Avengers: Infinity War

#65 at the time of writing.

When the Marvel Cinematic Universe was first spitballed in the mid-2000s, even the most ambitious studio executives didn't dare dream how successful it would become. We're now 30 films into the arc, but for me the franchise reached an incredibly satisfying crescendo right here in film #19.

With a story so epic it needed a whole extra film (Endgame) to wrap up the loose ends, and an ending so unexpected it got me excited about the superhero genre all over again despite so much overkill, this film made watching (most of) the other 18 worth it.

This film sees a slew of comic book heroes, introduced to us in the decade since Robert Downey Jr's addictively charismatic star turn in 2008's Iron Man, come up against their biggest threat yet. But despite the ensuing battle being on the grandest scale, each character gets enough time to shine on-screen - an impressive feat given the diversity of the motley ensemble (ranging from ninjas to gods; from a blue-skinned cyber-alien to a talking raccoon).

The ultimate popcorn blockbuster - but I wonder how well the story, and the emotional beats, would stand up for someone without the context of the preceding 18 films?

This is the highest ranked Marvel Cinematic Universe film in IMDb's Top 250, but my personal MCU favourite is Thor: Ragnarok, mainly because I can't get enough of director Taika Waititi's irreverent sense of humour. I'm spellbound that despite being a MASSIVE Hollywood behemoth, Marvel Studios' creative process allows for such gratifying idiosyncracy (see also: WandaVision).