Best Phase Of The Infinity Saga

[Detective Conan]

With the release of Far From Home concluding the Infinity Saga that began 11 years ago with the first Iron Man I wanted to know what do most of the Hype community think is the best phase from this now closed era of the MCU.

I think the best for me is Phase One since it was so foundational and introduced us to Tony, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, and Thor. It started out strong with Iron Man and closed out strong with The Avengers. I suspect phase one won't win the poll but I gotta pick it.

Art credit goes to Mr. Saxon on DevianArt. Apologies for the lack of art for Endgame and Far From Home’s exclusion. I have to assume this was created quite a bit prior to any images from Endgame being released, and Far From Home was not widely considered to the end of phase three until Feige said it was.

 

[Leo Zelinsky]

From Age of Ultron - Far From Home was really great (minus Ant-Man's)

 

[NotNickFury]

Still Phase 1 for me. While Winter Soldier remains my favorite film within this universe, I like the tone and feel of the earlier films. There hadn't really set in yet the MCU mentality of adding too much humor where it's unnecessary, and while Phase 1 did build to The Avengers, those films can be approached as just films on their own compared to now where you have to see X, Y, and Z in order to understand what's happening in B.

Sure, there's something to be said for a larger, grander universe, but in this instance, less is more for me. There's a reason I own the majority of the Phase 1 films minus Iron Man 2, while with Phase 2 and onwards, the only films I own are Winter Soldier, Civil War, and Infinity War.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Phase 3 for sure. Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians 2, Homecoming, Ragnarok, Infinity War/Endgame...

This has been a series that just gets better with time. And I stand by that.

 

[Erzengel]

Phase 3 although it's a bit unfair as it includes 11 movies which almost totals of Phase 1 and 2 combined.

Maybe it'd be more fair to do Phase 3a (CW, DS, GOTG2, SM:HC, Ragnarok, BP) and Phase 3b (IW, AM&W, CM, EG, SM:FFH)

 

[Lip]

Phase 3 and it's not even close: Civil War, Black Panther, Infinity War, Endgame, Homecoming, Far From Home, Guadians 2, Ragnarok...

I pray the next phases (or whatever comes next) are at least as good as Phase 3 was.

 

[psylockolussus]

Phase 3 has been marvelous even though the Sony films weren't really spectacular imo.

 

[jolldan]

Phase 3 for me.

If I was to put each phases top 3 movies (imo) up against each other it would look like this.

1st Place Phase 3
1. Infinity War
2. Endgame
3. Civil War

2nd Place Phase 2
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. Ant-Man

3rd Place Phase 1
1. Avengers
2. Iron Man
3. Thor

 

[Xarus]

Phase 3. Way more bonkers, more ambitious, more expansive with more consistency despite bigger number of films and better villains.

The fact that marvel swung for the fences and stuck the landing with iw and eg in an age where every finale or major franchise is riddled with controversy (got,x-men, star wars etc) is admirable.

Was it a perfect phase ? No, captain marvel, gotg vol 2 and ant-man could have been better. But they werent bad and there isnt a franchise with that many movies and not a bad one by general consensus except the mcu.

 

[NotNickFury]

Phase 3. Way more bonkers, more ambitious, more expansive with more consistency despite bigger number of films and better villains.

The fact that marvel swung for the fences and stuck the landing with iw and eg in an age where every finale or major franchise is riddled with controversy (got,x-men, star wars etc) is admirable.

Was it a perfect phase ? No, captain marvel, gotg vol 2 and ant-man could have been better. But they werent bad and there isnt a franchise with that many movies and not a bad one by general consensus except the mcu.

I mean, I don't know many people- here or otherwise- who hold Dark World in high regard to everything else. Even The Incredible Hulk, which I personally enjoy, isn't highly regarded by many nowadays.

 

[Stormborn]

They've all been a mix of great and not so great films so I've never really noticed a jump or drop in quality between the phases.

If I average my personal ratings for each film then phase 1 comes out on top but not by much.

Phase 1
Avengers (9.5/10), Iron Man (8/10), Cap 1 (6.5/10), TIH (6/10), Thor (6/10), Iron Man 2 (5.5/10).
Average score: 6.91

Phase 2
Winter Soldier (9.5/10), GotG (9.5/10), Age of Ultron (7.5/10), Ant-Man (5.5/10), Dark World (5/10), Iron Man 3 (4/10)
Average score: 6.83

Phase 3 (minus Far From Home since I haven't seen it yet)
Ragnarok (9.5/10), Infinity War (9/10), Civil War (9/10), GotG 2 (8/10), Doctor Strange (7.5/10), Black Panther (7.5/10), Ant-Man and the Wasp (5.5/10), Captain Marvel (4/10), Homecoming (4/10), Endgame (4/10)
Average score: 6.8

 

[Boom]

Three, and it's not close.

Phase One Standouts:
-Iron Man
-The Avengers

Phase Two Standouts:
-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
-Guardians of the Galaxy

Phase Three Standouts:
-Captain America: Civil War
-Doctor Strange
-Spider-Man: Homecoming
-Thor: Ragnarok
-Black Panther
-Avengers: Infinity War
-Avengers: Endgame
-Spider-Man: Far from Home

 

[Xarus]

I mean, I don't know many people- here or otherwise- who hold Dark World in high regard to everything else. Even The Incredible Hulk, which I personally enjoy, isn't highly regarded by many nowadays.

Maybe you should search more then. They are not regarded bad films. They are more good dinosaur and cars than cars 2. They are so many bad cbms that people have perspective.

I have read more than a couple of dozens times that the mcu doesnt does a truly bad film which was my original point.

