Best Marvel Movie 2018: 'Black Panther' Beats 'Avengers: Infinity War'

As 2018 draws to a close, Marvel fans are eagerly waiting for the superhero universe’s culmination scheduled for next year, what with Thanos having wiped out half of humanity. However, before you do that, it might be a good time to look back at how the year’s movies released by Marvel Studios fared critically.

Here are all the movies produced by Marvel Studios this year, ranked from best to worst in accordance to Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer (an algorithm that calculates the percentage of positive reviews for a film given by “approved” critics):

1. Black Panther

“Black Panther,” the origin story of the Marvel character T'Challa, who returns home to Wakanda to inherit the throne after his father’s death received 97 percent positive reviews. It grossed over $700 million in the U.S. box office alone and was also shortlisted for the Oscars in the categories of makeup and hairstyling, original score, original song, and visual effects.

“Virtually everything that distinguishes ‘Black Panther from past Marvel pics works to this standalone entry's advantage,” Variety said about the movie, while New York Times said, “a jolt of a movie, Black Panther creates wonder with great flair and feeling partly through something Hollywood rarely dreams of anymore: myth.”

2. Ant-man and the Wasp

“Ant-man and the Wasp” is the second sequel to “Antman” (2017). The plot of the latest installment revolved around the character Scott Lang grappling with the consequences of becoming a superhero as he is forced to suit up yet again and fight new and deadlier villains alongside Dr. Hank Pym’s daughter, Hope van Dyne. It got 88 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

It received mixed reviews from the critics, most of whom felt it fell short of creating the kind of impact that Marvel movies like “Avengers: Infinity War” created. “While it proves an all-round well-mounted distraction, Ant-Man And The Wasp undeniably lacks the scale and ambition of recent Marvel entries,” Empire said.

3. Avengers: Infinity War

It is the third installment of the “Avengers” series that brings together some of the favorite superheroes of Marvel universe – Ironman, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Black Panther, Spiderman, Ant-man, Clint Barton, Doctor Strange and many more – as they fight as a team to defeat various deadly villains.

The movie scored 84 percent favorable reviews and like “Black Panther,” was shortlisted for nominations in the categories of original score and visual effects for the Oscars.

“It can’t be judged as a stand-alone work since it doesn’t stand alone and isn’t — objectively speaking — even a very good piece of storytelling. As an exercise of studio might, it has no peer,” film critic David Edelstein wrote in a review for Vulture.

Another critic, Molly Freeman wrote in a review published on Screen Rant: “Avengers: Infinity War delivers an exciting culmination of the MCU, though it's overstuffed and suffers from certain typical Marvel movie problems.”

4. Deadpool 2

It is the sequel to “Deadpool” (2017) where the witty and mischief-making superhero teams up with mutants like Bedlam, Shatterstar, Domino and other powerful mutants to defeat a genetically enhanced soldier from the future and save an orphan child, Cable. It garnered 83 percent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The script for Deadpool 2 is loaded with winky, fourth-wall-piercing eruptions of meta, the kind of humor that can make even the slow-witted and literal-minded feel devilishly clever,” film critic A.O. Scott wrote in a review for the New York Times.

5. Venom

Although the movie was touted for the title song which was sung by Eminem, its plot, which revolved around journalist Eddie Brock merging with the alien Venom, which leaves him with superhuman strength as well as dark and twisted desires, did not manage to impress Marvel fans, who had encountered the villain in “Spiderman 3” (2007). It managed to get only a 27 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The ingratiating eccentricities of Venom aren’t enough to really distinguish the movie from its superhero-movie brethren,” movie critic Glen Kelly wrote about the movie in New York Times.