MCU Phase 4 movies and TV shows ranked from worst to best

After nearly 18 months since the release of the last Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 movie (Spider-Man: Far From Home), MCU Phase 4 began in January 2021 with the release of WandaVision on Disney Plus. It was the first phase of the franchise to also include TV shows and specials alongside the movies, so naturally, Phase 4 had far more entries than the three previous MCU phases — 18 in all.

That may be part of the reason why the MCU Phase 4 lineup was ultimately far more uneven than the earlier phases of the franchise. There were some big lows in Marvel Studios’ output in 2020 and 2021. Part of that may have been due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as schedules and storylines were changed. That doesn’t mean some good MCU content wasn’t in Phase 4. Some of the best Marvel Studios storylines ever are a part of this lineup. But which of the MCU Phase 4 series and shows are the best and worst? We have our opinions on that; you can read them at the link below.

All but two of these movies and shows are available to stream right now on Disney Plus. You can sign up for the streaming service at the link below. We will also provide streaming info for the only entry that’s not on Disney Plus when we get to it, with the other coming to Disney Plus sometime in 2023.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG-13
• Run time: 2 hours and 36 minutes
• Director: Chloé Zhao
• Main cast: Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington
• Genre:  SciFi Action
• Ratings: 6.3 – IMDB / 47% – Rotten Tomatoes

A group of human-looking alien beings comes to Earth thousands of years ago to deal with an invasion by another group of aliens. In the present day, the evil aliens have returned, so the group reunites to fight them.

This was not only the worst MCU Phase 4 project, but it is definitely in the running to be one of the worst MCU movies and TV shows ever released, period. We admire that Marvel Studios was ambitious enough to launch a new movie with so many new characters. There are also some solid performances from actors like Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, and Lauren Ridoff. The big problem with this film is that it’s so boring. This film last over 2 1/2 hours, but the action sequences are few and mostly very brief. What’s in between those scenes isn’t very interesting either. Directly Chloe Zhao should have cut this film’s run time by a lot and beefed up the action sequences — this is a superhero movie after all.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV PG
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Kirsten Lepore
• Main cast: Vin Diesel. Fred Tatasciore, Kaitlyn Robrock. Bradley Cooper
  
• Genre: Animated/Kids/SciFi
• Ratings: 6.7 – IMDB / 87% – Rotten Tomatoes

Baby Groot from The Guardians of the Galaxy stars in these five animated shorts, going on adventures, sometimes with his pal Rocket.

Honestly, there’s not much to say about this series. The CGI is animated well, and the adventures are fun to watch with little kids. Other than that, these are pretty forgettable, and you are missing very little if you skip this show.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-14
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Jessica Gao
• Main cast: Tatiana Maslany, Mark Ruffalo, Tim Roth, Benedict Wong, Ginger Gonzaga
• Genre: Law Comedy
• Ratings: 5.2 – IMDB / 85% – Rotten Tomatoes

Jessica Walters, the cousin to Bruce Banner, gets in a car accident with him inside. His blood mixes with hers, and as a result she can now turn into a gamma radiation-based being, just like Banner can as The Hulk. Unfortunately, Walters doesn’t really want to be She-Hulk. She just wants to be a typical lawyer.

We had high hopes for this show, as we expected some funny fourth-wall-breaking comedy mixed with some superhero-based law cases. Unfortunately, this MCU Phase 4 show was incredibly uneven, with some episodes meeting our expectations and others just not working well. Tatiana Maslany is a solid actress, but the visuals for her She-Hulk form didn’t look as good as they could have. On the plus side, we loved seeing some of the Marvel cameos, including the full return of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG-13
• Run time: 2 hours and 14 minutes
• Director: Cate Shortland
• Main cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour
• Genre: Spy/Adventure
• Ratings: 6.7 – IMDB / 79% – Rotten Tomatoes

After the events of Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War, Natasha Romanoff teams up with her “sister”  Yelena Belova, her “mother” Melina Vostokoff, and her father the Red Guardian, to take down Russia’s secret female spy/assassin group that created her.