 

[Erzengel]

Even if we are to begrudingly agree that the 3-4 low end MCU are the worst of the franchise. I don't see them being as bad as Origins, Green Lantern, Elektra, Catwoman, etc. That's not even going into X-Men: TLS or some of the DCEU outings.

 

[Xarus]

Even if we are to begrudingly agree that the 3-4 low end MCU are the worst of the franchise. I don't see them being as bad as Origins, Green Lantern, Elektra, Catwoman, etc. That's not even going into X-Men: TLS or some of the DCEU outings.

Thats my point. We can all debate if thor tdw is a bad film until we lose breath but the fact that its not critically panned or a bomb. None of the mcu films are and the general consensus is that the mcu has some lackluster efforts but thrty arent bad films. Our individual opinions can vary but thats the general sentiment and i think we all know it.

 

[Stormborn]

Maybe you should search more then. They are not regarded bad films. They are more good dinosaur and cars than cars 2. They are so many bad cbms that people have perspective.

I have read more than a couple of dozens times that the mcu doesnt does a truly bad film which was my original point.

Even if we are to begrudingly agree that the 3-4 low end MCU are the worst of the franchise. I don't see them being as bad as Origins, Green Lantern, Elektra, Catwoman, etc. That's not even going into X-Men: TLS or some of the DCEU outings.

I can agree with that. The MCU films I dislike (Iron Man 3, Homecoming, Endgame) are still well made films, they're just dragged down by weird and disappointing story choices.

 

[TheGuy]

Phase 3. Best in quality and quantity

Phase 3:
Thor: Ragnarok
Avengers: Endgame
Black Panther
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Captain Marvel

Phase 1:
Iron Man
Captain America: The First Avenger
Thor

Phase 2:
Guardians of the Galaxy

 

[NotNickFury]

Maybe you should search more then. They are not regarded bad films. They are more good dinosaur and cars than cars 2. They are so many bad cbms that people have perspective.

I have read more than a couple of dozens times that the mcu doesnt does a truly bad film which was my original point.

Good thing I never said they were regarded as bad films. Just that they aren't highly regarded.

There is a difference, you know.

 

[Abudefduf]

In an ideal world it would've been Phase 3 because that's where my two favorite Marvel heroes, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel, joined this universe.

But we don't live in an ideal world so I gotta go with Phase 2. I love Guardians of the Galaxy and Winter Soldier. The only Phase 3 movie I love is Ragnarok.

 

[Xarus]

Good thing I never said they were regarded as bad films. Just that they aren't highly regarded.

There is a difference, you know.

You might wanna read again the original post you replied to. How does the fact that they arent aren't highly regarded negate my original point?

Harry potter 6 isnt highly regarded among harry potter fans. It doesnt make it a bad film or changes the fact that the og harry hotter franchise is very consistent.

 

[CosmicSpider]

Phase 1 was special, it has a lot of heart and nostalgia for me. It also laid the foundations for the MCU we have today.

Phase 2 was mixed for me, it contained my least favorite film (IM3) and also my second favorite film of the saga (TWS). It also upped the game with GOTG introducing the Cosmic elements in the wider galaxies.

But Phase 3... in retrospect, this is the best phase, unquestionable. It turned the MCU into a studio that didn't just make superhero films, but full-on COMIC-BOOK movies. It came about as a result of the MCU's growth and development throughout Phase 1/2. It became the pinnacle of why we read/love comic books. The wackiness, the vibrancy, the flux of tones, the poignant messages and real-world parallels, the team-ups at every corner, the growing continuity, the overarching story closing in. It felt truly like a celebration of the source material, whereas I'd say Phase 1/2 were focused more on being simply adaptations of the source material. Not that that's a bad thing, but ever since TA1 I feel like Phase 2 was the experimental Phase where they were testing their capabilities, and this lead to Phase 3 being so amazing.

At the end of the day though, the Infinity Saga is just such a phenomenal and instrumental piece of modern cinema.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

They've all been a mix of great and not so great films so I've never really noticed a jump or drop in quality between the phases.

If I average my personal ratings for each film then phase 1 comes out on top but not by much.

Phase 1
Avengers (9.5/10), Iron Man (8/10), Cap 1 (6.5/10), TIH (6/10), Thor (6/10), Iron Man 2 (5.5/10).
Average score: 6.91

Phase 2
Winter Soldier (9.5/10), GotG (9.5/10), Age of Ultron (7.5/10), Ant-Man (5.5/10), Dark World (5/10), Iron Man 3 (4/10)
Average score: 6.83

Phase 3 (minus Far From Home since I haven't seen it yet)
Ragnarok (9.5/10), Infinity War (9/10), Civil War (9/10), GotG 2 (8/10), Doctor Strange (7.5/10), Black Panther (7.5/10), Ant-Man and the Wasp (5.5/10), Captain Marvel (4/10), Homecoming (4/10), Endgame (4/10)
Average score: 6.8

Woah. I gotta ask. If Endgame is a 4/10 for you, what would a movie like Green Lantern or Justice League rank for you?

 

[Stormborn]

Woah. I gotta ask. If Endgame is a 4/10 for you, what would a movie like Green Lantern or Justice League rank for you?

Couldn't tell you, I saw the bad reviews and skipped both. I'd give films like Spider-Man 3, Kick-Ass 2 and Batman & Robin a 1 or 2 out of 10 if that helps.

If I hadn't been so invested in seeing the culmination of 10 years of MCU films and was trying to be more objective, Endgame would maybe get a 5 from me because it definitely has its moments. I rate it lower because it was very disappointing to watch Infinity War followed up by a messy, long and self referential time travel film with some pretty weird character choices and a 'half the universe was dead for 5 years' outcome that every MCU story from hereon in is going to have work around.