For a Marvel fan, asking them to name their single favorite MCU movie is like asking Iron Man to defeat Thanos — it can be done, but only after several hours and many (internal) battles. Expanding the question to include their top three entries in the shared universe is a little easier, then, and that’s the discussion that’s currently doing the rounds on social media, with MCU lovers everywhere sharing their personal picks for the finest three films in the franchise.
ComicBook’s Brandon “B.D.” Davis got the ball rolling by sharing his complete MCU Blu-ray collection — barring the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home — and asking fans to select their “top 3 MCU movies” out of the 27 that have been released to date, from 2008’s Iron Man onwards. As you would expect, the responses came in their hundreds and varied hugely.
That said, there were certain titles that kept coming up again and again on people’s lists, including Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame — no surprise there, considering they’re the grand concluding chapters to the Infinity Saga — and No Way Home, which is both the most recent entry in the saga and also one that’s been widely deemed an instant classic.
Other popular choices included Thor: Ragnarok and the Guardians of the Galaxy films, with Iron Man and Black Panther also getting a lot of love.
A subset of fans had slightly less usual tastes, choosing typically mid-ranked origins films like Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Shang-Chi over the big team-up extravaganzas.
All in all, this discussion reminds us that the MCU is so enormous that it appeals to all tastes, with every movie being someone’s favorite. Although it has to be said, you won’t find Iron Man 2 or The Incredible Hulk mentioned much in this thread.
The next MCU movie to come our way is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With any luck, it’ll launch directly into many fans’ top three lists when it hits theaters on May 6.