The Avengers Vs. Avengers: Infinity War - Which Is Better?

4. Standalone Appeal

While both movies are tied firmly into the fabric of the MCU, how do they stand up to an isolated viewing away from all that wonderful nonsense?

The Avengers is a simply laid-out team-up movie that can be watched and enjoyed even if someone hasn't seen a single prior MCU film. You won't get as much out of it, sure, but it manages to fire broadly without seemingly overly pandering. Though it does set up the arrival of Thanos, it's not much of a muchness at this point.

Infinity War is obviously built off the back of a decade of buzz, so it doesn't work nearly as well when viewed cold, but that's precisely the point. It also ends on a cliffhanger, which again bolsters its agenda as part of a movie universe rather than something your bored uncle might watch and fully understand after randomly stumbling across it on TV.

Winner: The Avengers is the clear winner in this regard, but if it were any other way, Infinity War likely wouldn't be as great as it is.