Every MCU Movie - Ranked From Worst To Best

4. Iron Man 3

After Iron Man 2 crashed and burned (it's a comparative thing), the decision to hire Shane Black for the threequel was inspired. His nostalgic action credentials and Drew Pearce's brilliantly entertaining script more than made up for the well-publicised grumbles over the Mandarin "debacle".

Crucially, the third movie also took the ideas seeded in the second - of Tony's struggles with heroism and his mental scars and introduced the idea that being a hero comes at a cost. It's a great step towards Civil War and it gives Iron Man a welcome extra dimension.

Strengths

The action bromance and buddy cop dynamic that Shane Black loves so much are in full flow, for the first time making Rhodey and Stark's relationship completely compelling. Stark's PTSD ghosts are a brilliant touch, and the perfect foundation for Civil War's later escalation, and Aldrich Killian is actually a great villain (despite suddenly being given the power of fire breathing without any precedent).

Weaknesses

The Mandarin "twist" is a disservice to the character in the comics (probably for the sake of avoiding the racist connotations of the original), and while the reception to the whole Trevor Slattery switch were entirely over-blown, it all feels a little cheap.