Image via Disney
6.
There is something about a movie trilogy that just feels right. A movie and a sequel are nice, and a rare quartet of films is cool, but there is just something clean about a trilogy that separates itself from the rest of the pack.
You have The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy of Star Wars trilogies, Sam Rami’s Spider-Man, Christopher Nolan’s Batman, and many more. Now, we are 32 movies into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and there are five trilogies that span all the way from the originalIron Manin 2008 to the most recent MCU release, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
I chose not to include the Thor and the Avengers movies on this list because both titles have four installments, but it is safe to say that this list would look very different if I had. Anyway, here are the five MCU trilogies ranked from worst to best.
5.'Ant-Man'
Ant-Man (2015)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2019)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania (2023)
Ant-Man is essentially the exact opposite of Iron Man on this list. While Iron Man was well-established before the MCU became what it was, Ant-Man was the first solo superhero that was introduced following an Avengers film. To me, there is no denying that the best part of the Ant-Man trilogy is Paul Rudd and the humor that he brings to the MCU. After Ant-Man’s origin story, the stakes started to become a little high and the story started to become a bit convoluted. Ant-Man and the Wasp served as both a sequel to the first film as well as a bridge to hold fans over between Infinity War and Endgame (a dubious feat that hurt the perception of Captain Marvel as well).
Quantamania suffered from sky-high expectations that would have been nearly impossible for it to meet. Marvel dug itself into a bit of a hole in the post-Infinity Saga world, and the third installment of the Ant-Man trilogy was billed as one of the key cogs in helping right the ship. Serving as the origin story for who was supposed to be the next Thanos-level villain, the reception of Quantamania is likely to change depending on what Marvel decides to do with the Kang the Conqueror character and Jonathan Majors amid his domestic violence scandal. Ant-Man is a perfectly fine trilogy, but it is up against too many heavy hitters to not be ranked last amongst the other Marvel trilogies.
4.'Iron Man'
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Simply put, the MCU would not exist if it wasn’t for Iron Man. Back in 2008, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. took on a project that not only shaped the next 15 years of Marvel Studios but changed superhero movies forever. Iron Man is in a unique spot when it comes to the MCU, as Iron Man 1 and 2 were two of the first three films to release, with the first and only Hulk movie standing in their way of releasing back to back. Iron Man 3 was the next film to drop after the first Avengers movie, putting an end to this trilogy over a decade ago. That being said, while the Iron Man films came to an end, the MCU was just getting to know Tony Stark, arguably the main protagonist of the Infinity Saga and the de facto savior of the entire universe in Avengers: Endgame.
What hurts Iron Man the most on this list is the level of disconnect between the three films. The first two movies feel self-contained and act as Iron Man movies, while the third is more of a reaction to the events of Avengers. This worked well for Captain America as it was more of a consistent theme throughout the trilogy, but the difference was a bit too stark (pun intended) for the third installment. There’s no denying the impact that Iron Man had on Marvel Studios both in terms of the film and the character, but stacked up against the rest of the entrants on this list, it’d be hard to rank it any higher.
3.'Spider-Man'
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
The MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy came with a unique set of obstacles that the rest of the names on this list did not have. Spider-Man had already been on the silver screen a number of times with Sam Rami’s iconic Tobey Maguire trilogy and Marc Webb’s duo of Andrew Garfield-led films. That challenge meant that Jon Watts needed to do something new and unique with his Spider-Man films, and that is exactly what he did with Tom Holland, the youngest of the three actors to play Spidey. On top of all that, Spider-Man is arguably the most iconic character on Marvel’s roster, meaning that the pressure to deliver was intense. Having first been introduced in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man also had the benefit of joining the MCU when it was already well established.
Peter Parker is a teenage superhero who is still in high school, and this trilogy really leans into that. At the end of the day, that is what makes Spider-Man so popular; he’s a friendly, neighborhood superhero that a lot of people see themselves in. The audience learns life lessons with Holland’s character as the trilogy goes on as well: in Homecoming all he really wants is to become a member of the Avengers; in Far From Home, he is dealing with the loss of his mentor Tony Stark and trying to separate himself and go on vacation with the girl he loves; and then finally in No Way Home, the most iconic line in Spider-Man lore, “With great power comes great responsibility,” becomes a major theme of the film.
Not to mention, No Way Home took on one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the cinematic universe, blowing the door open to the multiverse and bringing in characters from outside of Disney’s MCU. When I think of the most memorable moments I have had actually watching a movie in a theater, Captain America wielding Mjolnir in Endgame and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s introductions into the MCU instantly come to mind.
2.'Captain America'
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The Captain America trilogy largely benefits from having two of the best MCU movies of all time: Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. The growth shown across this trilogy’s three movies largely mirrors the path of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. It starts with a crucial origin story that provides background for one of the most important characters in comic book history, then it progresses to an action-packed team-up movie that helped push the boundaries of what was possible in a superhero film. It finally wraps up with what is basically a mini Avengers movie, utilizing almost every character that Marvel had introduced us to at the time.
Captain America’s films run parallel alongside the Avengers movies better than any other trilogy in the MCU as well. We are introduced to the first real Avengers-level threat by way of the Tesseract in The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier pushes Steve Rogers’ morals to a new level that carries over into Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Civil War shows us a world that is directly responding to the destruction of the second Avengers film and the separation of beliefs between Steve Rogers and Iron Man. The Infinity Saga falls back on the Captain America films as a complement to its Avengers-level films with direct tie-ins that make them crucial to understanding the entire story of the MCU. Without Captain America, there would be no Infinity Saga, and vice-versa.
1.'Guardians of the Galaxy'
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Recency bias aside, it would be difficult to put another trilogy ahead of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trio. It is the most complete set of three movies that the MCU has to offer, leaving the audience emotionally invested in a group of characters the masses didn’t even know about before their introduction in 2014. Gunn spent nearly a decade familiarizing the world with a group of outlaws that literally come from different corners of the galaxy to create a family that we can all see ourselves in.
Most of the other trilogies on this list have iconic superhero star power to fall back on. Spider-Manhas a popularity that can only be rivaled by DC Comic stalwarts Superman and Batman, while Iron Man and Captain America are the two leading men of The Avengers. What makes Guardians truly special is what it was able to do with a talking raccoon, a tree that says only three words, and a group of “heroes” that would have serious trouble carrying a movie on their own. Early on in the first Guardians movie, the tone is set when Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill flips on his Walkman, and Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” begins to play. Pratt’s love for retro music throughout the trilogy sets a major tone that has created three of the most beloved soundtracks in the entire MCU.
On top of the music, there is comedy and genuine emotion across these three films that don’t feel nearly as forced as they do in other MCU films. The characters have built relationships with each other over the span of nine years that feels relatable and consistent, largely due to the fact that Gunn directed all three, giving the franchise that cohesive feeling throughout.