The Marvel Cinematic Universe is sort of like a skeleton; everything is connected, but some parts are a bit more connected than others.
Indeed, for all the emotions that get thrown into the universe whenever a new Marvel character makes their MCU debut, there’s just no denying the tried-and-true power of the micro-franchises that make up so much of the premier comic book world; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may have been a Marvel movie, but No Way Home was a Spider-Man movie, and the gravity of those distinctions is rarely lost on the most dedicated fans.
But with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 finally making its theatrical run as of last weekend, now is as good a time as any to look back and see which heroes have been fortunate enough to reach trilogy status in the MCU, and, because this is the internet, the folks over at r/marvelstudios couldn’t help but make the franchise’s threequels butt heads with each other.
A quick glance at the options is all one needs to pick out the winners and losers; the real challenge is narrowing down the winners.
Indeed, the thread quickly devolved into a four-way tug of war between every movie that wasn’t Iron Man 3 or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, although one user was happy to give a comprehensive breakdown of their ranking.
A few others users also explored the question of whether an MCU film should be measured with respect to the rest of the franchise, or to how well it stands on its own, with Captain America: Civil War and Vol. 3 occupying either end of that spectrum.
In any case, haters will hate, fans will be fans, opinions will clog the internet, and Marvel Studios will continue swimming in more cash than most of us can comprehend; all is still normal with the world.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now playing in theaters.