Phase One vs. Phase Two: Which did you prefer?

[Drizzle]

Now that Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially come to a close with Ant-Man, I pose the question: which phase did you prefer?

Personally, I felt that Phase One was better structured in terms of leading us to The Avengers but Phase Two was more enjoyable for me, particularly The Winter Soldier, Guardians and Age of Ultron. Phase One tested the waters, but Phase Two expanded on the potential of the shared universe.

 

[TeeKay]

Phase two has been a blast for me. Avengers was a celebration of its own existence. Phase two has been about developing these characters further and that's what I love about it.

 

[OcStat]

I agree with both of you. Phase 1 was merely the foundation, now everything is in place and the characters have grown more so, relationships have been expanded, the entire world they've crafted becomes more like the comics they are adapting little by little. Phase 2 includes my top 3 favorite Marvel films, and I think Any-Man works great as the Phase 2 book end, after Avengers and right before things should hit the fan in a big way for Civil War.

 

[T"Challa]

Phase two had better films, better storylines and was awesome., But for me personally Phase one just holds a special place in my heart. I just never thought i'd see some of these characters hit the big screen and be treated with such respect, not to mention win the hearts of mainstream viewers. And to see the whole thing come together in the Avengers and Marvel becoming a complete force is just something i will never forget as a comic book fan. Ever.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Now that Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially come to a close with Ant-Man, I pose the question: which phase did you prefer?

Personally, I felt that Phase One was better structured in terms of leading us to The Avengers but Phase Two was more enjoyable for me

I pretty much agree with this.

 

[Flint Marko]

Phase 1 was a build-up, phase 2 is a party. So I'm going with phase 2.

 

[Mike5575]

Phase 2 beats up phase 1, but Iron Man was classic, that's where it all began.

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

I think I enjoyed Phase 1 more. Iron Man 3 and Dark World bothered me greatly, and Avengers 1 was better than AoU.

 

[kedrell]

I just tallied up the scores since I finally got to see Ant-Man and it looks like phase 1 still wins slightly with an average score of 8.625/10 vs. phase 2's 8.333/10 average. Phase 1 also keeps both the best and worst films(IM1 & TIH) within it's confines. Phase 1 also is alone in having any movies in it that I gave higher than a 9/10 which is extremely rare for me and I gave 2 phase 1 films that score(IM1 and TA1). There are only 5 CBM's that I've ever scored higher than a 9/10(all listed in my top 5 cbm's of all time list in another thread).

 

[The_Manhunter]

I just tallied up the scores since I finally got to see Ant-Man and it looks like phase 1 still wins slightly with an average score of 8.625/10 vs. phase 2's 8.333/10 average. Pase 1 also keeps both the best and worst films(IM1 & TIH) within it's confines. Phase 1 also is alone in having any movies in it that I gave higher than a 9/10 which is extremely rare for me and I gave 2 phase 1 films that score(IM1 and TA1). There are only 5 CBM's that I've ever scored higher than a 9/10(all listed in my top 5 cbm's of all time list in another thread).

Very interesting how tastes can differ. For me, Phase 2 houses the best (Age of Ultron) and the worst (Iron Man 3). Just a comparison I thought was interesting

 

[kedrell]

Very interesting how tastes can differ. For me, Phase 2 houses the best (Age of Ultron) and the worst (Iron Man 3). Just a comparison I thought was interesting

It is indeed. I'm more of a Hulk fan than anything else so I could only see all the missed opportunities in TIH with Hulk not being allowed to be an actual character(they still struggle with this) as he is in the comics. IM3's twist pissed me off at first as a long time Iron Man fan but after the first week I just let go and trusted Fiege to make it right and he ultimately did with that one shot so I can enjoy all the rest of that movie which was superb, IMO. And IM1 just blew my socks off and nearly erased all the horrible taste of AngHulk so that's still my all time fave to this day.

 

[Chris B]

Phase 2 narrowly edges out Phase 1 for me. CATWS, GOTG, and Ant-Man all fall into the "great" category to me, while IM1 and A1 were the only ones to fully do that in Phase 1, IMO.

 

[ares834]

I prefer Phase 2.

However, if you average out my score for each phase then phase 1 comes out ahead simply because Thor: TDW really lowers Phase 2's average score.

 

[DACrowe]

I really loved Guardians and Cap 2 was fun. But Iron Man and The Avengers make Phase One much more enjoyable. Also, I thought Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron were worse than Iron Man 2. So, hence my vote.

 

[Silvermoth]

Phase 2 was way better IMO. Phase 1 was quite toy commercially whereas phase 2 took a lot of chances that really paid off.

I hope the taking chances thing continues with phase 3

 

[flickchick85]

They both had their missteps, but Phase 2 just raised the overall bar, imo. Hopefully Phase 3 will do the same.

 

[Best]

For me it's just


Iron Man
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers

vs

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man


Tough, but have to say Phase Two.

 

[Fosterson]

Phase 1 was better for me. Still haven't seen Ant-Man, but although the buzz has been great, I'm pretty sure it won't be enough to change my opinion.

My reasoning? Well:

IM>IM3

Thor>TDW

Avengers>AoU

I personally think Winter Soldier was really an anomaly; the exception rather than the rule. And while GOTG was delightful, it isn't enough to elevate the Phase for me.

Of course, this is just my opinion and I am by no means saying that the MCU is getting worse and I still enjoyed all the Phase 2 films. I think Phase 3 will be Marvel's best yet. Civil War, Ragnarok and Infinity War are all amazing comic storylines just waiting to be brought to life on the big screen, while Captain Marvel and Black Panther will add new diversity to this universe. I genuinely think that the best is yet to come!

 

[Best]

And I'm biased because I [want to] consider Daredevil a Phase Two film.

 

[ThePhantasm]

If I scored the movies and averaged the scores, Phase 1 would come out on top. But Phase 2 has some of the highest scoring films (as well as some of the lowest scoring).

For me Phase 1 is more consistently good but Phase 2 has the some standout enjoyable / fun entries.

 

[flickchick85]

Here's how I weigh them: Iron Man and The Avengers are two of the best films in the MCU, alongside Phase 2's AoU and Cap 2. But everything else in Phase 1 was a 7.5/10 or lower for me, while in Phase 2, I had Cap 2, AoU, IM3, GotG and Ant-Man all ranked at 8/10 or higher. The only one that didn't come close to hitting that mark was TDW. So for relative quality consistency, Phase 2 takes it easily takes it for me.

I just need to re-iterate how psyched I am that we're entering Phase 3, though. Phase 2 was dominated by sequels, while Phase 3 is more dominated by new heroes/properties, so I can't wait to meet them all.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I didn't care for IM3, AOU, or TDW. CA:WS and GOTG were amazing. Ant-Man I haven't seen yet.

Whereas in Phase 1 I like (but don't love) IM, Thor, CA. Dislike IM2. Avengers was great.

 

[Lord]

Phase II, it had 3 of the better MCU films and took many more risks, as everything between Iron Man and Avengers in Phase I seemed to pretty much follow the same formula.

 

[starscream22]

Didn't vote since I couldn't decide. But they both have more replay value than any few Marvel films that Fox and Sony have thrown together during any time in the past 15 years.

 

[TheSpectacular]

Phase 1 movies were better
Phase 2 movies were more entertaining