The Marvel Cinematic Universe may still have a firmly beating heart, but with Spider-Man: Far From Home and, of course, Endgame having been released, fans can fondly begin to look back on the Infinity Saga and all the wonderful superhero moments it gave us.
There were countless touching moments throughout the 23-film franchise, but regardless of all the scenes that may have pulled on our comic-book heart-strings, the MCU also gave us some of the best battle scenes in film history. Phase’s 1 and 2 were nothing to laugh at and they certainly had their fill of fights, but nobody was prepared for what Marvel brought to the table at the conclusion of their trifecta. Here are the top 10 battles from phase 3.
Team Thor vs. Hela
What were you the God of again? Thank the Lord of Thunder for director Taika Waititi for finally showing audiences what Thor was truly capable of! Up until Thor: Ragnarok, our favorite sparkly-fingered hammer-wielder had never really shown his “worthy” status since he was basically just knocking down people with his hammer. While that was essentially all Cap was also doing (just with a shield instead), Thor wasn’t, as Odin put it, “the God of Hammers,” and that’s what he had felt like up until this point. Cue the awesome music and call in the revolution, this was the Thor we were waiting for.
Spider-Man vs. Mysterio
It wasn’t the best Spider-Man movie they’ve made so far, but it also wasn’t the worst, and one of the best parts of the entire thing was Spider-Man’s battles with Mysterio. The MCU didn’t seem to learn from their mistakes that fans don’t really want to see a whiny villain complaining about how one of the Avengers wasn’t fair to them in the past.
But regardless of the villain’s less-than-relatable motives, there was no doubt that Mysterio’s powers were something to behold and would’ve given anybody besides Spider-Man a rough time. This battle gets bonus points for showing the MCU’s first real depiction of the ‘spidey-sense’ in action.
Thor vs. Hulk
We’re friends from work! The third installment in the Thor franchise may not have been what fans were expecting, especially with Thor’s downtrodden and rather serious attitude throughout the beginning of the MCU. But then comedic-Thor stepped into the gladiator ring, ran into one of his Avenger pals, and made fans fall even further in love with his character as he told the giant green monster to stop embarrassing him in front of everyone. It wasn’t embarrassing, Hulk, it was one of the most awesome and hilarious 1x1’s the MCU ever had.
Iron Man vs. Captain America, Winter Soldier
Friendships can be tough, especially when the friends in question are arguably some of the most dangerous people on the planet, but that’s the life of a superhero. Another part of being a superhero is having a tragic backstory, like watching your parents get murdered by a man who happens to be standing right next to you.
Fans knew it had been coming for years, or at the very least since the first Civil War trailer came out, but that didn’t make the 2x1 of Cap and Bucky against Tony any less epic when we finally got to experience the real thing. Between Bucky getting his arm blasted off and Cap breaking Tony’s arc-reactor, we could watch this battle all day.
Guardians vs. Ego
Tony Stark isn’t the only member of the Avengers with unresolved parent-issues and Peter Quill certainly showed that when he found out his biological birth-father was a living planet. Proving why Star-Lord was able to hold onto the infinity stone for as long as he did without dying, Ego himself had a ridiculous amount of power that took all of the Guardian’s combined might to take down. Add in the comedic effect of baby-Groot not knowing which button to push on the bomb, the gigantic Pac-Man made of rocks, and then the heart-wrenching sacrifice of Yondu to save Quill after he had just killed his own father - this scene deserved the Ogord colors.
Black Panther vs. Golden Jaguar (Killmonger)
Hell of a move? Hell of a fight! The Black Panther film took the entire world by storm, and rightfully so as it was masterfully made, but easily the best part of the film was the epic conclusion between T’Challa and Killmonger.
Very seldom does a movie franchise kill off its main character in the middle of its first solo film, but that still didn’t help the shock of watching the king of Wakanda tossed over a waterfall and left for dead. But luckily the Black Panther had 9 lives and bounced back to take down his cousin and reclaim the throne for himself, and the battle to do so was as wild as too jungle cats going claw-to-claw.
Civil War (Team Cap vs. Team Iron Man)
Iron-Man vs. Cap and Bucky might have been the emotional battle that fans were waiting for when it came to this Avengers 2.5 installment, but this was the scene that everybody was dying to see. While audiences were still two years away from seeing the Avengers take on their greatest enemy in Thanos, they first had to watch the Avengers take on each other. Nothing like this scene had ever been done before, pitting so many heroes against one another while a real threat loomed in the background. Not to mention it was the first appearance of Spider-Man in the MCU! It was a 6x6 super-brawl, what more could fans have wanted?
Team Iron Man vs. Thanos
And we’ve made it to the Thanos battles. The opening battles in Infinity War were all amazing as well, but it was the last-stand that the Avengers made against the mad-titan that was truly remarkable. Thanos already had 4 infinity stones, and yet somehow Iron-Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the Guardians were able to give him a genuine run for his money.
Despite having to face an opponent that could literally blow-up moons and then hurl them at his opponents, the Avengers gave it their absolute all to stop him, and this battle showed it.
Team Cap vs. Outriders
Thanos might not have come in until the very end, but this battle between the remaining Avengers left on earth, along with all of Wakanda’s defenses, against the mad titan’s children and his Outrider army was astounding. While Tony and his team were busy fighting just one ultimate being, this battle included everybody - Cap and Vision vs Corvus Glaive, Hulk in the Hulk-buster armor vs Cull Obsidian, the mini-female Avengers team vs. Proxima Midnight. Do we even have to mention Thor’s entrance with Rocket and Groot?! This battle had everything, and we loved every second of it… you know, up until that end part.
Avengers Assemble
Chances are that the crowd in the movie theater was cheering too loud for you to actually hear him say the words, but the battle that resulted after Cap finally uttered the infamous Avengers phrase was the most epic final battle in comic-book cinema history. Period. Nothing else even comes close to it as the culmination of an entire 23-movie franchise clashed together in one shell-shocking fight. Go back and watch the movie a dozen times and you’ll still be able to pick a different hero to watch when the two armies clash together. Cap picked up Mjolnir, Iron-Man snapped the Infinity Gauntlet, and Thanos’ purple-butt got dusted. The Avenger’s finally assembled, and it was a moment worth waiting 11 years and 22 movies for.
