All Four Captain America Projects RANKED!

Captain America is one of the most beloved Marvel superheroes of all time, and with the fourth Captain America film looming in the distance for Marvel fans, I thought it was as good a time as ever to rank the three movies and one miniseries in today's article: All Four Captain America Projects RANKED!

4: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier - E Tier

The Reel Ranker Score: 22%

Year: 2021
Critic Consensus: 80%
Audience Consensus: 70%

There are several things I enjoyed about this show but, for every one thing I liked, I disliked like six or seven. Let's start with the positives. I loved the banter between Sam Wilson's Captain America and Bucky Barnes's Winter Soldier. I loved that Bartrok and Zemo came back in this show. I love the subplot when the Winter Soldier visits everyone he's harmed to try to rectify his mistakes. I loved absolutely everything that had to do with John Walker. I enjoyed the attempts of the show to tackle the aftermath of the Blip and racism in America, even though both attempts failed miserably (in my opinion). I enjoyed the fantastic climax for the most part, and, honestly, the ending was rather satisfying.

Now for the negatives. First is the unrelenting presence of Sam's sister and her annoying-arse boat. That had to be the most uninteresting way to go about dealing with the repercussions of the Blip, and, unfortunately, that's one of the only ways that Marvel has really attempted to tackle it. Second is the lack of nuance in the themes of overcoming American racism. I love myself powerful anti-racism subplots, but this show waved its agenda in your face like a toy to a dog with clinical ADHD and submissive urination (I swear, I'm not making that term up). There are stories like To Kill A Mockingbird or Where The Crawdads Sing that tackle racism with much stronger gusto and much more nuance. And those are just more well-known examples! By comparison, this show can't hold a candle with its almost humorous, over-the-top preachiness, which I thought I could only see in the most stereotypical of Christian films. Third of all, the Sharon Carter big-bad twist was, as kids at my high school would say, "mad cringe." Fourth, the Flag Smashers are portrayed so awkwardly in this show. They are supposed to be sympathetic people who suffered from the return of those who came back from the Blip, but they are just brainless terrorists devoid of any brain cells that make kindergarteners look like people who double majored in med school and law school at Harvard by comparison. While having people motivated by this occurrence was a fascinating idea, the execution almost couldn't have been worse. Fifth, the whole show's existence amounts to little in the end, except for the introduction of John Walker. If Sam were to accept the shield like a normal human, this amalgamation of mediocrity wouldn't need to exist. Sixth, this episode spends much too little time actually focusing on the Winter Soldier—at times, it feels like Sam's sister is the deuteragonist of the show, not Bucky. How stupid to sideline one of the show's titular characters. Seventh, this is literally the only MCU show that has felt like it has dragged on—and if a nine-episode show drags, that's an awful sign. Eighth, this show is missing the snappiness and nostalgia of the Infinity Saga and the niche, stylistic projects of the Multiverse Saga, falling in between as an awkward middle child that has no place in either saga. Ninth, this show doesn't use Bartrok and Zeomoa as well as it could have, making them both feel like a slight waste. Tenth, the new Falcon didn't get enough time in the limelight to feel justified, as much as I enjoyed his character.

I could talk about many more negligible criticisms of mine, but I think I've roasted it too bloody hard already. This show is one of my least favorite things put out by the MCU, but it isn't 100% awful. It has its strengths, and it leaves me excited for the fourth film, but ultimately, it is the weakest Captain America project by a long shot.

3: Captain America: The First Avenger - A Tier

The Reel Ranker Score: 79%

Year: 2011
Critic Consensus: 73%
Audience Consensus: 72%

For years, this was my favorite Captain America film and a top three Marvel movie for me. However, as I've grown older, it has significantly fallen down the ranks, as much as I still love it. Regardless, this is a brilliant origin story, as well as my favorite film of Marvel's first phase and one of my favorite origin stories of the MCU. While the second half of the movie isn't quite as good as the first, this movie's first half is phenomenal, as it perfectly establishes Steve Rogers as a character with his great sense of morality and patriotism. The scene where he jumps on the grenade? It gets me every time! All his scenes with Peggy? Beautiful. The setting during the war? It is an excellent way of setting itself apart from the other films of the MCU. However, as fantastic of an origin story as this is, the central conflict and villain are nowhere near as excellent as the other two Captain America films. Redskull and the Tessaract are interesting enough, but compared to the conflicts in the subsequent films? It's way more interesting. This is an incredible film, but not quite near the level of the following two.

2: Captain America: Civil War - S+ Tier

The Reel Ranker Score: 89%

Year: 2016
Critic Consensus: 83%
Audience Consensus: 83%

This used to be my least favorite Captain America movie when I was a kid, but as I've understood politics and morally gray matters more, this film has gotten better and better in my mind. I loved seeing the battle of morals between Tony Stark's pro-government stance and Captain America's antigovernmental stance. I love the introduction to Black Panther and Spider-Man here—this made it perhaps not the best in focusing on Captain America himself, but it made for a great Avengers 2.5 movie! I loved Baren Zemo's character and his puppeteering villainy, with him constantly pulling the strings from the background to turn the Avengers against one another, knowing he could never defeat them on his own. I loved that the final battle juxtaposed the politically driven airport battle. Speaking of which, the airport battle has got to be my favorite part of this brilliant film, as stereotypical as that is to say. In practically all it does, this film is teeming with exuberant brilliance, making it the second-best Captain America project.

1: Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Reel Tier

The Reel Ranker Score: 91%

Year: 2014
Critic Consensus: 80%
Audience Consensus: 88%

How blasphemous of me not to rank the films in reverse chronological order, I know. This film isn't anything like its war period piece predecessor or the grand scale Avengers 2.5 of its successor—it's a smaller-scale, political thriller jam-packed with street-level action! This film is all about government corruption and the corruption of S.H.I.E.L.D. by HYDRA, which is something I totally dig. This movie has my favorite fight choreography of any Marvel movie save Shang-Chi, as well as one of my favorite third acts of the MCU. This is a film that always kept me on the edge of my seat, and while it doesn't have as intriguing of a plot as Civil War, it's an endlessly snappy film that never slows down in the slightest, making it one of the most engaging films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Enjoy this ranking? Stay tuned for more articles from The Reel Ranker! Enjoy video games? Check out our sister site, RPG Ranked!

The Verdict

The Reel Ranking:

4: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (22%)
3: Captain America: The First Avenger (79%)
2: Captain America: Civil War (89%)
1: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (91%)

Common Critic Consensus:

4: Captain America: The First Avenger (73%)
3: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (79%)
2: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (80%)
1: Captain America: Civil War (83%)

Common Audience Consensus:

4: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (70%)
3: Captain America: The First Avenger (72%)
2: Captain America: Civil War (83%)
1: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (88%)