Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ranking Every 2016 Project From Worst To Best
1. Captain America: Civil War
Civil War is a film that, as a concept, doesn't seem like it could work in the constraints of a two and a half hour film. Not only did it have to serve as a follow-up to the highly-regarded The Winter Soldier, it had to essentially serve as a partial Avengers film and Iron Man sequel, juggle a bunch of characters we've come to know, introduce a few new ones, and move the MCU's larger narrative forward, all without forgetting to keep the focus on its own titular star-spangled hero.
That it all worked is no small miracle, but here we are, the film having turned out to be the highest grossing movie so far of 2016 and a critical success. Spider-Man and Black Panther made their MCU debuts, Ant-Man's world finally collided with the Avengers', and years of world-building and character work within the franchise - from the Cap/Bucky friendship to the murder of Tony Stark's parents to the fallout resulting from Age of Ultron and so on - all came to a head here, with the utter fracturing of the team by film's end changing the landscape of the franchise going forward.
Though the TV side of the MCU gets to spend more time diving into certain characters, stories, or themes and movies like Doctor Strange get to have a clean slate to do something new, Civil War is representative of how far the MCU has come in creating a massively unified franchise, its success demonstrating how deeply fans have invested in these characters and their stories. If anything, this year proved that the MCU has something for everyone, making it easy to keep looking forward to what's to come.
What was your favorite MCU project this year? Let us know below!