MCU Retrospective: The Marvel Awards
The Marvel Awards, the Marvel Oscars, the Thors, the Tonys (wait…). Whatever you want to call them, the gist is pretty simple! What if there was an awards ceremony specifically focused on the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Every category could only feature one of the MCU films and it would celebrate the best of what Phases One, Two, and Three had to offer over the course of these past twenty-two movies. It’s been quite a journey, after all. We’ve had some winning performances along the way and if I knew how to do polls on Medium, then we could all vote, but instead, I’ll just write about what I think each winner would be. Disagreements are always welcome! But for now, let’s run through the Thanoses. Man, that name really needs some work.
Best Television Show
Agent Carter
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Daredevil
The Defenders
Jessica Jones
This one is hardly even a contest and the shows are so detached from the MCU that it was better to get this category over with. Agent Carter deserves a second chance to live up to its potential. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was never what was promised. Daredevil tapered off. The Defenders succeeded on novelty. It’s Jessica Jones that truly broke out and actually crafted a story that was compelling. Even the Peabody Awards agreed.
Best Short Film
Agent Carter
The Consultant
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
Team Darryl
Team Thor
Back in the day, Marvel used to make One-Shots that would further interesting story lines from their early films. For example, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley in Iron Man 3) gets more development in his One-Shot. It was a fun idea that kind of fell by the wayside, but the best among them was definitely Agent Carter, the one that centered around Peggy Carter. The only thing similar to these that we’ve gotten since Phase One has been the Team Thor sketches that see Taika Waititi taking a mockumentary approach to the idea of what Thor was up to during the events of Captain America: Civil War. They are absolutely hilarious and you can watch them here.
Best Visual Effects
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Thor: Ragnarok
This was a pretty tough category to narrow down because part of the fun of Marvel movies is the exceptionally cool visual sequences. Therefore, every MCU film has some pretty awesome visual effects work because of how much needs to be created from motion capture, green screen, and more. All of the movies listed above do an incredible job, too. Ant-Man and the Wasp has some really fun with the shrinking and growing powers. Avengers: Infinity War did an incredible job with Thanos (I also anticipate that Avengers: Endgame could probably be involved in most of these categories so maybe we’ll have to revisit this subject once it is released!). Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 finally brought a color palette to the MCU. And Thor: Ragnarok puts, arguably, the best looking Hulk to screen that we’ve seen so far. But it was Doctor Strange that pulled off some breathtaking, mind-bending visual effects. Hopefully, they will continue to push the envelope in his eventual sequel!
Best Sound Mixing/Sound Editing
Black Panther
Captain Marvel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Thor: Ragnarok
Again, I really have a minimal idea of what the difference between sound mixing and editing actually is. I’m not even entirely sure what they do altogether. So I just decided to pick the five movies that have the best integration of sound effects with dialogue and music. Being that the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 is my favorite of the series, I decided to give it the edge. All of the other movies have great soundtracks and uses of music, too, but Vol. 2 integrates its songs into the movie in the best ways, I believe.
Best Production Design
Black Panther
Captain America: The First Avenger
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Thor: The Dark World
Thor: Ragnarok
If I am correct in thinking about what it actually means to be a production designer and art director, then I have to give the edge to The First Avenger. Generally, the Thor films do a superb job of world-building and I’ve always been really married to the look and feel of Asgard. The feeling of the production is also extremely palpable in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which expertly shows off what’s good about New York City. And of course, Black Panther is just amazing all around and the creation of Wakanda is forever iconic. But as one of the two period pieces of the MCU, Captain America really puts us in the 1940s to great effect.
Best Original Song
“All the Stars” (Black Panther)
“Opps” (Black Panther)
“Pray for Me” (Black Panther)
“The Star Spangled Man with a Plan” (Captain America: The First Avenger)
“The Ways” (Black Panther)
Marvel does a much better job of integrating existing music (Iron Man 2, Thor: Ragnarok, the Guardians franchise) into the movies than it does in creating songs. I was hard-pressed to think of any outside of the stellar Black Panther soundtrack album and, of course, Cap’s anthem in his first solo outing. But yeah, this one’s really a no-brainer. Marvel or not, “All the Stars” is one of my favorite songs ever and Kendrick Lamar and SZA deserve all the praise that I just can’t seem to stop giving to their anthem.
