. Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters May 1st.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Teaser Trailer Drops

We will have to wait a little more than half a year to see Earth Mightiest Heroes team up again, but goddamn does this trailer get you excited for it! The Hulkbuster looks amazing.

Sure looks a lot dark than it's predecessor. James Spader's Ultron will definitely to put the team through the ringer. What did you think of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron Teaser Trailer? Sound off in the comments.

Can I get an Amen!

"Avengers: Age Of Ultron" First Trailer Attached to "Interstellar"

Everyone going to see Christopher Nolan and Matthew Mcconaughey's space epic Interstellar on Nov. 7th will get the first peek of Marvel Studios' Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Not much is known about Joss Whedon's follow up to the third highest grossing movie of all time except that it will feature Earth's Mightiest Heroes going against their greatest threat yet the robot Ultron and it probably will kick major ass. Lets hope it lives up to the hype!

All I want to see is the Hulk crush Stark's Hulkbuster armor. He needs to fuck that piece of shit machine up. And in the process make what he did to Loki seem like a relaxing massage. 

Plot Synopsis For "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" Released

Marvel Studios has finally released the first official synopsis for Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age Of Ultron. 

Marvel Studios presents Avengers: Age of Ultron, the epic follow-up to the biggest Super Hero movie of all time. When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

 

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr., who returns as Iron Man, along with Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, the team must reassemble to defeat James Spader as Ultron, a terrifying technological villain hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they confront two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen, and Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision.

 

Written and directed by Joss Whedon and produced by Kevin Feige, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series The Avengers, first published in 1963. Get set for an action-packed thrill ride when The Avengers return in Marvel’s Avengers:Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015.

Source: ComicBookMovie
              Stitch Kingdom

James Spader is going to be great as Ultron. He will be the second legitimate villain in the MCU besides Loki. Mark my words.

The trailer should be coming coming soon for this most anticipated sequel. Until then just reading this synopsis gets me excited!

First Pictures of Ultron From Avengers 2?!!

The other day it was reported that The Avengers: Age of Ultron was filming scenes in Italy with Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Now we know who they were battling with, the film's big baddie Ultron (James Spader). Thanks to CineFilos, we also now know that Italy is being used as a backdrop for in the fictional Eastern European city of Sokovia and that Ultron is responsible for all the craziness taking place there. So I guess there will be no snowball fights, that's disappointing. The Avengers: Age of Ultron is shooting now and due out in May 2015.

Read more about it: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=96707

Looks like it gonna be a fun fight. I found this final picture humorous.