By 
The MCU loves a big, explosive battle. Starting with The Avengers in 2012, Marvel aimed to put the MCU on the map by creating a truly iconic team-up battle using the most advanced effects of the time, but that was just the beginning.
Since then, most Marvel movies have at least one pricey and action-packed fight sequence to keep superhero movie fans happy, but not every MCU installment pulls out all the stops to make them truly memorable.
Let’s look back at all the biggest MCU battles and decide which one now reigns supreme…
7. Statue of Liberty Face-Off (Spider-Man: No Way Home)
This one slides into the bottom of the list. Though it’s not an Avengers-level battle, the sheer number of Spider-Man villains and Peters Parker involved in the Statue of Liberty fight at the end of No Way Home means that it does amount to one of the bigger scraps in the MCU, which largely end up being against one bad guy or girl.
It’s fun to see Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men tussle with the likes of Electro and the Green Goblin, but the visuals are also hampered by the nighttime setting, cannily hiding some of the more ropey Sony-Marvel CGI. Still, it’s a solid sequence elsewhere, with high personal stakes for the Peters as they try to save rather than destroy the villains bent on wiping them out. Garfield’s Peter saving MJ from a fatal fall remains a standout moment in all the chaos.
6. Sokovia Fight (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Age of Ultron‘s final showdown suffers from some of the same issues as the Battle of New York because Ultron’s army amounts to a generic stream of metal bots that need to be dispatched as quickly and efficiently as possible so that they can take him out. At the end of the day, they’re just …things. The film succeeds in making it feel like it matters by intercutting key moments for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, while Black Widow and Hawkeye’s “another day at work” attitude keeps the pace light. Vision’s weird new powers also keep everyone in the game as he banters with Thor about wielding Mjolnir and straight up baffles Rhodey with his mere presence.
When the Avengers gather at the heart of Sokovia to protect the core, the iconic 360 shot we remember from the first team-up movie evolves as new allies like Wanda, Quicksilver and Vision join the fray. At this point, you realize these films and their battles are only going to get bigger, and you can’t wait to see what’s coming next.
5. Avengers vs. Avengers (Captain America: Civil War)
Captain America: Civil War was basically Avengers 2.5, so it was bound to deliver something special. As Tony and Steve’s disagreement over the team’s accountability heads towards an Avengers vs. Avengers battle, it’s intriguing to see how it will play out. When the film finally unveils its big fight, it is indeed great stuff, but the setting is so dull and uncinematic. An airport awash with gray and beige buildings does nothing to amplify the action against an uninspiring cloudy sky. They might as well have kept the green screen in there, given how unremarkable it is!
The fight between the Avengers pretty much makes up for it. Spider-Man’s arrival and Star Wars battle plan, Bucky and Sam forced to work together in a less-than-ideal situation, Giant Man freaking everyone out, the tease that Wanda is more powerful than literally anyone else there by a lot, and Vision accidentally taking out Rhodey, making sure everyone understands the real cost of these shenanigans, all contribute to Civil War‘s fantastic battle sequence.
4. Wakanda Showdown (Avengers: Infinity War)
The Avengers have an entire Wakandan army behind them as Infinity War comes to its shocking climax. Tentatively assuming they’re safe behind the country’s high-tech barrier, it ultimately proves no match for Proxima Midnight’s sacrificial pawns, and Black Panther and Captain America have to lead the charge as things get really dangerous.
In the lush Wakandan landscape, there are some great moments as Thor finally arrives with Stormbreaker, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon. Bucky swinging Rocket around and using him as a second gun is downright genius, and it’s fun to see Bruce get in the Hulkbuster and see how he can fight without being the big green guy. But the battle doesn’t culminate as we would expect. In fact, the effort to take out the big bad behind it all, Thanos, comes to a crawl as the Avengers try and fail in slow motion to prevent The Snap. Concurrently, we’ve also been witnessing Iron Man and the gang on Titan flop. We can only watch helplessly as the Avengers’ first big loss impacts the entire MCU.
3. Battle of New York (The Avengers)
The first, but not quite the best, the Battle of New York felt groundbreaking at the time and is still enormously fun to watch as the OG Avengers finally put their egos and issues aside to take down Loki’s incoming Chitauri army, but it’s an infantry that doesn’t dial up the fear as much as it does threaten with sheer numbers.
The gang have been at it for a while before Bruce Banner pulls up on his sputtering motorcycle and heads into the scrap as the Hulk, who is thankfully on their side this time around. Hawkeye and Black Widow get to prove they’re clutch in key moments, while Cap is just Cap, seamlessly taking on the leadership role in a chaotic group of individuals that includes a literal God. Hulk punching the Leviathan out of the sky is a real showstopper, but it’s his hilarious face-off with Loki that takes the cake. This invasion from space changed everything for the Avengers and set the benchmark for every major MCU battle to come.
2. Titan Attack (Avengers: Infinity War)
Where Infinity War‘s Wakandan half of the battle against Thanos involved hundreds, if not thousands, of people, the concurrent fight on Titan was a smaller but more impactful affair that went on for a while but barely slowed the purple bastard down.
Star-Lord’s plan to get the Infinity Gauntlet actually turned out to be a good one, as the Guardians, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Spider-Man hit the mad Titan with everything they had so that Mantis could make him go sleepytime. As a result, we got to see magic blend with pure firepower and Spider-like cunning, all set against an eerie sunset among the crumbling monuments of a fallen planet. If this were an optional stage in Mortal Kombat, you would 100% pick it.
Unfortunately, the ragtag team proves no match for Thanos, thanks to Peter Quill’s explosive rage when finding out that Gamora had been sacrificed. But for a moment, when Tony is left to take Thanos on alone, we believe he might be able to do it. Until we don’t. All that for a drop of blood.
1. Saving Earth (Avengers: Endgame)
It’s hard to see how they’re going to top the climax of Avengers: Endgame, where basically every Marvel hero from over a decade of storytelling joins forces to stop Thanos from once again snapping away half of existence and undermining all the Avengers’ efforts to reverse what he did at the end of Infinity War.
From the initial three-on-one scrap with a stoneless Thanos, where Cap weilds Mjolnir and still can’t beat him, to his brave walk onto the battlefield armed with a broken shield, it’s already been an amazing fight that nonetheless feels hopeless until those portals open and the movie becomes a cinematic comic book splash page.
There’s so much happening it’s hard to know where to look, so repeated viewings of the battle sequence offer us details that are easy to miss, like Drax attacking Cull Obsidian from behind while Korg beats him mercilessly across the face. Meanwhile, Okoye easily takes out Corvus Glaive. But the big hits are also fist-pumping stuff as Giant Man takes a leaf out of the Hulk’s book and punches down a Leviathan, Captain Marvel puts the fear of god into Thanos, and Scarlet Witch shows she is a hair’s breadth from becoming the most powerful being in the universe. Even though Doctor Strange decides to busy himself with some encroaching water for the entire battle, everyone is working together to try to stop Thanos, and they emerge triumphant thanks to Tony’s final sacrifice.
This remains the biggest and most explosive of all the MCU battles. It’s simply thrilling.
The post Ranking the MCU’s Biggest Battles appeared first on Den of Geek.
