# Which has been the best movie series in the current Marvel universe?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 6, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185 "2016-09-06T13:44:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/1 "2016-09-06T13:44:30Z")
The current Marvel Cinematic Universe was started with _Iron Man_ in 2008. Since then there have been 4 series in which more than a single movie has been released: _Iron Man_, _Thor_, _Captain America_, and _The Avengers_. There are a lot more in the pipe, but as of this date those are the ones that we have actually seen.
Which of those four has been the best overall series (or, conversely, for those who hated them all, which was the least bad)?
ETA: Note the 20th Century Fox Marvel movies, e.g. _Fantastic Four_, _X-Men_, _Wolverine_, etc. are a separate entity and thus not included in this poll. Thank you!
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/2 "2016-09-06T13:49:56Z")
Here’s how I rate them:
Iron Man: A, B, B+
Thor: B-, B
Captain America: A-, A, A
Avengers: A, B+
So in my opinion, the Captain America series is best. Winter Soldier may be my favorite MCU movie (with Guardians of the Galaxy probably a close 2nd).
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/3 "2016-09-06T13:57:38Z")
Personally I’m voting _Captain America_. I feel like the CA films have been the ones driving the overall story more so than the other series (possibly because the CA films have always directly preceded the _Avengers_ films, directly tied into the _Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D._ TV series, and it was the very latest one), and while they have their flaws, have all been very high-quality movies in all respects.
_Iron Man_ (2008) was a revelation, but the subsequent movies were increasingly unspectacular.
The _Thor_ films have all been just… _meh_.
_The Avengers_ films have both been very good, but again they’ve felt more like a follow-up to the CA films, IMO.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/4 "2016-09-06T13:59:33Z")
Definitely Captain America. I really enjoy the first one and the second one is probably tied for the best of all of them with the first Avengers. Civil War was a tiny let down for me but still a solid B+ so yeah, definitely CA.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/5 "2016-09-06T14:05:06Z")
By individual movies, I’d rank _The Avengers_ as best, followed by _Guardians of the Galaxy_. But _Age of Ultron_ was merely pretty good, and _Guardians_ hasn’t yet had a sequel.
Of the others, the first _Thor_ was good, but _The Dark World_ was, while not a stinker, still the worst of the bunch. And while all of the Iron Man movies had their good parts, the second and third were significantly below the first.
Captain America, though, has been consistently good. And even if you count _Civil War_ as an Avengers movie rather than as a Captain America movie, two good out of two is a better record than two good and a mediocre out of three.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/6 "2016-09-06T14:05:36Z")
It was a hard choice between Captain and The Avengers, with Avengers barely winning out.
I think the first Captain movie was only about a B or B+, Winter Soldier was a solid A+ and Civil War was only a B or B+ as well.
However, Avengers 1 is absolutely the best superhero movie ever made and arguably one of the best ensemble movies ever made. I also thought Avengers too was A- to A worthy.
So just based on that I picked Avengers. But it didn’t win by much.
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### Author:  [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/7 "2016-09-06T14:16:47Z")
Do the Hulk movies count, since he is part of the Marvel Avenger movies? Some of the best parts too.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/8 "2016-09-06T14:24:01Z")
> [@Vicsage](#):
>
> Do the Hulk movies count, since he is part of the Marvel Avenger movies? Some of the best parts too.
There was only one film in the current cycle and there don’t appear to be any plans to continue _The Incredible Hulk_ as its own series. Apparently Universal owns the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk (the films are made by Paramount) and this is an obstacle Paramount does not want to deal with, so they’re content with Hulk just appearing in the other films and not any more of his own.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/9 "2016-09-06T14:37:53Z")
IMHO, when the Captain America series is good, it’s at least as good as the best Thor movie or Iron Man movie; and if we put the weakest installment of each franchise up against the others, Cap’s wins hands down; so it’s really only a question of how the Cap movies stack up against the Avengers flicks, which means – oh, I dunno, figure that CIVIL WAR equals AVENGERS, and that WINTER SOLDIER beats AGE OF ULTRON, and if CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER has nothing to apologize for, that’s it?
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### Author:  [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/10 "2016-09-06T15:11:19Z")
Captain America, easily. His series has had 3 films, and they’ve all been good to great. Avengers, the first one is one of the best super heroes films ever made, maybe even edges out the The Winter Soldier, but the second one while still fun lacks rewatchability and is worse than any of the Cap movies, so even if they averaged out the same, Cap still wins on consistency. If Infinity War is really good, it could make it interesting, but the other two just don’t really compare. Anyway, here’s how I feel about them:
**Iron Man: B+** A really solid film and a great establishment of the character and tone of the universe, but forgettable villain keeps it from being an A.
**Iron Man 2: D+** Mediocre at best, too much focus on world building, not forgettable but downright bad villains, messy plot.
**Iron Man 3: C-** It’s a well made movie, but the “twist” craps all over Iron Man’s, and one of Marvel’s overall, best villains, but I give them props for having the balls to do it. I really didn’t feel any stakes at the end with a bunch of empty suits fighting nameless bad guys.
**Thor: B** I liked that it was a character study to introduce us to his humanity first. Loki is a break-out villain. Could have used a little more action
**Thor: The Dark World: C** Again, fun with Loki, but too much plot convenience and another forgettable villain
**Captain America: The First Avenger: B** I probably like this more than most people do, but I went in expecting something really bad and I find it’s campiness to be charming. Red Skull is one of Marvel’s better villains.
**Captain America: The Winter Soldier: A** Love the tone, love the spy thriller aspect, great villains if just a hair under used. Lots of great action and great character moments and a well executed twist. All of my complaints are minor.
