Every Marvel Phase 5 Project Ranked by Critics and Fans

Marvel spent years training audiences to treat every new release like homework. Phase 5 changed that. Some projects landed hard with critics but missed fans, others became surprise crowd favorites, and a few sparked the kind of arguments Marvel probably wishes would stop showing up under every trailer.

Now that Phase 5 has officially wrapped, you can finally ask the question people have been arguing about since 2023: which projects actually worked?

The Winners Were Clear, Even If Marvel's Direction Wasn't

If you rank Phase 5 by critic scores and audience reactions together, a few names keep rising to the top.

At number one, most lists end up putting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Critics largely agreed, with Rotten Tomatoes scores sitting above 80%, while audience ratings climbed even higher. It also pulled in approximately $845 million worldwide, proving that Marvel could still deliver emotional payoffs when it focused on characters instead of setup.

Right behind it sits Loki Season 2 (2023). This wasn't a billion-dollar movie or a major crossover event. It was something rarer for Marvel recently: a project people finished and immediately recommended to friends.

Then comes Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which critics liked, fans loved, and theaters definitely appreciated. The movie crossed approximately $1.3 billion worldwide and reminded everyone that audiences still show up when Marvel feels like an event instead of another calendar entry.

What's interesting is how few people expected television to compete this hard. But Phase 5's strongest work often happened on streaming.

The Middle Tier Is Where Things Get Messy

This is where arguments start.

Thunderbolts (2025) landed better critically than many expected, partly because audiences responded to its smaller scale and character-driven approach. It didn't carry the weight of saving the entire universe. That helped.

Agatha All Along (2024) also performed better than early internet reactions suggested. Critics praised the performances and weirdness. Fans seemed split at first, then gradually warmer after release.

Then you hit projects like The Marvels (2023). Critics weren't especially harsh, audience scores weren't disastrous, yet the film earned approximately $206 million worldwide against a much larger reported budget. Numbers don't always tell the whole story, but they rarely tell no story.

And yes, Captain America: Brave New World became another example of Marvel discovering that familiarity alone doesn't guarantee excitement anymore.

Because eventually audiences stop showing up out of habit.

The Bottom of Phase 5 Says More Than The Top

If you only look at the highest ranked projects, you miss what Phase 5 actually revealed.

Secret Invasion (2023) sits near the bottom of almost every ranking for one reason: expectations. A political paranoia thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson sounded like Marvel trying something different. What audiences got felt smaller, stranger, and less coherent than promised.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) arguably had an even bigger impact. Critics gave it some of the weakest reviews in MCU history and audiences cooled quickly after opening weekend. The movie still earned approximately $476 million globally, but that number looked less impressive considering it was supposed to launch Marvel's next major villain.

Fans can forgive a mediocre movie.

They struggle more when the movie was supposed to explain the future.

Why You Should Care, Even If You Stopped Watching

You don't need to memorize timeline charts to care about these rankings.

Because Phase 5 is probably the first time Marvel clearly learned that audiences no longer reward connectivity by itself. People rewarded projects they actually enjoyed. That's healthier for viewers who don't want entertainment to feel like coursework.

And if you've drifted away from Marvel, this ranking gives you something useful: permission to skip the homework and watch the good stuff.

So What Does Marvel Do Now?

The odd thing about Phase 5 is that its best projects mostly ignored the larger machine.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 worked because it ended something. Loki Season 2 worked because it focused on a small group of characters. Deadpool & Wolverine worked because it treated continuity more like a toy box than a requirement.

Maybe that's the lesson.

You can build a giant cinematic universe. But eventually people just want to know whether tonight's movie is worth two hours of their life.

What to Watch / Read / Play Next

If Phase 5 reminded you that Marvel can still work when it's focused, start here:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 if you want the strongest emotional payoff in recent Marvel

Loki Season 2 if you want the most consistent Phase 5 storytelling

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 if you'd rather play your superhero stories instead of watching them

And yes, you can skip the homework.