DISNEY MONTH DOUBLE FEATURE: Top 5 Disney Protagonists/Sidekicks

We’ve got a special double-feature pairing of lists here today on Rhode Island Movie Corner. Disney Month, a month dedicated to the best of the best from the House of Mouse, continues in preparation for Disney Animation’s 56^th animated feature, Moana, out later this month. Last time, I ranked all the current members of the Disney Princess line, from the originals like Snow White and Cinderella to new members like Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa (who technically aren’t part of that line but I included them anyway because they’re still ‘Disney royalty’; in fact, the latter outranks them all as a queen), and Merida. So today, I’m going to be highlighting the other great main characters of Disney films. Specifically, I’ll be listing my Top 5 favorite ‘non-Princess’ main characters as well as my Top 5 favorites from the many great sidekicks of Disney Animation that sometimes even outshine main protagonists to become the standout characters of their respective films. Now, the reason why I’m pairing these two lists together is because otherwise I would have to have done three ‘Disney Month’ posts in one week. You see, my original plan for this week was to have the protagonists list posted on Monday, followed by the sidekicks list which would’ve been posted on Wednesday, and then culminating with the post that was originally meant to be posted today, my Top 10 Disney Villains list. And simply put, that’d be too much to do in just one week, especially for someone like me who must also deal with things outside of writing these posts, namely schoolwork. Thus, I decided to indefinitely postpone the villains list, pair the two other lists together, and move them from their original posting date of Tuesday to today. So, without further ado, let’s get into the first of today’s list; my Top 5 favorite Disney Protagonists.

PROTAGONISTS

HONORABLE MENTION: THE BIG HERO 6 TEAM (BIG HERO 6)

Big Hero 6 was a highly entertaining entry in the Disney canon that continued Disney’s recent hot streak. The first Disney animated film to utilize the company’s recent acquisition of Marvel Comics, it was very much the animated equivalent of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. It was fast-paced, full of great visuals, and featured a fun cast of main characters. But also like a lot of the best MCU films, the story had a lot of heart to it. This is mainly reflected in the film’s main character, Hiro (Ryan Potter), a robotics prodigy who tragically loses his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) in an explosion. The film does an impressive job at handling Hiro’s attempts to cope with this loss. At first, he’s driven by revenge to take down the man in the kabuki mask when it’s revealed to be noted robotics professor Robert Callaghan. Because it means that when Tadashi went in to save Callaghan from that burning building, he died for nothing. It’s only until the helpful words of Baymax and a series of videos of Tadashi running tests on him effectively calm Hiro down and realize that this wouldn’t be what Tadashi would’ve wanted. As for Baymax (Scott Adsit), he’s easily the best part of the film. He may be limited in emotion because he’s a robot but the ways in which he interacts with people and things in his environment produce hilarious results. And then there’s the other members of the team; tough-girl GoGo (Jamie Chung), hyperactive chemistry enthusiast Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), neat freak/laser expert Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), and fanboy Fred (T.J. Miller). The great camaraderie between them all help make them a solid team in what was a super fun Disney film and what is sure to be a fun TV series spin-off that debuts next year.

5. BERNARD AND MISS BIANCA (THE RESCUERS/THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER)

The Rescuers films are one of the rare instances of a Disney franchise in which both films have seen a theatrical release and are officially part of the ‘Walt Disney Animated Classics’ line. The first one was a decent albeit flawed adventure flick while the sequel upped the ante in the best of ways but was unfortunately under-marketed and became the lowest-grossing film of the Disney Renaissance. And through it all, the best thing about both films is its lead duo; Bernard, played by Bob Newhart, and Miss Bianca, played by Eva Gabor. Both characters are incredibly likable and balance each other excellently. When they’re first paired together, it’s established that Miss Bianca is a sophisticated and experienced member of their organization, the Rescue Aid Society, whereas Bernard is just the janitor who ended up getting picked by Bianca to join her on her newest mission. In short, Bernard is the everyman in this situation and you can also see that in the sequel with the running gag of him trying to propose to Bianca and yet something always happens to distract him. To make matters worse, on assignment in Australia they team up with another mouse named Jake who starts to flirt with Bianca. Seriously, our boy Bernard can’t catch a break, can he? Thankfully, that changes at the end when he finally manages to propose and Bianca happily accepts. Goes to show that while Miss Bianca is the more ‘dignified’ of the two, she’s also a very kind soul and a perfect match for Bernard. In short, Newhart and Gabor do fantastic jobs in these roles and thus, this mouse duo is one of Disney’s most underrated pairs.

4. RAPUNZEL AND FLYNN RIDER (TANGLED)

Ok, kind of cheating here a bit because Rapunzel is a Disney Princess and I said that I would limit this list to ‘non-Princess’ characters. But still, I had to include her along with Flynn because not only are they the main characters of the film but they do form a great team in it. As I stated before, there was some controversy over the film getting a title change. Originally titled Rapunzel, it was then changed to Tangled reportedly because it was intended to appeal to a wider demographic. Some might say that this was a cheap marketing ploy or that the new title was too generic. Still, it does accurately reflect the fact that Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are equals in the story. So, because I already talked about Rapunzel last time, let’s discuss the charming thief Flynn Rider, whose profile is never truly portrayed right on a wanted poster (“They just can’t get my nose right!”). While on the run after stealing a crown (Rapunzel’s crown, for the record) from the kingdom of Corona, he ends up at Rapunzel’s tower and after spending a brief amount of time as her ‘prisoner’, he agrees to help her escape from the tower and go to the kingdom so that she can see the lanterns. Simply put, Flynn works off Rapunzel well (as some critics have noted, their back-and-forth banter is like something out of a romantic comedy) and his voice actor, Zachary Levi, does a great job in giving Flynn his sarcastic but charming personality. In short, one of the best things about Tangled was that it was a true fantasy-adventure and at the heart of it all was the lead duo of Rapunzel and Flynn AKA Eugene Fitzherbert.

3. ALADDIN (ALADDIN)

Aladdin kind of has it all in terms of character traits. He’s a quick-witted, good looking (fun fact, his design was inspired by both Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox), adventurous young man who’s burdened by the fact that he’s a street-rat in the city of Agrabah. Day after day he is forced to survive on the city streets, constantly being pursued by palace guards whenever he does something like steal a loaf of bread (“All this for a loaf of bread?”). But then things start to change when he comes across Princess Jasmine. At first unaware that she is the Princess, the two immediately start to form a connection out of them sharing a similar habit of disliking their current situations (in her case, being forced into marriage). But then the reality of his situation hits once he finds out that she is the Princess; clearly, she’s ‘out of his league’. But then he finds the magic lamp which contains the Genie and soon finds himself becoming ‘Prince Ali Ababwa’. Admittedly there’s not much else that I can say about Aladdin. Simply put, he’s a very likable protagonist and a lot of that comes from his voice actor, Scott Weinger (AKA Steve from Full House for you 90’s kids). Weinger does do a fantastic job in making Aladdin a clever lead character but also one with a good heart. And even though the film does focus around Aladdin putting on a false persona, this lie does come back to haunt him from time to time, namely when he is forced to consider going against his promise to Genie that he’d free him just because he’s now realized he’s being prepped to be Sultan and he can’t keep up this charade forever. But at the end of the day, Aladdin’s still a good guy and it's easy to see why he is known as ‘the Diamond in the Rough’.

2. JUDY HOPPS AND NICK WILDE (ZOOTOPIA)

Disney’s latest lead duo take the number 2 spot on this list; Officer Judy Hopps and con-man Nick Wilde. Originally, Zootopia was to focus on the character of Nick Wilde as he tried to clear his name from a crime he didn’t commit while being pursued by Officer Hopps. That plotline ended up getting scrapped in favor of focusing more on Judy. And overall that was the smart move as Judy is immediately established as a likable optimist who dreams of becoming a police officer, even though many people tell her that there has never been a ‘bunny cop’ before in the generally predator-based police force. But she manages to prove a lot of her critics wrong and lands a position at Zootopia’s primary precinct… before getting delegated to the lowly position of meter maid. But on a whim, she assures the wife of a missing otter (one of many missing animals all over the city) that she’ll be on the case to find him, even though she ends up coming to an agreement with her superior, Chief Bogo, that she’ll resign from the force if she doesn’t find the missing mammal in 48 hours. Again, Judy’s greatest strength is that she’s optimistic and doesn’t give up. But at the same time, she also has her own imperfections, namely the fact that in a story that turned out to be a timely fable of combatting prejudice and racism, she had to deal with her own prejudices, namely her species’ general distrust of foxes. Because even when it looks like she and Nick have become friends and she encourages him to become a cop as well, that ‘bunny-fox’ rivalry slinks back into the situation and messes everything up.

As for Nick, while he does start out as an ‘antagonistic’ character towards Judy, he ends up becoming one of the most sympathetic characters in the entire film. We learn that even he’s struggled with having to deal with prejudice and the stereotype of being a ‘sly fox’ directed towards him on a regular basis. In his case, it’s shown in what is easily the most emotional moment in the entire film; a flashback to his youth. Back then, his biggest dream was to join his local Ranger Scout group. But, when he attends an initiation ceremony, he is instead hazed and muzzled for being a ‘untrustworthy’ fox. And so, he decides in that moment that if the world won’t see him as anything but a ‘sly fox’, why should he try to be anything different? It’s a powerful scene that I’ll admit even got me a little teary-eyed. But in the rest of the film, Nick serves as a great foil to Judy in this ‘buddy cop’ story. While she’s the straight-faced cop, he’s the charming swindler with a dry sense of humor. And both are voiced excellently by Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, respectively. This is pitch-perfect casting; Goodwin imbues Judy with her optimism as well as a great no-nonsense attitude, especially in scenes where she and Nick trade quips, while Bateman’s dry wit is obviously a perfect fit for Nick. In short, pair Judy and Nick together and you have one of the best ‘buddy cop’ duos ever to be put on film.

