‘Avengers: Endgame’ pregame: 21 Marvel films ranked from best to worst

After 11 years, 22 movies and a six-figure cape dry-cleaning bill, the first stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is drawing to a close.

With “Avengers: Endgame,” the story dubbed “The Infinity Saga” — which started all the way back in 2008’s “Iron Man,” and involved villain Thanos collecting the powerful Infinity Stones — comes to an end.

So how do the individual entries stack up? Here’s a ranking of the 21 films that preceded “Endgame.”

1. “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012)

It’s easy to forget just how extraordinary the concept behind this film was. Marvel’s heroes — four of whom had been introduced in previous solo films — united on screen for the mother of all battles. It’s an idea pretty much every 8-year-old has had since the first superhero strapped on spandex back in the 1930s, and here it’s executed to popcorn perfection by writer-director Joss Whedon, who strikes the right balance between character, levity and stakes.

2. “Iron Man” (2008)

This is the movie that started it all, laying the groundwork for the 21 that would follow. Historical importance aside, it’s still a pretty damn good flick in its own right — the Platonic ideal of superhero origin stories. Marvel took a C-list superhero whose most interesting feature was blaster hands and turned him into a global superstar. Much of the credit goes to an impossibly winning performance from Robert Downey Jr. and a light touch from director (and former New York Post delivery man) Jon Favreau.

3. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017)

After driving away audiences with two Spidey misfires starring Andrew Garfield, Sony — who owns the web-slinger’s rights — waived the white flag and teamed up with Marvel to produce this entertaining reboot starring Tom Holland. Here, Spider-Man is everything he should be — awkward, jokey, and unlike Garfield, not in his late 20s. Great supporting cast, too, including Michael Keaton as the villain, Zendaya as a sarcastic fellow student and Jacob Batalon as the hero’s nerdy friend.

4. “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)

There are plot twists, and then there’s what happened at the end of Infinity War. It was like a plot atom bomb. An evil space tyrant uses cosmic magic to snuff out half the universe’s inhabitants, including the superheroes. It’s a gutsy move from a storytelling perspective, leaving audiences with an endless list of burning questions. Will the dead return? Can Thanos be defeated? Will Marvel still be able to reap valuable bed sheet revenue from the fallen heroes?

5. “Captain America: Civil War” (2016)

This final installment in the Captain America trilogy was so jam-packed with characters and conflict, it could have been an Avengers film. Cap, Iron Man and the others line up on opposing sides after the government tries to regulate superheroes. The debuts of Black Panther and Spider-Man don’t hurt, either.

6. “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011)

This one is only two of the MCU films to be set in the past, and it does a great job of capturing a wartime feel and that 1940s, aw-shucks decency that makes Cap such an enduring character.

7. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)

Yeah, OK, the plot about Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. never quite congeals and Robert Redford as a S.H.I.E.L.D. director is mostly wasted, but the film has enough ridiculously kinetic action scenes to push it up the list.

8. “Thor” (2011)

Very few thought Marvel could pull off an entire movie starring a Norse-ish god who speaks like a Shakespearian dinner theater castoff. Thoust were wrong. Somehow, “Thor” never seems as ridiculous as it should, maybe because the studio, actors and director Kenneth Branagh — a sir, no less — leaned into the character’s nature instead of running from it.

9. “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)

Kudos to Marvel and director-co-writer James Gunn for putting the “universe” in “Marvel universe” so well. “Guardians” expanded the MCU to outer space and had audiences embracing gun-toting raccoons and talking trees alongside established heroes Captain America.

10. “Ant-Man” (2015)

He started as a tossed-off character in a 1962 sci-fi story by Marvel’s Stan Lee, brother Larry Lieber and artist Jack Kirby. The man-who-shrinks proved so popular, Ant-Man eventually became a staple of the early Marvel superhero universe. It’s easy to see why. Making small things look big rarely gets old, as this film demonstrates with its whizzy camera work. The chemistry between Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas (as the original Ant-Man) is also a nice plus.

11. “Black Panther” (2018)

Too much world building, not enough tension. We understand the filmmakers had to introduce Wakanda and its technology and structure and customs, but the first half of this movie feels more like a travelogue than a summer blockbuster. Still, Black Panther and his family are pretty cool, and nemesis Killmonger — despite his straightforward name — is one of the MCU’s most nuanced baddies.

12. “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018)

We already knew about Paul Rudd’s comedic chops, but the real surprise here is Michael Pena, who once again, steals the movie as Ant-Man’s mouthy sidekick. The Ghost, a woman who can phase through solid objects, is a cool villain, as well.

13. “Doctor Strange” (2016)

In the way that “Guardians” moved the MCU into outer space, “Doctor Strange” pushed it into the mystical world. Negative points for an origin story that’s a bit too Tony Stark, and for the sentient cape gag that belonged in the Saturday-morning version of the character.

14. “Iron Man 3” (2013)

Our hero spends much of the movie without his armor, dealing with problems like, God help us, a regular person. Probably not why we lay our money down for an “Iron Man” movie. In the end, it’s up to Gwyneth Paltrow, powered by juice cleanses and vaginal eggs, as well as a superhuman procedure, to save the day.

15. “Captain Marvel” (2019)

Hat tip to Marvel for finally featuring a female superhero lead, but did she have to be so boring? We get it, she’s planet-destroying powerful and nothing can defeat her. But…anything else? Maybe it’s telling when the alien cat was the most popular character to come out of this one.

16. “The Incredible Hulk” (2008)

Incredible was probably a bit of an overpromise. The movie had potential, but there was perhaps too much of a been-there-done-that-ness to the story of the scientist who struggles to control his anger, following another film a few years earlier and more than 80 episodes of a TV series.

17. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (2017)

It’s basically more of the same from Peter Quill and his misfit crew of aliens. There’s something about a living planet being Quill’s father and the largely unaffecting death of Yondu. But hey, the soundtrack was sort of groovy, right?

18. “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017)

The tone is such a departure from what had been previously established, it’s as jarring as Bruce Vilanch directing a James Bond film. Thor doesn’t act like Thor. The Hulk doesn’t act like Hulk. And there’s not a single moment of drama in the entire film that’s not immediately undermined by a throwaway quip. Leave that to Deadpool.

19. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)

To be sure, there’s entertainment value in seeing all these characters on screen once again. Too bad the story doesn’t deliver. Writer-director Joss Whedon has admitted he was exhausted trying to follow up “Marvel’s The Avengers,” and it shows.

20. “Thor: The Dark World” (2013)

Quite possibly the least essential film of all the MCU films thus far. A cup of mead to anyone who can remember a single detail. To jog your memory, Thor must defeat a Dark Elf, Loki is seemingly killed and — can we just fast forward to the post-credits sequence already?

21. “Iron Man 2” (2010)

The film plays as if Marvel was caught flat-footed when “Iron Man” hit, and the studio had to quickly roll out a sequel without any solid ideas. The villain is a disappointing whip-wielding Mickey Rourke. Black Widow is clearly shoe-horned in simply because she needed to be introduced. War Machine is a snooze. Chalk up this one to early growing pains.