This article is entirely spoiler free.
Now that we have eight completed Marvel shows on Disney Plus I thought I’d take the opportunity to pit them against each other and determine which ones are my favourite. That being the case all views from here on are my own but if you would like to take the time to explain why my opinions are wrong please email me at spam@respawning.co.uk and I’ll endeavour to get back to you.
8) Moon Knight
The only Marvel show I didn’t finish watching as they somehow managed to make a story involving the Egyptian pantheon, arguably the most interesting pantheon, boring. I had two episodes to go but decided that as nothing was keeping me engaged and all the characters sucked I wouldn’t subject myself to it anymore. Oscar Isaac deserved so much better than that.
7) She-Hulk
I was really enjoying the trashy superhero lawyer courtroom drama for a while. I remember thinking after almost every episode ‘that was awful, I loved it’. There’s no rewatchability when it comes to She-Hulk, and it would certainly have been quite a bit higher on this list until the second act twist in the finale. That’s comfortably one of the worst things Marvel have ever done (on-screen), and no amount of time will make me forget that.
6) WandaVision
Whatever appeal this show has / had on people is lost on me. Not only do they commit the sin of bringing back Darcy from the first two Thor films, they also pad the first half’s episodes with mundane small town filler, with the occasional spooky detail in the background for anyone paying attention. The later episodes with Agatha were more tolerable, but overall I spent most of its fortuitously short episodes feeling bored.
All of that just to set up Doctor Strange 2, which I also hated.
5) What If
I did enjoy the What If episodes, even if I did feel most of them were answering questions nobody was asking. I really liked the ‘What if Ultron won?’ episode, but other episodes went by which failed to hold my attention even from the outset. Come on, Zombies? Really?
4) Hawkeye
I’m not sure why they made this a Christmas themed show but I’m here for it. Similarly to my biggest gripe with the Black Widow film which also released in 2021, I’ve been saying for years that Hawkeye should have had his own film or show, but its time of release well after the character has ceased being relevant just seems like a bad choice.
Hawkeye has some of my favourite action moments from all the Disney Plus shows, as well as some of my favourite cameos, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it last December.
3) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
I didn’t go into this expecting much as had believed prior to watching that Marvel were unlikely to use their big bucks on the Disney Plus shows like they do for their films. I was wrong. The action and story greatly exceeded my expectations, even after the above concern was proven false. The reveal of the new Cap was a great moment, and I’m so excited to see what they do next in the upcoming Captain America: New World Order!
2) Loki
Picking up directly after his sudden escape during Endgame, Loki wastes no time in leaning on the absurdity Marvel implement well into their films and shows. The big reveal towards the end introducing the next Avengers level threat was particularly special, and like New World Order mentioned above, I am very excited to see what comes next for Loki and the other characters his show introduces.
It’s a simple fact that any franchise which includes Richard E. Grant is going to have me as a fan of it.
1) Ms. Marvel
I was so surprised by how into this show I got. It’s one of the very few examples of entertainment this year where I don’t even glance at my phone while it’s on. Whilst the overall villain may have been lacking for Ms. Marvel, they were very much a background character from the outset with the main narrative always focussing on her story for how she gets and uses her powers whilst also maintaining her own identity. I wasn’t in the least bit interested in The Marvels originally, releasing next year, but now I absolutely am!
That’ll do it for my list! Let me know your ranking in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
Written and edited by Alexx.