1. SIMBA (THE LION KING)

Taking the top spot as my favorite Disney protagonist is Simba from The Lion King. To me, Simba has one of the best arcs of any main character in a Disney film. The son of King Mufasa, the film begins with Simba eagerly awaiting the day when he’ll become the king of Pride Rock. However, he’s shown to be a bit arrogant/rambunctious at times. When he learns of the Elephant Graveyard, which Mufusa orders him not to go to because it’s beyond the borders of their kingdom, he goes anyway with his best friend Nala and they nearly get eaten by a group of hyenas. And then of course, there comes the tragedy of the death of Mufasa. Because Simba was tricked by his uncle Scar into waiting in a large gorge before having to flee from the wildebeest stampede he set upon him, Scar led him to believe that it was his fault that Mufasa died. And so, he runs away from the Pride Lands and ends up coming across Timon and Pumbaa, who cheer him up by teaching him about their care-free way of life. And that lifestyle is exactly what Simba embraces for years until he’s reunited with Nala as an adult. He learns about the ways in which Scar has ruined Pride Rock and after doing some soul-searching, he finally returns home to fight his uncle and take his rightful place as the king of Pride Rock. It’s well-known that Simba and the whole story of The Lion King in general was inspired by Hamlet and overall it ends up delivering a solid new twist on that story. Simba also benefits from solid performances from his two main voice actors. Jonathan Taylor Thomas (AKA Randy from Home Improvement) voices young Simba while Matthew Broderick voices adult Simba. Both do a great job in conveying Simba’s adventurous but also conflicted personality. So, in short, Simba is a well-layered protagonist who slowly but surely develops into the leader he’s meant to be. And that is why he’s my favorite Disney protagonist.

Now it’s time to move on to the characters who sometimes become the true stars of the show…

SIDEKICKS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I got a few Honorable Mentions when it comes to Disney sidekicks so I’ll just quickly rattle them off here. First there’s the fairy trio of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty. These three fairies work off each other excellently, resulting in some great humor. Said humor namely stems from their attempts to do various household chores (e.g. baking a cake for Aurora’s 16^th birthday, making her a dress) without the use of their magic. Next up is the wise wizard Merlin from The Sword in the Stone. This may just be the definitive on-screen version of the iconic wizard; goofy but wise and ready to help Arthur become king of Camelot. His owl assistant, Archimedes, is a pretty fun sidekick as well. A total grump but nevertheless very intelligent at the same time. And finally, we have Mowgli’s two best friends from The Jungle Book; the panther Bagheera and the bear Baloo. The contrast between these two is hilarious, with Bagheera being the wise, no-nonsense protector and Baloo being the care-free friend who teaches Mowgli to ‘look for the Bare Necessities of life’. And both are excellently voiced by Disney regulars Sebastian Cabot (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Sword in the Stone) and Phil Harris (Robin Hood, The Aristocats), respectively.

5. THE ATLANTIS CREW (ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released to generally mixed results in 2001. Critics were split on it and the film only did okay at the box-office, effectively silencing any plans for a franchise, including a TV series spinoff and an underwater attraction at Disneyland. And that’s a shame because it’s an underrated entry in the Disney canon that dared to do something a little different. Instead of being a musical, Atlantis is an action-adventure flick with great animation that feels like it came right out of a comic-book. One of the film’s best aspects is its cast of main characters. Not the main villains, who are basically just greed-obsessed, but more the title character Milo (voiced by Michael J. Fox) and his primary allies. Now sure, characterizations in this film are simple at best but still these sidekicks do prove to be very memorable. There’s tough-girl mechanic Audrey, friendly doctor Joshua Sweet, eccentric geologist ‘Mole’, old-fashioned chef ‘Cookie’ (voiced by Jim Varney in his final film role), sarcastic radio operator Packard, and probably everyone’s favorite, demolitions expert Vinny (played by SNL alum Don Novello AKA Father Guido Sarducci). Simply put, Vinny gets the best lines (“We done a lot of things we’re not proud of. Robbing graves, eh, plundering tombs, double parking. But, nobody got hurt. Well, maybe somebody got hurt, but nobody we knew!”). These characters work off each other phenomenally and it’s a shame that we didn’t get to see these characters go off on further adventures. I mean, we did kind of get that with the direct-to-video film Atlantis: Milo’s Return, which was basically the pilot for the canceled show, but the less said about that the better.

4. OLAF (FROZEN)

While Anna and Elsa have proven to be an excellent lead duo, many consider Olaf to be the breakout character of Frozen. And rightfully so because Josh Gad’s happy-go-lucky, innocent snowman provides the film with a lot of its best humor. Olaf’s main role in the plot revolves around him wishing to get the chance to experience summer. Obviously, we all know what would happen to snowmen after winter (Kristoff: “Somebody’s got to tell him…”) but for the most part, Olaf is blissfully unaware. And that is hilarious. In fact, Olaf gets a lot of the best lines in the film. There’s the instance in which he nonchalantly remarks that he just ran into an icicle (“Oh look at that… I’ve been impaled”). There’s the instance in which you think he’s talking about Kristoff’s reindeer pal Sven but he was referring to Kristoff the whole time. There’s the instance in which he interjects with “You hesitated…” when Kristoff stumbles a bit when answering a question about Anna’s hair. And that’s just to name a few. But at the same time, Olaf also proves to be a warm (no pun intended) presence in the story. It’s established that when Anna and Elsa were kids, Olaf was the name of a snowman that the two built on the night when Elsa accidentally injured Anna with her powers. Later, during the big ‘Let it Go’ scene, we see Elsa reconstruct Olaf and this, it turns out, results in him being brought to life. And although Anna’s memories of Elsa’s powers were wiped when she was a child, her memories of Olaf weren’t, hence why she can remember him. Simply put, there is a solid personal connection there and thus, it’s easy to see why Olaf became the lovable sidekick that he is.

3. PACHA (THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE)

Who doesn’t love Pacha? Voiced by ‘America’s Uncle’, John Goodman, Pacha is the kind leader of an Incan village who learns that Emperor Kuzco plans to build his ultimate summer get-away, Kuzcotopia (complete with water slide!), on the hilltop where the village is located. Obviously, though, this would mean that everyone in the village would lose their homes. But despite Pacha’s arguments against it, he is unable to change Kuzco’s mind, making it seem like his village is nearing its final days. That is, until Kuzco ends up becoming the victim of a plot by his advisor Yzma to take over the empire. He’s turned into a llama but ends up getting dumped onto Pacha’s cart as he travels back to the village. As soon as Kuzco realizes what happened, he orders Pacha to help him get back to the palace but Pacha refuses unless Kuzco changes his mind and builds his summer house somewhere else. Being the self-absorbed leader that he is, Kuzco refuses at first but eventually starts to reconsider. And so, this begins a crazy buddy road trip complete with all sorts of misadventures, from the two of them getting stuck on a tree log as it falls off a waterfall to them getting caught up in an awkward situation when Pacha tries to revive Kuzco via mouth-to-mouth (“For the last time, it was not a kiss!”). And like Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde in Zootopia, Kuzco and Pacha work off each other incredibly well, with Kuzco being the arrogant spoiled brat and Pacha being the straight man in their situation. Sure, when it comes to the film’s humor, a lot of the best moments come courtesy of main villain Yzma and her lackey Kronk. But there are also some great funny moments with Kuzco and Pacha as well. One of my favorites is when Pacha is swinging in on a vine to save Kuzco from a bunch of jaguars but misses at first. Then, after he finally nabs Kuzco… they end up getting tied to a tree (“Maybe I'm just new to this whole rescuing thing, but this, to me, might be considered kind of a step backwards, wouldn't you say?”). In short, Pacha is a lovable sidekick who manages to spark a change in attitude for the selfish emperor and is one of the many reasons why The Emperor’s New Groove is one of my favorite Disney animated films.

2. TIMON AND PUMBAA (THE LION KING)

You just can’t go wrong with this legendary duo from one of Disney’s most legendary films. Timon, voiced by Nathan Lane, and Pumbaa, voiced by Ernie Sabella, first appear to help liven up the mood after the devastating scene that was the death of Mufasa. They come across Simba while out on the desert and offer to let him stay with them. It is through them that Simba learns to live a care-free lifestyle as inspired by their motto, “Hakuna Matata” (Simba: “What’s a motto?” Timon: “Nothing! What’s the motto with you?”). But even after Simba finally accepts who he is and goes back to fight Scar, Timon and Pumbaa go to help him as well. They distract a bunch of hyenas by putting on a luau performance so that Simba and Nala can sneak by them. And later, when Timon gets captured, Pumbaa takes on his captors in what I must admit is a pretty badass moment. After getting called a ‘pig’, he references a classic film line (“They call me Mr. Pig!”) and charges at the hyenas like a battering ram. In short, while these two aren’t exactly the kind of characters who try to get too involved in certain conflicts, their loyalty to their friend Simba always shines through. It’s easy to see why these two became some of the most popular characters from the franchise. They got their own spin-off show, Timon and Pumbaa, which ran for 3 seasons from 1995 to 1999. I fondly remember watching this show all the time when I was younger. They also starred in their own direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King 1 ½, a re-telling of the first film from their perspective and while it’s not saying much, I consider it to be one of the better Disney direct-to-video films.  