Best Original Score
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The Avengers
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Guardians of the Galaxy
I really dig the slick heist-esque tones of Christophe Beck’s score for the Ant-Man films and the themes of Avengers (Alan Silvestri) and Guardians (Tyler Bates) are probably the most memorable in the entire MCU. Obviously, Ludwig Goransson’s score for Black Panther is an all-timer. (That Wakanda theme, seriously.) But Avengers: Infinity War pretty much blends them all together seamlessly and uses them to the greatest effects they’ve ever had. Silvestri returned for Avengers: Infinity War and he’s also back for Avengers: Endgame. I can’t wait to hear what he’s cooked up for us on this final ride.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Black Panther
Captain America: The First Avenger
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Thor: Ragnarok
Black Panther’s makeup and hair fuses high technology with superheroes and African culture. Thor: Ragnarok traverses to many planets and worlds. Captain America has the period status going for it. But the Guardians movies stand out above the rest. They were always meant to be the films that expanded the MCU to regions beyond and a big part of that comes in the design of certain characters, which obviously involves makeup and hair. The work done with Gamora, Nebula, and Drax, in particular, is astounding, but its a monumental feat all around, to be sure.
Best Film Editing
The Avengers
Avengers: Infinity War
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain Marvel
Iron Man
The first Avengers film gets points for the way it deftly introduced us to the idea of a crossover event film. The first Iron Man film is also expertly paced and pretty flawless from a filmmaking execution perspective. The quick cuts of The Winter Soldier were a sign of things to come for Marvel. And Captain Marvel found the most unique way to tell a significant origin story with many flashbacks, time skips, and more. But Infinity War has editing to behold. There’s like seven different story lines going on and the film moves expertly between them all, giving them each ample space to breathe and never leaving the audiences confused. It’s a Herculean achievement and the biggest film of the MCU would not have worked without the amazing editing skills of Jeffrey Ford and Matt Schmidt.
Best Costume Design
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Black Panther
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain Marvel
Black Panther also won the real Oscar for this category and for amazing reason, too! Ruth Carter did a flawless job of creating costumes for a fictional nation. She could have done absolutely anything with the task and she really pulled off something remarkable. Each costume in Black Panther has so much rich detail and looks so slick and cool while also paying homage to what led to this movie. I just love the costumes in it. As for the others, I loved Carol Danvers’ uniform choices as well as the period costumes of the first Captain America film. I think Cap’s best costume can be seen in The Winter Soldier, but everyone is looking pretty snazzy in Ultron, I feel.
Best Cinematography
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Infinity War
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Trent Opaloch is responsible for bringing the MCU’s best cinematography to the forefront. This has never been the MCU’s strong suit, but things are definitely improving. The way the camera moves in Age of Ultron was truly compelling and many shots with Vision were framed so beautifully. Doctor Strange obviously fits this category masterfully. Many of the shots in Guardians could be literal paintings. Civil War kind of looks flat, but the way scenes are staged and filled out is unparalleled in the MCU. But in Infinity War, everything is ratcheted up to eleven. I don’t know if it’s the IMAX cameras or what, but little every shot looked so much more visually interesting than every Marvel movie that came before it. I love just gazing at the scenes in the movie!
Best Teaser Poster
Ant-Man
All of these posters were pretty cool and hype-inducing in their simplicity. But the Ant-Man marketing department took it to the next level for sure. Also, I won’t include Avengers: Endgame in this sort of category, just because we have no idea what effects that film might have on perception of any kind.
Best Official Poster
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Thor: Ragnarok
The Avengers’ poster is pretty iconic. Infinity War does a lot of fun stuff with the sprawling cast. Guardians features a legendary Peter Quill pose. Hulk surprises, for sure. But Thor: Ragnarok is the definitely the best. The color! The symmetry! The Revengers!
Best Teaser Trailer
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
All of the trailers are great and the team-up, crossover movies are definitely able to gather hype. But we cannot forget how revolutionary that first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy was. It literally did everything perfectly and set the tone splendidly with “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede. It’s the best trailer, and it set the tone for some SNL parodies, too.
Best Official Trailer
Captain America: Civil War
A lot of these trailers do a lot to get you hyped, but none more so than Civil War. It has the best music of any trailer, it has the Spider-Man reveal, it has some pretty killer bits of dialogue, and it doesn’t give away the film’s best moments. Disney marketing definitely improved MCU trailers and this is the best example of that.
Best Moment
Giant Man (Captain America: Civil War)
Hulk’s Transformation (The Avengers)
Thanos Snaps His Fingers (Avengers: Infinity War)
Thor Enters Wakanda (Avengers: Infinity War)
Yondu’s Funeral (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2)
There are way more moments that are incredible and iconic that would fit this category than just five. But the winner is clear. No moment has ever brought me to my knees like this one. Nothing will ever compare. Or so we think.
