Marvel Movies Tier List: All 38 MCU Films Ranked (2026)

The Complete MCU Tier List

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has released 38 theatrical films as of July 31, 2026, and this tier list ranks every one of them from S-tier to D-tier. That includes the full 2025 slate, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, plus Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opened on July 31, 2026 and enters in A tier. Avengers: Endgame takes the top tier; The Incredible Hulk takes the bottom.

Eighteen years, 38 films, six phases. Ranking the MCU is the most debated question in modern blockbusters, and everyone's list is different. Here's ours, split into classic S/A/B/C/D tiers. Disagree? You should, and you can settle it yourself in minutes with Shortlist.

Each film below also says where to watch it in the US, checked October 7, 2026 (JustWatch). Rights move, so those lines disappear rather than guess once that check is over three weeks old.

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Every MCU Movie by Box Office, Budget and Return

The biggest flop in the MCU is The Marvels (2023): $206.1M worldwide against a $274.8M production budget, a 0.75x return, and the only one of the 38 films here that did not earn its budget back in cinemas. Every other Marvel Studios release at least doubled its budget on paper. Across the whole franchise the 38 films have grossed $34.997B worldwide against $7.623B in production budgets, a blended 4.59x, with 12 of them past a billion dollars.

Below is the same 38 films as the tier list above, re-sorted by worldwide gross, with the budget and the return multiple beside it. The return column is the one almost nobody publishes for the MCU, and it is the one that answers the question people actually ask: gross on its own just rewards whatever cost the most to make.

On that 2.5x reading the MCU has had 3 genuine misses, not one. The Marvels (0.75x), The Incredible Hulk (1.77x), Black Widow (1.90x) are the only films in the franchise that did not clear double their budget. Two of the three carry an asterisk worth stating: Black Widow opened simultaneously on Disney+ Premier Access in July 2021, so its theatrical figure is not the whole of what it earned, and The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 Universal release the studio has spent fifteen years quietly disowning. The Marvels has no asterisk.

The two best returns in the MCU are both Spider-Man films. Spider-Man: Brand New Day turned $225.0M into $2.496B for 11.09x, and Spider-Man: No Way Home managed 9.61x. Both beat Avengers: Endgame, which is the franchise's biggest earner at $2.799B but only its third best return, because it also carries the largest budget here at $356.0M. That gap is the entire argument for ranking these films yourself: the money list and the quality list are not the same list, and neither of them is your list.

How to Build Your Own Marvel Movies Tier List

The card above builds one: five films, a handful of taps. Now consider that the MCU is 38 films and everything you like ends up a 4 out of 5, and you can see why the card works and a rating system does not.

Shortlist runs the same interaction across the whole MCU: add the films you have seen, pick between two at a time, and get a ranking that reaches the 32 the card never showed you. Is Thor: Ragnarok top five? Where does Civil War really belong? What do you do with Thor: The Dark World? Every list gets a share link, which is where the arguments start.

You can read more about the comparison-based approach in our movie tier list guide.

Two different things get scored around this page. The S to D tiers above are editorial, and S means a film that held up rather than one that reviewed well on opening weekend. The score you see in the app is a different number: it is built from the head-to-head comparisons you make, scaled to 0 to 10, not from critic averages. How Shortlist scores work sets out the whole method.

This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.

Marvel Movies in Chronological vs. Release Order

Two legitimate ways to watch the MCU: release order (the way we all lived it) or chronological order (by when events happen in-story). Neither affects a tier list (a great movie is great regardless), but it's the other big "how should I watch Marvel?" question.

Release order is the default for first-time viewers. Iron Man (2008) sets up the universe's tone, and every subsequent film builds on what came before. Chronological order (starting with Captain America: The First Avenger in the 1940s) is a fun re-watch, but it spoils some of the universe's best surprises.

Both orders in full, every film with its exact theatrical runtime, the timeline order Marvel publishes itself and the films it moves furthest, are in our Marvel movies in order guide.

