(Note: This post contains massive spoilers for both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” so read on at your own risk!)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was gutted by the events of “Avengers: Infinity War” and the arrival of Thanos, a villain so strong even the combined might of nearly every MCU superhero couldn’t stop him.
You know what happened by now: Despite a valiant effort to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Avengers and their allies failed. The Mad Titan collected all six Infinity Stones on his Infinity Gauntlet, and with a snap his fingers used their united power to erase half of all life in the universe. All because Thanos believes mass murder on a cosmic scale will rid the universe of its problems and free the survivors to create sustainable utopias.
That’s not how the heroes (or audiences) saw it though. Cue Peter Parker’s “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good,” and fans worldwide agreeing wholeheartedly as a huge number of their favorite heroes dissolved into ash.
How huge? As if millions-of-sequels-suddenly-cried-out-in-terror-and-were-suddenly-silenced huge.
Here’s everyone lost to Thanos’ finger snap, from “Infinity War” through “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
Captain America’s best friend Bucky was among the first to disappear in Wakanda, which is especially a bummer given how hard he fought to reclaim his life and identity after being brainwashed by HYDRA to become the Winter Soldier.
T’Challa, the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)
Wakanda’s king vanished as he helped Okoye up, apparently leaving the nation without a king, again.
Adding insult to injury, seconds after losing Vision when Thanos pulled the Mind Stone from his head, killing him, Wanda fades to dust mid-mourning.
Sam Wilson, Falcon (Anthony Mackie)
Captain America’s buddy Sam has been coming into his own as an Avenger across the last few movies he’s appeared in, but despite being a major force in the Battle of Wakanda, in the end, the coin-flip of Thanos’ snap got him.
His anger at what Thanos did to Gamora wasn’t enough to keep Star-Lord from fading away after the battle on Titan — but if there’s a Soul Realm hidden inside the Soul Stone, Peter and Gamora might be reunited.
Drax (Dave Bautista)
Most of the Guardians of the Galaxy vanished after the finger snap, including Drax, whose death is even more tragic because Thanos killed Drax’s family years before, and his Infinity Gauntlet finished the job.
Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
Right alongside Drax, Mantis faded away as well, after spending most of her life as a slave to Ego (Kurt Russell) as seen in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
The most heart-wrenching moment in “Infinity War” finds Peter succumbing to disintegration as he begs his mentor, Tony Stark, to help him. Mr. Stark, we don’t feel so good either.
Of all the people to disappear, Doctor Strange was seemingly the most calm and at peace. He spent part of “Infinity War” viewing potential futures with the Time Stone, and so it’s safe to say that losing to Thanos, and then apparently dying, were actually part of his long-view plan to win the day. We just have no idea how.
Former SHIELD agent and Fury’s long-time bodyguard and right-hand woman, Maria and Fury’s disappearance likely severs the Avengers from any lingering SHIELD infrastructure that might have helped them in “Avengers 4.”
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” didn’t catch up to the events of “Infinity War” until its post-credits scene, after Hank and his daughter Hope were finally reunited with his wife, Janet, the original Wasp. Unfortunately, they didn’t have long together.
Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly)
Hope went right along with her father, and seemingly no one in the Ant-Man crew had any idea that the events of “Infinity War” were taking place in Wakanda during the end of “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer)
After 30 years stuck in the Quantum Realm, Janet was rescued with just a few days before Thanos’ attack zapped her out of existence. That’s a pretty big bummer.
While Thanos managed to kill a whole bunch of people, he didn’t kill everyone — just half of everyone. That means quite a few heroes are still alive. We don’t know about the fates of a lot of folks — like Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) or Peter Parker’s pal Ned (Jacob Batalon). Here’s the list of people we know for sure didn’t disintegrate.
Steve Rogers, Captain America (Chris Evans)
The First Avenger lost his best friend to Thanos, but more than that, he failed in a way Cap has never suffered before. His final line of the movie — a simple, “Oh god” — was just as horrifying as watching so many heroes fade away.
Tony Stark, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
Tony has been traumatized by his fear of something like Thanos’ invasion, and Tony’s inability to stop it, since “The Avengers” and the alien attack Loki (Tom Hiddleston) led on New York. That attack was backed by Thanos, and it seems with the Mad Titan’s arrival, Tony’s worst fears have been realized.
