3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2014.
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.
Starring Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/ Falcon), Frank Grillo (Brock Rumlow), Robert Redford (Alexander Pierce), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Toby Jones (Dr, Arnim Zola), Emily VanCamp (Kate/Agent 13), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter) and Maximiliano Hernández (Jasper Sitwell).
Coming in at number three in our ranking is this year’s solo sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel’s ninth release, and the film which saw the Marvel Cinematic Universe overtaking Harry Potter to become the highest-grossing domestic movie franchise of all time.
Directed by Community’s Anthony and Joe Russo, The Winter Soldier pulled in over $700 million at the global box office, solidifying Marvel’s position as a hit-making machine. Sure, it benefited from ‘The Avengers Bump’ – and a cast of characters which Anthony Mackie described as ‘Avengers 1.5’ – but it’s also a damn fine political thriller, in addition to being one of the best superhero movies of recent times. But it only manages third in out countdown…
Read our reviews of Captain America: The Winter Soldier here, here, here and here.
Originally published August 13, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
