Every movie and TV show in Marvel's Phase 5, ranked (2024)

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As of now, the worst project of Phase 5 has been the Disney+ series "Secret Invasion."

This show remains baffling a year after its release.

Why did the powers-that-be decide to make Rhodey a Skrull (a body-switching alien), potentially negating his heartbreaking goodbye to Tony Stark? Why did the finale end with G'iah (Emilia Clarke) becoming the most powerful being in the entire MCU when you know Marvel is going to ignore her in every other project?

Furthermore, why did they waste Clarke, Olivia Colman, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Dermot Mulroney on these lackluster characters?

The "Secret Invasion" arc in the comics is one of the most famous of all time and had a huge effect on the rest of the characters throughout the universe. But this series seems like it's already been memory-holed.

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But the worst movie is "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

Part of the fun of 2015's "Ant-Man" and 2018's "Ant-Man and the Wasp" was that the stakes were — no pun intended — small. Scott Lang was just an ex-con trying to reconnect with his daughter, and in the process, he got involved with the dysfunctional Pym family.

By the third film, which was the official kick-off of Phase 5, Scott and the rest of the Ant-fam had been transported to another dimension to face a time-traveling, multiverse-hopping, god-like figure named Kang.

Kang, in fact, was being set up as this phase's Thanos (aka the ultimate bad guy), so why did he get beaten by someone whose powers include changing size and controlling ants? That does not signal to fans that they should be scared of Kang.

To reiterate: He literally got swarmed by ants and was defeated.

Other issues include the wonky special effects, the underuse of William Jackson Harper, Kathryn Newton, and Katy O'Brian, and the unsatisfying ending that seems like it was reshot late into production.

Now that Jonathan Majors is out of the MCU, it seems like we won't be seeing any more of Kang anyway, making this movie seem irrelevant at best.

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"Echo" isn't a bad show, but it just feels a bit disconnected from everything else.

"Echo" is a spinoff of the Disney+ series "Hawkeye," focusing on the character of Maya Lopez, aka Echo.

This show is OK. Alaqua Cox really inhabits the character of Maya, the supporting cast is talented, and fans got another glimpse of Charlie Cox's Daredevil before his highly anticipated Disney+ series.

But it doesn't really justify its existence. Did anyone really come out of "Hawkeye" desperate for a series about Maya reconnecting with her family out in Oklahoma? It was a huge step forward for representation — Echo is the first Native American hero in the MCU — but she deserves a more compelling story.

I hope we continue to see Maya in the MCU, but maybe in the Young Avengers, rather than in a second season of "Echo."

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"The Marvels" is not the huge mess headlines made it out to be.

Much of the narrative around "The Marvels" is that it was a catastrophe. It received tepid reviews from critics, and made $206 million at the box office, making it the lowest-grossing film in the MCU. By comparison, "Captain Marvel" made over $1 billion.

But I'm here to bravely say that I think this movie is fine. It's fine! The villain, as usual, is a bit boring, and her plan is incomprehensible, but that's not out of the ordinary for the MCU.

The chemistry between Carol (Brie Larson), Monica (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala (Iman Vellani) is fun, with Vellani being one of the only standout new performers in recent MCU history. There are also some truly cool, entrancing action sequences where the three switch places.

The post-credit scene also teased the X-Men properly for the first time in the MCU, and that alone was worth the price of admission.

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The second season of "What If...?" was solid.

You might've missed the second season of "What If…?" when it dropped in December 2023 since it was released to little fanfare (but positive reviews).

The release strategy was different from that of other MCU series, which traditionally drop weekly. Instead, a new episode of "What If…?" dropped every day from December 22 to December 30 — a true Christmas miracle.

"What If…?" isn't essential MCU viewing — its premise is to imagine what if something else happened to our favorite characters besides what we saw in the official Marvel timeline. But it's certainly not a bad way to spend a few hours.

It's a shame that not many people seem to have watched this show. The upcoming third season has also been confirmed as its last.

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"Deadpool & Wolverine" reunited Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman with hilarious results.

Fans have been waiting for a third "Deadpool" film for years — "Deadpool 2" was released all the way back in 2018. When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019, it seemed like it might be over for everyone's favorite merc with a mouth.

We couldn't have been more wrong, and I, for one, am very thankful.

Wade Wilson came screaming back to our screens in "" in 2024 — and he brought friends. Not only did Jackman once again suit up to play Wolverine for the 10th (!) time, but this movie provided closure for Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Wesley Snipes' Blade, Dafne Keen's X-23, Chris Evans' Johnny Storm, and Channing Tatum's Gambit.

Essentially, it's the 20th Century Fox version of the Island of Misfit Toys — and audiences can't get enough. This movie has grossed $1.2 billion and counting, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

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The second season of "Loki" was a fitting end to a beloved character.

Tom Hiddleston began playing Loki, Thor's mischievous brother, in 2011's "Thor." Since then, he's become a fan-favorite character, one we're always delighted to see pop up on screen.

The first season of "Loki" premiered in 2021 as part of Phase 4 of the MCU. In it, Loki met multiple variants of himself, learned to evolve and trust people, and developed relationships with Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) and Mobius (Owen Wilson).

Season two, which premiered in 2023, took that foundation and built upon it. It ended with Loki, a character we first met while he was trying to take over Asgard (and eventually who tried to take over the entire world as part of a plot with Thanos), sacrificing himself to save his friends.

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The best project from Phase 5 so far is "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

You might remember when I complained that the stakes of "Quantumania" were too high for a man who can control ants. "GOTG Vol. 3" is the exact opposite scenario.

Our final (for now) outing with the Guardians was a love letter to this ragtag found-family, whom we first met in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" when they were all outlaws who didn't care about anyone or anything.

Two movies later, the Guardians have established a community that they need to protect — and when Rocket (voiced impeccably as always by Bradley Cooper) is attacked, they come together to save his life.

That's it! There's no universe-ending Infinity Stone or a megalomaniacal god threatening to take over the galaxy. Our team just needs to help save their friend, and it's more emotionally affecting than almost anything else in Phase 5.

If this really is our last outing with this version of the Guardians, it was a fitting end.