Let me do this whole Superhero movie ranking thing.
1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - It feels so good to be able to just....enjoy a Spider-Man movie again. I haven't flat out enjoyed a Spider-Man movie since I was 15 watching Spider-Man 2. Everything since has either been me hating it (fucking Amazing Spider-Man 2) or not liking it but being like "Well, this is all the Spider-Man I'm getting, so I guess this is fine." Nope. None of that compromising here. This is just a damn good movie with some gorgeous visuals, a soundtrack I'm still listening to, and a touching story about a young man learning to believe in himself.
2. Teen Titans Go to the Movies - It's everything that's great about the TV show turned up to 11 and condensed into a movie. It takes probably the most cynical mission statement in any supehero movie - Robin wants his own movie and doesn't care how he gets it - and uses it to make fun of the whole superhero movie craze, DC Comics, Marvel, its own main characters, other movies, and Stan Lee. Yet, it also delivers a nice little message about friendship. No joke: the moment toward the end when the Teen Titans sing their song again is one of the best damn hero moments of the year. Between this, Spider-Verse, and Lego Batman, I'm all for animated superhero movies that go big and crazy in a way their live action counterparts can't.
3. Aquaman - So I was born about 3 months before Tim Burton's Batman was released, meaning superhero movies have been a pretty constant thing for my entire life. More and more, I'm realizing that I love them most when they're just going as big as possible, aren't the least bit ashamed of what they're about, and you feel like everyone involved is just trying their damnedest to make their vision a reality. That was Aquaman for me. I could go over its flaws and blah blah, but honestly, I don't give a shit about any of that. I loved this fucking movie, even during the parts where I didn't love it so much.
4. Black Panther - Anyone who remembers superhero threads from Gaf knows I had been waiting for this movie for basically the entirety of the MCU's existence. I remember sitting through Comic Con after Comic Con waiting for an announcement and then being disappointed over and over and having to pretend I really gave a shit about Doctor Strange. So imagine my surprise when I finally saw the movie and I only just....liked it. Don't get me wrong, the movie has a lot going for it. Wakanda is fully realized as a setting, the cast is fantastic with Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Letitia Wright all being especially great, and the story tackles some heavy themes with grace. However, I also wasn't in love with the action scenes and for all the hype, Michael B Jordan as Killmonger just did nothing for me. I will admit that maybe my general fatigue with the MCU played a part here, but still. Liked, didn't love.
5. Infinity War - Thanos is a wonderful protagonist. That's the main take away from Infinity War, and it's a good thing too, because this movie flat out wouldn't work without Josh Brolin's Thanos to hard carry the whole affair. The movie jumps around way too much, there's too many characters, and it requires at least working background knowledge of/emotional attachment to the MCU to function. Even as someone who has those things, I found myself more overwhelmed than entertained at times. I will give a special shout out to Chris Hemsworth as Thor as well for being another highlight, the battle in Wakanda was fantastic, and the ending was a real gutpunch. I'm hoping Avengers Endgame will restore the feeling from the first Avengers.
6. Deadpool 2 - "Let's do everything the first movie did, but more and not as good." That was basically Deadpool 2. It's good - in fact, every movie on here is good; great year for cape flicks - but after the first Deadpool knocked it out of the park, it sucked that this just could not live up to it. Ryan Reynolds is still perfectly cast, Josh Brolin is 2 for 2 in superhero roles this year, everything with Colossus and NTW is still great (Hi Yukio!), and Zazie Beets as Domino was awesome and helped me know what love feels like (Lawd, she's so fine). All that said, the comedy was overwhleming at times and as a result, the emotional beats just didn't land like they should have. The first was so good at balancing the two and this one just...couldn't.
7. Incredibles 2 - Oh boy. So the original Incredibles is one of my favorite superhero movies. Bar none. This one though? It was fine. The main things holding it back were the weak villain, so-so plot, and a third act that feels so limp in comparison to the first movie and all the potential that was there in this one. The Parr Family, Frozone, and Edna are all still great characters, some of the action bits with Elasti-Girl are fantastic, and the new supers are cool for what little we get of them. Yet....man we waited 10 years for this? For "Man it was cool or whatever?" Come on, Brad Bird.
I haven't seen Venom, and the 35 minutes I saw of Ant-Man and the Wasp while at the barbershop was butt cheeks so I'm good there.
Edit: For added fun, my favorite moment from each.
1. Miles' leap of faith
2. Teen Titans vs Slade's Robot
3. Arthur's ending speech
4. T'Challa confronting his ancestors
5. "Bring me Thanos!"
6. Deadpool reuniting with Vanessa
7. Elasti-Girl rescuing the train.