Marvel’s Marvels

For anyone who is as obsessed with superhero films as I am, then obviously you will know that Marvel announced their next set of movies through to 2019. The good news is that it looks like the Avengers have no chance of retiring just yet, but the bad news is having to wait until 2019. Do you know that is like five years away? I’m probably expected to have a job by then…or a career for those who want long term investment.

But until then it seems as though we’ll just have to remain content with watching the Age of Ultron trailer over and over again, as well as watching Marvel’s previous films. But what are their best films to date? Here are my personal top six.

6. Thor: The Dark World

Thor was good. It wasn’t bad, but the sequel for me was better. Yes, Natalie Portman was redundant. Anthony Hopkins wasn’t horrific as Odin, but he wasn’t a God you could grow to like. Thor was showing off his greatest asset, by which I mean his muscles, and for those of you with filthy enough minds to think I mean something else: shame on you! But there is only one person to care about in that film. There’s only one villain in the franchise, and I am most certainly not talking about Malekith. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was the one thing in Thor worth watching. His road to redemption was rocky, and even then there is the question of whether or not he has truly been redeemed after his little ‘hey I’m dead, just kidding, off to rule Asgard’ moment. His wit, love for his adoptive mother Frigga, and ridiculously long black oily hair stole the show. A Loki spin off movie has been demanded by fans and I can probably guarantee it would be the highest grossing film ever if all the Hiddlestoners united.

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The First Avenger wasn’t great, but The Winter Soldier definitely exceeded expectations. Chris Evans was likeable, as he is in most of the films he stars in, and he isn’t too bad on the eye either. But The Winter Soldier had much more action, a villain people can remember from The First Avenger, and it has Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow too. Arguably, Captain America doesn’t feel like a superhero film. There are no CGI effects at every turn. There are no far fetched stunts. Plus the fight scenes seem to have a sense of realness to them. The second film links back to The First Avenger with the Cap facing a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D which links back to HYDRA, the rogue Nazi scientific wing which featured heavily in the first film. Johansson steals the show with her wit and sarcasm, but Sebastian Stan makes a pretty good villain too…just not as good as Loki. But don’t worry, Stan, I doubt anyone lives up to him.

4. The Amazing Spider-Man

Not gonna lie: I’ve never been a Spider-Man fan. I never got into the films with Tobey Maguire, but my friend nagged me to see the reboot with Andrew Garfield and the super talented, super pretty, and…well…just super Emma Stone. I’ve been an Emma Stone fan since I saw her in Easy A and so I decided to sit through the film. Andrew Garfield is particularly believable as the hopeless teenager Peter Parker, and Emma Stone is confident as the intelligent Gwen Stacy. As far as reboots go The Amazing Spider-Man isn’t the worst one there is. It doesn’t live up to Batman Begins standards. There is no angst like there is with Bruce Wayne, and it probably isn’t as good as Batman. I’m probably biased as a massive Batman fan who is able to recite all of Bane’s lines in The Dark Knight Rises. It was an easy summer flick to watch. It wasn’t too serious and it was light viewing in comparison to some superhero films.

3. Iron Man 3

Is Iron Man really just Robert Downey Jr? Is there a difference between Tony Stark and Downey Jr? After spending hours watching interviews with the man himself I’m inclined to say that they are very similar. There is something very charming about Tony Stark, even if he is a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. His confidence as Iron Man was something which had been running through Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Avengers Assemble, but Iron Man 3 showed a new depth to Stark. It showed a vulnerability to him which we had not seen before, especially in relation to his girlfriend Pepper Potts. Seeing the hero suffer as he did proved that Downey Jr could bring another side to Stark, but it was brilliant when he found himself back to his usual self in order to save Pepper and stop the terrorist known as the Mandarin. Many people have a go at Gwyneth Paltrow, but I think she is just fine as Pepper Potts. Say what you like, but I’m a Paltrow fan.

2. X:Men First Class

X:2 was awesome. There is no denying that. The original X Men franchise had some gems in it. There were some shining moments, but X Men: First Class is a film which should never be ignored or disowned as part of the franchise. If anything the Wolverine films should suffer that fate. First Class deals with Magneto and Professor X before they were enemies. In fact, they were once friends. Go back to the 1960’s and James McAvoy portrays a younger Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender portrays a younger Erik Lehnserr. As a new professor, Xavier’s help is needed by Moira MacTaggert of the CIA. Queue Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw who wants to start a nuclear war between Russia and the USA in order for radiation to give birth to mutants. And because Bacon don’t like waiting (EE advert reference), he does all he can to make the Cuban Missile Crisis real. Before all that; Xavier becomes best friends with Erik, his adopted sister Raven falls for another mutant called Hank, and there’s an amazing sequence where Wolverine makes an appearance to tell Erik and Charles to ‘go fuck themselves.’ Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant as the conflicted Mystique and Fassbender and McAvoy’s bromance is undeniable. Did I mention Kevin Bacon was in it too? What is there not to love about this film?

1. Avengers Assemble

And here it is; the film which, eventually, brought all of the Avengers together. Avengers Assemble received the most hype of any film I have witnessed before, and it didn’t disappoint. The film brings all of the stars together for the ‘Avengers Initiative’ to take place. It has Tony Stark sassing Captain America, Doctor Banner controlling his rage, and Thor trying to shrug Loki’s troublesome ways by stating that they are not truly brothers. The film brought action, suspense – at certain moments – and laughs. What was there not to love about Avengers Assemble? It was everything a superhero move could hope to be.