Thor’s track through “Infinity War” is incredibly tragic, and it’s clear in a few scenes that he’s just barely holding himself together after the losses of Loki and Heimdall (Idris Elba). After finally becoming the leader his people needed, Thor was unable to save them, and he seems to feel responsible for letting his barely contained pain control him such that he struck Thanos with Stormbreaker in the chest, so he would suffer, rather than the head to kill him instantly.
Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
Natasha has been making major strides to become a better person in the post-SHIELD era, but it was clear that losing to Thanos hit her very hard.
Bruce Banner, the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)
His constant struggles with the Hulk side of his personality left Banner struggling in “Infinity War” between not wanting to be the Hulk, and needing the Hulk. Losing to Thanos is definitely going to exacerbate their internal conflict.
Rhody fought alongside Cap and crew in Wakanda, and became closer friends with Sam Wilson during the battle. Losing Sam hit Rhody hard, as did the fact that Thanos was able to do something so devastating, and the Avengers weren’t able to stop him.
General Okoye (Danai Gurira)
Okoye’s loyalty to T’Challa, and more importantly, the throne of Wakanda, is a defining part of her identity — so when her king vanished before her eyes, she was obviously and incredibly crushed.
M’Baku also stands as a fierce leader and protector of his people, and while we didn’t spend much time with him in “Infinity War,” it was clear losing so many with no way of stopping it was a huge blow.
Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper)
Rocket lost just about everyone to Thanos, though at the end of “Infinity War” he doesn’t even know the extent of it, since he was on Earth with Thor. It’s losing Groot, his best friend and, in a real sense, his son, that ravages Rocket — and one wonders how he’ll be able to recover.
Nebula (Karen Gillan)
No stranger to pain and loss, Nebula was the most stoic of the heroes. After arriving on Titan to try to kill Thanos, she watched the disintegration knowing full well what had happened. Nebula seems likely to be the one character whose life isn’t upended by the snap. She has one goal: kill Thanos. Nothing has changed that.
While Scott wasn’t present for “Infinity War,” like everyone in the universe, he was affected by it. Unfortunately, Thanos snapped his fingers exactly when Scott was briefly diving into the Quantum Realm during the post-credits scene of “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Since Hank, Hope and Janet disappeared back at normal size, there seems to be no one to pull Scott out of the Quantum Realm, apparently marooning him there. Or is there….
Darryl, Thor’s Former Roommate (Daley Pearson)
During the events “Captain America: Civil War,” Thor was hanging out in Australia, living with an office worker named Darryl. This weekend, Darryl made a video for Twitter wishing Thor a happy birthday, and lamenting the fact that, since Thanos eliminated half of his colleagues, he’s stuck working weekends.
All 61 Marvel Movies Ranked, Including 'Shang-Chi'
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
61. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"
Just a nightmare. A total nightmare. There have been a number of bad superhero movies, but from the talking gas cloud the filmmakers cast as Galactus to Jessica Alba's dye job, this one transcends bad.
60. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
A totally chaotic stir fry of nonsense that tells the story of how Wolverine got his claws. Features an early version of Deadpool (also played by Ryan Reynolds) whose mouth is stapled shut, which should tell you all you need to know about it.
59. "Elektra"
That five minutes when they tried to turn Jennifer Garner into an action star went about as well as it should have.
58. "X-Men: The Last Stand"
Just a total mess, incoherent from the word "go." After losing director of the first two X-Men films Brian Singer to the first Superman reboot attempt, replacement Matthew Vaughn gave way to eventual director Brett Ratner, who might have killed off the superhero genre entirely were "Spider-Man" not blowing up the box office.
57. "Fantastic Four" (2015)
There could maybe have been a good movie in here somewhere -- the cast (Michael B Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara) certainly warranted one. But this Frankenstein of a film is a behind-the-scenes horror story, and you can see it in the totally disjointed final product.
56. "Daredevil"
This was basically "Early-2000s: The Movie," with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Michael Clark Duncan as the main players. The cherry on top of this turd sundae was that damn Evanescence song.
55. "Fantastic Four" (2005)
Tim Story's first "Fantastic Four" is just sort of there, challenging you to remember it exists. With Chris Evans, who played the Human Torch here, going on to embody Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that gets tougher every year.
