Summary

• The Marvels showcases the chemistry between Captain Marvel, Kamala, and Monica through a fun training montage, adding emotional stakes to the movie.
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 breaks new ground for the MCU with its first "f-bomb" moment, creating a relatable and hilarious scene.
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania features standout moments like Scott Lang using a building as a shield and the inventive sequence in Kang's Multiversal Engine.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe may have had a tumultuous 2023, but the franchise still succeeded in delivering more than a handful of fantastic scenes destined to be ed among the franchise's best. The MCU is still struggling to really find its footing in the wake of the wildly successful Infinity Saga, but that hasn't stopped individual projects from being great. From the trilogy-closing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to a new contender for best MCU Disney+ show in Loki season 2, there's no doubt that the MCU still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

However, even projects that struggled with critics or failed to meet box office expectations have scenes well worth ing. Whether these scenes introduce new characters, pay off years-old setups, or simply deliver high-quality comic-book movie silliness, other 2023 Marvel releases like Secret Invasion and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. These 20 scenes are the best of the best from Marvel Studios in 2023 and are all well-worth revisiting.

20 The Marvels Train To Overcome Their Entanglement

The Marvels

Due to her first solo movie taking place in the 1990s and her screen time in Avengers: Endgame being limited, Captain Marvel didn't have much time to interact with other MCU heroes before The Marvels. Understandably, she's hesitant to team up with Kamala and Monica at first, but a fun montage mid-movie shows the trio training to use their space-swapping advantageously. It's a brief set of scenes, but the three leads' wonderful chemistry is on full display, and it does a lot to humanize Carol and give the rest of the movie a better emotional stakes.

19 The MCU Drops Its First F-Word

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

The MCU has famously cut off several "f-bombs" throughout its run, but Guardians of the Galaxy 3 seized the opportunity to go all the way and break new verbal ground for the franchise. The word happens as Star-Lord and several other Guardians borrow a car to get to the High Evolutionary's base on Counter-Earth. In a moment most can relate to, Nebula keeps pulling the handle as Peter tries to unlock the door. In a moment of frustration, he hilariously scolds her, saying, "Open the f-----g door!."

18 Scott Lang Does His Best Captain America Impression

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wasn't received as positively as expected, but it still had a few standout moments well worth seeing. One such moment comes Quantumania as Ant-Man and company enact their assault on Kang's fortress. The whole battle is a fantastic spectacle, but one moment in particular stands out as an exciting bit of fan service. Scott grows to a massive size (relative to his Quantum Realm scale). Then, he tears the top of a building off and uses it like Captain America uses his shield. It's subtle, but it shows how Scott has learned from one of his heroes.

17 Ant-Man Enters Kang's Multiversal Engine

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumani introduced Kang the Conqueror to the MCU, but the powerful villain is stuck in the Quantum Realm. He threatens Scott into shrinking down to enter his Multiversal Engine, and the locale is truly bizarre. In one of the film's most inventive sequences, duplicates of Scott separate from him to represent every possible choice he could make. A small crowd grows into a massive tidal wave of Scott Langs. It's creative, visually stunning, and one of Quantumania's best moments.

16 The Ant-Army Siege's Kang's Fortress

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ending has some notable pacing problems, but something that absolutely works is the payoff for Hank's colony of ants getting sucked into the Quantum Realm earlier in the movie. The ants having lived for millennia due to the realm's time distortion and evolving into a hyper-advanced society is the perfect level of cheesy sci-fi, and it's hard not to get excited as they overwhelm Kang's fortress. It's unknown if this society of insects will ever be seen again, but they could make for powerful allies whenever Ant-Man appears again.

15 MODOK Makes His Debut

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

With his weaponized Doomsday Chair and bizarre proportions, MODOK is one of those villains who seems almost impossible to adapt well to live-action. Tying the villain's origin to the first Ant-Man works extremely well, and his debut scene is his best. A well-designed battle mask covers the questionable visual effects of Cross's human face, and the cinematography of MODOK's first fight is among the movie's best.

14 A Classic X-Men Team Member Makes His MCU Debut

The Marvels

Marvel has been able to finally use the X-Men ever since Disney bought Fox in 2019, but the studio has smartly taken it slow with introducing mutants to the MCU. Professor X appeared in a different timeline in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and The Marvels continues that trend while seeming to set up how the team will the MCU in full. At the end of The Marvels, Monica Rambeau wakes up after being trapped in a different reality to see a variant of her mother and Beast, the latter voiced by Kelsey Grammer, who played the blue mutant in X-Men: The Last Stand.

13 Mobius Saves Loki At The Time Loom

Loki Season 2, Episode 1

Loki season 2 starts off with an exceptional episode that immediately addresses the cliffhanger from the end of Loki season 1 and sets up season 2's central conflict. The episode focuses on Loki's time slipping and introduces a dangerous solution - Loki must prune himself, and Mobius must snag him from the Loom at precisely the right moment, or Loki will be forever lost. The episode's climactic minutes do a fantastic job of mixing Loki's difficulties finding a way to prune himself and Mobius' tense journey into the Loom chamber, and the pair's eventual success is indicative of the wonderful set pieces and character moments that permeate the whole series.

12 The Marvel's Place-Swapping Fight Is Pure Comic-Book Goodness

The Marvels

The Marvels sees its three heroes entwined, forced to physically swap places whenever they use their powers at the same time. This is used to best effect when Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau don't yet know what's happening and are forced to fight a multi-location battle across Earth and the stars. The camera work, fight choreography, and soundtrack come together to make it a slick scene that lets each hero have their moment to shine. The three become more practiced with their switching later, which also makes for a fun fight against Dar-Benn, but the sense of chaos and uncertainty here make this the movie's best fight scene.

11 Secret Invasion Reveals Its First Skrull

Secret Invasion Season 1, Episode 1

The opening sequence of Secret Invasion is a perfect spy-thriller scene with incredible tension and cinematography. Richard Dormer's Prescod is shown explaining his Skrull conspiracy theory to Martin Freeman's Everett Ross, and it slowly becomes apparent that the latter is not who he seems. Most of the rest of Secret Invasion is largely disappointing, but the series' opening scene proves the concepts' potential brilliantly.