Some of the criticisms that the Marvel Cinematic Universe follows a cookie-cutter formula are a little exaggerated, but almost all of its movies and TV shows culminate in a big final battle sequence. The villain trots out their army of faceless goons or a giant structure falls from the sky and the hero has to save the day in an explosive, large-scale spectacle.
Some of these third-act battles are overshadowed by a great sequence in the first or second act, like Shang-Chi’s bus fight and Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Washington Monument rescue, but the best climactic battles top all the action that came before them.
Ant-Man And The Wasp
The Ant-Man films are often criticized for their small scale (no pun intended). They’re framed more as straightforward comedies than superhero actioners, but Ant-Man and the Wasp climaxes with a huge action set-piece.
Sonny Burch and his goons chase Hank Pym’s shrunken-down briefcase-sized lab around San Francisco. Giant-Man wades into the ocean, moves a ferry like a bath toy, and passes out on the seabed. It’s safe to say that this sequence is bigger and bolder than anything else in the movie.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
From the Guardians’ opening fight with an interdimensional beast to Yondu’s mind-bending jaunt through the cosmos, returning writer-director James Gunn helmed some spectacular action sequences for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
The final battle pulls it all together as Quill battles his biological father Ego (and the other Guardians work to destroy the planet that he manifests himself as) while reconciling his relationship with his real father, Yondu. This climactic set-piece has big laughs, explosive action, and most importantly, a ton of emotional closure: “He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy.”
WandaVision
For the most part, Marvel Studios’ first original series on Disney+, WandaVision, wasn’t driven by action. It started off as a traditional sitcom whose biggest conflicts involved an unplanned dinner party and a poorly executed magic show.
But the show’s creators went above and beyond with the big boss battle in the finale. Wanda fights Agatha Harkness alongside her fabricated sitcom family like the Incredibles.
Captain America: The First Avenger
The final battle in Captain America: The First Avenger sees Steve Rogers infiltrating a Hydra base, engaging in a dogfight, and fighting Red Skull aboard his airborne war machine. The sequence culminates in one of the MCU’s most emotionally charged moments.
Steve realizes that the only way to save the world from Red Skull’s W.M.D.s is by making the ultimate sacrifice. Brought to life in heartbreaking fashion by Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell, Steve makes a date with Peggy before crashing the plane.
Thor: Ragnarok
The most notable thing about Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok is its quirky, idiosyncratic humor. But the zany threequel also has a ton of spectacular Flash Gordon-inspired action sequences, from the God of Thunder’s gladiatorial match with the Hulk to their escape from Sakaar via “The Devil’s Anus.”
The final battle has a familiar setup: Asgard is at stake and there’s a showdown between the heroes and villains on the Rainbow Bridge. But Waititi subverts expectations with the actual destruction of Asgard, which resolves Thor’s emotional arc, and jaw-dropping moments like Thor’s thunderous arrival set to “Immigrant Song.”
Hawkeye
Clint Barton and Kate Bishop’s street-level adventures in Hawkeye gave audiences some of the MCU’s most refreshingly grounded action to date. There’s a visceral fight scene in a wine cellar and a high-octane car chase filmed in a captivating long take.
In the season finale, the climactic action pulled it all together. The ice rink battle is a dazzling display that sees Clint and Kate fighting side-by-side before going their separate ways for concurrent fight scenes. Kate proves herself to be worthy of Avenger status by singlehandedly defeating the Kingpin, while Clint’s fight with Yelena provides catharsis over Nat’s death for both of them.
Avengers: Endgame
The final battle in Infinity War is split between two different battles: the Battle of Titan, which is phenomenal, and the Battle of Wakanda, which is disjointed and overstuffed. Ultimately, the former is let down by the latter.
In the final battle of Endgame, every Avenger in the universe fights together as one big unit in the Battle of Earth. From Cap wielding Thor’s hammer to Iron Man giving his life to save the world, this sequence has everything and the kitchen sink.
Captain America: Civil War
The biggest set-piece in Captain America: Civil War is the battle between Team Cap and Team Iron Man at the airport. But that sequence is overstuffed, the broad-daylight visuals are dull, and since all the heroes are pulling their punches, there’s no real sense of danger.
Fortunately, the refreshingly small-scale final showdown makes up for it. There are no sky-beams or armies of faceless goons in this finale – just three characters brutally fighting to the death over a personal vendetta.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
There are some really great set-pieces in the second act of Spider-Man: No Way Home, like Doc Ock attacking the bridge and Doctor Strange chasing Spidey through the Mirror Dimension. But the final battle at the Statue of Liberty successfully blows all those sequences out of the water.
With all three Spider-Men fighting side-by-side, it more than lives up to the promise of a live-action Spider-Verse. The combat between the Spider-Men and their iconic villains is punctuated by hilarious banter between the bickering Peter Parkers.
The Avengers
The explosive Battle of New York sequence from The Avengers’ third act is still the gold standard for this trope. Kicking off with the iconic shot sweeping around the six original Avengers, the Battle of New York is the final battle against which all MCU final battles are judged. It’s full of cinematic splash pages and emotionally engaging character beats.
There’s plenty of fun spectacle, like battle-hardened Cap and Thor fighting side-by-side and the Hulk punching a Leviathan out of the sky, but also plenty of truly moving moments, like Iron Man’s sacrifice.