Marvel fans think they've figured out which of the MCU's Phases is the best – and it might be surprising.
On Reddit, fans have settled on Marvel Phase 3 as the MCU's Golden Age. That's Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
"It ran from 2016 to 2019, and was almost absolutely flawless," says one person. "The MCU became much darker and everything started to move forward more and more until the Infinity Saga was complete. I can't think of any other phase, now or in the future, that will top this one."
"I would agree that Phase 3 is probably the Golden Age of the MCU. The run particularly between GOTG2 and Infinity War was truly something else," agrees another fan.
"It's the best stretch in cinema history. 6 billion dollar movies and at least five great movies," says someone else.
"Absolutely 100%," agrees another person. "It makes me sad because while I am excited for Doomsday and Secret Wars, there’s none of that same buildup."
"Yeah I’m doing a timeline rewatch right now and while I like the early entries also, something about this run is just insane fun. Strange, Spider-Man, and Infinity War saga being standouts," says another fan.
"I think a lot of is due to building off of many successful existing franchises (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and the Avengers) while also introducing a couple of characters that fans have been waiting for awhile (Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel)," points out another person, with another fan agreeing what came before was important: "While it was, it was preceded by Phases 1&2 which built the platform for Phase 3 to work."
Next up for Marvel is Captain America: Brave New World, which is arriving on February 14 as part of Marvel Phase 5. You can keep up to date on what else the MCU has in store for us with our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.
