Worst Marvel Studios Film through 2013

[Morcego]

Thor: TDW.

The story just felt like nonsense, some characters were written horribly (Odin, Warriors Three), the villain was lame and Portman just seemed to be phoning in her performance. Thank God for Hemsworth and Hiddleston. Without them, Thor 2 would have been straight-up crap.

Basically this.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

TDW pisses me off more and more, but that is because there is so much potential there. And when that potential shines through, even for only a few scenes, it really grips me. IM2 still doesn't. So my vote still goes to IM2.

My list as of Jan. 2014
TFA
Avengers
Iron Man
Thor
IM3
TDW
TIH
IM2

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Thanks for updating this poll Spider-Fan.

As for my choice, I agree with Darth and a few other people that TDW was SO disappointing because of the potential it had, if could have been bigger and at least as good as The Avengers, but for some reason Marvel were happy just to make a middle of the road movie.

That said, I think there are worse MCU films (non of which I think are bad by the way), I will have to do a re-watch of IM2 and IM3 as last time I watched them I enjoyed the 2nd movie more.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Thanks for updating this poll Spider-Fan.

As for my choice, I agree with Darth and a few other people that TDW was SO disappointing because of the potential it had, if could have been bigger and at least as good as The Avengers, but for some reason Marvel were happy just to make a middle of the road movie.

That said, I think there are worse MCU films (non of which I think are bad by the way), I will have to do a re-watch of IM2 and IM3 as last time I watched them I enjoyed the 2nd movie more.

They all have their flaws, and outside my top 3, major flaws imo. But I still enjoy watching all of them to some degree.

When it comes to the IM sequels, IM3 is much better imo. A nice lived-in feel, with sharper dialogue, good chemistry amongst the cast and some strong action sequences.

Finally, I feel like I should have known they wouldn't invest that much in a solo Thor film. Taylor was fighting the machine the whole way.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

They all have their flaws, and outside my top 3, major flaws imo. But I still enjoy watching all of them to some degree.

When it comes to the IM sequels, IM3 is much better imo. A nice lived-in feel, with sharper dialogue, good chemistry amongst the cast and some strong action sequences.

My 1st couple of viewing of IM3 I thought it was amazing and much better than IM2, further viewings have made my opinion on IM3 just go down and down and last time I watched both of them I enjoyed the 2nd movie more. I will watch both again before voting though.

Finally, I feel like I should have known they wouldn't invest that much in a solo Thor film. Taylor was fighting the machine the whole way.

Again though that is the frustration with TDW, they got one of if not THE main GoT guy to direct and didnt let him do his thing, it was like they hired to make a Joss Whedon movie which the phase 2 movies have both felt like so far but only Joss Whedon can do a Joss Whedon movie. Why even hire Taylor if they werent going to let him do his thing? Its not the worst MCU movie but it is certainly the most frustrating.

 

[Drizzle]

The Incredible Hulk. I still think it's an okay movie, but it's starting to become obsolete.

 

[Im Wolverine]

I know I am in a minority. But i enjoyed IM3 ALOT. I will admit that I was originally put off by the Mandarin "twist" but when I stopped to think about how it was used in the context of the story, I thought it really worked! While I was just as excited as most to see Tony Stark's oldest opponents on screen as most IM fans were, I still think the "twist" worked. I just think people are too quick to say the movie stinks because they do not like the twist, but we forget that Killian was a fantastic villain in my opinion.
The story also went back to one of my favorite parts from the original which was Stark in the cave. This showed Stark's intelligence without the use of advanced tech and I love how IM3 puts Stark in a similar situation where he is required to out think the villains.

When comparing it with IM2 which was basically a movie about 2 rival engineers trying to one up/ruin Tony Stark and Iron Man just happens to be there to save the day when Hammer loses control. The only good part i will argue from IM2 is when Stark discovers his fathers true love for him on the projector which leads to where he makes the new element, the rest of the movie really just seems like a bridge to connect the other MCU films together. So IM2 is easily the worst for me

 

[DarkSovereignty]

The Incredible Hulk. I still think it's an okay movie, but it's starting to become obsolete.