Best Quote
Captain America’s Speech (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Groot’s Sacrifice (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Hawkeye’s Speech (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Nick Fury to Erik Selvig (Thor)
Tony Stark to Loki (The Avengers)
We already went through a lot of the best jokes in a prior MCU retrospective so now it’s time to celebrate some truly inspiring quotes. From “legends tell us one thing, history another” to “we are Groot,” there’s been a lot of truly exceptional ones. But I still ride for Cap’s speech. It really feels like a complete turning point, not only for the character, but for the MCU, as a whole. That man knows how to talk.
Best Battle
Airport Battle (Captain America: Civil War)
The Battle of New York (The Avengers)
The Battle on Titan (Avengers: Infinity War)
Bifrost Battle (Thor: Ragnarok)
Hulk v. Hulkbuster (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
There have been many amazing fight sequences in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is definitely a plus when considering the fact that this is an action movie franchise so they should definitely have some solid visual spectacles. I’m suspicious we may have something that tops this in Avengers: Endgame, but we obviously don’t know yet. For now, the glorious twenty minutes that comprise the airport battle in Civil War are the gold standard!
Best Sidekick
Falcon (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Shuri (Black Panther)
Valkyrie (Thor: Ragnarok)
Vision (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
War Machine (Iron Man 2)
Marvel rounds out their movies with some incredibly well-developed characters that allow for the movies to have depth beyond the heroes. I was really close to naming Valkyrie as the victor because of how much I love that character and Tessa Thompson. But Shuri became a phenom. That’s how fantastic her character is. I hope she pops up again soon! Maybe on Disney+? Just saying.
Best Villain
Hela (Thor: Ragnarok)
Killmonger (Black Panther)
Loki (Thor)
Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War)
Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Ego just narrowly missed the cut, but it is refreshing that Marvel has a pretty solid group of five after one of the biggest criticisms for years was that they couldn’t get villains right. And how amazing is it that they got them right just in time to knock Thanos out of the park as one of the greatest villains in the history of storytelling? By essentially turning Infinity War into his story, dialing in an exceptional Josh Brolin performance, and making the most photo-real CGI character maybe ever, Thanos is an all-timer. And we get at least one more movie with him.
Best Superhero
Captain America (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
Captain Marvel (Captain Marvel)
Iron Man (Iron Man)
Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Thor (Avengers: Infinity War)
I evaluated this purely off of the role of each hero in the movies listed. Cap is great in every movie he’s in, for example, but his best time to shine is definitely in Winter Soldier. And while no one has had a better one-two punch than Thor with Ragnarok and Infinity War coming back-to-back for him, the single greatest superhero performance we’ve seen so far comes from the beginning. Iron Man is what immediately set the MCU apart from the competition. Snarky and smart, but with a real sense of morality and character flaws, Tony Stark brought us into the new era of heroism. He also obliterated secret identities, so bless up for that.
Best Team
The Avengers (The Avengers)
The Avengers (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
The Guardians (Guardians of the Galaxy)
The Revengers (Thor: Ragnarok)
The Skrull Sympathizers (Captain Marvel)
Really hard not to pick the Revengers (Hulk, Loki, Thor, Heimdall, Korg, Meik, and Valkyrie) and I don’t know what the Talos, Nick Fury, Maria Rambeau, Goose, and Carol Danvers team would be called. But the honor has to go to the Avengers, the cornerstone of all these movies. In Age of Ultron, we get to see them actually work together as a team, which is incredibly welcome. Without that movie, none of the rest of this universe would really work. They absolutely nailed it.
Best Phase
Phase One (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers)
Phase Two (Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man)
Phase Three (Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame)
I mean, it’s really no contest. Every phase has its merits, but Phase Three is pitching a perfect game right now. Not to mention, they have way more movies than any other phase. I’m thinking in terms of “average” on Doctor Strange, but the run from Guardians to Infinity War is literally one of the most impressive flexes of any movie franchise ever. 2017 might be their best year, but 2018 is close. So is 2014, though. But Phase 3? Bow down.
Best Supporting Actress
Elizabeth Olsen (Avengers: Infinity War)
Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger)
Letitia Wright (Black Panther)
Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok)
Zoe Saldana (Avengers: Infinity War)
A lot of the emotional weight of Infinity War rested on the shoulders of Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, but this is even more true of Saldana’s Gamora. I think that Saldana turns in the best performance in the entire movie, too. Shoutout to every other nominee, but I just can’t overlook it. Her role was absolutely heart-wrenching and I was engrossed in every second she was on screen. Hopefully, it won’t be the end, but what a way to go out if it is.