1. THE GENIE (ALADDIN)

At the end of the day, though, I’d argue that it’s hard to top what the legendary Robin Williams did in the role of Aladdin’s wise-cracking sidekick, the Genie. Genie… is the best thing about Aladdin. It’s interesting to note that when Williams first signed onto the film, he agreed on the condition that the marketing wasn’t centered around him and the character. Disney obviously went back on this agreement, effectively resulting in Williams not returning to voice the character in the first direct-to-video sequel, The Return of Jafar. Dan Castellaneta (AKA Homer Simpson) voiced the character instead but Williams later returned for the second direct-to-video sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Regardless of this whole ordeal, the Genie does end up stealing the whole show. Williams’ talents in accents and improvisation results in plenty of hilarious moments. Obviously, some of the references that he makes are anachronistic; by that I mean they’re references that no one in the time-period that the film takes place in would recognize. But for us modern audiences, they’re a hoot; Rodney Dangerfield (“I can’t believe this, I’m losing to a rug…”), Jack Nicholson (“Alright, Sparky, here’s the deal. If you want to court the little lady you gotta be a straight-shooter, do ya got it?”), the list goes on. But through it all, Genie also comes with an endearing plot thread of him yearning for freedom; because despite all the “phenomenal cosmic power” that comes with being the Genie, it also comes with the “itty-bitty living space” that is the lamp. Not only that, but the friendship that forms between him and Aladdin is extremely heart-warming. Simply put, you could truly sense the warmth that Robin Williams brought to not just this role but basically every role that he ever did. And that’s why we’ll always remember him; for roles like the Genie. Not only is the Genie my favorite Disney sidekick, he may just be my favorite Disney character period.

And those are my Top 5 Disney Protagonists and Top 5 Disney Sidekicks. Be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own favorite Disney main characters/sidekicks. Disney Month will continue next Friday with a big Top 10 list; my Top 10 favorite Disney Songs.

Doctor Strange (2016) review

For nearly a decade now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has continuously expanded its, well, ‘Cinematic Universe’ with every new film that comes out; not just in characters but also the world in general. When the franchise first started in 2008, the action was restricted to Earth as primarily seen in the first two Iron Man films and The Incredible Hulk. But then came Thor in 2011. That film was the first in the MCU to go off Earth (not counting the parts of it that WERE set on Earth) and start to explore the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe, namely the Nine Realms which include Thor’s home world of Asgard. And then the cosmic world of Marvel was explored even further, past the Nine Realms, in Guardians of the Galaxy. It just goes to show that Nick Fury’s speech about ‘being part of a bigger universe’ from the first Iron Man was very much true. But for their latest endeavor, Marvel Studios now delves into the mystic side of the MCU with Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of a famed neurosurgeon whose life changes when he discovers a group of mystic warriors and subsequently becomes one in the process. The film is brought to us by director Scott Derrickson, who to some may seem like an odd choice to direct a superhero film given that he’s mainly been known for his work in the horror genre with films like Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. However, this is Marvel Studios we’re talking about, who have an extensive history of ‘out of left field’ choices when it comes to directors (e.g. James Gunn, the Russo brothers, etc.). And once again that method pays off in what is another highly entertaining MCU flick with the usual things you’d come to expect from the franchise at this point along with some of the most impressive visuals that the superhero genre has ever seen.

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a world-renowned neurosurgeon living in New York. However, one night he ends up in a severe car crash that affects him in the worst way possible; by crippling his hands. Being the self-absorbed perfectionist that he is, Strange begins to invest in various forms of surgery in the hopes of fixing his hands, but they all prove to be fruitless endeavors. With no other options left, Strange learns of a man named Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt) who became a paraplegic but then somehow regained the use of his legs. When Strange seeks out Pangborn for answers, he ends up directing him to Kathmandu, Nepal to find a place known as ‘Kamar-Taj’. Once he gets there, Strange learns that this is the site for a ‘school’ of mystics led by a sorcerer known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who shows him the full extent of their powers. Sorcerers like them can control their environment and travel across dimensions, including the ‘astral plane’, and whereas the Avengers protect Earth from physical threats, they protect it from inter-dimensional threats. And so Strange begins to train under the Ancient One alongside other students like Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), eventually proving to be quite gifted in the mystic arts. But soon Strange finds himself having to combat a dangerous threat in the form of Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a former student of the Ancient One who has stolen vital information from Kamar-Taj’s archive to summon magic, and a certain dark force, from the dangerous realm known as ‘the Dark Dimension’.

Obviously, the big thing that everyone’s been talking about in regards to this film are its visuals. And yes, all that hype is warranted. While the MCU films have always done an excellent job with visual effects, this film easily outshines them all. All the ways in which the characters utilize magic, especially the ways in which they manipulate the environment, produce some truly eye-catching, surreal, and in some cases, very trippy visual effects. As some have described it, they have quite the Inception vibe to them and they lend themselves well to some truly epic action sequences. As for the rest of the film, it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from an MCU film at this point. It’s got great humor, with a lot of the best jokes coming from how characters react to the surreal nature of the mystic arts, but said humor never overshadows the plot and the overall story. On that note, admittedly this story may seem a bit familiar to some people (I’ll delve into the majorly implied comparison momentarily) but the execution by Marvel and director Scott Derrickson is just as great as any other Marvel Studios film. Even better, it’s becoming more and more clear that the decision to ditch the controversial Creative Committee, which was responsible for a lot of the studio’s most polarizing decisions in the past (e.g. the Edgar Wright-Ant-Man incident), is starting to pay off. Before, Marvel tended to get a lot of flak for allegedly limiting the control that directors had over their films. But now that the committee’s gone, I think it’s safe to say that we won’t be hearing any more issues of ‘creative differences’ anytime soon.

This film features arguably one of the best ‘character arcs’ of any MCU film to date. As some will no doubt point out, Dr. Stephen Strange has a lot in common with Tony Stark. He starts off as an arrogant celebrity who must dial back on his ego to become the hero he’s meant to be. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent in the role and the fact that the film kind of speeds through his origin story helps keep the whole experience from being too much of a case of ‘been there, done that’. Chiwetel Ejiofor is arguably a bit underused as Mordo but he does have one of the biggest character arcs in the entire film that will no doubt pave the way for future MCU films. Rachel McAdams, who plays Strange’s co-worker/ex Christine Palmer, does have solid chemistry with Cumberbatch and gets some of the best bits of ‘interacting with weird stuff’ humor but overall she’s just the love interest. Benedict Wong as Kamar-Taj’s archive keeper Wong… is one of my favorite MCU side characters ever. Just watch the film to see what I mean because he’s brilliant. And then there’s the controversial casting of Tilda Swinton, a white actress, in the role of The Ancient One, a traditionally Asian character in the comics. Anyone who follows me knows that I don’t like to address ‘whitewashing’ controversies in film so I’ll just say that Swinton does do a great job in what is a very layered role. And finally, of course, there’s the one part of any MCU film that gets the most attention, and not always in a good way, the villain. I’m pleased to say that Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius is one of the better MCU villains. Granted, he’s still not exactly the franchise’s best but Mikkelsen does get decent enough material to work with and, at the very least, he plays off his foil, Dr. Strange, quite well.

Well, at this point anyone who knows me as the MCU fan that I am probably predicted that I was going to love this film without even having to read much into the review. And yeah… you’re right. But at the same time, this just goes to show how Marvel Studios has continued to deliver quality content time and time again. And sure, technically some parts of this film’s story are a little standard at this point given everything that’s happened in the superhero genre. But, at the same time, the things that this film introduces into the Marvel Cinematic Universe open up a whole world of the one thing that the Ancient One sees in Dr. Strange’s future… ‘possibilities’. From a visual perspective, this film features some of the most eye-popping visuals that the superhero genre has ever seen. I mean, it’d be a genuine shock if this film doesn’t get an Oscar nom for Best Visual Effects. And of course, as with any MCU film, the humor is well handled, the action sequences are amazing, the story is solid, and the characters are excellent as portrayed by the always great MCU ensemble. Again, to some people this may come off as being a bit too familiar in certain parts. This is, after all, the 14^th Marvel Cinematic Universe film. But at the same time, that also means that Marvel Studios is now 14 for 14 when it comes to their filmography. I think it’s safe to say that this is a streak that is practically unmatched by any other film franchise, past and present.

Rating: 4.5/5

DISNEY MONTH: Ranking the Disney Princesses

Today marks the beginning of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ‘Disney Month’, in which I’ll be honoring the best of Walt Disney Animation Studios in preparation for the release of their 56^th animated feature, Moana. And to kick it all off, I’m doing a very big list. Today I’ll be ranking the characters that make up one of Disney’s biggest franchises; the Disney princesses. I’ll be ranking them based solely on their characterizations in regards to the films that they appear in. And for the record, when I say ‘films’, I mean the ‘original’ films that they were in; no direct-to-video sequels or any stuff like that. Disney’s ‘Princess Line’ has certainly been one of the company’s most profitable franchises since it was first established sometime in the early 2000’s by then Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney. However, at the same time, the franchise has seen quite a lot of backlash from some audiences, namely feminists who argue that it instigates stereotyping and bad life lessons for the young girls that it markets to. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that pretty much all the Disney princesses before 1991 have attracted a considerably polarizing reception. But with that said, I’d argue that there’s more to some of these earlier Princesses than most give them credit for. Sure, by comparison, some of the newer Princesses have technically gotten more development because of the times but that doesn’t mean the earlier ones don’t have their strengths too. So, with that said, I’ll be counting down the franchise’s current 11 members, plus two characters that aren’t part of the lineup but, in a way, technically are, from ‘least favorite’ to ‘best’. I recognize that there might be some controversy surrounding the order in which I rank these characters so please be civil in the comments if you disagree with me in any way. Here we go…

12. AURORA (SLEEPING BEAUTY)

Starting this list off is ‘Sleeping Beauty’ herself, Princess Aurora. As I noted in my 50’s Disney Retrospective, Aurora and her prince, Phillip, are unfortunately the weakest part of the original Sleeping Beauty. In her case, it’s mostly just due to one main reason. As her ‘nickname’ suggests, she spends most of the film asleep after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel after being cursed to do so by the evil witch Maleficent when she was a baby. Obviously that’s the main plot of the story but it does limit her as a character. As is, she’s basically just the usual ‘nice’ Disney princess dreaming of her true love. Because of this, I actually have to give a lot of credit to the live-action remake, 2014’s Maleficent, because I think the Aurora in that film is the superior interpretation of the character. Now with that said, even in that film she’s still basically a side character in the story. After all, the film is called Maleficent so that means that the focus is more on her and Angelina Jolie is very much the star of the show in the title role. Still, I do have to give Elle Fanning a lot of credit because she actually did kind of make the most out of her somewhat limited role. I liked the relationship that formed between Aurora and Maleficent in this film. I didn’t mind that the film portrayed Maleficent in a more sympathetic light, which mainly stems from the maternal instincts that she begins to have towards Aurora. It gets to the point where she’s the one who awakens Aurora from her eternal sleep, not Prince Phillip. Yes, I know that there are quite a few people out there who REALLY hate the live-action remake but I’m sorry, it kind of has an advantage over the original when it comes to Sleeping Beauty herself.

