As of the other night, I’ve watched every episode of the Phase Four MCU shows on Disney+. And honestly, I’m glad that I took my time! Not that I didn’t love them (I did) but I was able to really stretch them out and enjoy the extra long films.
Before I get into “ranking” the shows, I want to kinda explain how I got my list. I enjoyed all four shows for various reasons. But I also know there were things that I wasn’t a total fan of. The ranking is more just like an order to just make things easier to read. I’m also not including Marvel’s What If? as I haven’t watched it yet. I’m also not entirely sure of it’s place in canon.
Oh, and just because something comes higher than the other doesn’t mean that I really didn’t like something. It’s an arbitrary ranking.
Falcon and the Winter Soldier
This one has to be on top. I was surprised when I got into this one. I absolutely love both of the main characters, but I wasn’t sure how their journey in this show would work. But wow this one blew me out of the park.
I was very impressed with the writing and storytelling. THe characters brought to the small screen worked well. I flat out cried during the final episode, because I really wasn’t expecting the ending to hit me the way it did. It blew my mind.
Hawkeye
I’ll be the first to say that I wasn’t expecting to love this one as much as I did. I love the story of Kate Bishop becoming Hawkeye, but I was worried about how it would translate to screen. But I was pleasantly surprised. Bringing back Kingpin was an amazing twist that I was hoping for, and I think it worked. Even the constant (heart wrenching) reminder of Natasha and her death worked. And the inclusion of Clint’s hearing loss, tied into this years being an Avenger was an amazing touch to bring the character closer to his comic book incarnation.
Honestly my one big issue was pacing. This could have easily been a five episode show. There were a few scenes that just felt tacked on. (Also the post credit scene wasn’t great. Just the inclusion of it. I’m fine with it as a whole.)
Wandavision
This show had to do a lot. It opened the door for more MCU shows, but it also had to continue the story of two main characters, introduce or reintroduce some other major characters, and set the stage for Phase Four as a whole. I give massive kudos to everyone for this show, because it was a major undertaking.
The only reason it is lower is because the shows that came after it stepped up just that much more. It’s crafted near perfectly, and really set the stage for the rumored Young Avengers film/series.
Loki
Something had to be at the bottom, and it could only be Loki. I have nothing against the show. It was well written, confusing as hell, and well acted. The biggest problem was that I found it incredibly boring. At least an entire episode could have been cut for time, and it still would have bored me. A lot is set up here, but… it’s probably not going to get a rewatch from me.
So that’s my “ranking”. There are of course other little details I could include, but I’m trying to be pretty spoiler-free. I’m happy that I watched them all, and I can’t wait to see what the MCU has in store for the fans next.
(BTW, I haven’t seen The Eternals or Spider-Man: No Way Home yet, so please don’t drop any spoilers in the comments!)
Until next time!
