10 Worst-Reviewed MCU Films That Fans Still Loved

On March 5, 2019, just a day after its US premiere, THR’s Todd McCarthy said, “The picture is not dull, exactly, just mundane, marked by unimaginative plotting, cut-rate villains, a bland visual style and a lack of elan in every department. Or put it this way: What Black Panther did for black representation in the superhero realm is not done for women in Captain Marvel,” in his review of the film. His was just one of the many negative reviews that bedeviled Captain Marvel, boosted by a troll campaign against the lead actress that made the negative reviews sound worse than they actually were. However, Captain Marvel beat the odds to become the first female-led film to cross the $1 billion mark before Barbie came along, of course. The film also shook the industry, forcing multiple platforms to change their protocols regarding how film reviews are recorded.

A review bombing campaign on Rotten Tomatoes, where most critics talked about Brie Larson’s personal opinions rather than the film, was the main focus of the controversy surrounding Captain Marvel. The film’s anticipation rate dropped to a meager 28% within days of the release of its first trailer as Larson’s haters turned on the heat. RT was later forced to change its reviewing process, allowing the film’s ratings to rise above average, although it is still ranked 21 out of the 35 MCU films released so far. Most fans, however, ignored the online storm and flocked to theaters to watch the Kree-Skrull war. It eventually earned over $455 million on its opening weekend and grossed over $1.1 billion at the global box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing films ever.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the MCU’s post-pandemic miracle after it beat the near-impossible odds to gross $955.8 million at the global box office. While it didn’t suffer from the same obscene level of controversial criticism as Captain Marvel, it was still the subject of many negative reviews that saw its Rotten Tomatoes score stick to just above average. The reviews later improved to 74 percent, which is better but still low for an MCU film because it is still ranked 28th out of the 35 MCU films on the platform.

A convoluted storyline and extensive use of CGI were at the center of most of the negative reviews surrounding the film. However, the return of Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda and Tom Holland as Spider-Man to join Benedict Cumberbatch created a favorable casting that most fans just couldn’t resist.

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“It’s decent superhero blockbustering, but rather remote and vaguely second-hand. At this point, even with Black’s flashes of black humor, the machinery is more or less taking care of itself, offering roughly half of the genial wit and enjoyment of the first “Iron Man,” Michael Philips described Iron Man 3 in a review for the Chicago Tribune. Their sentiments were shared by other popular critics who largely agreed that the film was decent but not revolutionary-level good.

However, fans didn’t care about the negativity, as Iron Man 3 became the second MCU film to cross the $1 billion mark and the fifth highest-grossing film ever at the time.

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Avengers: Infinity War follows the majority of MCU superheroes in a series of chaotic battles as they seek to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) from wiping out half of all life in the universe on his evil quest to find and control all the six Infinity Stones. The immense success of the film proved that MCU fans can follow their favorite characters even through the most confusing CGI-heavy battle. Critics weren’t very helpful in this endeavor, though, as many criticized the lack of proper development for most of the characters in the film’s large ensemble cast.

“Considered on its own, as a single, nearly 2-hour-40-minute movie, Avengers: Infinity War makes very little sense,” the NYT said. Many positive reviews were also made about the film, but nothing that pointed at it being the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, which it went on to become. The film beat these odds to become the first-ever superhero film to cross the $2 billion mark.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is the final film of the GOTG trilogy by James Gunn. The film follows the team as they race to save Rocket after he is targeted for death by his creator, known as the High Evolutionary, the evil leader of Orgocorp. When it was initiated, the film was supposed to be nothing but a well-executed ending to the trilogy that had already beaten expectations to create the most famous intergalactic ragtag superheroes in the metaverse with its first two films. Unfortunately, controversy hit the film in pre-production as James Gunn got fired by Disney. Gunn’s return after a relentless fan campaign breathed a new lease of life into the film as most of the stars also agreed to return and give the trilogy a befitting ending.

When Gunn finally put the film together, it became the living definition of absolute resilience for most fans, but some critics didn’t think so. “…Dour, visually off-putting two-and-a-half-hour A.S.P.C.A. nightmare of a film (that) may only be for completionist fans,” the NYT described the film. Their comments were in line with a couple of other mainstream outlets that panned the film, especially for alleged cruelty against animals. Fans still showed up in droves to watch the film, which eventually grossed a whopping $845.6 million, beating the first film in the trilogy and becoming one of the highest-earning post-pandemic films for the MCU.