The Best Marvel Phases, Ranked

• Phase 3 (2016-2019): Civil War, Black Panther, Infinity War, Endgame. Peak MCU.
• Phase 1 (2008-2012): Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk, Avengers. The foundation.
• Phase 2 (2013-2015): Winter Soldier and Guardians carry weaker entries.
• Phase 6 (2025-present): one film in so far, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the strongest phase opener since Iron Man. Too early to rank honestly.
• Phase 5 (2023-2025): started with Quantumania and ended with Thunderbolts*, which is the whole story of the phase. Rebuilding, and it worked by the end.
• Phase 4 (2021-2022): The hardest phase. Shang-Chi and No Way Home are the clear winners.

The Newest Marvel Movies: From Brave New World to Brand New Day

The MCU released three films in 2025, and they are the reason the "superhero fatigue" conversation has quieted down. All three are ranked above.

• Captain America: Brave New World (February 14, 2025): Julius Onah directing, Anthony Mackie's first outing with the shield, and 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, the weakest MCU reception since Eternals. D-tier.
• Thunderbolts* (May 2, 2025): 88%, which made it the best-reviewed MCU film since No Way Home until Spider-Man: Brand New Day passed it in July 2026. Here is the detail most tier lists get wrong: the asterisk was not a typo or a marketing gag. Marvel rebranded the film The New Avengers days after opening weekend, a title change planned in advance for narrative reasons. Both titles refer to the same film.
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025): Matt Shakman directing, 86%, and the film that opened Phase 6. A 1960s retro-futurist Earth, Galactus as an actual planet-eating god, and a fourth attempt at Marvel's first family that finally landed.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened on July 31, 2026 as the 38th MCU film and is ranked above, in A tier, on a provisional placement we explain in full on the Spider-Man tier list. Next up is Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026, which is not ranked here, because it has not been released and a tier list that ranks unreleased films is a wish list. If you are still catching up before Brand New Day, our Spider-Man movies in order guide sizes the shortest viable route at a single film.

The 39th Film: What Is Confirmed About Avengers: Doomsday

The next MCU movie is Avengers: Doomsday, in US cinemas on December 18, 2026, directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, running 2h 45m with 35 credited cast members. It becomes the 39th theatrical MCU film and it is deliberately absent from the tier list above, because a tier list that ranks a film nobody has seen is a wish list. Everything below is read from the TMDB API on 2026-09-08 and limited to what the production has actually credited.

6 of the 35 credited actors are reprising X-Men roles they originated at 20th Century Fox, which is what makes this cast unlike any previous Avengers film. The Avengers assembled characters Marvel Studios had built itself over four phases. Avengers: Doomsday assembles actors from a rival studio's twenty-year franchise, most of whom have not played the part in over a decade.

• Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, last played in Logan (2017).
• Ian McKellen as Magneto, last played in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
• James Marsden as Cyclops, last played in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast, last played in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, last played in X-Men: First Class (2011).
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, last played in X2 (2003).

The longest gap belongs to Alan Cumming, who last played Nightcrawler in X2 in 2003, 23 years before this film opens. Channing Tatum is also credited as Gambit and is not counted above, because his Gambit debuted in Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024 rather than in a Fox X-Men film. If you want the Fox era ranked on its own terms, that is our X-Men movies tier list.

Robert Downey Jr. returns, and not as Iron Man. He is credited as Victor von Doom. He played Tony Stark in 10 of the 38 films ranked on this page, and those 10 account for $12.502B of the franchise's $34.997B worldwide gross, 35.7% of the money the MCU has ever taken. The actor who carried more of this box office than any other is coming back to play the villain, which is a piece of casting the tier list above cannot rank yet and the reason this film is worth its own section.

What Comes After Doomsday

Marvel Studios has 4 further features on the release calendar, all of them still carrying a TMDB status of Planned with no runtime recorded. They are scheduled, not confirmed, and the distinction matters on a slate that reaches three years out.

• December 17, 2027: Avengers: Secret Wars.
• May 5, 2028: an untitled X-Men film.
• July 28, 2028: Ghost Rider.
• December 15, 2028: Black Panther 3.

