Ranking the MCU Films (So Far) part 3

Dare I try to do the nearly damn impossible and rank the film entries in the MCU?
It’s a very daunting task, because how do you choose between some of these? Is recency bias really a thing? Thunderbolts* over Iron Man? Black Panther not in the top 10? What the f*** am I even doing?

The important thing to remember with the below list is that these are ranked not by cinematic achievement or a carefully plotted out chart or an algorithm to determine what are truly the best MCU entries. These are based solely on how much enjoyment I derive from them. You might think I’m a madman, or that finally (FINALLY!) somebody truly gets you, but regardless of whether or not you disagree with my choices (I’m sure Erik will have a completely different breakdown) I hope you enjoy reading!

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House Ads 4- X-Men #1

I mean, what even needs to be said? It’s the best-selling issue in comics history.

I was a little kid when this book came out, and I remember seeing this ad in a book (I want to say it was X-Force #1?) I was so excited. I was calling my local comic book shop every week asking if it was out yet and when the guy finally, FINALLY told me that it was going to come in that week I was counting the minutes until I could finally read it (and stare at the amazing Jim Lee artwork, of course). I even got all of the different covers, the first (and only) time I got multiple copies of the same book just for the covers.

The X-Men have been one of Marvel’s most popular properties for decades, but this was them hitting a new level, and you could almost feel it coming, starting with this ad.

 

Issue #42: X-MEN ’97 (Part 1 of 2: Episodes 1-5) – Podcast

X-MEN ’97 (Part 1 of 2: Episodes 1-5) – Podcast

“The name’s Gambit… Remember it.”

On this extremely belated episode, Chris and Erik are talking about the *incredible* first season of Marvel’s “X-Men ’97” – now on Disney Plus! (Part 1: Episodes 1-5)

Also on this Episode:

  • “My Adventures with Superman” – Anime Series (Max)
  • James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025) update / suit talk
  • “Invincible” – Season 2 (Amazon Prime)
  • Jonathan Hickman’s “Ultimate Spider-man” relaunch
  • “Deadpool and Wolverine” – coming soon!
  • Zack’s thoughts on “X-Men ’97”!

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

 

Comic Zombie Podcast #29: X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse!

Issue 29: X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse!

“I am the rocks of the eternal shore: crash against me and be broken!” -Apocalypse 

In this solo episode, Chris goes deep into Marvel comics lore to gush about another famous (infamous?) 90’s X-Men story-arc: “THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE”! 

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll and Erik Slader)

Check out our blog at ComicZombie.net for more, including Erik’s recent reviews of Frank Miller’s Sin City graphic novels!

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Top 10 X-Men Teams

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Mavel’s mighty mutants have had quite a number of members under the banner of ‘the X-Men’. Not all have been called X-Men, specifically, but they are all allied under Charles Xavier’s dream, or at least some derivative of it. Generation X, Excalibur, X-Force, X-Factor, the New Mutants or the X-Men themselves, they’re all pretty much one huge family. One huge, huge, super dysfunctional family. Each team has had many iterations over the years, and everyone has their favorites, but today we are going to take a look at our votes for our 10 favorite rosters!

Honorable mentions to the government sponsored X-Factor, X-Statix, the original New Mutants, the New X-Men (both the Grant Morrison penned main X-Men and the teenagers around the time of House of M), Wolverine & The X-Men and the post-Dark Phoenix Saga rosters.

Note: for the purposes of this list we are only counting teams from the 616 universe, or the ‘main’ Marvel Universe. So, no Age of Apocalypse teams or Age of X teams or Days of Future Past in this one!

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Top 100 Heroes: 60-51

greatest-superheroes2

The age old questions of comic fans: Batman or Superman? Spider-Man or Wolverine? The debates about the best heroes are endless. We tried to make a top 10 list, but that was just too hard. So we tried a top 25, but that quickly became a top 50… you get the idea. So we were able to ‘narrow’ it down to an even 100. Odds are you will vehemently disagree with who did or did not make the list, or just the order that we placed them. But, hey, it’s our list.

(Honorable mentions to Beta Ray Bill, USAgent, Martian Manhunter, Kid Flash, Hercules, The Frenchman and the Female (the Boys), Abe Sapien, Spider-Man 2099, Static Shock, Nite Owl, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Spawn, Atom Eve, Mary Marvel, and a hell of a lot more. So many more we could- and may- do another whole 100 list!)

We will release these in installments of 10 so that you don’t have the longest list ever to read through. Agree with the placement or who made the list? Disagree with the burning power of a thousand suns? Let us know! Enjoy!

(Click here for Part One!)

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The X-MEN movies (Part 2: Wolverine and Deadpool)

Oh boy… well we survived the nightmare that was X3, but we’re not quite out of the woods just yet. After the initial X-Men trilogy (see Part One) started strong before crashing and burning, the studio decided to make a solo Wolverine spin-off, which sounded better on paper than in execution. This time, Erik Smash and I are going to rip into the X-Men spin-offs, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel, because against all odds Fox somehow managed to really turn things around with the release of “Deadpool” and “Logan” – proving to Hollywood that some characters work better with an R rating.

