(Welcome to Survey Says, a feature where we conduct a movie-related survey for a random group of people and explain why they’re completely right, completely wrong, or somewhere in-between.)

We now find ourselves at the start of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But let’s jump into the Wayback Machine and reminisce about Phase 1, shall we? The MCU has definitely changed over the years, but once upon a time, it was a franchise slowly putting itself together. So how does Phase 1 stack up today? Which is the worst movie in Phase 1? We’ve crunched the numbers to find out.

Well, we didn’t actually do anything, but we’re going to talk about it anyway.

By the Numbers

The experts at Survey Monkey, who we can all agree are 100% infallible and touched by God, have put together a graph that shows what online voters consider to be the worst movie in the MCU. To be clear: only about 600-ish people in the U.S. voted for this, so feel free to argue against these results. But just know that if you do try to dispute this, Survey Monkey assassins will show up at your house late at night and beat you to death with facts and figures.

Anyway, here are the results, in case you forgot to look at the chart I helpfully included above all these stupid words.

  • The Avengers 5.07%
  • Iron Man 9.33%
  • Captain America: The First Avenger 13.26%
  • Iron Man 2 16.69%
  • Thor 18.33%
  • The Incredible Hulk 37.32%

Hulk Smash

So what say you, reader? Are these results predictable? The Incredible Hulk really does feel like the red-headed stepchild of the MCU. It never got a sequel, and the actor playing Bruce Banner/Hulk – Edward Norton – was replaced by Mark Ruffalo. Now, to be fair, Marvel hasn’t completely erased The Incredible Hulk from the MCU continuity. But it certainly feels like they’re not entirely proud of the film. But does that make it the worst MCU movie from Phase 1?

If I were voting in this poll, my vote for the worst Phase 1 MCU movie would most likely be Iron Man 2, a rushed, clunky mess that absolutely wasted the charismatic Sam Rockwell. I also think the first Thor is pretty damn bad, but that places as second-to-last on this poll, so I suppose that’s fair enough.

Now, does all of that mean The Incredible Hulk is better than its reputation suggests? No, not really. But I also don’t think it’s an offensively bad flick. It’s just kind of forgettable. And it sure isn’t as fun as Ang Lee’s weird, goofy Hulk, which I will always cherish.

The post What is the Worst MCU Phase 1 Movie? appeared first on /Film.