Ever since Iron Man was released in 2008, the MCU has run like a well-oiled machine. Well, most of the time. It goes without saying that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is arguably the biggest, most successful franchise in film history and has changed the landscape of modern-day cinema.
That does not mean that there haven't been a few missteps along the way. A number of films have not met the high expectations that fans have set for the MCU from time to time, Some films just couldn't live up to the hype, while others weren't the box office hits Marvel had hoped for.
10 Thor: Love and Thunder Became The Lowest-Rated Thor Movie
Thor: Love and Thunder represented the first solo series to get a fourth film. The film follows Thor as he searches for his place in the universe while fighting Gorr the God Butcher and reuniting with his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, now the Mighty Thor.
Expectations were high after the massive success of Thor: Ragnarok. However, Love and Thunder is now the lowest-rated Thor movie on Rotten Tomatoes which is extremely surprising given how Thor: The Dark World was panned. Fans would have preferred to see more of Gorr butchering gods rather than the non-stop comedy that contributed to the film’s uneven tone.
9 Eternals Was Too Ambitious For Its Own Good
Eternals was touted as one of the most ambitious projects in the MCU before its release. Directed by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, the film followed the Eternals, a powerful group of immortal beings, across two different time periods as they protected Earth from the Deviants. The film boasted an impressive cast including Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek.
Eternals crashed and burned upon its release, and is still currently the only MCU film with a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes at 47%. The movie was criticized before its release, perhaps unfairly so. It didn't help that the Eternals were not very well-known to the average MCU fan, and the film had little connection to the greater MCU. Still, Marvel Studios does not seem fazed by its poor reception, as a sequel is rumored to be in development.
8 Iron Man 2 Could Not Live Up To Its Predecessor
After Iron Man kicked off the MCU, Iron Man 2 was the first sequel from Marvel. It follows Tony Stark as he deals with his declining health and a new villain, Ivan Vanko, rising to avenge his father.
Iron Man 2 is often seen as the weakest of the Iron Man films. The MCU has often struggled in second films, and it didn’t help that the movie failed to live up to the successful first entry. Vanko was not seen as a great villain, and star Mickey Rourke did not have great things to say about working with Marvel Studios.
7 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Crashed From Immense Hype
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was part of the MCU's Phase Four, sending Stephen Strange into a multiversal conflict with the Scarlet Witch, building on the multiverse story established in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Unfortunately, it could not match No Way Home's success.
Multiverse of Madness couldn't live up to Marvel's hype. The internet was sure that the film would be filled with cameos, as nearly every Marvel character either from the MCU, Fox, and even animated shows, was rumored to appear in the film. Fans were treated to the Illuminati, including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, but no other surprises were in store.
6 Iron Man 3's Mandarin Polarized Fans
Iron Man 3 was the first MCU movie to be released after The Avengers. Tony Stark gets into a personal war with the Mandarin and hits his lowest point yet. The film was a financial success; becoming the first solo film to gross over a billion dollars at the box office, but it divided Marvel's fans.
In the film, the Mandarin is played by Sir Ben Kingsley. However, he turns out to be Trevor Slattery; an actor posing as the Mandarin. This decision divided fans so much that it was retconned in a Marvel One-Shot, suggesting that the real Mandarin was still out there somewhere/ This was eventually paid off in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
5 Thor: The Dark World's Failure Changed The Thor Franchise
The second entry in Thor’s solo series, Thor: The Dark World found the Odinson battling Malekith the Dark Elf for control over the Aether; later revealed to be one of the Infinity Stones. While the film was somewhat profitable, it was one of the MCU's more forgettable entries.
Malekith was labeled as a forgettable, one-off villain. It is rumored that there was lots of studio meddling in the project as well, which never helps. The film eventually led to the studio taking Thor in an entirely different direction in Thor: Ragnarok, which fans have dubbed one of the best MCU films to date.
4 Black Widow Was Released At The Wrong Time
Black Widow is a perfect example of a movie that came out at the wrong time. The film was hit by several delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finally releasing in May 2021. It was also released simultaneously on Disney+ for an extra fee. Black Widow only made $379 million at the box office, a very low return for a Marvel film.
Of course, part of the film's reduced profits came from the ongoing global pandemic. However, fans argued that the movie came too late. Even without a global crisis keeping fans out of theaters, all of this came after Natasha’s heroic sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame when fans were asking for a Black Widow solo film for years.
3 The Incredible Hulk Wasn't Well-Received At The Time
The black sheep of the MCU, The Incredible Hulk introduced Bruce Banner/Hulk into the MCU. Bruce Banner tries to cure his Jekyll/Hyde condition while on the run from the US government, also coming into conflict with the Abomination.
In the early days of the MCU, some films were hit-and-miss. Unfortunately, The Incredible Hulk did not make a big impact at the time. However, the film's legacy is impressive. Several of its characters have appeared over ten years later in other MCU projects, making it one of the most important films in the MCU in retrospect.
2 Captain Marvel Was Considered Average
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The first female-led solo film in the MCU, Captain Marvel was released in 2019 and tells the origin story of Carol Danvers, who becomes Captain Marvel after making contact with the Tesseract. She then becomes embroiled in a galactic war between the Kree and the Skrulls.
The movie grossed over a billion dollars at the box office and was well-received by critics, but many fans thought the film was only average. Some took umbrage with star Brie Larson’s performance, but a lot of this could be attributed to the unnecessary, misogynistic hate Larson received online.
1 Avengers: Age of Ultron Needed A Stronger Villain
Expectations were sky-high for Avengers: Age of Ultron after The Avengers changed the landscape of cinema, not to mention the trajectory of the MCU. The second Avengers film found the team reuniting to battle Ultron, an android hellbent on destroying the world in order to save it.
The film was described as over-stuffed and its villain, Ultron, felt under-developed. Ultron also did not live up to the villainous expectations set by Tom Hiddleston’s Loki in the first film. Over time, Age of Ultron has received more love from the fans, thanks in part to the way it introduced important characters such as Scarlet Witch and Vision into the MCU.