11. POCAHONTAS (POCAHONTAS)

I’ve gone on record saying that Pocahontas is one of my least favorite Disney animated films. Aside from being a rather dull affair, it also doesn’t help that most of the characters in it are weak, including the titular heroine herself, Pocahontas. While Pocahontas certainly has more to do character-wise than Aurora, she’s still a rather bland lead. Now when it comes to the problems that I have with her portrayal in the film, I’m not referring to the fact that the film has been generally criticized for its representation of Native American history. And at the very least, Irene Bedard, who the character was also physically modeled after, does a solid job voicing her. But like I said before, there’s not much to her. Like many of the other Disney princesses of the time, she’s adventurous, headstrong, and isn’t exactly willing to adhere to the cultural norms of her time. In her case, it’s the fact that she’s being set to marry one of her tribe’s most famous warriors, Kocoum, who Pocahontas dismisses as being ‘so serious’. But once the European settlers arrive, she then meets and subsequently falls in love with settler John Smith, eventually saving his life when he is sentenced to death by her tribe after he took the blame for one of his settler friends killing Kocoum. But really, this romance doesn’t matter in the long run considering that, historically speaking, they weren’t ‘lovers’ and she instead ended up marrying another settler named John Rolfe. But, then again, I did mention the fact that this film isn’t that historically accurate so… yeah. Really, there’s not much else that I can say about her and that’s why she’s near the bottom of this list.

10. SNOW WHITE (SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS)

Snow White, the young girl with ‘hair as black as ebony, lips as red as the rose, and skin as white as snow’, is the original Disney princess in what was the original Disney animated film; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And just like the film itself, Disney has come quite a long way in terms of its Princess characters following Snow White. But that doesn’t mean that Snow White is a ‘bad’ character, per se. It’s just that nowadays her characterizations are very simple when compared to other Disney princesses. She’s kind, innocent, and wishes for her prince to come for her one day, hence the name of her song ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’… and that’s basically it. Does she do much in the film? Not really. Like Aurora, at one point she’s put into an eternal slumber, in this instance by means of the Wicked Witch’s poisoned apple, and this lasts until she is woken up by her prince. Speaking of her prince… yeah he’s only in it for a few scenes. But despite the limited nature of the role, I still think that Snow White is a decent enough main character for the time. As Roger Ebert noted in his review of the film, the filmmakers arguably made a smart move by not outright focusing on Snow White, instead spending more time on the Evil Queen/Wicked Witch and the Seven Dwarfs. So, in short, Snow White may not be one of the best Disney Princesses but of course, there wouldn’t be any other Disney Princesses if it wasn’t for her.  

9. MERIDA (BRAVE)

Merida, the star of 2012’s Brave, was the first Pixar character to be inducted into the Disney Princess lineup. The film itself did ok with critics but not exactly on the same level as Pixar’s most famous efforts. It also didn’t help that this was the first Pixar film that was released after their first critically-maligned effort, Cars 2, which came out the year before. So, in other words, the generally ‘meh’ reception towards this film effectively continued the growing doubt that the internet began to have over Pixar in terms of the quality of their work that would only be cooled, for now at least, by Inside Out and Finding Dory. But anyway, the first time that I saw this film, I liked it okay though I’ll admit that I was a bit disappointed by it. But when I saw it again recently, I found that I did warm up to it quite a bit. Sure, it ultimately ends up being a rather straight-forward family film, despite starting off on a much different kind of note, but it’s still an enjoyable Pixar flick that mainly benefits from what makes up the heart of the story. And that is the mother-daughter relationship between Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor. Right from the get-go, the film establishes the main conflict that emerges between the two of them. Elinor is constantly trying to get Merida to act more like a princess while the latter clearly does not want to live that kind of life, especially once she learns that she is being forced into betrothal to one of her father’s allies’ sons. So, when Merida goes to see a witch to try and change her fate, she accidentally ends up turning her mother into a bear and now they must work together to reverse this curse before it becomes permanent.

And sure, despite the shift into kid-friendly territory that occurs from this point on, the relationship between the two is the best part of the film as both end up learning from each other while on their journey. Elinor learns to lighten up and not follow tradition all the time but Merida, who proves to be a likable heroine and talented marksman with a bow and arrow, learns that there are times where one must take responsibility for their actions, especially if they’re of royal status like herself. After all, when she was arranged to be wed to the son of one of her father’s allies, she ends up breaking tradition by shaming the other clans of her kingdom in an archery competition as an act of defiance, effectively causing a stir amongst the clans that threatens to tear the kingdom of Dunbroch apart. But in one of the best scenes in the film, she manages to calm the feuding clans by admitting her mistake but at the same time also convincing them that she and her ‘suitors’ should be free to live their lives and fall in love with whoever they want, instead of being forced into it. Really, her only major downfall as a character is that when her mother is first turned into a bear, she tries to shirk responsibility by constantly saying that it wasn’t her fault, even though the facts clearly say otherwise. But despite that, Merida is a solid protagonist and while Brave may not have been one of Pixar’s most beloved efforts, it seems as if, at the very least, she is commonly regarded as being one of the best things about it.

8. RAPUNZEL (TANGLED)

And now we go from one computer animated Disney princess to another; in this case, the first computer animated member of the Disney Princess line. Tangled, of course, is the story of Rapunzel, the girl with the long golden hair who was trapped for years in a tall tower. The film expands upon this story by having her be the daughter of the king and queen of the kingdom of Corona. Her long hair was the result of a magical golden flower that possessed healing abilities. The King of Corona used it to save his wife when she was sick while pregnant and thus, Rapunzel inherited some of the flower’s magic in her hair. This ends up getting Rapunzel kidnapped from the kingdom and locked away in a tower by an old woman named Gothel who had been using the flower to maintain a youthful appearance. It isn’t until her 18^th birthday when she finally leaves the tower, with the help of a thief named Flynn Rider, so that she can see the kingdom’s annual releasing of lanterns, which was the King and Queen’s way of hopefully finding their daughter. Now there was some controversy over the film’s change in title from Rapunzel to the arguably more generic Tangled. However, it does prove to be a fitting title considering that the film does equally balance the roles of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the story. Rapunzel proves to be a lovable free-spirited heroine and the many creative ways in which she uses her hair are awesome. And a lot of Rapunzel’s likability comes courtesy of her voice actress, Mandy Moore. Not only does Moore give Rapunzel an infectious enthusiasm for experiencing the world outside her tower but she also succeeds in establishing her as a no-nonsense young woman who is very much capable of taking care of herself. Say what you will about the film’s title but Rapunzel is very much one of the best parts about Tangled.

7. MULAN (MULAN)

Technically speaking, Mulan isn’t actually a Princess. Sure, she’s the main character of her film and she does save the day and become a hero of China but she’s not a member of the Royal Family. But she was made a member of the Princess line so, yeah, now she’s counted as one, I guess. Regardless of the legitimacy behind this decision, she is an excellent protagonist in what is one of the most underrated films of the Disney Renaissance. The daughter of an aging war hero, Mulan ends up taking her father Fa Zhou’s place in the Chinese army when he is summoned to help fight the Hun army, as she knows that he’s too old to fight anymore. In doing so, Mulan proves to be an excellent role model for young girls by showing that they can do just as much as the boys can. At the same time, there’s also some fun humor that comes from having Mulan pose as a man, from hiding from her army buddies while swimming in a lake to speaking in a ‘manly’ voice as ‘Ping’ to following the [questionable] advice of her ‘protector’ Mushu. Mulan is voiced by Ming-Na Wen (AKA Melinda May from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and she does a fantastic job in the role, both in terms of handling the humor and giving Mulan her inner strength and likability. Mulan also proves to be quite a badass warrior. In fact, she’s the only Disney princess to, no joke, have a kill count due to the scene in which she defeats the Hun army by causing an avalanche. The only real aspect of her character that has been commonly criticized is the romance that develops between her and her commander, Captain Li Shang. However, this doesn’t bother me that much because it’s never the focus of the film. In fact, it’s only brought up right at the end, for the most part. Sure, that still arguably makes it very tacked-on but the film is still primarily about Mulan going against all sorts of societal and gender norms at the risk of bringing dishonor to her family.