So the honest answer to the Phase 7 question is that Marvel Studios has dated films through 2028 but has not finished making the one that closes the current story. Avengers: Secret Wars follows Doomsday by almost exactly a year. Everything after it is a date on a calendar. When those films are released they get ranked here, and not a day before.

What About the Marvel TV Shows?

The Disney+ shows (Loki, WandaVision, Moon Knight, etc.) aren't in this list because that's a separate conversation, and a longer one. You can rank the MCU Disney+ shows in Shortlist the same way, in a separate ranking. Or see our TV show tier list guide for how to rank TV.

Disagree with this order? You can build your own instead of reading ours. The Marvel tier list maker asks you to pick between two Marvel films at a time and hands back your personal ranking in about a minute, free and with no signup.

Marvel Tier List FAQ

What's the best Marvel movie of all time?

Most critical rankings put Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther, or Captain America: The Winter Soldier at #1. The "best" depends on whether you value payoff (Endgame), craftsmanship (Winter Soldier), or cultural impact (Black Panther).

How many MCU movies are there in 2026?

As of July 31, 2026 there are 38 released theatrical MCU films, spanning Phases 1 through 6, from Iron Man (May 2, 2008) to Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026). That count includes The Incredible Hulk, whose canon status is contested but whose release is not, and excludes Disney+ TV series and shorts. Avengers: Doomsday becomes the 39th on December 18, 2026.

What is the newest Marvel movie?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day, released July 31, 2026, is the most recent MCU film in theaters. It ends a twelve-month gap since The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025) and is followed by Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026.

Is Thunderbolts the same movie as The New Avengers?

Yes. Thunderbolts* opened on May 2, 2025, and Marvel Studios rebranded it The New Avengers days later, resolving the asterisk in the title. The change was planned before release as a narrative reveal rather than a marketing correction, so the two names refer to one film.

What's the worst Marvel movie?

Reviewers and fans consistently put Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 2, and The Marvels at the bottom. By the Rotten Tomatoes score alone the floor is now Captain America: Brave New World (46%), just under Eternals (48%). "Worst MCU" is still better than most superhero movies from other franchises.

What is the biggest flop in the MCU?

The Marvels (2023). It took $206.1M worldwide against a $274.8M production budget, a 0.75x return, and it is the only one of the 38 MCU films that did not earn its budget back in cinemas. Every other Marvel Studios release at least doubled its budget on paper. Figures read from the TMDB API on 2026-09-01.

What is the highest-grossing Marvel movie?

Avengers: Endgame (2019), at $2.799B worldwide, is the highest-grossing MCU film. 12 of the 38 films have passed a billion dollars. Endgame is only the third best return in the franchise, though: it also carries the biggest budget in the MCU at $356.0M, so Spider-Man: Brand New Day (11.09x) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (9.61x) both turned less money into more.

What is the next MCU movie?

Avengers: Doomsday, in US cinemas on December 18, 2026. Joe Russo and Anthony Russo direct, it runs 2h 45m, and TMDB credits 35 cast members. It is the 39th theatrical MCU film. Note that TMDB's top-level release_date field reads December 16 for this film; December 18 is the US theatrical entry in its release_dates record.

Who is in the Avengers: Doomsday cast?

TMDB credits 35 actors. Robert Downey Jr. returns as Victor von Doom, not as Tony Stark, the role he played in 10 MCU films. Six of the credited actors are reprising X-Men roles they originated at 20th Century Fox: Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) and Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), who last played the part in X2 in 2003. Cast read from the TMDB API on 2026-09-08.

What is the MCU lineup for 2026?

Two theatrical films. Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened July 31, 2026 and Avengers: Doomsday follows on December 18, 2026. A third Marvel Studios title, the September 24, 2026 special Spidey and the Avengers: Halloween Team-Up!, is not a theatrical release: it carries no theatrical entry and no runtime at TMDB.

Is Marvel Phase 7 confirmed?

Marvel Studios has four features dated after Avengers: Doomsday: Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027, an untitled X-Men film on May 5, 2028, Ghost Rider on July 28, 2028 and Black Panther 3 on December 15, 2028. All four still carry a TMDB status of Planned with no runtime recorded, so they are scheduled rather than confirmed. Dates read on 2026-09-08.

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