The ongoing pandemic definitely affected the box office this year (and last), but that didn’t stop Marvel and DC from pumping out multiple big budget movies. What have been the best Marvel and DC movies?
With the year almost at its end and the last superhero movie of the year, Spider-Man: No Way Home, hitting theaters soon, we are ranking the best superhero movies this year. When the movie No Way Home arrives, we’ll add it to the ranking. The question is, where will it land? We’ll have to see! In the meantime, here’s our superhero movie ranking so far.
The best Marvel and DC movies of 2021
8. Injustice
Synopsis: On an alternate Earth, the Joker tricks Superman into killing Lois Lane, sending Superman down a path of destruction.
DC’s latest animated adaptation of the Injustice storyline falls flat in front of comics and the video games. The biggest problem is the length of the movie. Cramming that big of a storyline in 80 minutes was never going to work. Bizarre changes were made to the story to fit the time. Making changes to an adaptation isn’t bad, but changes should only be made when it’ll make the project better. This would have worked as a series instead of a movie.
Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW..Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2020
7. Black Widow
Synopsis: Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy, and the broken relationships left long before she became an Avenger.
Black Widow takes place before any of the Avengers movies. So it definitely helped in character development of an already dead character. Since Black Widow was one of the only few major Avengers who didn’t have a standalone movie, there was a lot of hype when the project was announced. But the movie feels unnecessary in many ways. It honestly should’ve been in Phase 2 of the MCU because it definitely doesn’t feel like a prequel that adds to the major storyline. The movie is still definitely enjoyable, had a great cast and a lot of action.
6. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Synopsis: Eddie Brock is still struggling to coexist with the shape-shifting extraterrestrial Venom. When deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady also becomes host to an alien symbiote, Brock and Venom must put aside their differences to stop his reign of terror.
This and the the previous Venom movie both are very enjoyable, fulfilling what a basic comic book movie requires and are popular among general audiences and fans of Marvel movies. This sequel builds upon the first movie and presents the relationship between Venom and Eddie again in a goofy, comical way. It’s definitely a major improvement over the first movie. But again, it feels too outlandish. I mean, it has one of the cruelest comic book characters and what we get isn’t even a part of that. It features an end credit scene teasing a potential Venom and Spider-Man crossover, which is pretty exciting
5. Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1 and 2
Synopsis: During the holidays, a brutal series of murders strike fear into the city of Gotham. Batman sets out to pursue the serial killer with the support of police officer James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent.
Unlike Injustice, these DC animated movies based on the iconic mid-1990s DC story from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale definitely are great on their own and are amazing adaptations as well. The animation style was different and better than the regular DC animated movies. It has all the generic Batman stuff that the character needs. There’s also a great Catwoman-Batman chase scene in part one that fans definitely enjoyed.
(L-R): Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Ajak (Salma Hayek), Sersi (Gemma Chan), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and Druig (Barry Keoghan) in Marvel Studios’ ETERNALS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
4. Eternals
Synopsis: The Eternals, a race of immortal beings with superhuman powers who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years, reunite to battle the evil Deviants.
The MCU tried something unique this year with Eternals. It definitely is a flawed movie, but it features an interesting approach in superhero team up movies. The scale of the movie is huge, the cinematography and the building was impressive. Eternals is darker and gives us a more mature tone over other MCU movies, while still having a little bit of humor. The movie is definitely the most controversial MCU project in a while.
3. The Suicide Squad
Synopsis: The government sends the most dangerous supervillains in the world — Bloodsport, Peacemaker, King Shark, Harley Quinn and others, to the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Armed with high-tech weapons, they trek through the dangerous jungle on a search-and-destroy mission, with only Col. Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave.
The Task Force X is back and better. The tone of the movie doesn’t remain as good as the beginning, but it is still is a very fun, over the top R-rated action movie. Though a lot of James Gunn’s humor doesn’t work in this movie (subjectively) and it has a few awkward scenes, it still is able to make the audience love the characters. James Gunn definitely did an amazing job with writing these characters, not the overall script though. Polka dot man, Ratcatcher ll, and Rick Flag are the fan favorites from the movie. It’s overall a fun, enjoyable experience, but killing two of your best executed characters in the movie is definitely not something many appreciated. Because that hurts okay?
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
2. Shang-Chi and The Legend Of the Ten Rings
Synopsis: Martial-arts master Shang-Chi confronts the past he thought he left behind when he’s drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Shang Chi is Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead. It certainly had a very different visual and action style because of the location it’s set in. The movie isn’t entirely free of the Marvel formula, but it is still an exciting origin story for a new character in MCU. Simu Liu did a great performance as Shang Chi.
1. Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Zack Snyder returned to the superhero genre with his 4-hour cut of Justice League, that indeed was a great moment for a lot of DC fans who waited for their favorite superheroes to team up for years.
The movie was a little less serious than previous Snyder DCEU movies, but still had a lot of heart. It gave justice to all the members of league. Though Superman still had less screen time, he had great moments and featured the iconic black suit. Cyborg and Flash, who felt unnecessary in the previous cut, now felt important and had actual depth. It definitely proves that Zack Snyder knows how to do superhero team-ups better than anyone who has done super hero team-ups, until now.
Zack Snyder’s cut was definitely a far better movie than the 2017’s Justice League, as well as the best superhero movie of this year. The writing, the action, the cinematography, the plot, the characters, all were top notch. The movie also sets up Aquaman and The Flash movie in a great way. It also teased a lot of projects that were originally supposed to happen, but the future will tell if they will ever happen. There’s definitely a lot of demand for a sequel. The movie had a lot of unnecessary scenes that could’ve been cut down. If this ever gets a theatrical release, a 3 hour and 40 minute cut of the movie would work just as good, or even better.
Where do you think Spider-Man: No Way Home will rank?
The best Marvel and DC movies of 2021: Ranked
Source: Pinoy White Knights
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