6. ARIEL (THE LITTLE MERMAID)

Ok, I can tell that this one is going to be rather controversial; especially because I ranked Ariel above some of the more recent Disney princesses. While Little Mermaid is widely regarded as a Disney classic and the film that effectively redeemed the company by kick-starting the Disney Renaissance, its title character has been much more polarizing amongst critics and audiences. I went over the reasons why in my 80’s Disney Retrospective but I’ll go over them again here. The main issue that some have with Ariel is that they feel that she doesn’t learn anything from the whole ordeal that she goes through to live in the human world. And, technically speaking, they do kind of have a point there. Because Ariel goes to see Ursula to change her into a human, she basically ends up letting Ursula take her father Triton’s powers without much opposition. And even though Ursula is defeated without Ariel still not ‘learning’ from this whole ordeal, her father allows her to become human anyway. But here’s where Ariel is a better character than most give her credit for. Some claim that she gave up her undersea life just to be with a man that she hardly knew and that’s not entirely the case. Sure, once she laid eyes on him, she basically fell in love with him right then and there but her desire to explore the human world had already been established at that point. So, you could say that Prince Eric was just an added incentive for her. And through it all, she is a likable character voiced excellently by Jodi Benson. So, when it comes to Ariel’s best strengths as a character, it comes down to her curiosity and for having a desire that was different than previous Disney princesses. Sure, she has her flaws and it’s understandable why some aren’t that big on her because of it, but these aren’t as big of a problem as some say they are.

5. TIANA (THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG)

Tiana was Disney’s first African-American princess… and yet she’s a frog for most of the film. Yeah, some people weren’t too pleased about that given how, again, this was Disney’s first African-American princess. Still, Tiana’s a pretty great main character even though she does spend most of the film as a frog. And the main reason why is because she is something that most Disney princesses usually aren’t; a hard worker. As The Princess and the Frog begins, it references the classic Disney song ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’. But then it pulls the rug out from under it by having Tiana’s father tell her that to achieve your dreams, you must work for it. And so, after her father dies (because this is a Disney film, after all), Tiana starts to work towards the collective dream that they had of owning a restaurant. So, at the expense of a social life, she spends much of her time working as a waitress at two different restaurants so that she could earn enough money to open her own restaurant. However, despite managing to earn enough money to rent a potential site, she soon learns that someone else has made a higher bid for it. And if that wasn’t enough, she then gets turned into a frog when she kisses one; a reversal of the typical ‘Princess-Frog’ story. This frog is revealed to be Prince Naveen of Maldonia, who was turned into a frog by the evil Shadow Man as part of a plot to inherit the fortune of the richest man in New Orleans and now the two of them must find a way to become human again. As for the romance that develops between these two, it’s sort of like Beauty and the Beast in that they don’t immediately like each other. In fact, Tiana pretty much hates Naveen at first for getting her turned into a frog; but of course, they do warm up to each other by the end of the film. Thanks to those great character traits as well as a spunky and charismatic performance by her voice actress, Anika Noni Rose, Tiana proves to be one of the best role models in the entire Princess line.

4. JASMINE (ALADDIN)

If I were to list the best ‘romantic pairings’ in Disney films, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine are definitely near the top of the list. The romantic chemistry between them is easily one of the best parts of the film and this is a case where both are generally treated as equals in the plot. The film begins with both trying to get out of their current societal predicaments. Aladdin wishes to be more than just a worthless street rat and Jasmine is annoyed with the fact that she’s being forced into marriage before her next birthday. When she decides to sneak out of the palace, the two of them meet and a connection immediately emerges between them. However, Aladdin is soon dealt with the reality of the situation; that he’s not a prince and therefore has no chance with her. But when he finds the mystical being known as the Genie, it allows him to pose as a prince so that he can be with her. Now with all of this said, there does come a point where Jasmine becomes a damsel in distress for Aladdin to save. But that’s only during the finale. In the rest of the film, she’s a spunky heroine who can even stand up to the likes of Jafar because she’s a no-nonsense gal. And even after Aladdin does manage to ‘become’ a Prince, it takes him a bit before he’s able to properly woo her. So, in short, while she may not necessarily be the most pro-active Disney princess of the bunch, Jasmine is still a very likable female lead and has always been one of my favorites in what is one of my favorite Disney films.

3. BELLE (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST)

As I said before, prior to 1991, pretty much all of Disney’s princess characters received extremely polarizing responses from critics. They had their fans but they also had their naysayers. Belle from Beauty and the Beast was pretty much the first major member of the Disney Princess line to attract universal acclaim. And while all throughout this list I’ve been going over why some of the earlier princesses are better than most give them credit for, I do agree that Belle is a terrific lead who would set the standard for all future Disney princesses to come. As the film begins, it’s established that she is a smart and independent young woman who is a mystery to the rest of the people in her town because of her non-conforming ways. Eventually she comes across the Beast and while initially terrified of him, the two come to better understand each other and they eventually fall in love. And unlike other Disney couples that come together quite sporadically, the film does take time to develop a relationship between the two. But of course, it all comes together beautifully in the end. Now, for the record, that doesn’t mean that Belle hasn’t faced some criticism from certain audiences. Some have argued that Belle displays a case of Stockholm syndrome, a condition in which prisoners (because part of the plot has her voluntarily taking her father Maurice’s place as the Beast’s prisoner) begin to sympathize with their captors. Personally, I never look too deep into that kind of stuff and at the end of the day, all her other traits stand out much more. And that is why Belle is easily one of the best Disney princesses to date.

2. ANNA AND ELSA (FROZEN)

Ok I’m kind of cheating here because, technically, Anna and Elsa aren’t members of the Disney Princess line. Why? Well I remember reading a report saying that they were intended to be inducted into the line sometime in 2014 but then nothing happened. It wasn’t until recently when I found out why this is the case and it’s actually a pretty legit reason. Seeing how Frozen has become one of Disney’s most popular franchises, there’s really no need for the two to be included in another franchise at this point. Still, I wanted to include them in this list because not only are they ‘Disney royalty’ (heck, technically Elsa outranks all the Disney princesses because she is a queen) but they truly are a great pair of characters. This was the first time that a Disney animated film truly focused in on a pair of sisters as their main protagonists… though with that said, as I’m sure many will point out, it’s technically not the first time that a Disney film has done this. 2002’s Lilo and Stitch also focused around a pair of sisters, Lilo and Nani, namely through them struggling to keep their family together after their parents died in a car crash. However, the thing is… that wasn’t the main plot of the film. Instead, it was about Stitch trying to adapt to life on Earth. Thus, I consider Frozen to be Disney’s first true ‘sister story’ and it ends up giving the film so much heart. It’s about how Anna and Elsa try to reconnect after spending so many years apart. That’s because their parents kept Elsa locked away from the world due to her icy powers, with Anna being completely unaware of them because when she was younger and did know about Elsa’s powers, her memory of them was wiped after Elsa accidentally injured her.

While Elsa is certainly the more popular of the two sisters, if I had to choose a favorite it’d have to be Anna. Because technically Anna is the main character of this story. She’s the one who goes off to find her sister after Elsa flees the Kingdom of Arendelle and ends up causing an eternal winter. She’s a determined, free-spirited, and optimistic young woman who won’t give up on her sister no matter what and that’s what makes her such a terrific lead. And at the same time, she has her own personal flaws that make her a relatable protagonist. These primarily stem from all the time that she’s spent locked up in the castle along with her sister. She’s often quite naïve at times, mainly represented by how quickly she falls in love with Prince Hans of the Southern Isles and then immediately deciding to marry him despite having just met him that day. Which, for the record, I find hilariously ironic because Anna’s voice actress, Kristen Bell, starred in a film, 2010’s When in Rome, in which this exact same situation occurred. And yet in that film, Bell was the ‘Elsa’ in that scenario, warning her sister about going too fast with her current relationship. And obviously, this backfires on her by the end of the film when Hans reveals his true colors. But in the end, her optimism, endearing social awkwardness, and the unabashed love that she has for her sister truly make her a lovable protagonist and Kristen Bell does a phenomenal job in giving Anna that warmth and likability.

But while I consider Anna to be my favorite of the two leads, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like Elsa as well. She’s just as important to the film as Anna is, but in a different way. In the early stages of the film’s production, she originally started out the same way that her character is portrayed in the original fairy tale that the film is loosely based on, ‘The Snow Queen’ by Hans Christian Andersen. At first, she was the main villain. But ultimately I think many of us can agree that it was for the best that they decided to change that and instead have her be a sympathetic, misunderstood protagonist struggling to control her icy powers. And part of that change, of course, came from the decision to have Anna and Elsa be sisters. Right from the get-go, the film establishes the struggle that Elsa faces due to her icy powers. Sure, it’s never explained how she got her powers but it’s made clear that they could become a problem and result in her becoming feared by the people of Arendelle. And so, Elsa is locked away from society until her Coronation Day and even then, they do end up getting unleashed, forcing her to flee. However, at that point, she finally embraces who she is, which of course is represented perfectly by the film’s iconic number ‘Let it Go’. It’s quite easy to see why Anna and Elsa have become such prolific role models for many people. They’re arguably some of Disney’s most relatable protagonists to date. Anna may be a Princess but she’s not exactly a prim and proper one like some of the other Disney princesses. And while, obviously, no one has icy powers like Elsa (that we know of…), her characterization as a young woman who’s scared at first to embrace who she is before it all culminates in her liberation, is very much capable of inspiring others who share a similar struggle. Is it any wonder why ‘Let it Go’ became the anthem that it is?