Agreed. With the exception of maybe thor TDW, TIH is least ambitious and most generic of the marvel films. It's just a generic action movie. Well filmed action for the most part, but it offers very little on a story/ character level.

 

[Im Wolverine]

I think TDW's ending leaves a very good opening for Thor 3, so I don't agree. With Loki on the throne, we can play a lot with Ragnarok/Asgard in ruins in Thor's absence. Throw in a deal with maybe Hela or Surtur, and Thor 3 could be potentially epic. Many possibilities out there given where the story leaves off.

While I agree that with this set up the 3rd movie could be epic. It is not usually a good sign for the movie when people are saying "Wow the NEXT movie should be really good" instead of saying "Wow THIS movie was really good" I know this was not what your point was, I know you were saying the ending was better than what people claim it to be. But the ending is just a big confirmation for a movie that feels like a 2 hr set up for a bigger movie.

Like i said, I think IM2 was easily the least enjoyable of the MCU films, but I see a lot of the same problems with TDW. Underwhelming villain, mediocre side characters, goofy writing, and most importantly feeling like just a setup for a better movie (IM2 set up Avengers, TDW will set up Thor 3)

I think the biggest turn off to TDW for me though like someone else said was Jane Foster, she was just awful! At no time in this movie did I believe she was a astrophysicist with great intellect. She was in the movie simply for Thor to save and to find the Aether.

The biggest difference and what makes TDW better than IM2 is the Loki/Thor interactions. The building more of their relationship and the very real feeling sibling rivalry that is portrayed.

 

[Oscorp]

GREAT
- Iron Man

GOOD
- The Avengers
- Thor
- Captain America
- Iron Man 3
- The Incredible Hulk

BAD
- Thor: The Dark World

GARBAGE
- Iron Man 2

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

While I agree that with this set up the 3rd movie could be epic. It is not usually a good sign for the movie when people are saying "Wow the NEXT movie should be really good" instead of saying "Wow THIS movie was really good".

From what i've observed, for some the next movie is more important than the current movie. A mediocre movie can be salvaged by a good post-credit setup for the next flick or seen as not as bad because there's another to come soon enough and make up for it.

 

[Im Wolverine]

From what i've observed, for some the next movie is more important than the current movie. A mediocre movie can be salvaged by a good post-credit setup for the next flick or seen as not as bad because there's another to come soon enough and make up for it.

Thats a very good point, but I can't blame someone for being excited about the next movie especially if it seems to have a perfect setup like TDW 'seems" to have done. But I also advise against getting your hopes up to much for a set up YOU THINK is being made or at least be flexible, because if it is anything except the setup you had in mind then you could be disappointed or insulted and lead you to unfairly judge an otherwise good movie.

This is where the IM3 anger comes from, Marvel Studios hyped a Ben Kingsley Mandarin that looked like he was every bit Tony Stark's biggest threat only to pull the rug and give it a twist after teasing the fans with something else. Which results in a lot of hate on the movie because fans have a hard time getting past the failed preconceived setup.

 

[Filmfreak]

For me it's a toss between Iron Man 3 and the first Thor for different reasons so I voted for the most recent one. Iron Man 3 being way to comical and silly in the whole second part -especially near the end- while Thor being stuffed up with so much info for one movie and so little time to digest everything. Too many back and forths to Earth and Asgard, romance that didn't work, poor character development and way too simplistic at times. Of course they both have to do with expectations otherwise I didn't think the first Captain America or the second Thor were anything great either but I definitely enjoyed them more. Have high hopes for the second Cap movie though.

My ranking is this:

Great
Avengers
Iron Man

Good
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2

Fine
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America

Disappointment
Thor
Iron Man 3

 

[Spider-Vader]

I don't get the hate for Iron Man 2, I think it's a really fun movie; I have a blast every time I watch it.

