Marvel's Infinity Saga: Every MCU Movie Ranked Worst To Best

2. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

With Civil War, rather geniusly, the Russos took something as big as superhero registration and made it only a vehicle for a portrait of the dynamic between four men. This might be a big story, but what matters is the personal conflict between Cap and Bucky, Cap and Iron Man, Iron Man and Bucky and all three with Zemo.

On paper, this was supposed to be another Avengers movie branded as a Captain America movie to give it slightly less work to do to meet the hype. It would be based on the huge comic book story that was about as seminal a modern arc as they come. And it would have a huge cast and presumably huge action sequences.

Only the last part of that really ended up being true. Not for the first time, Marvel (with the Russos back in the directing seats) subverted expectations, pushing the entire story through a narrow filter and making something massive deeply personal. That takes a hell of a lot of story-telling ability.

There's some self-indulgence, of course, but it's all entirely acceptable considering how great the final work is.