Fans couldn’t overlook the imperfections in Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 when choosing the best trilogy in the MCU

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man receives less fan love than these superheroes in the MCU. When fans were asked to poll on the best superhero trilogy in the MCU, most of them chose Chris Evans’ Captain America trilogy and James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. While the first Iron Man film remains one of the best films in the 30 billion-dollar franchise, Downey Jr.’s third film had unfavorable opinions, which made it many people’s third favorite trilogy.

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Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man (2008) | Marvel Studios
However, the critical and audience opinions are different cases from the box office numbers of these films. Interestingly, the controversial Iron Man 3 had box office earnings higher than any of the Captain America movies or the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Fans Pick Two Other MCU Trilogies As Their Favorites Over Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man

Stills from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy | Marvel Studios
A fan recently posed the question about the best trilogy within the MCU. So far, MCU has got four trilogies – Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man, Chris Evans‘ Captain America, Chris Pratt‘s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man. While Iron Man and GoTG trilogies have ended their run in the MCU, the other two have more movies coming out.

Surprisingly, Iron Man wasn’t featured at the top for most fans. Iron Man (2008) will always remain the movie that kick-started this global superhero phenomenon, but the other two films had certain imperfections that fans couldn’t overlook. However, there were two trilogies that fans felt were near-perfect.

Fans on X mostly picked Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy as their favorite trilogy in the MCU. Sadly, fans had to put Downey Jr.’s films below these two. Fans mentioned that picking the favorite between Cap movies and GoTG was a difficult choice to make.

One fan who picked the Captain America trilogy mentioned how MCU’s most badass scenes were featured in these films. The fan specifically mentioned scenes from The Winter Soldier, including the fights between Cap and Leaper, between Cap and Bucky, and Steve escaping from Hydra in the film. However, some fans picked GoTG just because the first Cap movie didn’t satisfy them like the other two.

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Captain America
GOTG
Spider-Man
Iron Man

— Benji Gotfried (@benji_gotfried) May 25, 2024

Really tough choice between the top two. I’ll probably change my mind in 30 minutes.
GotG
Captain America
Spider-Man
Ironman

— Michael Reinertsen (@supasave100) May 25, 2024

Three of the most bad ass scenes in the entire MCU exist in Winter Soldier. The beginning with the Leaper. Captain vs Bucky for the first time. Captain escaping from Hydra and the Aeroplane.

— oshoshi (@PrimeToshoshi) May 26, 2024

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Captain America 2 and 3 are just too and the reason why I would put it over GOTG.

— oshoshi (@PrimeToshoshi) May 26, 2024

The first Captain America is just bad the rest of them are phenomenal

The first Iron Man is good the rest of them are terrible

The Spider-Man movies are mid except for the most recent one which was very good

Guardians takes the W

— Jack P (@5858Jack) May 25, 2024

While the fan opinion put Iron Man below the other two trilogies, Robert Downey Jr.’s character still remains one of the most loved MCU characters ever. The box office numbers of the movie show how fans loved to see the Sherlock Holmes actor’s portrayal despite the shortcomings in the script.

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Iron Man, Captain America, and Guardians of the Galaxy – A Box Office Comparison

Robert Downey Jr. and Rebecca Hall in Iron Man 3 | Marvel Studios
Out of the three trilogies, Guardians of the Galaxy tops the box office with consistent performances from each film. According to The Numbers, the trilogy collected $2.485 billion at the box office. GoTG Vol. 2 was the highest grosser in the franchise, with a collection of $869 million.

Interestingly, Iron Man comes behind GoTG with a very marginal difference. The Numbers reported the box office collection of the trilogy to be $2.421 billion. The best film in the trilogy, Iron Man (2008), is its least-performing movie at the box office, but its success is what built the foundation of the MCU.

Interestingly, the weakest film in the trilogy, Iron Man 3, not only has the highest numbers among the Iron Man films but also has a collection higher than any other Guardians of the Galaxy. Iron Man 3 had a worldwide collection of $1.215 billion.

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According to The Numbers, the Captain America movies have a total collection of $2.236 billion. All these movies are now available for streaming on Disney+.