 

[cherokeesam]

I know I am in a minority. But i enjoyed IM3 ALOT. I will admit that I was originally put off by the Mandarin "twist" but when I stopped to think about how it was used in the context of the story, I thought it really worked! While I was just as excited as most to see Tony Stark's oldest opponents on screen as most IM fans were, I still think the "twist" worked. I just think people are too quick to say the movie stinks because they do not like the twist, but we forget that Killian was a fantastic villain in my opinion.
The story also went back to one of my favorite parts from the original which was Stark in the cave. This showed Stark's intelligence without the use of advanced tech and I love how IM3 puts Stark in a similar situation where he is required to out think the villains.

When comparing it with IM2 which was basically a movie about 2 rival engineers trying to one up/ruin Tony Stark and Iron Man just happens to be there to save the day when Hammer loses control. The only good part i will argue from IM2 is when Stark discovers his fathers true love for him on the projector which leads to where he makes the new element, the rest of the movie really just seems like a bridge to connect the other MCU films together. So IM2 is easily the worst for me

I don't think you're in a minority in liking IM3; the box office and critical consensus say that *a ton* of people liked it, too. I'm one of them. My Top 3 Marvel Studios movies would go, in order: Avengers, IM1, IM3.

 

[Loki882]

From what i've observed, for some the next movie is more important than the current movie. A mediocre movie can be salvaged by a good post-credit setup for the next flick or seen as not as bad because there's another to come soon enough and make up for it.

The problem with that in this case is that the Thor movie was ALREADY a set-up movie. That film set a lot of interesting story possibilities up (Thor/Jane relationship, the Bifrost being gone, Sif and the Warriors 3, etc). You would think that the sequel would take advantage of all the set up and actually develop some of that stuff. I didn't think that there was anyway that TDW COULDN'T blow the first film out of the water because all of the set up was out of the way. But it didn't, and I ended up preferring the first movie. TDW was ANOTHER set up movie. So you've gotten TWO set up movies in a row, which is problematic.

 

[Im Wolverine]

The problem with that in this case is that the Thor movie was ALREADY a set-up movie. That film set a lot of interesting story possibilities up (Thor/Jane relationship, the Bifrost being gone, Sif and the Warriors 3, etc). You would think that the sequel would take advantage of all the set up and actually develop some of that stuff. I didn't think that there was anyway that TDW COULDN'T blow the first film out of the water because all of the set up was out of the way. But it didn't, and I ended up preferring the first movie. TDW was ANOTHER set up movie. So you've gotten TWO set up movies in a row, which is problematic.

I could not agree more! I was talking with someone about this today actually in that both Thor AND Thor TDW felt like origin films. Thor was the earth origin story with a little Asgard background and TDW was the Asgard origin story with a little earth background....it was almost like they were not satisfied with the character development in the original movie so they tried to do it again....made it very sloppy

 

[Visualiza]

I don't get the hate for Iron Man 2, I think it's a really fun movie; I have a blast every time I watch it.

I enjoy it as well, although I do agree with some of the criticisms.

I don't think you're in a minority in liking IM3; the box office and critical consensus say that *a ton* of people liked it, too. I'm one of them. My Top 3 Marvel Studios movies would go, in order: Avengers, IM1, IM3.

 

[venom892]

I wonder if most of IM3 stayed the same except for the Mandarin twist, would it be more widely accepted by fanboys? I really enjoy it, but I was never a huge Iron Man fan before the films so I had no bias towards the Mandarin one way or another.

 

[Superhero 101]

Great
Iron Man
Avengers

Good
Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 3

Fine
Iron Man 2
Captain America
Thor TDW

Disappointed
Thor

 

[Visualiza]

I wonder if most of IM3 stayed the same except for the Mandarin twist, would it be more widely accepted by fanboys? I really enjoy it, but I was never a huge Iron Man fan before the films so I had no bias towards the Mandarin one way or another.

I'll say yes, which I find to be profoundly disturbing. Far too much emphasis placed on one aspect of an otherwise solid movie that did so many things right. Rhodes has never been portrayed better, for example; he went from practically being a nagging ex-girlfriend in both of the previous movies to the bad-ass military man that he should have been from the start. He also finally acted like a friend to Tony this time instead of a foil.