1. CINDERELLA (CINDERELLA)

Oh, boy I can hear the feminists now… did I seriously just pick Cinderella as my favorite Disney princess? Yes, yes I did and in this case, I’m counting her both in regards to the original animated film, in which she was voiced by Ilene Woods, as well as the 2015 live-action remake where she was played by Lily James. As I’ve noted many times before, the main issue that some have with Cinderella is that they argue that she’s just a passive character who does nothing until her Prince comes to save her. But as I’ve also been saying time and time again, there’s more to her than that. After all, we’re talking about a young woman who for years has been the subject of abuse from her Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters. And yet through it all, no matter what they put her through, she always maintains an optimistic outlook on life. To me that is what makes her such a great character and like I said, this is well reflected in both versions of Disney’s Cinderella. On that note, let’s go over the character as was portrayed by Lily James in the remake. I do not consider this Cinderella to be a ‘passive’ protagonist. This film does a much better job at establishing the relationship between her and the Prince, as they first meet ‘as equals’ because she doesn’t yet know that he’s actually the Prince. By comparison, the romance between the two in the original was basically a ‘shotgun wedding’. And through it all, she’s still the same Cinderella that we know and love from the original, strengthened even more by the fact that the film opens with her mother giving her the crucial life advice to “have courage and be kind” And ultimately I feel that this is one of the best life lessons that kids can learn from. Sure, Cinderella may not exactly be as pro-active as characters like Anna and Elsa, Tiana, or Mulan but her inner strength is what makes her one of the most iconic members of the Disney princess line.

And those are my rankings of the current members of the Disney Princess line. Obviously, I know that the way I which I specifically ranked these characters could pose some controversy so if you do sound off in the comments in regards to how you’d rank them, please be civil about it. Disney Month will continue next Tuesday with a ‘Double Feature’ of Top 5 lists as I rank my Top 5 favorite Disney ‘Protagonists’ and ‘Sidekicks’.

Ranking the MCU Post-Credits Scenes

The newest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Doctor Strange, hits theaters this weekend. With that in mind, I tried to think about a post that I could do that would tie into the MCU in honor of its release. The only thing is… I’ve obviously done many, many posts on the MCU over the years. I’ve done rankings of the films themselves as well as for the villains and the scores. Earlier this year when Captain America: Civil War came out, I did a ‘Story So Far’ post detailing everything that had occurred in the MCU up to that point, which I felt was fitting at the time seeing how that film served as the start of Phase Three of the MCU. So, what can I do this time? Well, I decided to do a rankings list of one of the most notable elements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the post-credit stingers. Obviously post-credit sequences in films have been around for years from The Muppet Movie to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But ever since the original Iron Man back in 2008, Marvel Studios has turned them into one of their trademarks. And yet interestingly enough, based on my own experiences going to see MCU films, people STILL leave the theater before the credits are over. And let me be clear, this is still occurring even after 13 films into the franchise’s run. I mean I understand if people have other commitments that they need to get to but at this point people should know that it’s pretty much a requirement that you stay till the end of the credits in a MCU film so that you see everything that happens in it. Anyway, there have been 19 MCU post-credit scenes over the span of 13 films and today I’m counting them down from the worst to the best. Whether it’s a humorous little closing tag or a hint at what’s to come next in a future film, MCU fans always look forward to these little nuggets of MCU goodness.

19. THOR RETURNS TO EARTH (THOR: THE DARK WORLD)

Kicking off this list is the post-credit scene for Thor: The Dark World, in which Thor returns to Earth and reunites with his love, Jane Foster. After their reunion, we cut to another part of London where we see that a frost monster (AKA the big troll-like creature that Thor fought in the first Thor film) from Jotunheim is running amok at the abandoned factory where Jane first came across the Aether. It got transported to Earth by accident during the final battle between Thor and Malekith when the two traveled through the various worlds of the Nine Realms. The main reason as to why this scene takes the bottom spot on this list is quite simple; there’s not that much to say about it really. It’s just Thor reuniting with Jane followed by a brief scene of the frost monster running around London. Sure, the shot of the monster jumping over a bunch of shipping containers while chasing after a flock of birds certainly gets a few chuckles but overall it’s a weak way to end an MCU film. In a way, I guess you can say that it fittingly connects with the fact that Thor: The Dark World was a rather uneventful entry in the MCU, especially when compared to films like Winter Soldier or Civil War. An interesting fact about this scene is that when it was filmed, Natalie Portman was unavailable as she was busy working on another film. So instead, the filmmakers had Chris Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky step in to play Jane in this brief scene. As Portman then went on to joke, this explains why the kiss between the two “was so passionate”.

18. THE AVENGERS TEASE (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER)

There is no doubt that this post-credit scene from Captain America: The First Avenger was quite a big deal when it first came out. After all, it gave us audiences our first look at the epic superhero adventure that was to come the following May. It opens with a scene that would later be shown in Avengers of Cap as he’s hammering away at a punching bag alone in a small gym. After he knocks the bag off its tether (a moment that is even more epic when it’s shown in the actual film as the result of it being intercut with flashbacks of First Avenger), Nick Fury enters the room, telling Cap that he’s here to give him a mission of the ‘saving the world’ variety. We then cut to a series of clips from The Avengers which is basically just a rundown of all the major characters. Sure, there’s no major action sequences that are shown off here (keep in mind that this was in the summer of 2011 before we even got a full trailer for the film) but it certainly must have gotten audiences pumped in regards to what was coming. So why then is this near the bottom of the list, you ask? Simple… because The Avengers has been out for almost five years now. We’ve all seen it so now this post-credit scene is nothing more than just a simple teaser. I mean I still have positive feelings about this scene, mainly from a nostalgic perspective, but as much as I hate to say it, this is one instance of an MCU post-credit scene that you can honestly skip at this point because you won’t miss anything… and that’s because you’re literally going to see everything that happens in it in the next film.

17. HOWARD THE DUCK (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)

Even after two years since Guardians of the Galaxy first came out, sometimes I still marvel (pun not intended) at the fact that the film got away with, let’s be honest, a completely superfluous post-credit stinger featuring an unexpected cameo from a character who, believe it or not, is from a Marvel comic. I’m of course referring to Howard the Duck, who appears as part of the Collector’s archive on Knowhere. The stinger opens as the Collector sits in his destroyed archive following the incident earlier in the film in which his mistreated assistant Carina touches the Power Stone, which causes an explosion that almost completely decimates the entire archive. As he begins to have a drink, one of his specimens, a Soviet cosmonaut dog named Cosmo (who’s a member of the Guardians in the comics) comes up to him and starts to lick his face. As the Collector lets the dog do so, a voice is heard asking the Collector why he’s letting the dog lick him like that. We then cut to the infamous duck as he sits in his destroyed cage as he too has a drink. I mean… yeah talk about one of the most random post-credit scenes of all-time and not just in terms of the MCU. It’s so random that when I went to see it with some of my friends on opening night, one of them audibly shouted ‘Oh my god!’ when Howard (voiced by, believe it or not, Seth Green) appeared on-screen. Obviously, the fact that it’s a pointless stinger puts it near the bottom of this list but the randomness of it all at least gives it a one-up over the previous two entries. Plus, even though it’s clearly not saying much, this is easily Howard’s best film appearance following the infamous 1986 film Howard the Duck produced by George Lucas. Going back to the Collector for a moment…

16. THE COLLECTOR (THOR: THE DARK WORLD)

Now I’ll admit that when I first saw this mid-credit sequence from Thor: The Dark World, I wasn’t too big on it. In fact, it made me quite hesitant about the then-upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy which, for the record, we hadn’t seen any real footage of yet at the time. The scene consists of Lady Sif and Volstagg entering the Collector’s archive to give him the Aether, as they note that it’d be unwise to have two Infinity Stones in one place as they already have the Tesseract on Asgard. As they leave, the Collector remarks to his assistant, Carina, “one down, five to go”. So yeah, at first I wasn’t too big on this scene to the point where I started to have some doubts over Guardians of the Galaxy. The bright and colorful backgrounds of the Collector’s archive came off as being rather tacky to the point where it did not gel well at all with the more grounded color scheme and set design of the film prior. It’s easy to see why director Alan Taylor wasn’t too keen on this scene, directed by Guardians director James Gunn, being included in the film. But of course, since then Guardians has come out and proved to be another excellent installment in the MCU. Thus, I have warmed up to this scene in recent years. It’s still not one of my favorites by any means, namely due to the clashing of different set designs, but I do appreciate it more as a fan of Guardians.

