In 2021, Marvel and Disney began airing television shows and special presentations on Disney+. These were designed to continue the stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Marvel had attempted TV series before through a partnership with Netflix and series released on ABC. However, this batch of shows were the first to be announced as part of the MCU. These series have been met with mixed reactions with some being loved and others being despised. In this article, I’m going to rank the series based on how much I enjoyed them. Let’s check it out.
12. Secret Invasion
How do you mess up an alien series starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Don Cheadle and Emilia Clarke? Marvel and Disney somehow managed to do it with this ultimately disappointing series. Cheadle shines as a Skrull who has replaced James “Rhodey” Rhodes, but the reveal that hints that Rhodey may have been a Skrull during the events of Avengers: Endgame left a sour taste in many people’s mouths.
What could’ve been a great bridge between the events of Captain Marvel and The Marvels winds up being a mostly forgotten mess that The Marvels doesn’t even acknowledge. I don’t know if that would’ve improved The Marvels or not. But my money is on it making that film worse than it already is. This show was just bad.
11. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Marvel tried to break from their TV formula with this series. After the success of WandaVision, the Disney Plus series became like long movies broken up into television episodes. This format brought mixed results, but Marvel decided to shake things up with the legal comedy, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
The series had so much promise, and at times, it managed to deliver. Still, so much of the series just didn’t feel like it worked. Much of the CGI looked unfinished. The jokes fell flat. A lot of it felt cameo driven which works better for Deadpool than She-Hulk.
10. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Disappointment is the only way I can accurately describe this series. When the initial three series were announced, this was the one I was most excited to see. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were important parts of my favorite series of films in the MCU, the Captain America series, so I wanted to see what they were doing after Steve decided to grow old with Peggy.
The series had its bright spots, but the COVID shutdowns and restrictions were evident as some of the story didn’t make sense while other parts seemed to drag. While it does set up Sam Wilson as Captain America and Bucky Barnes as part of the Thunderbolts, this series just underwhelmed.
9. What If…?
The only animated series, so far, released on Disney+, What If…? allowed the show’s creators to explore some of the crazier aspects of the MCU that may not work well in live action. The first seven episodes seemed like a Monster of the Week series that presented a different perspective than what had been seen previously. It was the end of the penultimate episode that revealed a connective tissue.
The series had more to it than previously believed and allowed for a more compelling version of the Multiverse than the live action films have been able to create, so far. It’s fun but it also feels like something is missing.
8. Ms. Marvel
Disney and Marvel decided to tap into a new market with this limited series. Ms. Marvel focuses on Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager living in Jersey City. She inherits a bangle that gives her powers and tries to become a superhero like her idol, Captain Marvel. The series has some weird shifts as Kamala and her family go to Pakistan to learn about their own history, and a potential world-ending threat, while also dealing with smaller issues at home.
Iman Vellani, a huge fan of the comics who is now writing the current line of Ms. Marvel comics, brings a lot of fun and joy to the character that shows in this series and in her subsequent appearance in The Marvels. She’s a pleasure. However, the series didn’t hit for me because I wasn’t the target audience. Not everything is made for me, and that’s okay. It’s still made well.
7. Echo
This Marvel Spotlight series provided a new avenue for storytelling. While Echo was introduced in Hawkeye, she got her own series that felt more like the Netflix Defenders’ series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, The Defenders and The Punisher) than the Disney Plus series. Marvel made it clear that while this happened in the MCU, it wouldn’t be overly connected to the larger MCU, allowing the creators to tell their own story without worrying about the films.
It brought back a better version of Daredevil than we saw in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and a better version of Kingpin than we saw in Hawkeye. The freedom to be its own thing helped this show. I don’t know too many people who were clamoring for Echo to get her own show, but it was surprisingly fun while still being a gritty watch.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special
In between the series, Marvel released two, so far, special presentations. These 45-minute long mini-features focused on certain Marvel characters during the holidays. The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special served as the Christmas special presentation in 2022, as Drax and Mantis try to find the perfect present for Star Lord.
The pair kidnap Kevin Bacon because they don’t realize he’s an actor that Star Lord looked up to as a kid. It’s a fun romp that fills in some of the gaps between the Guardians last appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder and their next appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It’s completely unnecessary, but it felt like a nice present for Marvel fans waiting for the next film.
5. WandaVision
The MCU television shows debuted with a wild and wacky concept. WandaVision followed Wanda Maximoff and Vision as they were now a married couple living through decades of television in the fictional town of Westview. Over time, it was learned that Wanda created “the Hex” a sphere engulfing a town and her own delusion created this reality. Vision died in Avengers: Infinity War, and she couldn’t grapple with the loss of her lover.
I had my reservations about this show when it was announced, and the first two episodes did not endear me to it. However, by episode four, when S.W.O.R.D.’s involvement was revealed, I was hooked. It wound up setting a high bar that Marvel has struggled to replicate.
4. Hawkeye
I can’t think of a series that I had lower expectations entering than Hawkeye. That may be why I enjoyed it so much. There was no world-ending threat. It was just the most basic member of the Avengers trying to atone for bad decisions he made during the Blip. It tied up Clint’s story with Natasha nicely while setting the stage for a friendship between the new Hawkeye and Black Widow.
The street level aspect of this series works. The only real issue is the introduction of the Kingpin. The version in this series doesn’t jive with the one that appeared in the Netflix series nor the one seen in Echo (essentially a spinoff of Hawkeye). Kingpin seems very odd here. Still, this was a fun romp, just an unnecessary one.
3. Moon Knight
After announcing the 2021 series that all featured on characters previously seen in the MCU, 2022’s slate of MCU TV shows introduced new characters. Oscar Isaac played Moon Knight, a superhero serving as the avatar for an ancient Egyptian god. Isaac wound up playing three different characters in the show, with two of them turning into versions of Moon Knight/Mr. Knight. The third will likely turn into a version of the character if he ever returns.
Prior to the second season of Loki, this was my favorite MCU TV show. I loved the suspense thriller aspect while working in the Egyptian aspects of the characters. It’s understandable this one hasn’t returned a lot as Isaac remains one of the most in-demand actors working today. Still, the ending makes me hopeful he will return at some point.
2. Loki
The only MCU series to get two seasons, so far, Loki created its own wacky and wild concept rather than trying to replicate WandaVision or stay in the MCU-proper like many of the other series would. For many, this was the peak of MCU storytelling. For me, the second season is why.
Following the first season, I enjoyed Loki but didn’t love it. It introduced a lot of concepts, some of them great, some of them not. The show worked but still felt like it was missing something. The second season completed the story allowing for the first season introductions to work. If the second season had not been introduced, this would’ve been lower than WandaVision. With the second season, it rises through the ranks.
1. Werewolf By Night
Marvel’s first special presentation remains my favorite Disney Plus Original content. Marvel has numerous monsters and mystical elements that probably won’t do well in theaters and aren’t strong enough for a full series. That’s where the Special Presentation really shines and Marvel knocked it out of the park with Werewolf By Night.
Released in October 2022, it introduces Werewolf By Night, Man-Thing and Elsa Bloodstone along with some disposable monster hunters. While Universal’s monster movies might be the inspiration, Marvel nailed it with this special presentation. It’s an annual treat in my house.
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