Best Supporting Actor
Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2)
Mark Ruffalo (Thor: Ragnarok)
Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther)
Samuel L. Jackson (Captain Marvel)
Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers)
These are all some pretty stellar performances, but I am constantly in awe of Cooper’s performance as Rocket. It’s literally unrecognizable as him and he definitely has one of the most talented voices in all of Hollywood and probably the world. Rocket’s character arc in the second Guardians movie is hugely important and one of the best examples of character development in the entire MCU. Thank goodness for Cooper being there every step of the way.
Best Actress
Brie Larson (Captain Marvel)
Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man and the Wasp)
Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2)
Hopefully, Marvel will continue to improve the number of leading women in this franchise, but for now, this will have to do. Fortunately, each of these performances is absolutely stellar and the franchise is better for having these actors in it. This is doubly true for Larson as Carol Danvers. The way she plays a whole new kind of smugness and confidence is incredible, even going back to her pre-memory wipe days. They called upon a great actor for their big character going forward, for sure!
Best Actor
Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok)
Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War)
Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers)
Paul Rudd (Ant-Man)
Robert Downey, Jr. (Captain America: Civil War)
This one was definitely a bit more difficult to narrow down. Jeremy Renner and Chadwick Boseman are always great. Benedict Cumberbatch is coming into his own. Chris Evans is about to have a major moment. But I had to separate these five from the pack. Josh Brolin turns in one of the all-time great villain performances. Hemsworth and Rudd are riots in their movies, which are basically comedies. Ruffalo finally shows us how the Hulk that we always deserved. But RDJ. RDJ, man. He’s great in every movie, but he is next level in Civil War. I know it’s kind of hijacking someone else’s solo movie, but I don’t care. It’s his best MCU performance to date and I marvel at what he has done with this character. The growth is unreal and unparalleled.
Best Director
James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2)
Joe and Anthony Russo (Avengers: Infinity War)
Jon Favreau (Iron Man)
Ryan Coogler (Black Panther)
Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok)
Favreau started this whole thing and made a massive success that was much needed. Waititi resurrected a moribund franchise. Coogler produced Marvel’s biggest phenomenon. Gunn made something intensely personal and beautiful. But the sheer efforts demanded of the Russos to make Infinity War is like nothing else. And they handled it in stride and with aplomb. They made the unthinkable possible and they really are so gifted and so thoughtful about everything they do. We’re lucky to have them telling stories.
Best Picture
The Avengers
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: Civil War
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Iron Man
Thor: Ragnarok
Honorable shoutout to Spider-Man: Homecoming. Look, let’s be real. Each and every one of these has a claim for the number one slot. I’m just going off my own personal favorite. The beauty of this franchise is that anyone else’s personal favorite is entirely defensible and equally amazing and spectacular. We’re lucky to have a cinematic universe like this. If you disagree, I’d love to hear about it! But for me, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 has it all. The best soundtrack, some incredible visuals. The best character arcs of any movie. Some laugh out loud moments and among the most emotional, too, of any Marvel movie. The story is just so, so impactful. I’ll never forget my first time watching it and every time since has been an absolute gift. I’m so happy James Gunn is back and I’m so happy this exists! We truly are: Groot.
The Awards by the Numbers
Iron Man: 1 win, 4 nominations
The Incredible Hulk: 0 wins, 1 nomination
Iron Man 2: 0 wins, 1 nomination
Thor: 0 wins, 3 nominations
Captain America: The First Avenger: 1 win, 6 nominations
The Avengers: 0 wins, 10 nominations
Iron Man 3: 0 wins, 1 nomination
Thor: The Dark World: 0 wins, 1 nomination
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: 1 win, 6 nominations
Guardians of the Galaxy: 1 win, 8 nominations
Avengers: Age of Ultron: 1 win, 8 nominations
Ant-Man: 1 win, 2 nominations
Captain America: Civil War: 3 wins, 6 nominations
Doctor Strange: 1 win, 2 nominations
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: 3 wins, 11 nominations
Spider-Man: Homecoming: 0 wins, 4 nominations
Thor: Ragnarok: 1 win, 16 nominations
Black Panther: 3 wins, 16 nominations
Avengers: Infinity War: 7 wins, 18 nominations
Ant-Man and the Wasp: 0 wins, 4 nominations
Captain Marvel: 1 win, 7 nominations
Four more days!