15. PETER PARKER RETURNS HOME (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR)

Civil War saw the long-awaited debut of Spider-Man in the MCU and the Russo brothers gave us a fun little closing tag to end the film on that was based around him. It opens with Peter Parker as he returns home from the big airport battle in Germany. Having sustained some minor injuries during the fight (i.e. a black eye), Aunt May asks him who it was that hit him, to which Peter tells her that it was some guy named Steve from Brooklyn (I’m sure you all know who that guy is). After managing to shoo her away, Peter tests out some of the new equipment that Tony Stark gave him, namely a beam of light that emits an image of his Spider-Man mask on his bedroom ceiling. This is the ‘Spider Signal’, a piece of equipment that Spidey frequently used in the comics. It is used primarily to intimidate criminals, very similar in use to the Bat-Signal for Batman over in DC Comics. Ultimately this scene is another example of how this new film iteration of Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, is very much staying true to the comics. I mean, we saw that right out of the gate when Spidey first appeared in the second trailer for Civil War as his costume closely resembled his original costume from the comics right down to the ‘shutter eyes’. And thanks to this scene, I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to be seeing even more of ‘old-school Spider-Man’ in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

14. THANOS (THE AVENGERS)

The Avengers was the first MCU film to have not one but two post-credit scenes, the first of which being a mid-credit scene. And boy was this one a doozy as it introduced us to the character who will no doubt be a major threat in Infinity War; Thanos. All throughout the film we’ve seen scenes set in space in which Loki converses with a figure known as ‘The Other’. As this mid-credit scene begins, ‘The Other’ meets with his master, a mysterious purple-skinned figure, and warns him about the humans, who at first they thought wouldn’t pose any threat but were proven wrong after the Avengers took down their army of Chitauri. As ‘The Other’ remarks that ‘to challenge them is to court death’, Thanos turns to the camera and smugly grins. Now sure, if you’re not that big of a comic book reader, you probably had no idea who this character was the first time around. But at this point, I think it’s safe to say that most people know who it is now, especially now that he’s appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy and Age of Ultron. The thing is, though… in those films he’s played by a different actor. In the first Avengers, Thanos was played by Damion Poitier and I’m guessing that he was only brought in for that one scene. Ever since, Josh Brolin has been playing the part and will do so again in Infinity War. Now I’m not saying that they should pull a ‘Star Wars Special Edition’ by reshooting this scene with Brolin but now that he’s in the role, it’s kind of weird going back to this scene nowadays and seeing the pre-Guardians Thanos. Hence why his next post-credit appearance takes the next spot…

13. THANOS DONS THE GAUNTLET (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON)

Age of Ultron notably only had one post-credit scene whereas nowadays there are always two major post-credit scenes in an MCU film. I wonder how many people stuck around till the end of the credits only to find that there wasn’t anything there? Anyway, it was only fitting that Thanos appears in the post-credit scene for the second Avengers film and while he only grinned to the camera in the first film, he does a little bit more in this film… you know, more than he’s done while sitting on that throne that he sat in during his scene in Guardians of the Galaxy. Anyway, we open on a vault containing an Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos dons it and remarks ‘Fine! I’ll do it myself!’ meaning that he’s ready to finally start his quest to collect the Infinity Stones, which is a good idea because he technically doesn’t have any at this point. The Tesseract’s on Asgard, The Aether is with the Collector (presumably… Who knows after that archive explosion?), the Power Stone is with the Nova Corps, and the Mind Stone is in Vision’s forehead. Yes, he picked up an empty Infinity Gauntlet. On an interesting note, we previously saw an Infinity Gauntlet during a brief shot of Odin’s Treasure Room in the first Thor film. It’s safe to say that this must be a different Gauntlet. Anyway, it’s unclear when we’ll see Thanos next but this scene does set the stage for what will surely be an epic battle in Infinity War. And like I said before, the key reason as to why this scene gets ranked higher than the Thanos scene from the first Avengers film is the fact that now he’s played by Josh Brolin. Simply put, better continuity.

12. TONY MEETS WITH GENERAL ROSS (THE INCREDIBLE HULK)

Okay technically speaking this isn’t a ‘post-credit’ scene. In fact, it happens BEFORE the credits even start. Still, I think it’s necessary to include this one because boy was it a big deal when it first happened. Tony Stark appearing outside of the Iron Man films? Mind blown! Obviously nowadays this isn’t that big of a deal given all the cameos and crossovers that have occurred since then but I think that this one is still notable on its own merits. After the whole incident with the Hulk in Harlem (I wonder how Luke Cage and co. responded to that one), we see General Ross as he’s drinking his woes away in a bar. Then we cut to a figure entering the bar; it’s Tony Stark. After bantering for a bit, Tony mentions that a team is being put together. Again, obviously nowadays this isn’t anything major given the countless other times that Tony and other characters have cameoed in other MCU films. But in the context of mid-summer 2008, after Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel Studios made it big with the original Iron Man film just one month earlier, this was big. And let’s be honest, part of me wonders if there were people out there who didn’t see the post-credit scene from Iron Man beforehand. I’ll admit that I didn’t stick around till the end when I saw Iron Man in theaters so when I went to go see Incredible Hulk in theaters, basically this was the first time that I learned about the plans for an Avengers film. This scene was even incorporated into one of Marvel Studios’ ‘One-Shot’ short films, The Consultant. So, to put it simply, I’d say that this is still a very noteworthy entry in Marvel Studios’ line of post-credit stingers. 

11. BABY GROOT DANCING (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)

What more can be said about this one? This one’s super adorable and it quite frankly perfectly exemplifies the good feelings that one gets while watching Guardians of the Galaxy. During the climax of the film, the tree-like creature Groot sacrifices himself to save his friends as the Dark Aster crashes down into the city of Xandar. I dare you not to get teary-eyed when Groot comforts a distressed Rocket and says “We are Groot!” But following the final battle with Ronan, it’s revealed that Groot is still alive thanks to his regenerative abilities and is currently in miniature form. And as soon as the credits start, we get a hilariously charming scene of Groot dancing to the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ all while a completely unaware Drax is seated directly nearby polishing his knife. At one point Drax turns around and Groot freezes in place as if not to give anything away. Drax returns to polishing his knife and Groot continues to dance. I mean, there’s not much else I can say about this one. It’s just a super charming way to end the film and I do look forward to seeing a ‘younger’ Groot in the upcoming sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Fun fact; Groot’s smooth dance moves were provided via mo-cap by none other than the director of Guardians of the Galaxy himself, James Gunn, who has stated that ‘I Want You Back’ is his favorite song.

10. BUCKY VISITS THE MUSEUM (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER)

We got a great pair of post-credit scenes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The second one is a simple scene but it’s also an effective way to showcase a change in the character it focuses on. One of the major plot points of the film revolves around its titular character, the Winter Soldier, who is revealed to be Steve Rogers’ best friend Bucky Barnes, who is revealed to be alive after his supposed death in First Avenger but is now a brainwashed soldier of HYDRA. Now, Cap is forced to try and knock some sense into his friend, which he does with one simple line. Said line is one that Bucky said to him back in the 40’s; “I’m with you till the end of the line.” That stops Bucky right in his tracks and effectively started his journey to remember who he is. As the film’s second post-credit scene begins, we start off in the Smithsonian Exhibit in Washington D.C. honoring Captain America, which was complete with narration from Gary Sinise and was where Cap ‘stole’ his original World War II uniform to wear during the final battle with HYDRA. We then see Bucky as he walks up to the one part of the exhibit that focuses on him, “the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country”. Like I said, the key to this scene is that it ends the film on a cliffhanger by showing Bucky’s initial efforts to regain his memory following his fight with Cap. Also, the pulsating music by Henry Jackman that increases in volume as the camera pans over to Bucky is a nice touch. Speaking of good ol’ Bucky…

9. BUCKY GOES INTO CRYOSLEEP IN WAKANDA (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR)

Captain America: Civil War also had a nice pair of post-credit scenes, with the first, the mid-credit scene, giving us a good tease of the world of Black Panther. All throughout the film, Black Panther AKA Prince T’Challa of Wakanda had been hunting Bucky believing that he was the one who bombed the UN conference in Vienna and killed his father, King T’Chaka. Thankfully, he eventually realizes that Bucky was completely innocent and that Helmut Zemo was the one who was responsible for the death of his father. After the big Cap-Iron Man fight in Siberia, Cap and Bucky flee to Wakanda where Bucky voluntarily decides to go back into cryo-sleep. As he sees it, he can’t trust his own mind so it’s better for everybody if he goes under until they find a cure for his brainwashing. And so, he goes back into cryo with his best friend Steve by his side. Cap then goes to talk with T’Challa who tells him that he’s ready to help Bucky find peace after he and his father both became victims of Zemo’s plot. When Cap notes that those who are after Bucky will no doubt come for him in time, T’Challa remarks “Let them try,” as the camera pans out to reveal the jungles of Wakanda complete with a massive stone statue of a panther. In short, Civil War was a great introduction to the character of Black Panther, played phenomenally by Chadwick Boseman, and the mid-credit scene gave us our first look at his home nation which will no doubt take center stage for some epic superhero action in his upcoming solo film which will be hitting theaters on February 16^th, 2018.

8. HOPE IS GIVEN THE WASP SUIT (ANT-MAN)

While Hope van Dyne didn’t get much to do action-wise in Ant-Man, she was still a valuable member of the team and Evangeline Lilly certainly did a great job in the role. One of the best aspects about her role in the film was that there was a legit reason as to why her father, Hank Pym, didn’t just let her put on the Ant-Man suit as part of their plan to steal the Yellowjacket technology developed by his former protégé, Darren Cross. In an emotional flashback scene, he reveals that during a mission to disable a Soviet missile, her mother Janet AKA ‘The Wasp’ sacrificed herself by shrinking down to the sub-atomic level and was never seen again. However, after Scott Lang manages to return from this ‘quantum realm’ during the final battle with Yellowjacket, Hank begins to wonder if Janet is still alive. And as the mid-credit scene begins, it’s clear that he’s finally warmed up to the idea of letting Hope utilize his shrinking technology as he shows her a new Wasp prototype suit, basically confirming that she will be taking on her mother’s mantle in future MCU films. She didn’t appear in the next immediate MCU film, Civil War, unlike Ant-Man, because writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely noted that it would basically be nothing more than just a quick cameo. Sure, it’s a bit disappointing that she wasn’t brought back immediately after that big mid-credit scene but at the same time it’s understandable considering how packed Civil War was already in terms of characters. Thankfully she will be back to officially take on the mantle of ‘The Wasp’ in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. To quote her line in this scene, “It’s about damn time…”

7. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR TEASE (ANT-MAN)

This is another one of those MCU stingers that directly teases the studio’s next film. In this case, Ant-Man’s post-credit scene was directly helmed by the Russo brothers and features a setting straight from Civil War. It’s the scene where Cap and Falcon have found Bucky and are restraining him following the incident at the Berlin facility where Bucky was being held captive but was let out by Zemo, who reinitiated his HYDRA brainwashing with those infamous trigger words (“Longing, Rusted, Seventeen, Daybreak, Furnace, Nine, Benign, Homecoming, One, Freight car”). Falcon remarks that “this would’ve been a lot easier a week ago”. They both realize that they’re unable to contact Tony Stark because of ‘the Accords’ and Cap remarks that this basically means that they’re on their own. To which Falcon responds ‘not quite’ and that ‘he knows a guy’. This scene accomplishes two things. First off, obviously, is the fact that it sets up Civil War. It introduces the Sokovia Accords, without ever going into detail over them, as well as continuing from Winter Soldier, which ended with Cap and Falcon planning to go after Bucky. The other great thing about this scene is that it also serves as a nice bit of closure for Ant-Man. Of course, Falcon made a highly memorable cameo in the film during a scene in which Ant-Man had to infiltrate the Avengers’ facility in New York to acquire a specific piece of equipment for the film’s big heist. It just goes to show that the MCU truly is a connected universe.

