Andrew McMahon and Omar Banat
6. Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Ranking the MCU Shows Worst to Best
Let’s get one thing straight: Falcon and the Winter Soldier has a lot of good moments in it. Those high points include a solid dynamic between Bucky and Sam, an arc that is pivotal to legitimizing Sam as Captain American, and side characters that really shine like Baron Zemo and Isiah Bradley. With that said, Falcon and the Winter Soldier is easily the worst show that Marvel has produced so far. Its plot is all over the place, as it can’t really tell where it wants to go with its conflicts and who the story’s antagonists are supposed to be. As a result, its characters and overall message suffer. One second, John Walker is the worst thing on the planet, bashing in skulls with Captain America’s shield, while Karli and the Flagsmashers are simple, man-of-the-people vigilantes. The next moment, Karli is setting fire to innocent people and just murdering for fun while Walker puts his life in harm’s way to protect people again? Sure, this is supposed to display the dualities of man and paint things in more of a gray light. The problem is that the motives and consistency aren’t there, as one small thing changes these characters’ personalities multiple times. As such, instead of viewing Walker and Karli and The Flagsmashers more as anti-heroes that oppose Sam and Bucky, they come off as bipolar hotheads that are impossible to sympathize with or fully relate to. The show just feels like an excuse to have cool action sequences and very little more.
5. What If…?
Ranking the MCU Shows Worst to Best
What a weird show. What If…? has some of the best MCU TV that you can find on Disney+, and then it has some of the absolute worst episodes that you wouldn’t even show to your dog. I’m looking at you, party boy Thor. What If…? is narrated by an all-seeing character known as Uatu or The Watcher. This godlike being is tasked with merely watching the events of every universe without interfering. This series introduced some interesting new characters to the MCU, like Peggy Carter as Captain Britain and Supreme Strange. It also marked the first time we saw a universe falling apart thanks to the actions of Doctor Strange — seemingly a common thing in the multiverse. Plus, many of the ideas and concepts of the multiverse seen in Multiverse of Madness were first explored in What If…? The best parts were, without a doubt, the Doctor Strange and Ultron episodes. But the other two-thirds of the first season range from forgettable to this is so bad I wish it was forgettable. The zombie episode beat to death an already dead genre, T’Challa as Star-Lord was fine, but a bit boring, and party boy Thor was just plain bad. It was a bit funny at times, but it was not good TV. Besides the wide range of quality between episodes, the fact that none of these episodes truly have had an impact on the MCU yet makes the show feel pointless. We’ve seen similar characters from What If…? show up in Multiverse of Madness (Peggy Carter, a corrupt version of Doctor Strange), but there’s no indication these people are the ones we’ve seen before or if they’re just variants. Although the show is canon, it seems like What If…? is almost like a testing ground for multiversal characters that they want to introduce in the future. Yet, none of it will ever truly matter in the grand scheme of the MCU.
4. Moon Knight
Ranking the MCU Shows Worst to Best
Moon Knight is the most disappointing MCU show to launch on Disney+. It’s certainly not the worst, but it had so much promise thanks in part to the fantastic acting talent like Oscar Isaac (Marc Spector) and Ethan Hawke (Arthur Harrow). Unfortunately, there were multiple questions left unanswered at the end of the series. And with no sign of a second season, it just makes the holes left at the end of the first season even more glaring. On top of that, the CGI mostly didn’t look good, the suit wrapping around Isaac never looked great, and the chase scene in episode one made a bad impression. Although Ammit looked a little awkward, Taweret and Khonshu actually looked decent. Fortunately, many of the fights taking place in low light undoubtedly helped them cover up some of the lackluster CGI. Despite all of that negativity, Moon Knight was still an enjoyable Indiana Jones-esque romp around London and Egypt. The performances from Isaac, Hawke, and May Calamawy were all fantastic, and the fight scenes were well-choreographed. It was also nice to just be able to focus so intensely on a single character. As the first MCU show to focus on one hero’s origin story, it did a good job of introducing Steven Grant/Marc Spector to the MCU. It certainly fit into the universe and referenced known parts of past Marvel content without using them as a crutch. Overall, Moon Knight certainly could have turned out much better than it did. Yet, it’s hopefully just the first time we’ll see Moon Knight in the MCU. But with no current plans publicly set in stone, there’s no way of getting around the fact that this is the official end of this story for now.