**Captain America: Civil War: B** A whole lot of fun, and great introduction to Black Panther and a large ensemble in general without losing focus on Cap himself. The Airport scene is a great but lacked stakes imo. Some of the plot points were too convenient. Another unmemorable villain (but forgivable since he’s more a plot device than a villain)
**The Avengers: A** Possibly their best overall film, but it’s real close Winter Soldier. More fun with Loki, and a blast to see them team up for the first time. Really felt Hawkeye was shafted (especially as we’d only been barely introduced to him) and a few minor plot issues, but probably the most rewatchability of all of their films.
**Avengers: Age of Ultron: C+** Lots of good action, but largely a retread of the first one in overall story. Villain was decent enough but some pacing and story issues with more focus on setting the stage for phase 3 than paying off phase 2 where the previous paid off the whole of phase 1.
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/11 "2016-09-06T15:28:20Z")
Definitely the Captain America trilogy.
Thor’s movies so far have been mediocre. Still one to go, but that one won’t redeem the other two.
Iron Man was very good, Iron Man 2 was weak and had a horrible ending, and 3 was entertaining but I didn’t buy the main villain. It also seemed very disconnected from evertything that came after, like no one bothered to tell Shane Black that Tony Stark was going to have to be Iron Man again in the next Avengers movie.
CA: TFA was a very entertaining period piece, at least a B+, while The Winter Soldier was the best Marvel movie so far, with some of the best fight choreography I’ve ever seen, and Civil War was a better Avengers movie than either of the first two Avengers movies.
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/12 "2016-09-06T15:29:36Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#):
>
> Avengers, the first one is one of the best super heroes films ever made, maybe even edges out the The Winter Soldier, but the second one while still fun lacks rewatchability.
Not to me. I’ve rewatched Age of Ultron many times. It’s underrated IMHO.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/13 "2016-09-06T15:59:45Z")
Captain America is getting a lot of love here and I’m on board.
I liked CA OK in the comics but I wasn’t a huge fan. Despite that, I loved the First Avenger and they followed it up with two very strong sequels.
Now, we may have to change this poll after Guardians of the Galaxy 2 comes out, but until then Cap’s my man.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/14 "2016-09-06T16:24:58Z")
This one’s easy, the **Captain America** trio of films by a wide margin.
I just watched **Captain America: First Avenger** again last night and forgot how solid a film it was. The CA films aren’t only the best Marvel Films so far, but is one of the few trilogy of films that are ALL good.
I may change my mind if the make a Guardians 2 & 3, since \*\* Guardians of the Galaxy\*\* is my favorite Marvel film, but right now it’s CA all the way.
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### Author:  [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/15 "2016-09-06T16:39:45Z")
Voted for _Iron Man_, but _Captain America_ is a close second, and probably objectively “better.” I loved IM1 and 3, though 2 was forgettable at best. I was meh on CA1, loved CA2, and thoroughly enjoyed CA3. CA1 was a legitimately good movie that just didn’t click with me, but IM2 was kind of crummy. Captain America averages out better, but I go for Iron Man because the appeal of “badass engineer builds murdersuit” resonates with me on a more personal level.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/16 "2016-09-06T16:49:54Z")
If anyone hasn’t watched CA 1 in a while, I’d recommend trying it again – I think it’s a lot better having watched all the other movies. Lots of fun seeing Steve develop into Cap and beat up Nazis.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/17 "2016-09-06T17:22:25Z")
Wow, one voter out of 32 must have a serious crush on Chris Hemsworth, because I can’t see why else anyone would vote for the Thor movies as the best.
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/18 "2016-09-06T18:03:43Z")
I just can’t get into the CA movies. The first one was enjoyable enough. I had trouble staying awake through CA:Winter Soldier and the only highlight of CA:Civil War was Ant Man. (Which was good in a way because I was going to skip Ant Man otherwise.)
Civil War is particularly flawed because of long, meaningless fight scenes. Like the airport scene: from a plot perspective, absolutely nothing is achieved that justifies wasting that much screen time. They want to get to a plane… there’s a fight… they get to the plane. The length of the fight adds nothing to the plot. And at the end: Really, guys, we get it. Cap and Iron Man have disagreed all movie. Now Cap and Iron Man are fighting. Still fighting. Yep, still fighting. Continuing to fight… still fighting… do I have time to get more popcorn before they roll credits?
To be fair, all of the Marvel movies share some of these flaws, but the CA movies are right at the very bottom in my estimation.
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### Author:  [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/19 "2016-09-06T18:35:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Wow, one voter out of 32 must have a serious crush on Chris Hemsworth, because I can’t see why else anyone would vote for the Thor movies as the best.
No, I don’t have a crush on Chris Hemsworth…I just personally like the Thor movies the best of the lot. Yes, even _The Dark World_, which I liked quite a bit for its having the most Fantastic Four-esque aspect in the MCU, outside of _Guardians Of The Galaxy_, with the portals (and a great sad scene/sequence with Frigga’s death and funeral). The Shakespearian feel, most especially in the first one with Kenneth Branagh at the directing helm, helps personally too. And of those lucky enough to have MCU franchises, I’ve always liked Thor the most anyway…at least until Dr. Strange debuts in November and hopefully is given a sequel or two. Sorry if that all makes me such a bloody idiot…
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-has-been-the-best-movie-series-in-the-current-marvel-universe/765185/20 "2016-09-06T19:38:14Z")
Not idiot at all. Iconoclast maybe… 😉
I’m down with the Cap love.