6. LOKI IS ALIVE (THOR)

The climax of the first Thor ended with the implication that Thor’s treacherous brother Loki fell into the abyss following the destruction of the Bifrost bridge. However, as this post-credit scene reveals, Loki isn’t quite dead yet. Like pretty much all the Phase 1 post-credit scenes (save for The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, the latter of which he instead had a more substantial role in), it features Samuel L. Jackson returning once again as Nick Fury. In this instance, he converses with Thor’s friend Dr. Erik Selvig by bringing him to a secret SHIELD facility and showing him a mysterious glowing blue cube. We then see Loki reflected in a nearby mirror as it’s revealed that he’s somehow in control of Selvig, coercing him into saying to Fury that “it’s worth a look”. Like the Ant-Man post-credit scene, there are two things to take from this. First, it introduces the object known as the Tesseract, which served as the McGuffin of both Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers and would later be revealed to be an Infinity Stone. Secondly, as noted earlier, it establishes that Loki did survive that big fall and that he will be the primary villain of the first Avengers film. In fact, this scene was directed by Joss Whedon, who would do the same thing again for another ‘Avengers build-up’ post-credit scene that will be coming up in a little bit. It’s also interesting to note how Selvig is apparently under Loki’s control at this point as this is before he was officially made into one of his henchmen in The Avengers. Ultimately, though, this is another classic post-credit stinger that ends on a major cliffhanger. On that note…

5. THOR’S HAMMER (IRON MAN 2)

To me this was an excellent set-up for what was to be the next MCU film at the time, Thor. At one point in Iron Man 2, Tony briefly found himself in a state of ‘house arrest’ being watched closely by Agent Phil Coulson, who warned him that ‘he will taze him and watch Supernanny while he drooled on the carpet’ if he tried to escape. But Coulson ends up leaving eventually to head on down to New Mexico for a different assignment. As the post-credit scene, directed by Thor director Kenneth Branagh, begins, we open on the New Mexico desert. A lone vehicle begins driving through it and stops in front of a small cliff. As Agent Coulson gets out, we cut to a reveal of what he’s looking at; a massive crater surrounded by a bunch of truckers. Coulson gets on the phone, presumably with Fury, and tells him “Sir. We found it,” before we cut to a shot of the mysterious object located right in the middle of the hole; Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. And as the screen goes to black, we hear a bolt of lightning, perfectly matching Thor’s title as the ‘God of Thunder’. Without ever showing Chris Hemsworth as Thor, this scene perfectly builds up the character’s then-upcoming solo film while also confirming that Clark Gregg would be returning as everyone’s favorite SHIELD agent as well. And keep in mind that this was back when many people were unsure about a Thor film so there was a lot of pressure to get this right. Thankfully, the film did turn out good and continued Marvel Studios’ winning streak that is still going strong today.

4. TONY MEETS WITH BRUCE (IRON MAN 3)

I’ll admit that this one is rather polarizing, just like the film that it came from, but I personally love this one. The film opens with narration from Tony as he begins to go over the events of Iron Man 3, beginning with the incident with Aldrich Killian in Bern, Switzerland in 1999 that effectively led to his conflict with Killian’s organization AIM years later. This goes all the way to the end of the film as the post-credit scene reveals that he’s been telling the story to someone this whole time. That someone is Bruce Banner but when we first see him, he’s asleep in his chair and admits to Tony that he fell asleep after the ‘Switzerland’ part. After he tells Tony that ‘he’s not that kind of doctor’, Tony then begins to go into a different story about this old wound from 1983 and questions the fact that he still had a nanny back then at the age of 14 (“that was weird…”). Even though this is basically just a funny little anecdote instead of having some form of set-up for a future MCU film, I love this scene… for various reasons. The first is that, being the first ‘post-Avengers’ MCU post-credit scene, it’s a nice touch to have Tony in a scene with Bruce following the friendship that formed between them in the last film (Science Bros FTW!). Second, it certainly feels like a scene that director Shane Black would put in his films and it does match up with a lot of the humor in Iron Man 3. In fact, he and Robert Downey Jr. did this exact same kind of thing in their 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Really, the only odd thing about this is that, apparently between Avengers films, Bruce got a haircut and grew a beard.

3. THE TWINS (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER)

This is arguably the biggest MCU post-credit scene in terms of what it introduces for future films. Fittingly enough, it was directed by Joss Whedon to help set up Avengers: Age of Ultron. It opens in a HYDRA facility as a man named Dr. List meets with HYDRA leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann). He tells Strucker that Nick Fury has released the secrets of HYDRA’s takeover of SHIELD to the public but Strucker responds by saying that he only leaked “everything he knows about” as we see two secret projects that HYDRA is currently working on. The first is revealed to be the mind-controlling scepter that Loki used in the first Avengers film. As we would later learn in Age of Ultron, this scepter contains the Mind Stone, which is eventually used to bring Vision to life. But then, as Strucker tells List that it’s “not a world of spies and heroes anymore” but instead “the age of miracles”, we see two of the organization’s human test subjects; a man who is a speedster and a woman who possesses telekinetic powers. They are ‘the Twins’, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and the rather sinister feel of this whole scene, right down to the latter abruptly smashing the two cubes that she’s manipulating together to close out the scene, foreshadows the fact that the two start out as ‘enemies’ of the Avengers in Age of Ultron before they join forces at the end. In conclusion, if it wasn’t for these next two classic scenes, this might have been my favorite MCU post-credit scene to date. But on that note…

2. THE ‘AVENGER INITIATIVE’ (IRON MAN)

Even after nearly a whole decade since the release of the original Iron Man, there’s no denying that the original MCU post-credit scene is still one of the franchise’s best. However, as I alluded to earlier in this list, part of me wonders how many people did stick around through the credits to watch this scene in theaters. Because keep in mind, this was the first MCU film ever made so this was before any of us knew that we had to do this on a regular basis. So, in that sense, it’d be totally understandable if some people weren’t aware of this scene the first time they saw the film. As I also noted before, I was one of those people to the point where it wasn’t until The Incredible Hulk that I’d realized that they were preparing for an Avengers film. But at the end of the day, this is still one of the most iconic moments in the entire MCU. It opens as Tony Stark returns home after revealing to the world that he is Iron Man. As he enters the darkened house, he notices a figure out on his balcony. This man then proceeds to tell him the following; “"I am Iron Man". You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet.” As the man steps into the light, we see that it’s Samuel L. Jackson as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury, who states that “I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative’. And just like that, a Cinematic Universe was born. Seriously, I’d argue that this was the moment that officially kicked off the franchise. The first Iron Man was a pretty self-contained superhero story but in this moment, that all changed. Just imagine for a second how big this was when it first happened; a time before any of us thought that a Marvel Cinematic Universe could happen or that it was even possible. And we all know how that turned out…

1. SHAWARMA (THE AVENGERS)

So, what can possibly top the iconic moment where Nick Fury came to Tony Stark to talk about the Avenger Initiative, some of you might ask? Well, taking the top spot on this list is a post-credit stinger that doesn’t set up anything but is instead just a humorous ending tag. It’s the post-credit scene from The Avengers which consists solely of the titular group having lunch at a shawarma restaurant, during which they don’t say a single word. They just eat their lunch and, let’s be honest, after the long day that they just had, can you blame them? This scene is so simplistic that it’s brilliant. In fact, this scene was shot just shortly before the film was released in theaters. Yeah, when the film had its world premiere on April 11^th, 2012, originally it only had the Thanos mid-credit scene attached to it. But just one day later, Joss Whedon filmed a second post-credit scene to tie into a seemingly random line from the film. This scene also reflected a real-life incident that occurred during production of his show Angel in which he and stars Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof went to go get drinks after filming a major scene but then ended up just sitting around quietly because they were exhausted after the shoot. Anyway, going back to The Avengers, after Tony Stark crashes back down on Earth after sending the missile into space to destroy the Chitauri, he asks this to the team, “Ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I want to try it,” And you want to know one of the telltale signs of this being shot long after filming was done? During this entire scene, Cap is covering his face while he’s eating and this is hide the fact that Chris Evans had recently grown a beard. Regardless, this scene speaks for itself and even though it’s basically pointless compared to some of the other MCU post-credit scenes, it’s just awesome. Hence why it’s my favorite MCU post-credit scene to date.

And that’s the end of my rankings of all 19 MCU post-credit scenes that have been released up to this point. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below in regards your personal favorite MCU post-credit scenes.

…

“You’re still here? It’s over. Go home… What are you expecting, Sam Jackson show up with an eyepatch and a saucy little leather number? Go, go… Chicka-chickahhhh…”

(P.S. Yes I know that quote was from a non-MCU film.)