Ranking Marvel's first two phases

With the release of "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Marvel's Phase Two is nearly complete. Technically "Ant Man" in July will close it out as the 12th in an inter-connected set of films. But with two "Avengers" films and plenty of stand alone stories, it's a good time to rank the 11 Marvel universe films.

Below is the order I would place them (in ascending order).

11. "The Incredible Hulk" (2008)
If your dream was to see Edward Norton portray a superhero in a pensive, at times boring, film, this is your dream. But seeing as how this was a marginal movie and Norton was quickly replaced as The Hulk by the time "The Avengers" rolled out, it's easy to dismiss this movie as a rare Marvel misstep.

10. "Iron Man 3" (2013)
I love Robert Downey, Jr., and I love the way he portrays Iron Man, but I didn't love this film. The first post-"Avengers" release was a bit of a downer. Shane Black is good at crafting a certain kind of film, but I'm not sure an "Iron Man" movie is it.

9. "Iron Man 2" (2010)
This isn't a bad movie, it's actually kind of enjoyable. But Mickey Rourke wasn't the most inspired choice of villain.

8. "Thor: The Dark World" (2013)
Some prefer the "Thor" sequel to the original, but I'm not one of them. This is a fine film that advances the story, but I preferred Thor's origin story.

7. "Thor" (2011)
I think Kenneth Branagh's visual style gets lost a bit here. This is also one of the funnier Marvel movies, and one that had the least heavy action sequences. I like this introduction and bit of world building.

6. "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011)
This period piece had a lot of fun elements. They did a great job of crafting the World War II look, and it has a lot of fun pieces, serving as a bridge to "The Avengers."

5. "Iron Man" (2008)
When Downey first served as Iron Man, the Avengers was just a dream. He carried a lot of weight on his shoulders to establish a character and the the Marvel universe, and it still holds up as one of the most fun superhero movies.

4. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015)
It's always fun to have the band back together, and there is plenty of humor here. But "Ultron" feels like a film that, at times, is overwhelmed by world building, fan service, and too many big action set pieces. It's still good, but it's not as great as it could have been.

3. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014)
This is a different kind of superhero movie, and it does a lot to take the Marvel universe in a different direction. It grows Captain America as a character, and it puts a lot of pieces into place.

2. "The Avengers" (2012)
A movie that proved the whole is greater than its parts. This movie has comedy, builds an interesting story and proves that a team up movie can be a lot of fun.

1. "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)
A different kind of team in a different kind of world, I loved the way the characters and story meshed here. This felt like a different kind of movie and I'm excited to see how Marvel builds on the "Guardians" and, eventually, enfolds them into the "Avengers" world.