But first up…

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Directed by: Gavin Hood

Starring: Hugh Jackman (Logan / The Wolverine / James Howlett), Liev Schreiber (Victor Creed / Sabretooth), Danny Huston (William Stryker), Lynn Collins (Silverfox), Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson / “Deadpool”), Kevin Durand (Fred Dukes / The Blob), Will.I.Am (Wraith), Daniel Henney (Agent Zero), Taylor Kitsch (Remy LeBeau / Gambit), Tim Pocock (young Scott Summers / Cyclops), and Sir Patrick Stewart (Prof X cameo).

Plot: We finally get to see Wolverine’s history played out on the big screen, and it’s… it’s just awful. When the stars of the film don’t hide their disdain for it (both Jackman and Reynolds) and it is immediately ignored and forgotten by the rest of the franchise, you know you can sleep well as a director. And by sleep well I mean you should be horribly, horribly ashamed. Sigh…

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Top 25 X-Men

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The X-Men have had a lot of members over the years. A LOT. Especially when you consider all of the spin-off teams, like the New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, and Excalibur. There have to be around 100, maybe more. But if you aren’t overly versed in X-Men history, how are you to know your Josephs from your Rogues? Your Skins from your Storms? Well, I’ll help you out a bit and give you the 25 best members of the X-Men and their ancillary teams.

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X-Men Crossovers Part 8

 

aoaThe Age of Apocalypse

Took Place In: Age of Apocalypse Alpha, Omega, Amazing X-Men 1-4, Astonishing X-Men 1-4, X-Calibre 1-4, Weapon X 1-4, Gambit & the X-Ternals 1-4, Factor X 1-4, X-Man 1-4, X-Universe 1-2, Generation Next 1-4

Written By: Scott Lobdell (Alpha, Omega, Astonishing X-Men, Generation Next), Mark Waid (Alpha, Omega), Fabian Nicieza (Amazing X-Men, Gambit and the X-Ternals), Larry Hama (Weapon X), John Francis Moore (Factor X), Warren Ellis (X-Calibre), Jeph Loeb (X-Man)

Art By: Andy Kubert (Amazing X-Men), Roger Cruz (Alpha, Omega), Steve Epting (Alpha, Factor X), Joe Madureira (Astonishing X-Men), Dan Green (Weapon X), Adam Kubert (Weapon X), Karl Kessel (Weapon X), Ken Lashley (X-Calibre), Tony Daniel (Gambit and the X-Ternals), Steve Skroce (X-Man), Chris Bachalo (Generation Next)

Characters Involved: Magneto, Rogue, Quicksilver, Storm, Exodus, Banshee, Iceman, Morph, Sabretooth, Wild Child, Sunfire, Dazzler, Nightcrawler (X-Men), Colossus, Shadowcat, Husk, Chamber, Vincente, Skin, Mondo (Generation Next), Gambit, Sunspot, Lila Cheney, Jubilee, Strong Guy (X-Ternals), Cyclops, Havok, Beast, Cannonball, Bedlam Brothers (Factor X), Forge, X-Man, Sauron, Toad, Mastermind (X-Man), Sinister, Holocaust, Abyss, Mikhail Rasputin (Horsemen), Apocalypse

Story: Hoo boy. I briefly touched on this huge story here, but let’s get into more detail. When Marvel announced that they were cancelling every book in the X-Men line, fans went apeshit. And when they announced they were relaunching them with all new #1 issues, retailers went apeshit (in a good way). Fans were backlashing something fierce, but then this trickle of teases came out, including a book that showed all of the new character designs, and all of a sudden people weren’t upset. In fact, they were really, really excited.

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X-Men Crossovers Part 4

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X-Tinction Agenda

Took Place In: Uncanny X-Men 270-272, New Mutants 95-97, X-Factor 60-62

Written By: Chris Claremont (Uncanny X-Men), Louise Simonson (New Mutants, X-Factor)

Art By: Jim Lee (Uncanny X-Men), Rob Liefeld, Guang Yap (New Mutants), John Bogdanove (X-Factor)

Characters Involved: Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Archangel, Marvel Girl (X-Factor), Cable, Cannonball, Sunspot, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Wolfsbane, Warlock (New Mutants), Storm, Forge, Banshee, Gambit, Jubilee, Wolverine, Psylocke (X-Men), Cameron Hodge, Havok, Genegineer, Genoshan Magistrates (villains)

Story: We are rapidly getting to the point where the X-Men franchise is nearly impenetrable to new readers (aka the 1990’s), and this story kind of points to that. You need to know a lot about who everyone is and what their relationships are outside of this story, so people who maybe thought this would be a nice gateway into the X-books was probably bleeding from the ears, eyes, and nose by the end of the story.

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