3. Hawkeye
Ranking the MCU Shows Worst to Best
Welcome to Die Hard, MCU Edition. Hawkeye takes place the week leading up to Christmas Day and follows the world’s most boring Avenger, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), on a wild chase around New York City. A short trip to the city with his family quickly becomes a mission to put his troubled past to rest. As boring as Clint seemed throughout the Infinity Saga, he actually started to become a bit more interesting when he changed into the murderous Ronin. But still, something was missing about this underutilized character. He had tons of backstory, but we never saw or heard much about it outside of a few lines. As we’ve looked at before, it was far too late to tell the story of Clint and Natasha (Scarlett Johansson). Instead, we got a story of Hawkeye trying to forget his painful past. But in a story so dark and depressing, you need a bit of light. This is where Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) steps in and steals the show. The constant back and forth with Kate as the ultimate fangirl and Clint as the loner hero who just wants to be left alone doesn’t get old. They both lean into these roles and their fantastic chemistry makes it feel completely genuine. Plus, Kate more than carries her own weight on the hero side of things by taking on the tracksuit mafia and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in unforgettable fight scenes. And for those who are fans of the Daredevil Netflix show, you even got the return of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). Up until the point where he was promptly dispatched by Kate, Clint, and Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox). Hawkeye certainly wasn’t on the level of WandaVision or Loki, but it definitely wasn’t worse than any of the other Disney+ MCU shows. If anything, the show exceeded expectations for a program that was focused on one of the least developed Avengers.
2. WandaVision
Ranking the MCU Shows Worst to Best
As the first official MCU television show to debut, WandaVision had a difficult task ahead of it. Things needed to get off to a good start in order for the shows to be taken as seriously as the movies. Thankfully, WandaVision has hands down the most enthralling hook of any of the shows so far. Yes, the first three episodes may have been a little confusing to some, as it throws you right into a black-and-white, old-school rom-com TV show format, but that just made the mystery that much more interesting. Why was the show in black and white? What was going on with these small bits of reality that were occurring? Is Vision really alive? Questions like this only began to pile up as the show progressed, as WandaVision thrived on adding in just as many interesting new plotlines every time it gave an answer to a previous one. This was the case pretty much up until the last two episodes of the series, leaving fans in suspense almost the entire time. Couple this with perfect performances by everyone involved, especially Katheryn Hahn’s Agatha, and you can see why this one is above Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The show isn’t perfect, though, as cracks in its storytelling begin to form in the last two episodes. Once the mystery of the situation is out in the open, WandaVision devolves into cliched situations known to the MCU that are pretty boring. The fight between Wanda and Agatha is just another beam fight, and the fact that Wanda gets away scot-free despite all the trouble she caused is pretty bad writing. Not everything about the ending is horrible, though, as it at least hits on the relationship between Wanda, Vision, and the boys, while also setting up events for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
1. Loki
Ranking the MCU Shows Worst to Best
Now that the recency bias of Marvel’s most recent MCU television show has worn off, it is safe to say that Loki is still currently the best show out of any of the ones that have aired so far. No, it is by no means perfect, but it is the most consistent and impactful. This all comes down to proper pacing, good writing, and even better character performances and development. In the span of one episode, Loki manages to create an interesting mystery, make Loki a believable protagonist, and get fans to fall in love with characters, like Mobius, that were just introduced. The best part is that things only get better as time goes on. Every single episode of Loki serves its purpose of either developing the characters, relationships, or worlds that fit the show’s overall narrative. Whether it is the episode where Loki and Sylvie get to know each other or the ending interaction with He Who Remains, everything flows perfectly and has a satisfying conclusion. The mystery behind variants, the TVA, the Time-Keepers, and Loki manage to stay interesting throughout while also ending great payoffs. Heck, even the arcs that didn’t ended happily at least plant seeds to get you interested in the future of the MCU. Will Loki and Sylvie mend their relationship? Was He Who Remains really that big of a threat? How will multiple timelines affect things? All of these are important questions that the show has us asking, helping create the same level of excitement and wonder that things like Thanos were responsible for back in Phase 1. More than anything, though, Loki manages to do an amazing job at conveying the tragedy that follows Loki as a character. The character that everyone knew from the first Thor movie is now completely different and relatable, and it is all thanks to the development he receives throughout this show. Featured image source: The Direct
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