User blog:Nikki Lee 1999/MCU movies ranked from most relevant to least relevant to the franchise

Not a list of which movie is the best or most memorable, just a list of which is the most important in terms of connections to the franchise as a whole.

1. Age of Ultron
This movie was bigger in scope than Avengers in nearly every way. Not only does it feature every protagonist from the first movie, it also introduces us to Scarlet Witch and Vision, and shows us side kicks like War Machine and Falcon interacting with characters from other series. The movie even includes roles for Peggy Carter and Heimdall, that tie back to the many intricate plotlines of Captain America and Thor. The biggest characters to not be featured in this movie are Pepper Potts, Winter Soldier, and Loki. Despite this film's main cast being the MCU's biggest with 17 top billed actors, only two of those characters ended up being one-off: Quicksliver and Ultron himself.

2. Civil War
Avengers 2.5 is correct. This movie is missing Thor and Hulk, but in their place are Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Winter Soldier, and Black Panther. Of the film's 16 principle characters, only two of them are endemic to Civil War: Helmut Zemo, and Black Panther (who will be returning in early 2018). The film features the return of Thaddeus Ross, Sharron Carter, Crossbones, Vision and Scarlet Witch.

The film features the splintering of the Avengers, and it will be a hugely important event going forward.

3. Avengers
The film that basically started it all. Despite being the 6th film, this was the one that really sold the Avengers as being the new kings of American cinema. It introduced Hawkeye and Maria Hill. The only one-off character from this film is Phil Coulson, who eventually went on to lead his own television show.

I'd argue that this is the most influential film of the decade so far, as it's caused every other studio in the world to go into a world-building "Cinematic Universe" frenzy.

4. Iron Man 2
I'm not sure if this is anyone's favorite movie in the MCU, but the film did introduce us to Black Widow and Nick Fury. It has a relatively small cast, but most of it consists of essential characters. Justin Hammer and Whiplash are the one-off characters from this film.

Iron Man's backstory is fleshed out. Pepper Potts and War Machine are fleshed out. And we start to learn exactly what the "Avengers Initiative" is.

5. The Winter Soldier
Another solo film that includes the likes of Black Widow, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Peggy Carter. It also introduced us Winter Soldier, Falcon, and Sharon Carter. The only one-off character in this film is Alexander Pierce.

The film has come to be regarded as one of the most "serious" and down to Earth films in the MCU.

6. The Dark World
Another movie that many might regard as forgettable or sub-par, it features a more full cast than Thor, and especially allows Sif and the Warriors three to have a little more screen time.

It features a very rich cast of important characters both in outer space and on Earth.

7. Iron Man 3
Outside of the main trio of Iron Man characters, the only recurring character this film features is Happy Hogan, who receives his first major role here, and then plays an even bigger part in Homecoming.

Rather than developing characters to be used in future films, the movie focuses on five separate one-off Extremis related villains, including the iconic bad guys like Ellen Brandt and Erin Savin.

8. Thor
Of all the pre-Avengers movies, and of all the non-sequels, this one introduced the highest number of important recurring characters. These include Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Volstagg, Erik Selvig, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and of course, Thor himself. Of the main cast, only Laufey is a one-off character.

This was the first MCU movie to take place outside of Earth and introduced audiences to the intergalactic level of the MCU.

9. Iron Man
The first MCU movie ever, this has the smallest cast of any MCU movie. However, it also introduced us to three of the most prominent characters in the franchise: Iron Man, War Machine, and Pepper Potts.

10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. and 11. Guardians of the Galaxy
So far, the only overlap between GOTG and the rest of the MCU is cameos and Easter eggs. However, it has developed a rich and consistent world within these two films. Unlike the three solo series, GOTG keeps its entire main line-up of protagonists in tact from the original to the sequel.

12. The First Avenger
Temporally isolated from the rest of the films, most of this movie's cast are characters who we will never see again. It does introduce Peggy Carter and Winter Soldier, but they are mostly unrecognizable compared to their later appearances.

13. Homecoming
Staring Spider-Man, Happy Hogan, and Iron Man, this movie lacks the number of major recurring characters that most of the other films have. By the time Spider-Man has a trilogy of his own, and several appearances in Avengers films, this film may go up on the list.

14. Ant-Man
Another movie that is largely off topic. Lang's relationship with Falcon is the only reason this movie isn't ranked dead last.

15. The Incredible Hulk
This movie is only connected to the rest of the series through Hulk and Thaddeus Ross's role in Civil War.

16. Doctor Strange
Other than a post-credits cameo, this movie has absolutely no connection to the rest of the MCU.