54. "The Punisher" (2004)
This is the Punisher as a straight revenge thriller, and it's not bad. Thomas Jane performs admirably, but the whole thing is missing that extra something that would have elevated it beyond standard genre fare. Setting it in Tampa didn't help.
53. "Spider-Man 3"
Maybe the bad outweighs the good here, but Emo Peter Parker's dance number remains one of the greatest single moments in any comic book movie, sorry, haters.
52. "Howard the Duck"
A notorious flop at the box office and, yeah, it's not exactly "good." But now, 30 years removed from its premiere, "Howard the Duck" is pretty fun as a relic of the '80s.
51. "The Punisher" (1989)
Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. star in a low-rent '80s grunge C-level classic. This one's all novelty value.
50. "Ghost Rider"
For a movie starring Nic Cage about a dude who rides a Harley and turns into a flaming skeleton, this is a surprisingly mundane movie.
49. "The Amazing Spider-Man"
We may never figure out what went wrong with Marc Webb's Spider-Man duology, but his choice of Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker is still brilliant. It just sucks that this movie doesn't really make any sense.
48. "X-Men"
The beginning of the current wave of theatrical superhero movies, "X-Men" was kind of a cheapie and it showed. Novel at the time, now it just comes off as unremarkable mid-budget action fare as Fox was merely sticking its toe in the superhero waters. Timid.
47. "The Incredible Hulk"
It's sometimes hard to remember that this one counts as part of the MCU, since it placed Ed Norton in the Dr. Banner role since inhabited by Mark Ruffalo in the "Avengers" films. It's also hard to remember because it's generally not memorable.
46. "Thor"
The fantasy Marvel movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who covers the whole movie in canted angle shots and theatrical stylings. It's pretty boring, also, but at least it looks cool.
45. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
More of the same impossible-to-follow hack-n'-slash plotting from the previous movie, offset by Andrew Garfield continuing to be awesome and Jamie Foxx going way over the top as the big bad.
44. "Thor: The Dark World"
"The Dark World," in contrast to the first "Thor" movie, is certainly not boring. If anything, it suffers the opposite problem, going so hard and fast that it loses substance.
43. "Blade: Trinity"
Starring a pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds basically playing a vampire-slaying Deadpool, throwing out one-liners like his mama's life depended on it, this may not a "good" movie, but it sure is fun.
42. "X2: X-Men United"
A big step up from the first "X-Men" both in production values and quality, it still lacks much in the way of energy. Which is inexcusable when you've got Alan Cumming as the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler all over your movie.
41. "Spider-Man"
Sam Raimi truly assembled the prototypical superhero movie with this first entry in the "Spider-Man" franchise, in 2002. Like "X-Men" before it, "Spider-Man" is a bit underwhelming today, but unlike "X-Men" it was proud of its nerd roots.
40. "X-Men: Apocalypse"
Could have been a bizarre ironic summer classic if it were structured like a real movie and had any character development whatsoever. Instead it's just a shot of visual adrenaline that I'll probably want to revisit at some point -- but not when I'm sober
39. "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
"Ultron" is frustrating for what it lacks -- chiefly the feeling that it's advancing the overall story arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But as with the first "Avengers" movie its weaknesses are overcome by great character work.
38. "The Avengers"
The story is a total mess, relying heavily on moviegoers' memories of previous MCU films (if you didn't remember or know coming in what the Tesseract was, hoo boy). But the novelty of the Marvel's first big superhero team-up was irresistible, and director Joss Whedon balanced his ensemble expertly, giving everyone plenty to do so none of them ever fades into the background.
37. "Blade"
Pure B-movie trash, which is fine because that's precisely what it aims for: bloody, crass, awesome. Blade, by the way, remains the only black comic book character besides Shaquille O'Neal's "Steel" to get his/her own movie, though Marvel's "Black Panther" is slated for a 2018 release.
36. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"
For the sequel, they tapped the "Crank" director duo known as Neveldine/Taylor. It was an inspired choice, because "Spirit of Vengeance" was exactly as nutty as you'd hope a PG-13 comic book movie would be. Shame that it was apparently stressful enough to break up the tandem of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
35. "Captain America: The First Avenger"
A lot of folks like to complain that all superhero movies are the same. But this was actually a pretty good World War II movie, too.
34. "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Plot-wise, it never really adds up to anything, but the strength of the cast and the bizarre world they explore more than make up for it.