The first half of this film is actually pretty entertaining. We learn more about Natasha’s former life in the US as part of an embedded spy family. We also encounter Yelena Belova, and the two team up in a nice action sequence in Budapest. However, the movie’s second half completely falls apart, with lots of exposition and a final action sequence that strains credibility. Worst of all, the movie wastes Taskmaster, an excellent Marvel Comics antagonist, with just a few very brief scenes.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-14
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Jeremy Slater
• Main cast: Oscar Isaac, May Calamawy, Ethan Hawke, Gaspard Ulliel, Saba Mubarak
• Genre: Drama/Thriller
• Ratings: 7.3 – IMDB / 86% – Rotten Tomatoes

Steven Grant is a gift shop employee and a bit of a nerd. He’s about to find out he shares his body with Marc Spector, a mercenary who can turn into the powerful Moon Knight.

This show has a lot of good moments, and Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke have some great performances as Moon Knight/Steven Grant/Marc Spector, and the main villain of this show Arthur Harrow, respectively. The biggest issue we have is that, in a show with Moon Knight in the title, his full appearances in the series are few and far between. The show also takes a bit of a detour in the main storyline in the middle of the series. Overall, it’s not bad, but it could have been a lot better.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-14
• Run time: 1 hour and 56 minutes
• Director: Michael Giacchino
• Main cast: Gael García Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Harriet Sansom Harris
• Genre: Horror
• Ratings: 7.2 – IMDB / 90% – Rotten Tomatoes

A group of monster hunters gathers to pay respects to one of their own who passed away. They are then thrust into a competition to find a relic on the dead monster hunter’s land, but other forces are luring as well.

This is the MCU’s first real entry in the horror genre. It takes inspiration from the Universal monster movies, complete with being filmed in (mostly) black and white. It’s also fun to see even more Marvel Comics characters make their first MCU appearance, including a certain swamp-based creature. It all works until the final 20 minutes of this special, where it loses that campy horror feel and goes into almost funny comedy mode. However, it’s still well worth watching.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-PG
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Bisha K. Ali
• Main cast: Iman Vellani, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff
• Genre: Teen Drama
• Ratings: 6.2 – IMDB / 98% – Rotten Tomatoes

Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan loves the superheroes of the MCU, particularly Captain Marvel. She daydreams of becoming one, and she will get her wish when a family relic gives her superpowers. She soon realizes she should be careful of what she wishes for.

Iman Vellani is perfectly cast as Kamala Khan. She plays the character as brave, optimistic, and with some degree of nerdiness. We also love her supporting cast of characters, particularly the actors who play Kamala’s mom and dad. The series starts out strong but gets a bit muddled in the middle with a storyline that’s sometimes hard to follow. However, we would not object to seeing a second season of Ms. Marvel at some point.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG
• Run time: 1 hour and 58 minutes
• Director: Taika Waititi
• Main cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale
• Genre: Fantasy/Comedy/Drama
• Ratings: 6.3 – IMDB / 64% – Rotten Tomatoes

Gorr the God Butcher is going around the universe killing gods as revenge for the death of his daughter. Thor goes on a quest to stop him, aided by his former girlfriend Jane Foster, who now uses the hammer Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor.

Taika Waititi returns as director and co-writer for his second Thor movie, and Chris Hemsworth is his usual terrific self as the MCU version of the Norse thunder god Thor. Christian Bale is also great as the sympathetic villain Gorr. However, the movie doesn’t seem to know if it wants to be a full comedy or a drama with some comedic elements. It doesn’t help that the Jane Foster-Mighty Thor plot, taken from some recent Thor comics, is not very compelling here. The end credit scenes, however, do show some hope for possible future Thor movies.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-14
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Jonathan Igla, Rhys Thomas
• Main cast: Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Vera Farmiga, Florence Pugh, Fra Fee
• Genre: Crime Drama
• Ratings: 7.5 – IMDB / 92% – Rotten Tomatoes

Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, just wants to spend Christmas with his kids while they visit New York City. However, he soon gets involved in some criminal gang activity and encounters a young woman, Kate Bishop, who’s also a skilled (ish) archer and wants to be a superhero.

