The 15 Best Marvel Movie Directors, Ranked By Fans

Films Directed: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame

Why Their Movies Are Top Tier: It’s not a mistake that a fraternal directing duo who first made their mark in Hollywood as capable television directors would succeed in the MCU. The most successful TV directors succeed because they execute the vision laid out by their shows’ creators. As Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez, and Gavin Edwards lay out in their book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Marvel has always had a clear and precise vision for its films, and the Russo brothers are some of the best at realizing that. They’re one of the few directors or director duos with at least four Marvel titles on their resume. 

Films Directed: Iron Man, Iron Man 2

Why His Movies Are Top Tier: Favreau's Iron Man films are credited with saving the franchise entirely.  At a time when Marvel Studios faced uncertain financial prospects, Favreau brought his experience as the director of low-budget but high performing titles like Elf - which profited more than $200 million off a $30 million budget - to the MCU, which it desperately needed. Contrasted with later films in the Marvel franchise, Favreau’s two Iron Man films offer a much more character-driven and “plausible” take on the genre.

Films Directed: Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Why His Movies Are Top Tier: For most casual Marvel fans in 2014, Peter Quill and his band of misfit spacefaring mercenaries - Groot, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Gamora - probably weren’t quite as recognizable as a Captain America or the Incredible Hulk. Yet Gunn took relatively obscure source material, about a ragtag crew who unexpectedly have to save the galaxy into one of the highlights of the MCU. It’s one thing to successfully direct a movie about an already beloved character, but it’s something else to introduce a cast of pretty much unknowns and turn them into household names. 

Films Directed: Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 

Why His Movies Are Top Tier: Raimi gets credit for directing the groundbreaking Spider-Man trilogy that starred Tobey Maguire as the web-slinger and has been credited as the most authentic interpretation of the character. He also received praise for elevating 2022’s Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness above its predictable 1960’s comic book-era plot. 

Films Directed: Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home

Why His Movies Are Top Tier: Watts’s Spider-Man trilogy is the highest grossing individual sub-franchise within the MCU, taking in a collective $3.9 billion. That might well be the high water mark for any individual Marvel director. Furthermore, Watts’s treatment of Peter Parker as what is essentially a character in a 1980’s high school comedy won audiences over. 

Films Directed: The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron 

Why His Movies Are Top Tier: Joss Whedon is the guy whose two and only films in the MCU established the foundation for the ultra-successful Avengers sub-franchise. Before The Avengers, Marvel had only been able to make highly profitable movies about individual characters. Whedon’s The Avengers showed that, yes, you can have multiple superheroes lead a successful movie, especially if they bicker with each other like a family.