33. "The New Mutants"
It's an absolutely serviceable little piece of entertainment, and there's a lot of novelty in its overall strange vibe. But after years of delays and reshoots you can definitely feel the hand of the focus group a bit too much.
32. "Blade 2"
Beloved nerd Guillermo del Toro took over for this one and ramped everything up to 11. More vampires, more blood, more people getting sliced up -- and of course baddies whose jaws can split open and swallow a person's head whole.
31. "Big Hero 6"
Disney Animation Studios made a Marvel movie, and it's really sweet. Sure, it's the kiddie version of Marvel, but that doesn't prevent it from being a wholly satisfying experience.
30. "Captain Marvel"
It’s fine, but “Captain Marvel” feels like a movie from before Marvel Studios really hit its stride in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right now it’s a movie that seems very much out of place.
29. "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2"
An improvement on the first film, and an absolute delight from moment to moment -- but it never quite coalesces into a coherent whole because so many subplots distract from the core story and rob it of its emotional impact. Would be a top 5 comic book movie if it had just reigned in the plot.
28. "Iron Man"
It was Robert Downey Jr.'s reemergence on the big screen, and he's flawless in this origin story that takes Tony Stark from billionaire playboy weapons manufacturer to billionaire playboy other-things manufacturer.
27. "Avengers: Endgame"
This movie is, frustratingly, far from perfect. In fact, it’s kind of a huge mess. But it’s also awesome and thrilling and hilarious and contains some individual moments that are perfect. I wish it was better, but with everything required of a movie that exists to wrap up 21 movies’ worth of story arcs, I’m glad it’s as good as it is.
26. "Hulk"
In 2003 the modern wave of superhero movies was still in its infancy, and Ang Lee -- still the best filmmaker to do a comic book movie -- got experimental with "Hulk." And what he made was an incredible melodrama with visual stylings meant to ape comic book panels. It didn't sit well with audiences, but "Hulk" remains one of the most compelling and interesting Marvel movies to date.
25. "The Wolverine"
This was, like, just a legitimately enjoyable melodramatic action movie. Sure, it turns into a video game boss battle by the end, but for most of its running time it's just an actual movie.
24. "Punisher: War Zone"
Whereas the previous "Punisher" movie was melodramatic and contemplative, this one is just murderous. And it's awesome.
23. "Venom"
How can anybody resist the pull of Tom Hardy doing comedy? This movie knows exactly what it's trying to be, and what it's trying to be is dumb and fun and nothing else. And it is extremely fun.
22. "X-Men: Days of Future Past"
Its time travel logic is a bit iffy, but "Days of Future Past" is still tremendously entertaining because, while epic, it's not overly serious. As "Back to the Future" taught us long ago, you can get away with a lot of logical leaps if you strike the right tone.
21. "Iron Man 2"
Swaps Terrence Howard for Don Cheadle, while Mickey Rourke breaks cars with laser whips. Who knows what was going on in this movie, but it was almost OK anyway.
20. "Deadpool"
In the angsty and angry times we live in, "Deadpool" is perfect. Aggressively violent and flippantly meanspirited, it's the exact emotional release we needed.
19. "X-Men: Dark Phoenix"
The main series "X-Men" movies have never achieved any sort of greatness, but at least "Dark Phoenix" ends the whole thing with one of the best efforts of the bunch. And that sequence on the train in the third act is easily the best action sequence of these movies.
18. "Spider-Man: Far From Home"
It’s frustrating that it doesn’t really deal with the immense fallout from “Avengers: Endgame,” but it’s still as visually creative as any movie in the MCU, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio is an all-timer of a villain. Dude goes all the way out in this.
17. "X-Men: First Class"
The first "X-Men" movie that could be described as "fun." It's basically two movies crammed into one, story-wise, but director Matthew Vaughn's touch is so breezy and enjoyable that it totally works anyway, thanks in large part to a brilliant cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy.
16. "Shang-Chi"
There's some amount of "bit off more than they could chew" with this one because there is so much stuff we've never heard of that needs explaining -- the classic origin story problem. But the action is unbelievable, and probably the best and most interesting we've seen in the MCU in that regard. If they can hold on to director Destin Daniel Cretton I bet the second movie, unburdened from those standard first movie issues, is gonna rip.
