Every MCU Director's Best Film (NOT In The MCU)

Iron Man 3 might well be the most polarising MCU outing to date. Some love its humour and different direction, while others hate its inconsistent tone and lack of actual Iron Man. And that’s before you get into the whole Mandarin twist.

Whatever side of the argument you fall on, there is no denying Shane Black gave us a bold and unique take on the superhero movie.

Black may have worked in the movie industry for decades but surprisingly he has only directed four films. Despite that, picking his best isn’t exactly easy. While Iron Man 3 is ineligible for this list and the apocalyptically awful 2018 Predator reboot is, well, apocalyptically awful, it is extraordinarily tight between Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys.

Both are bombastic buddy cop films that sadly bombed at the box office but have both gone on to earn well deserved cult followings. In the end, while Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was an extremely good debut for Black and indirectly led to Robert Downey Jr. getting cast as Tony Stark, The Nice Guys is the superior movie.

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe give the funniest performances of their careers as a pair of private eyes investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl in 1977 Los Angeles. One-part Boogie Nights, plus one-part Lethal Weapon, Black somehow revitalised the buddy cop genre by making a hilariously surprising and utterly irreverent crime comedy.

A special shout out must go to young Angourie Rice, best known as Betty Brant in the MCU, for stealing the show as the daughter of Gosling’s character.

We can only hope that one day we may get a sequel or spin-off to this masterpiece.