In the early 1980s, no one could have imagined Marvel Comics building the empire of superhero movies that we see today. They started from modest beginnings as they licensed their most popular characters to 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures with varying degrees of success. Only in the past decade did the comic book publisher create Marvel Studios and set a new standard of how to build a cinematic universe. Now, it’s time to assemble your team and check out our guide to the Marvel movies that are available to watch in the comfort of your own home (and a few that aren’t).
Howard the Duck (Amazon, Google Play)
With a 14 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie co-produced with Lucasfilm was an absolute box office bomb for Marvel, even though it holds a place in some people’s hearts as a cult-favorite. Starring Lea Thompson and Tim Robbins, the movie centers on a humanoid duck and his encounters with humans after he is accidentally sent to Earth. The movie failed for many reasons, but the intimate scenes between Howard the Duck and Thompson grossed out audiences the most. Though it seems Marvel might look to get more out of the character following his end credits cameo in Guardians of Galaxy.
The Punisher, Captain America, and The Fantastic Four
Unfortunately, none of these early ’90s films are available for streaming legally, as The Punisher and Captain America both received a direct-to-video release. The Fantastic Four received an even harsher fate, as it was never officially released. It’s almost as though Marvel is ashamed of these movies.
Blade (Amazon)
Following Howard the Duck, Blade became the second wide-release film by Marvel. Starring Wesley Snipes as the titular character, Blade features a vampire superhero who protects humans from vampires. Despite its 55 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the Blade series spawned two more sequels and Patton Oswalt’s amazing stories about Wesley Snipes on the set of Blade Trinity.
X-Men (Amazon, Google Play)
20th Century Fox brought a team of mutants to the big screen with Bryan Singer’s X-Men. Critically acclaimed by critics and fans alike, X-Men was the ninth highest-grossing film of 2000, but more importantly, the movie features Hugh Jackman as the iconic Wolverine.
Blade II (Amazon)
Blade is back and this time, Guillermo del Toro was in the director’s chair. The most successful of all the Blade movies, it grossed $150 million worldwide and featured del Toro’s Hellboy pal Ron Perlman, though there was apparently no time to film a Kris Kristofferson/Perlman grizzled voice-off.
Spider-Man (Amazon, Google Play)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7zvehDxttM
While X-Men and the Blade series brought moderate success to Marvel, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man came in swinging by being the first film to earn $100 million in a single weekend. Offering us a familiar origin story (that is a lot more familiar now), Tobey Maguire stars as Peter Parker, a high school student who is bitten by a radioactive spider and transformed into a lovable web-singling superhero.
Daredevil (Amazon)
Despite making $179 million at the box office, critics and fans alike were not happy with this version of the blind superhero, Daredevil. The movie received mixed reviews and even its star, Ben Affleck, told NPR he regretted making the movie. However, Marvel seems to have found the right format and tone for Ol’ Hornhead over on Netflix with a TV series.
X2 (Amazon, Google Play)
The X-Men are back and are now at war with Colonel William Stryker, who is trying to eliminate all mutants. The movie fared even better with critics and earned $407 million in the box office worldwide, more than four times its production budget.
Hulk (Amazon)
Ang Lee’s Hulk was Marvel’s first attempt at bringing the big green guy to the big screen. Eric Bana plays Bruce Banner, who is struck by gamma radiation and becomes the Hulk when he gets angry, smashing everything that crosses his path. Critics were divided by this film, and there are still some defenders of the movie, but Bana never got the chance to reprise the role and the versatile Lee moved on to other projects outside the comic book hero realm.
The Punisher (Netflix, Amazon)
After the murder of his family, Frank Castle (Tom Jane) transforms into The Punisher and tries to exact revenge against crime boss Howard Saint, played by John Travolta. Jane wound up not taking part in the officially sanctioned sequel, but he did co-star in a pretty great 10-minute fan film, reprising his role as The Punisher.
Spider-Man 2 (Amazon)
Continuing the success of the first film, Spider-Man 2 is a triumph for superhero sequels. Not only did it gross $783 million at the box office worldwide, the movie was beloved by both critics and fans. Plus, we got to see Alfred Molina play a supervillain. Truly these are magical times.
Blade: Trinity (Amazon)
With David S. Goyer directing the third Blade movie, problems arose even before the movie was released, as detailed by those Oswalt on-set stories and the news that Wesley Snipes had sued New Line and Goyer over salary issues. The end result was lackluster reviews, only $129 million in worldwide box office, and the end of the franchise. For now…
Elektra (Amazon)
A Daredevil spin-off, Elektra (starring Jennifer Garner) continued the story of the titular assassin. One of Marvel’s biggest failures, the movie only gained $56 million in the box office worldwide. As the only female superhero movie on the list, we can only hope that Marvel does better with Captain Marvel.
Fantastic Four (iTunes)
After being exposed to a cosmic storm, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm transform into Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing, respectively. Despite being panned by the critics, Fantastic Four was a box office success and spawned a sequel.
X-Men: The Last Stand (Amazon, Google Play)
After director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2) left to go direct Superman Returns, X-Men: The Last Stand turned to Brett Ratner to finish up the trilogy. The movie was a commercial success for Fox, but to say it was a success would be a huge leap, considering the continued public perception of the film as a misfire.