That's just one example of many, but getting back to the matter at hand, it's obvious by people's own words. On several occasions, many have outright said that the twist ruined the villain and the movie for them. Others haven't stated as much, but I get the feeling that many of the criticisms you see from certain folks seem to spiral out from the Mandarin twist, and fall into the category of nitpicks more than anything else. I'm the same way in a lot of cases myself, as when a movie loses you, all you tend to notice are the negatives. Still, I'd say that the degree to which most of the common grievances affect the movie is minimal, i.e. the kid, the mansion attack, pepper offing the villain, etc.

 

[Im Wolverine]

I'll say yes, which I find to be profoundly disturbing. Far too much emphasis placed on one aspect of an otherwise solid movie that did so many things right. Rhodes has never been portrayed better, for example; he went from practically being a nagging ex-girlfriend in both of the previous movies to the bad-ass military man that he should have been from the start. He also finally acted like a friend to Tony this time instead of a foil.

That's just one example of many, but getting back to the matter at hand, it's obvious by people's own words. On several occasions, many have outright said that the twist ruined the villain and the movie for them. Others haven't stated as much, but I get the feeling that many of the criticisms you see from certain folks seem to spiral out from the Mandarin twist, and fall into the category of nitpicks more than anything else. I'm the same way in a lot of cases myself, as when a movie loses you, all you tend to notice are the negatives. Still, I'd say that the degree to which most of the common grievances affect the movie is minimal, i.e. the kid, the mansion attack, pepper offing the villain, etc.

I think you nailed it right on the head! If IM3 was only about the Extremis story arch and The Mandarin was never even mentioned then this movie would land on more peoples top 3 lists rather than bottom 3. If someone says its one of the worst because of the writing, or the inclusion of too much sarcasm/jokes then okay at least your giving the entire film a chance rather than focusing on one scene/aspect. But to each their own I guess

 

[Lorus]

Personally, I'm not sure how Iron Man 3 can even be in consideration for 'worst' MS film. I know that Killian/Mandarin pissed some people off, but in terms of the character arc for Tony, the themes, the action, it's far superior to Iron Man 2, Thor TDW and TIH.

Iron Man 3 is comfortably in the top 3 MS films, I'd say. Plenty of the criticisms I've seen thrown at it are the very definition of nitpicks that don't relate to how well the film functions or is constructed at all (Trevor, Pepper's kill shot, Harley, the arc reactor removal etc).

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

The problem with that in this case is that the Thor movie was ALREADY a set-up movie. That film set a lot of interesting story possibilities up (Thor/Jane relationship, the Bifrost being gone, Sif and the Warriors 3, etc). You would think that the sequel would take advantage of all the set up and actually develop some of that stuff. I didn't think that there was anyway that TDW COULDN'T blow the first film out of the water because all of the set up was out of the way. But it didn't, and I ended up preferring the first movie. TDW was ANOTHER set up movie. So you've gotten TWO set up movies in a row, which is problematic.

This sums up my feelings on TDW perfectly, since seeing and loving Thor 1, Thor 2 has been my most anticipated Marvel movie because of the potential from were Thor 1 left things, Fiege drummed this up promising things that simple didnt happen, it is all just so disappointing it was another set-up movie.

Personally, I'm not sure how Iron Man 3 can even be in consideration for 'worst' MS film. I know that Killian/Mandarin pissed some people off, but in terms of the character arc for Tony, the themes, the action, it's far superior to Iron Man 2, Thor TDW and TIH.

Iron Man 3 is comfortably in the top 3 MS films, I'd say. Plenty of the criticisms I've seen thrown at it are the very definition of nitpicks that don't relate to how well the film functions or is constructed at all (Trevor, Pepper's kill shot, Harley, the arc reactor removal etc).

I would not class that one as a nit-pick at all, it makes Iron Man 2 and much of Stark's role in The Avengers totally redundant by removing the arc reactor so carelessly at the end of the movie, that was a major problem and probably a bigger one than the Mandarin twist for me.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

I know I am in a minority. But i enjoyed IM3 ALOT.

you're not in a minority at all. the IM3 haters are just louder and more repetitive in their stupid 'the trailers didn't tell the whole movie, how could they?' nonsense.