Jeremy Renner reminds us again why we love the character of Hawkeye in this series. He’s cynical but always finds a reason to become a real hero when the time is right. Hailee Steinfeld is also great as Kate Bishop, who isn’t quite as good of an archer as she thinks. We do get some surprise character reveals in this series, especially at the finale. Overall,  this a good series to binge-watch, especially at Christmas. Also, we want to see the full Rogers: The Musical like, yesterday, please.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-15
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Malcolm Spellman
• Main cast: Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Daniel Brühl, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell
• Genre: Spy Thriller
• Ratings: 7.2 – IMDB / 84% – Rotten Tomatoes

Instead of becoming Captain America when Steve Rogers gives him his shield, Sam Wilson decides to donate it to the Smithsonian. However, the government decides to take the shield and give it to a man that’s been named the new Captain America. Sam and Bucky Barnes team up as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to fight a terrorist organization.

This show benefits from having Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan return to play the main characters. Both have their own demons that they have to face through the course of the six-episode series. Wyatt Russell is also great as a well-intentioned but ultimately flawed replacement for Captain America. We also get to see Daniel Brühl come back, this time in full Zemo mask mode. The main threat and motivation of the Flag Smashers terrorist group are a little muddled, but overall this is a solid action series with a couple of interesting twists along the way.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-14
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: A.C. Bradley
• Main cast: Jeffrey Wright
• Genre: Animated/Anthology
• Ratings: 7.4 – IMDB / 98% – Rotten Tomatoes

This animated anthology series shows how the MCU could have been different if one decision or event had changed. All of the episodes are narrated and “watched over” by the galactic being known only as The Watcher.

The What If issues are some of our favorites from the Marvel Comics library, so it’s cool to see this concept come to life in an MCU series. The animation style, with cel-shaded CGI, makes it look like a well-drawn comic. Some of the episodes include Black Panther becoming Star-Lord, Agent Carter turning into Captain Carter, and of course, the “Marvel Zombies” episode. Our personal favorite is the Doctor Strange-centric show, which shows how a good man can become pure evil.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG-13
• Run time: 2 hours 41 minutes
• Director: Ryan Coogler
• Main cast: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o
• Genre: Drama
• Ratings: 7.2 – IMDB / 84% – Rotten Tomatoes

In the land of Wakanda, its citizens and the royal family are still recovering from the death of their king and Black Panther, T’Challa. However, the country must soon deal with a new threat; a previously unknown underwater kingdom. Its ruler, Namor, is aiming to invade Wakanda.

The death of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman in 2020 is felt throughout this movie sequel, from the beginning to the very end. The main storyline of the conflict between Wakanda and Namor’s underwater land of Talokan is handled very well. However, the movie does suffer some from being much too long (it’s well over 2 1/2 hours). The final verdict is that this sequel is a good, but not great, movie and a worthy tribute to Boseman.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG-13
• Run time: 2 hours and 13 minutes
• Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
• Main cast: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang
• Genre: Martial arts Action
• Ratings: 7.4 – IMDB / 91% – Rotten Tomatoes

Skilled martial artist Shang-Chi has been hiding out in San Francisco for ten years, living an uneventful and normal life. However, his father, the notorious Mandarin, has found his son and forces him to come back to China for a mission that seems doomed to failure.

Simu Liu has a great star turn as Shang-Chi, showing he can handle drama, action, and comedy, sometimes in the same scene. Tony Leung is also excellent as Shang-Chi’s dad. The final third is the typical MCU massive action sequence, but at least it’s handled well. Overall, this is a very entertaining entry in the MCU Phase 4.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG
• Run time: 2 hours and 6 minutes
• Director: Sam Raimi
• Main cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor
• Genre: Fantasy action
• Ratings: 5.9 – IMDB / 74% – Rotten Tomatoes

Doctor Strange must protect a girl who can travel between universes from the Scarlet Witch, who wants to use the girl’s power to reunite with her lost children in another universe.

