There only a few days left to go until we reach 2024, which means if you haven’t already, it’s a good time to take stock of the cinematic entertainment this past year delivered. Many kinds of stories were were released over the course of the 2023 release schedule, and in addition to ranking the best 2023 movies, we here at CinemaBlend have also broken down the best of the best delivered across specific genres, including the best 2023 action movies and best 2023 comedy movies. But before this year is over, it’s important to go over what was delivered on the superhero front, specifically from heavy-hitters Marvel and DC.
This was a big year for both companies, with each delivering four features to the public. While it’s too soon to tell whether some of the entries we’ll be discussing will go down in history as some of the best Marvel movies and best DC movies, we can at least rank how these seven movies stacked up against one another.
Some SPOILERS are ahead for the listed movies.
8. Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania
While Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp aren’t the most beloved critical darlings of the Marvel movies in order, they’re nonetheless enjoyable romps that set up the Quantum Realm, which later played a key role in Avengers: Endgame. Our first deep-dive into this alternate dimension, however, wasn’t nearly as good. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s story proved to be disappointing, ranging from its odd choices in humor to Jonathan Majors’ first outing as Kang the Conqueror following his debut as He Who Remains in Loki not being as big a deal as it was hyped up to be (Marvel Studios has since fired Majors). It’s likely we’ll see Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne again in the MCU, but it feels like the Ant-Man film series should be retired now.
7. Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom
It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that Aquaman is the most surprising success of the DCEU, as it ended up becoming the highest-grossing DC movie of all time, though its critical reception was more on the mixed side. Well, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is a far cry from its predecessor. Although the back-and-forth between Arthur Curry and Orm is fun to watch, and Black Manta is certainly a more formidable villain this time around, nearly all of the wonder and charm from the first movie is absent. Even though The Lost Kingdom expand upon the DCEU’s Atlantean lore, it often feels like this sequel is trying too hard. Not to worry though, Topo the octopus, your expanded role was most welcome.
6. Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
Despite the Shazam! mid-credits team teasing an alliance between Dr. Sivana and Mister Mind, we only briefly reunited with these in Shazam! Fury of the Gods during its end-credits scene. Instead, the sequel saw the Shazamily clashing with Hespera, Kalypso and Anthea, the daughters of Atlas, one of the entities from which Billy Batson and his siblings draw their powers. While Fury of the Gods isn’t a bad movie by any stretch, it is underwhelming when compared to its predecessor. The sisters of Atlas just weren’t that compelling as villains, some of the magic infused into the first movie was gone this time around. Frankly, I wish Shazam! 2 had either delivered the machinations of Sivana and Mind as promised, or pitted the World’s Mightiest Mortal against Black Adam, a battle many DC fans had been eager to see.
5. The Flash
The Flash movie finally arrived in in summer 2023, nearly a decade after it was initially announced, and just a few weeks after The Flash TV show concluded its nine-season run on The CW. So was the long wait worth it? When it comes to performances, one could argue yes, as Ezra Miller did a stellar job playing two versions of Barry Allen, Sasha Calle’s Supergirl was a force to be reckoned with, and Michael Keaton killed it reprising Batman after nearly three decades. The story, on the other hand, wasn’t anything exceptional, and the use of AI and CGI to recreate the major cameos in the movie’s climactic multiverse sequence drew controversy. For the Scarlet Speedster’s first solo feature outing, this could have been worse, but also could have been better.
4. The Marvels
Although The Marvels now ranks as the lowest-grossing MCU movie yet, story-wise, it’s a fine enough entry in the franchise. This follow-up to Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel and other stories excels with its character work, specifically the dynamic between Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan, who finds themselves switching places when using their light-based powers, as well as the involvement of Kamala’s family. All this makes up for an unexceptional story and Dar-Benn being a subpar villain, and that major X-Men cameo in the post-credits scene makes for a delightful extra treat.
3. Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is unquestionably the superhero movie on this list with the smallest stakes, but that doesn’t take away from how well it handled Jaime Reyes’ theatrical debut. Xolo Maridueña did an amazing job bringing the young hero to life, but this movie wouldn’t have been as fun to watch without Jaime’s family by his side. Sure, it’s cool to see Jaime kicking ass using the alien Scarab bonded to him, but Blue Beetle is at its best when it’s delivering heartfelt moments. While it remains to be seen how much of the events in this movie will be canon in the new DC Universe, it’s nonetheless good to know that Maridueña will continue playing Jaime in the shared continuity replacing the DCEU.
2. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
There was once a time when James Gunn wasn’t going to return for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so let’s all be thankful this didn’t happen. The saga that Gunn began in 2014 came to an emotional conclusion this year, with Rocket Raccoon and his fellow Guardians clashing with The High Evolutionary, the madman who turned our favorite trash panda into what he is today. Once again, we have a movie that by no means skimps on delivering great action, but it’s the emotional content that shines brightest, particularly the heartbreaking details surrounding Rocket’s origins. We’ll see some of the original Guardians again in the MCU, including Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, but Vol. 3 served as an outstanding goodbye to this specific lineup.
1. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
While it remains to be seen if Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will win the Best Animated Feature Oscar like Into the Spider-Verse did, you won’t find any shortage of people who feel that this sequel is better than its predecessor. This time around, Miles Morales is the one traveling through the multiverse, and his conflict with The Spot results in him meeting people like Miguel O’Hara, Jessica Drew, Pavitr Prabhakar and Hobie Brown. What starts off as a Spider-hero team-up many times bigger than what Into the Spider-Verse delivered turns into a story about fighting one’s supposed destiny and doing whatever it takes to protect the people you love. All this and more (including the massive cliffhanger ending that’s left many itching to see Beyond the Spider-Verse) make Across the Spider-Verse worthy of being 2023’s best superhero movie.
So now that we’ve covered the Marvel and DC movies released in 2023, it’s time to look at what awaits us in the coming year from these companies. That information can be found in our 2024 release schedule, and you should also keep visiting CinemaBlend for news about upcoming Marvel movies and upcoming DC movies slated for 2025 and beyond.