One of the saddest events to ever hit the MCU as a whole was the sudden death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020. He had proved himself as one of the most talented actors to ever join the franchise through his outstanding MCU debut performance as T’chala in Black Panther (2018), the MCU’s sixth-highest-grossing film so far. The sequel still came to fruition, with an Oscar-worthy performance from Angela Bassett becoming its highlight feature.

Most outlets described the film as a befitting eulogy for Boseman while also praising outstanding performances from Letitia Wright, who became the new lead actor, and Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia. However, while most critics were generally coy, considering the many hurdles the film had overcome, some outlets still gave scathing reviews. On November 8, 2022, three days before its US release, The Washington Post said, “Wakanda Forever winds up feeling hopelessly stalled, covering up an inability to move on by resorting to repetitive, over-familiar action sequences, maudlin emotional beats, and an uninvolving, occasionally incoherent story.” Fans still embraced the film as it made $859 million globally to become one of the most profitable films of 2022.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) follows the Avengers led by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) as they try to stop Stark’s now-rogue AI, Ultron (James Spader), from wiping out humanity. Simple as its plot sounds, Age of Ultron remains one of the most complex projects ever pulled off at the MCU, featuring an expanded ensemble cast.

The film is also one of the most fan-centered MCU films of all time because, despite its action-heavy plot, Age of Ultron still features an impressive level of character building that allowed characters like Wanda Maximoff and Vision to become MCU fan favorites. However, most of the film’s positives weren’t reflected in the reviews, as the film struggled with average and outright negative ratings on most platforms. It still ranks 26th out of 35 on RT with a 76 percent approval rating and even lower on Metacritic, where it has a 66 percent rating. Fans still flocked to the theatres to watch it as the film recorded one of the highest opening weekends in history, going on to break lots of records, including hitting over $40 million at Imax in a record 12 days.

Thor: Love and Thunder benefitted heavily from Natalie Portman’s return as a revamped Jane Foster, now on equal footing with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor as she wielded Mjolnir. The emotional twist of Thor’s lover, helping him save the world while battling breast cancer, also proved to be the most gripping aspect of the film.

The film, whose production was heavily affected by the pandemic, still endured more problems upon its release, as it had to do without Russia and China, both of which were huge markets for previous Thor films. While positive reviews like Indiewire’s, which said, “Waititi continues to brighten up the Thor movies with his own flavor of wackiness, which is as welcome here as it was grating in Jojo Rabbit,” were a welcome relief, it still struggled with negative reviews elsewhere and low ratings on aggregating platforms. However, fans still loved the film as it beat all these hurdles to gross over $760 million worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing Thor film.

Harrison Ford replacing William Hurt as Thadeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross was one of the reasons why many people looked positively towards Captain America: Brave New World. Unfortunately, despite being praised for his portrayal of Red Hulk, Ford could also be one of the reasons why the film doesn’t meet its financial expectations in some markets, as multiple reviews, including Indiewire, suggested that his character has a lot in common with Donald Trump. Being a political thriller, the timing of the film’s release, at the peak of global political temperatures following Trump’s election victory, could play a huge role in whether some people choose to watch it or not.

Unfortunately, the film was so heavily panned by critics before its official US release that its $88 million opening weekend came as a total surprise. The film still sits near the bottom of RT rankings with an approval rating of 49 percent, only beating Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania and Eternals. Fans, however, rated the film at 82 percent on RT, marking a huge discrepancy from what critics gave. The majority of the film’s marketing was therefore left to word of mouth, which saw its earnings drop significantly on the second weekend, but the film is still on track to make $400 million, which is all thanks to the fans.

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On July 23, 2024, just a day after its official release, EW wrote a scathing review of the film titled “Deadpool & Wolverine is relentlessly irritating, with cheap jokes instead of stake.” Their negative sentiments were shared by a couple of other high-profile online publications, which just didn’t seem to enjoy Ryan Reynolds’ humorous character. Aggregator websites didn’t open too favorably to the film either, as RT gave the film 6.9/10 and a 78 percent approval rating, currently ranking it as 24th out of the MCU 35 films. Metacritic and IMDB both have the film at 56 percent, which is way lower than The Incredible Hulk (2008), which is rated at 61% despite enjoying a lot less love from fans.

Despite the low rating and mixed reviews, Deadpool & Wolverine was warmly received by fans as the cold and hot blend of Hugh Jackman’s serious and ferocious Wolverine and Reynolds’ endlessly humorous Deadpool was welcomed by fans. The film eventually grossed $1.33 billion, becoming the first MCU film to cross the $1 billion mark since Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.