Hey guys!. In this post, I’ll be discussing a list of Top 5 Non-MCU Marvel Movies. Marvel movies and the MCU have become pretty synonymous over the last thirteen years.
Black Widow is the 24th film in this wildly successful franchise, so it’s not really much of a surprise that the word Marvel immediately conjures thoughts of the MCU.
But the MCU’s really a relative newcomer when it comes to adaptations of Marvel comics, with some of the earliest non-serialized films dating back to the mid-80s. In all, there have been 37 theatrically released non-MCU Marvel movies.
I have to admit that I haven’t seen all of them, but I have seen most and there’s certainly some varied quality.
There are going to be some franchises that appear on here more than once. Alright, let’s get this top list started.
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse.
This fifth spot on the list was a little tough for me because I actually have a surprising number of movies that are equally entertaining to me. So, it was kind of a five-way tie for fifth place, but I decided to give the edge to Spider-Verse because of the stylistic originality. This is an animated film unlike any I’ve ever seen.
The animation is just about as close to a perfect representation of a comic book as you could get, blending 3D and 2D with mesmerizing bright colors and comic book texturing. And I love how this film embodies the comic book style and feels like one that’s been brought to life.
The use of thought bubbles and scene transition cards and even the visual representation of sounds like clicking a pen or shooting a web are incorporated so cleverly and seamlessly. The originality extends beyond just the animation to the premise and story too.
I’ll admit that when I first saw the previews for this movie, I had next to no interest in it. It sounded like a ridiculous concept, but everybody and their Aunt May were raving about it, so I did end up seeing it in the theater and I liked it.
Even now, I don’t think I enjoy this quite as much as most people do, but it’s one that’s steadily improved for me on rewatch. I still think the idea of the spider-verse is kind of silly, but this film handled the execution of that idea really well.
There are so many characters and ideas and plot lines, but somehow it never feels confusing or overwhelming, which is pretty impressive. In the midst of this multi-verse, it does tackle yet another Spider-Man origin story (this time for Miles Morales), but it’s nicely counterbalanced by an older, more experienced Peter Parker.
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Well, considering there are 13 films in the X-Men franchise, I guess it’s probably not much of a surprise that some of the movies were going to make an appearance here. And of the core, non spin-off films, this is definitely my favorite.
I’m a sucker for period pieces, so X-Men: First Class is pretty high in the franchise for me too, but I’m also a sucker for time travel movies and Days of Future Past blends those two elements together in such an interesting way.
The majority of the movie takes place in 1973 and does a really good job of inserting fictional comic book ideas into the real past.
It features things like the Vietnam War and the Paris Peace Accords and people like Nixon, but wraps in this very sci-fi comic book threat that’s obviously fictional but feels like it could’ve been a real thing in an alternate timeline.
The themes and action set pieces and overall premise are all great here, but for me, one of the best and perhaps most surprising elements of this has got to be the characters.
And this comes into play in two ways: the actual physical integration of the characters and then the unexpected weight of the character arcs - especially for Charles, Raven, and Hank. The X-Men franchise was never really the most consistent, especially in terms of its timeline.
We got the original trilogy in the early 2000s which had some inconsistencies itself, but then got a spin-off origin story prequel for Wolverine before seeing the franchise get rebooted in prequel form with First Class, only to follow that up with another Wolverine spin-off set after the events of the third film of the original trilogy.
It was all over the place and so I think one of the things I appreciate the most about this movie was its ability to tie everything together. We’ve got the prequel timeline and actors converging with the original trilogy timeline and actors to produce something that at least helps to patch up some of the inconsistencies.
3. Deadpool 2.
So, I actually really like both Deadpool movies. They’re ridiculous, but also incredibly entertaining. Sometimes you just need silly, light fare that’s simply fun to watch.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the dramatic and consequential comic book movies just as much as the next person, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little break from the heavier stuff. And despite some darker themes, Deadpool 2 is exactly the kind of movie to provide that type of break.
