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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 Americatrilogy and James Gunn’sGuardians of the Galaxy.While the firstIron Manfilm 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.
However, the critical and audience opinions are different cases from the box office numbers of these films. Interestingly, the controversialIron Man 3had box office earnings higher than any of theCaptain Americamovies or theGuardians of the Galaxymovies.
Fans Pick Two Other MCU Trilogies As Their Favorites Over Robert Downey Jr.’sIron Man
A fan recently posed the question about the best trilogy within the MCU. So far, MCU has got four trilogies –Robert Downey Jr.‘sIron Man,Chris Evans‘Captain America,Chris Pratt‘sGuardians of the Galaxy, andTom Holland‘sSpider-Man. WhileIron ManandGoTGtrilogies have ended their run in the MCU, the other two have more movies coming out.
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Surprisingly,Iron Manwasn’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 pickedCaptain AmericaandGuardians of the Galaxyas their favorite trilogy in the MCU. Sadly, fans had to put Downey Jr.’s films below these two. Fans mentioned that picking the favorite betweenCapmovies andGoTGwas a difficult choice to make.
One fan who picked theCaptain Americatrilogy mentioned how MCU’s most badass scenes were featured in these films. The fan specifically mentioned scenes fromThe Winter Soldier, including the fights between Cap and Leaper, between Cap and Bucky, and Steve escaping from Hydra in the film. However, some fans pickedGoTGjust because the firstCapmovie didn’t satisfy them like the other two.
Captain AmericaGOTGSpider-ManIron Man
— Benji Gotfried (@benji_gotfried)Jun 21, 2025
Really tough choice between the top two. I’ll probably change my mind in 30 minutes.GotGCaptain AmericaSpider-ManIronman
— Michael Reinertsen (@supasave100)July 07, 2025
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)August 05, 2025
Captain America 2 and 3 are just too 🔥 and the reason why I would put it over GOTG.
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)June 25, 2025
While the fan opinion putIron Manbelow 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 theSherlock Holmesactor’s portrayaldespite the shortcomings in the script.
Iron Man,Captain America, andGuardians of the Galaxy– A Box Office Comparison
Out of the three trilogies,Guardians of the Galaxytops the box office withconsistent performances from each film. According toThe Numbers, the trilogy collected $2.485 billion at the box office.GoTG Vol. 2was the highest grosser in the franchise, with a collection of $869 million.
Interestingly,Iron Mancomes behindGoTGwith a very marginal difference.The Numbersreported 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.
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Interestingly, the weakest film in the trilogy,Iron Man 3, not only has the highest numbers among theIron Manfilms but also has a collection higher than any otherGuardians of the Galaxy.Iron Man 3had a worldwide collection of $1.215 billion.
According toThe Numbers, theCaptain Americamovies have a total collection of $2.236 billion. All these movies are now available for streaming on Disney+.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3019
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
