With “Avengers: Endgame” and the Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe winning the box office and grabbing rave reviews, geeks of all walks of life are currently trying to deal with the emotional level of what unfolded in to the epic finale of the Infinity Gems arc. Now that you’ve seen “Endgame,” here are five animated Marvel movies that will keep the Mighty Marvel high going a little longer.
5. Ultimate Avengers: The Movie (2006)
The re-imagined Marvel Universe by Mark Millar laid the blueprints for what would become much of the MCU, right down to an African American Nick Fury. This grittier, more violent adaptation of the series includes much of the same beatrs with Captain America awakening after being frozen in 1945 while battling Nazis. He’s recruited by Nick Fury and SHIELD to help fight the evil alien army the Chitauri, all of whom helped the Germans during the war. There are appearances by the Hulk, Ant Man and Wasp, and of course Iron Man. It’s a pretty good movie overall with some interesting takes on the classic Marvel mythology.
4. Planet Hulk (2010)
The Marvel Illuminati led by Tony Stark has ruled Hulk is too dangerous to keep on Planet Earth. Tricking him on to a space shuttle, they launch him in to space. While there, he crash lands on planet Sakaar and is turned in to a prisoner. Ruled by the Red King, Hulk is pitted against other warriors of equal or superior strength, and quickly becomes the leader of a rebellion for this race. There he helps the people of Sakaar defeat the tyrannical king, while also taking down an evil race of monsters. Darker than other Marvel movies, this is a great Hulk adventure where he’s able to finally find a purpose for his powers elsewhere. It’s definitely for folks that loved “Thor: Ragnarok.”
3. The “Marvel Rising” Movie Series
Giving a platform to the lesser known Marvel heroes, the “Marvel Rising” movie series features a plethora of diverse and powerful Marvel characters including Miss Marvel, Captain Marvel, America Chavez, Squirrel Girl, Spider Gwen, Iron Heart, and Iron Man, respectively. The animation is slick, the excitement is sky high, and they’re great non-violent gateways for potential comic book geeks of all kinds. The series so far is three movies in, with the last film introducing Riri Williams as Iron Heart. Now streaming at Marvel HQ on Youtube.
2. Hulk Vs. (2009)
The mature short animated movies could be taken as a double feature or a single feature. Here, the Hulk battles Thor the God of Thunder, and has to also face off against Wolverine. There’s a great bit of fan service here with a wink to the original appearance of Wolverine who first faced off against Hulk when he was introduced to Marvel Comics. As an added bonus there are also big appearances by Deadpool, Sabretooth, Omega Red, and The Warriors Three.
1. Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme (2007)
Surprisingly darker than the 2016 film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sorcerer Supreme” is essentially the same origin of Doctor Strange, except there’s a much more horror tinted narrative with the titular hero. This origin film involves Strange facing off against the evil Baron Mordo, as well as trying to figure out how to stop the evil Dormammu who is putting various children all over the city in to near fatal comas for the sake entering in to our reality. The movie is still beautifully animated, and really broke the streak of bad Marvel animated movies before it. While the movie was more a dark fantasy based around awe and surreal effects, this movie is darker and centered on the paranormal, setting up a series of films for the character that we never got. If anything, it’ll at least serve as a compliment to the 2016 film.