The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t take to the skies all that often. While there are characters that move around using armored suits and others that can straight-up fly, most of the fighting happens on the ground. Things are better that way, as it’s easier to convey emotion when everyone’s faces are visible and not behind a windshield. However, that doesn’t mean that the MCU forsakes dogfights altogether. There are a number of ships in the franchise that get plenty of run. Unfortunately, they’re all part of an uphill battle because of what the Guardians of the Galaxy choose to ride around in.
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In the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, the titular team calls Peter Quill’s ship the Milano home. It has all the necessary bells and whistles to get them from one place to another and to defend itself should another vessel start looking to make trouble. But all the shine the Milano gets means other ships fall to the wayside. Here are five great MCU ships that are even better than the Milano.
5) Q-Ship
Villains in the MCU always know how to make an entrance. Ultron scares Earth’s Mightiest Heroes half to death at their party in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Loki makes a fool out of a bunch of capable soldiers in The Avengers. However, it’s Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian that take the cake because they arrive on Earth on the Q-Ship.
A ring-shaped vessel lands in the middle of New York City, drawing the attention of everyone in Avengers: Infinity War. Its spinning mechanisms and massive size make it an intimidating force that makes the skin crawl on the likes of Iron Man and Doctor Strange. In addition to scale, it’s also practical, as it can travel at incredible speeds across the galaxy.
4) Commodore
Asgard has great chariot-like ships that carry its soldiers wherever they are needed. They don’t get much use, only showing up when the Norse gods’ home is under attack, which is why Thor never misses an oppurtunity to take another vehicle for a spin. In Thor: Ragnarok, he and his allies board the Commodore, owned by the Grand Master of Sakaar.
Since the Grand Master likes to have fun on his ship, there are a lot of strange features, such as a strobe light. The Commodore knows how to defend itself, though, storing a massive gun in the back that makes quick work of Hela’s undead soldiers at the end of Ragnarok. It’s a shame that the Commodore doesn’t make it out of Infinity War alive.
3) Helicarrier
Everything is bigger in The Avengers. There are a bunch of heroes, an army of villains, and a ship that makes Captain America hand money over to Nick Fury. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s helicarrier is a mainstay throughout the early days of the MCU, and for good reason, as it’s capable of storing other ships and weapons and cloaking itself.
While the helicarrier gets a bad rap for Hydra’s attempt to use three of them to take out thousands of targets around the world, that speaks to the ship’s effectiveness. Even after getting the Hydra stink all over it, the MCU brings the helicarrier back in Age of Ultron, having it help rescue the people of Sokovia before their home turns to rubble.
2) Excelsior
The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings Marvel’s First Family to the MCU, and everyone knows how they get their powers. While on a mission in space, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm are exposed to cosmic radiation that changes them forever. They return home with superpowers, but none of them gain the ability to breathe in space.
After Galactus comes knocking in First Steps, the Fantastic Four uses the Excelsior to travel to him, and when things get dicey, it gets them out of a jam by tanking the gravitational pull of a neutron star. Of course, there are also weapons onboard, which are capable of knocking the Silver Surfer off her game.
1) Sanctuary II
Size isn’t all that matters in the spaceship game; just look at how easy Ronan’s ship goes down in Guardians of the Galaxy. However, when a villain can back up their strength with a powerful vessel, that’s a different story. Thanos pulls up in the Sanctuary II in Thor: Ragnarok‘s post-credit scene, and immediately, the God of Thunder and his brother know they’re in for the fight of their lives.
The Sanctuary II continues to cause problems in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, housing everything from torture chambers to enough missiles to level the Avengers Compound. Sure, Captain Marvel gets the better of the ship, but not before it does untold damage to the galaxy.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
