Every Marvel Comic Book Movie Ranked From Worst To Best
8. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
It might ultimately go down in history as the film that forced Joss Whedon out of the MCU, but the work that almost broke him shouldn't be over-looked because of that sting in the tale. He again ramps up the action, offering a spectacle that improves on The Avengers in almost every way at the same time as further probing the complex character dynamics and smaller details that made its predecessor so memorable.
The genius of the film comes in Whedon's exploration of what keeps the characters together as well as what separates them, probing at the dynamic and pushing it to its limits to find out how a group of such colourful, extreme characters could ever co-exist. The hand-grenade that achieves that is James Spader's excellent, hammy Ultron - with assistance from Scarlet Witch's powers of suggestion.
Spader is deliciously over-the-top (something cynics absolutely didn't appreciate), channelling and amplifying every darker aspect of Tony Stark's personality (on which he feeds) so he's effectively a charismatic, evil Frankenstein's monster. As scene-chewing goes, it's a masterclass.
And beyond the personal stories and the emotional moments (like Quicksilver's surprisingly affecting death), Ultron has some quite stunning spectacles from the Hulkbuster battle to the Sokovia ascension.