15. "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Not quite the best "Spider-Man" movie, but still an absolute delight, with a cast full of scene stealers. Michael Keaton as the Vulture makes for one of the best Marvel villains ever.
14. "Deadpool 2"
While you may get whiplash from the "Deadpool" sequel's occasional very serious and emo scenes, the rest of the movie is thoroughly delightful, somehow managing to be even funnier -- and more hilariously violent -- than the original.
13. "Ant-Man"
"Ant-Man" represented a first for the MCU by being a straight-up comedy. And it's a very good one, with a cast that's perfectly suited for it. Aside from Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man himself, Michael Pena is the true standout as Scott Lang's best friend and former cellmate.
12. "Ant-Man and the Wasp"
It's ever so slightly frustrating that this one doesn't fully integrate into the "Infinity War" situation, but even so it's thoroughly a delight. Evangeline Lilly is so good at the Wasp that I'm retroactively irritated that she didn't don the suit in the previous "Ant-Man" movie.
11. "Doctor Strange"
If it weren't hamstrung with all the requisite elements of an origin story, "Doctor Strange" might have been the best Marvel movie ever. That's the power of the astonishing visual imagination on display here. People love to talk about the nebulous concept of capturing some long lost childlike sense of wonder though the magic of cinema -- "Doctor Strange" is one of the only movies I've watched as an adult that really accomplishes that.
10. "Spider-Man 2"
This is a movie that fully understands its main character and taps into what made him such a captivating figure for so long. Yeah, Peter Parker's a superhero, but he's also a college kid working a minimum wage job to make rent while also taking university physics classes. Peter buckles under the pressure, something we can all relate to.
9. "Iron Man 3"
As far as I'm concerned this is the "Iron Man" movie. Somehow, Shane Black was able to infiltrate the MCU and make a legitimate Shane Black movie with all the wit and raw humanity you'd expect from him. It carries exactly the sort of authorial identity we should want all these movies to have.
8. "Thor: Ragnarok"
A thorough delight. This might be the most fun we had at the movies in all of 2017, and so we can't help but love it.
7. "Captain America: Civil War"
Multiply the two previous best Marvel movies by one another and you get "Civil War." It packs the sort of emotional payoff all the disconnected Marvel movies can't really provide. And as an action film it's easily the best of the superhero genre.
6. "Avengers: Infinity War"
You could certainly make the argument that "Infinity War" does not really hold up on as a complete movie on its own, because it kinda begins with the second act. But I don't care. The culmination of this ten-year shared universe experiment should stand on the shoulders of the movies that came before it. The fact that it packs such a profound emotional punch, however, is what really makes it work.
5. "Black Widow"
Natasha's long-overdue solo is held back a little by some fully unnecessary trademark Marvel CGI nonsense, but otherwise this film has a vibe that is fully it's own thing. It does away with the Marvel house style, aside from in two big action sequences, in favor of a low-key indie look that feels so much more intimate than any previous MCU flick.
4. "Black Panther"
It's held back a little by being saddled with standard "origin movie" issues -- introducing audiences to the world of Wakanda isn't a quick and easy task, and it could use an extra 15-20 minutes to flesh out the supporting characters -- but still manages to be the most substantial superhero movie ever. It's kind of amazing that Disney let writer/director Ryan Coogler make this overt a political statement -- it's the most openly political mega-budget movie I've ever seen . Also, while I'm listing superlatives: Michael B Jordan delivers the best performance ever in a superhero movie. Good lord.
3. "Logan"
James Mangold's small-scale western is a game changer for the entire superhero genre, daring to defy pretty much standard by which you expect these movies to operate. It's just a great movie by any normal standard. Where "Civil War" elevated the genre, "Logan" opts instead to be something else entirely and we're all the better for it.
2. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"
The best superhero movies, and movies in general, are the ones that are truly most human. And "Spider-Verse," despite being animated, despite the wacky cast of Spider-People, despite the outlandish premise, is as real as movies get.
1. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
The Russo brothers, who made their entrance to the MCU directing "Winter Soldier" before taking the reigns on "Civil War" and, eventually, 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," really impressed with "Winter Soldier." It's a classic spy thriller with a superhero twist. And Robert Redford as the bad guy is a really nice touch.
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Decades of big-screen Marvel adaptations demand a long, ranked list. This is that list
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