Ghost Rider (Amazon)
After making a deal with the Devil to cure his father’s cancer, Johnny Blaze sells his soul and becomes the Ghost Rider. A big fan of the character (he has a tattoo of the Ghost Rider character), Nicholas Cage stars as the main superhero. Neither fans nor critics seemed to be a fan of the movie, but it still created a sequel, which led to this…
Spider-Man 3 (Amazon, Google Play)
While Spider-Man 2 entertained both critics and fans, the same could not be said for Spider-Man 3. Despite being plagued with multiple supervillains and a weaker plot, the movie still made a ridiculous amount of money, though. And it created this…
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (iTunes)
In this sequel to the 2005 film, the Fantastic Four face off against the Silver Surfer. As with the previous film, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver received sub-par reviews and did not spawn another sequel. However, it did enable Chris Evans to become another Marvel superhero.
Iron Man (Amazon, Google Play)
In 2008, Iron Man marked the first movie produced by Marvel Studios. At the time, Marvel Studios gambled heavily by casting Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, the billionaire/playboy/philanthropist. Iron Man was a huge success for the studio and the movie laid the groundwork for the MCU, the Avengers, and the multiple phases. And they did it all with the help of the guy from Swingers and the guy from The Pick-Up Artist.
The Incredible Hulk (Amazon, Google Play)
Marvel Studios’ second attempt did not match the same success as Iron Man. The studio attempted to reboot the Hulk with Edward Norton as the lead. Unfortunately for Norton, he couldn’t stick as the Hulk either and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo.
Punisher: War Zone (Amazon)
For those who didn’t know that there was a Punisher reboot, now you know. It appears that most of the world didn’t know, either, because this movie was the lowest-grossing Marvel movie.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Amazon, Google Play)
Despite Wolverine being a fan favorite, this movie did not please the fanboys (and girls) as much. Notably, the movie featured Deadpool as Ryan Reynolds, but most fans hated the on-screen version of the character. Thankfully, Ryan Reynolds will reprise his role in a new Deadpool movie that will have nothing to do with this iteration.
Iron Man 2 (Amazon, Google Play)
Expanding the MCU, Tony Stark faces crazy Russians and palladium poisoning in the darker sequel to Iron Man. This was the first movie featuring Scarlett Johansson as S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Black Widow.
Thor (Amazon, Google Play)
Marvel Studios took audiences across the Bifröst bridge with 2011’s Thor. Chris Hemsworth stars as Asgardian god Thor, who was been sent back to Earth without his powers. The movie builds off the previous MCU films by bringing in S.H.I.E.L.D. and lays the groundwork for the Avengers by introducing, Loki. The movie was generally well-received by critics and fans and showed that audiences could accept cosmic superhero movies.
X-Men: First Class (Amazon, Google Play)
Serving as a sequel to the previous X-Men movies, First Class showed the origins of the team focusing on James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto. The movie re-energized the X-Men series.
Captain America: The First Avenger (Amazon, Google Play)
Taking audiences back to World War II by way of director Joe Johnston’s vision, which drew comparisons to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Marvel Studios introduced Steve Rogers, an old-fashioned super soldier and the world’s first superhero to the MCU.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (Amazon)
Nic Cage returned as the Ghost Rider in this totally “EXTREME” sequel that has a 17 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a half-empty bin in the Marvel money vault. It’s pretty safe to say that there won’t be another Ghost Rider movie for a while.
The Avengers (Amazon, Google Play)
Saying that this movie was a win for Marvel Studios is a severe understatement. It earned $1.5 billion in box office worldwide, thanks to the assemblage of Marvel’s greatest heroes (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye) and Joss Whedon’s clever script.
The Amazing Spider-Man (Amazon, Google Play)
In an attempt to reboot the Spider-Man series, The Amazing Spider-Man casts Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and puts him back in high school to retell his origin story. The movie charmed audiences with the chemistry of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and was a hit at the box office.
Iron Man 3 (Amazon, Google Play)
The third Iron Man movie reunites director Shane Black and Robert Downey, Jr. (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) as the movie follows the events of The Avengers. Distinctly separate from the rest of the MCU, Tony Stark goes off to fight the Mandarin. With what could be Downey’s last solo Iron Man movie, Iron Man 3 was able to make $1.2 billion worldwide.
The Wolverine (Amazon)
Breaking off from the rest of the X-Men following The Last Stand, Wolverine finds himself in Japan, stripped of his powers, and fighting off samurai and robots. Even though it was one of the lesser-grossing X-Men movies, the movie was a big improvement from the first Wolverine stand-alone.
Thor: The Dark World (Amazon)
The second Thor movie brought audiences back to Asgard to see our favorite Asgardian fight off Dark Elves and the ether. Based more on fantasy and science-fiction elements, The Dark World was not as beloved as other Marvel films, but brought audiences one step closer to the Marvel cosmic universe.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Amazon)
Taking its inspiration from 1970s political thrillers, Captain America 2 felt like a new kind of superhero movie. It was beloved by both critics and fans and set the stage for the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and further developments within the MCU.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Amazon)
More villains is usually a sign that a superhero sequel is getting out of control. Unfortunately, that negatively affected the critical reaction to The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Andrew Garfield returns to play Peter Parker and battle the Rhino, Electro, and the Green Goblin while balancing his relationship with Gwen Stacy. ASM2 was the lowest-grossing Spider-Man movie and may have pushed Sony to let Marvel Studios borrow their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (Amazon)
In order to prevent sentient robots from exterminating all the mutants, Wolverine has to travel back to the 1970s to prevent the dystopian future. By bringing in the cast from both First Class and the trilogy, fans were treated to see all their favorite characters on screen. Plus, this is the film that fully returned Bryan Singer to the X-Men fold.
Guardians of the Galaxy (Amazon)
Featuring an alien raccoon, a talking tree, a green alien, a tattooed man, and Chris Pratt, Guardians made an unlikely group of heroes beloved by the world. As one of Marvel Studios’ most successful movies, Guardians proved that the audiences were ready for more non-traditional superheroes.