The character of Deadpool, with his fourth wall breaks and near-constant barrage of quips and referential humor makes it really easy to enjoy the movie and just kind of go with the flow of the story.
It’s more consequential than the first film, but never quite takes on the self-serious dramatic quality that some comic book movies do, even during some of its more dire scenes. When I first saw Deadpool 2, I liked it almost exactly equally as the first, but this one has definitely taken the lead for me on rewatch.
The first film is still really entertaining and serves as a nice introduction to Deadpool since I previously knew nothing about the character, but the small-scale revenge story at its core feels exceptionally average to me.
And even though I’m not a fan of the Russell character in this sequel, I am a fan of the expanded story and thematic broadening. I already mentioned earlier in the article that I’m a sucker for time travel stories, so I really liked Cable and all of the complexity that he brought to the story.
The introduction of X-Force was also extremely entertaining and the action set-pieces were much more impressive and fun this time around.
The humor felt a smidge less overly-juvenile which was a welcome alteration, but just like the first movie, this one has a surprising amount of heart to it, especially with regard to the relationship between Wade and Vanessa.
2. Spider-Man.
Not only was this the first film of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, but it was also the first comic book movie that I ever saw in theaters. There were certainly quite a few that had been released in the 90s that I could’ve seen, but for some reason I didn’t.
In fact, I think the only superhero movies I had seen anywhere prior to this were Batman and Batman Returns... oh, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies. But I credit Spider-Man with getting me interested in this type of movie.
It was this interesting progression forward - not quite as bizarre and overly comic booky as many of the movies from the late 80s and 90s, but still more fun and campy than the surge of darker-toned films that would dominate the latter half of the 2000s.
We’ve had four cinematic iterations of Spider-Man in the last two decades and have had to watch Uncle Ben die far more times than necessary as a result. But in 2002, this felt fresh... at least for those of us who have never read the comics.
It was an ideal origin story with a compelling unlikely hero, a wild and colorful villain, and some really impressive visuals. That last part doesn’t hold up quite as well now, but back then, those first few swings through New York City with Spider-Man were absolutely thrilling.
The whole trilogy has this very fun, comic book campiness imparted to it by Sam Raimi, but I think this first movie utilizes it the best.
The second film focuses on its stronger story and the third film takes the campiness to an overly silly level, but this one nails the balance between making a good live-action superhero movie and paying homage to its comic book origins.
1. Spider-Man 2.
Yup, yet another Spider-Man movie. Like said before, I was originally trying to avoid overloading the list with a single franchise or character, but it’s not my fault they make such good Spider-Man movies.
This was such an enjoyable movie and a genuinely good improvement on and expansion of the first film, making it easily the best comic book sequel until The Dark Knight came out. In fact, I gotta say, I think this ruined sequels for me for a little while.
This was really the first big blockbuster sequel that I was excited for and it ended up being great and exceeded the first film, which sounds like it should be a great thing. And it was... for this movie.
But it put this obviously mistaken idea into my head that sequels were always gonna be these great follow-ups, so it certainly resulted in some disappointing viewing experiences in the years to come. But luckily the viewing experience of this film is never disappointing, even rewatching it now almost two decades later.
The origin story of the first movie was great, but this movie provides us with a logical follow-up. Crime-fighting and saving the city is a cool and exciting thing, but it’s also a huge responsibility, so I love that this story explores that in a surprisingly relatable way.
Because, yeah, Peter’s a superhero, but he’s also just a teenager. So, of course he would get burnt out and want time to be himself and not just Spider-Man. But of course that introduces a lot of issues and conflicts, so it’s just a really good story about balancing the different aspects of your life.
The action and web-swinging scenes here are even better than the first (which was also carried over to the incredibly fun PS2 game) and Doc Ock is still the best Spider-Man villain we’ve seen in any of the movies. Plus, this movie’s got one of the most iconic cinematic hero moments of all time.
That is it from today’s post on Top 5 Non-MCU Marvel Movies. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below.
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Chandan is the writer of “Top 5 Non-MCU Marvel Movies”. Also, Connect with me on Facebook.