“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” received a PGA nod last week, and it thus became a potential Best Picture nominee, the first MCU film to contend since 2018’s “Black Panther.” Of course, I’m not convinced it’ll end up with a nomination, but just the fact that it’s even in the conversation is wild.
I couldn’t help but think that if the Academy actually wanted to honor a Marvel film then they could have probably chosen, at least, a half dozen more worthy MCU films from years past.
As contrarian as I might be about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one cannot deny the sheer ambition of the whole thing. A big chunk of the negative mail I get is for my criticism of Superhero movies. What people don’t seem to get is that I’ve actually liked quite a handful of them … Even grouchy old Francis Ford Coppola recently admitted that he enjoyed “Deadpool.”
Coppola: "I liked Deadpool, I thought that was amazing,"
Fact of the matter is that of the 30-odd Marvel movies released since Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” in 2008, there have been some diamonds in the ruff. Whether you like them or not, these movies are groundbreaking in the way they utilized state-of-the-art special effects.
The storytelling isn’t bad either. No matter how compromised the vision is (here’s looking at you Chloe Zhao) I have to admit that the ambition and scope of the MCU was incredibly well thought-out by Kevin Feige.
I’ve chosen seven MCU titles that I found to be absolutely worth watching. They never sacrificed storytelling for special effects and were their own wholly unique vision.
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Avengers: Endgame
Iron Man
Thor: Ragnarok
Captain America: Civil War
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 & 2
Iron Man 3
You’re probably wondering “Iron Man 3??!” I actually liked Shane Black’s take on the MCU. It’s also one of the best Christmas movies of recent years. If “Iron Man 2” was a total and utter disappointment, the third instalment felt very fresh. Its screenplay was written in a way that went against the grain we were used to with MCU movies.
A film that never took itself too seriously, “Iron Man 3” was the litmus test for the sillier MCU movies to come such as “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Deadpool” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.