Director Sam Raimi’s touch is all over this movie, and that’s a good thing because it prevents the film from looking just like most of the MCU’s movies. He does a lot of fast editing and fast and tight camera moves. Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen are awesome, per usual, as Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch (post-WandaVision). The visual effects are impressive, and a sequence in the middle will get MCU fans very excited. The finale is a bit weak, but otherwise, this is an exciting film to watch for MCU die-hards.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG-14
• Run time: 41 minutes
• Director: Jams Gunn
• Main cast: Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan
• Genre: Comedy/Spy Action
• Ratings: 7.1 – IMDB / 93% – Rotten Tomatoes

Peter “Star Lord” Quill is feeling down as Christmas is coming on his home planet Earth. His fellow Guardian members Drax and Mantis decide to cheer him up by going to Earth and getting Quill a very unusual present.

Writer-director James Gunn created a near-perfect Christmas special for the MCU Phase 4 lineup. Drax and Mantis make a great pair as they try to figure out life in Los Angeles, and as they try to get Peter his “present.” There are a couple of new Christmas songs that you will find yourself humming after watching it. There’s even a final revelation about Quill’s family that’s touching as well. We will be watching this special every Christmas.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-14
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Michael Waldron
• Main cast: Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku
• Genre: Sci-fi/Action
• Ratings: 8.2 – IMDB / 92% – Rotten Tomatoes

Loki picks up the Tesseract after his defeat by the Avengers in New York City and teleports away. He’s soon captured by the Time Variance Authority and branded as a “variant” of the real Loki. However, this version of the God of Mischief has more problems as another Loki variant is causing problems in the timeline.

Tom Hiddleston is clearly having tons of fun playing a version of Loki that’s a bit different from the ones we have previously seen in the Thor and Avengers movies. Owen Wilson leads a great supporting cast of TVA characters that are trying to keep the universe up and running. Sophia Di Martino is also great as the female Loki that wants to upend the timeline. This series has many twists, and the final episode is a solid cliffhanger for the upcoming season 2. We also want to mention the visual effects, art design, and music, all of which have some retro-future looks.

What you need to know:

• Rating: TV-PG
• Seasons: 1
• Creator: Raja Goznell
• Main cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Teyonah Parris, Kathryn Hahn, Kat Dennings
• Genre: Comedy/Drama
• Ratings: 7.9 – IMDB / 91% – Rotten Tomatoes

Wanda Maximoff and her husband, Vision, are living a quiet life in suburbia in the black-and-white 1950s. Wait . . what’s going on? That can’t be right.

The MCI Phase 4 began with a bang with this nine-episode series. The first few episodes mess with your mind as Wanda and Vision appear in different TV eras in their “family sitcom.” Of course, all of this was created by Wanda, but is it intentional, or does she know what she’s doing? Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are great as Wanda and Vision, and Kathryn Hahn steals every scene she’s in as “Agnes.” Some other MCU-supporting players show up later in the series, and one comes from a very unexpected source. This is the best MCU TV show released so far, beating Loki on our list by just a hair.

What you need to know:

• Rating: PG-13
• Run time: 2 hours and 28 minutes
• Director: Jon Watts
• Main cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch
• Genre: Multiverse Action
• Ratings: 8.3 – IMDB / 93% – Rotten Tomatoes

After the cliffhanger ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker wants nearly everyone to forget he is Spider-Man. He asks Doctor Strange to create a spell that would do just that, but things go very, very wrong.

This movie would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, but now the MCU’s Spider-Man has to face off against villains that were a part of the many previous live-action Spider-Man series. Of course, the big reveal (spoiler alert) is that Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield also appear as the non-MCU Spider-Men they played in previous films. Even with all these characters and action sequences, this movie has some really heartbreaking and emotional moments. Our one complaint; the Venom teaser was just that, a teaser. Why couldn’t we have seen Venom and Spider-Man together?