Every Captain America Movie Ranked Worst to Best (Including Brave New World)

Though it took roughly 70 years since his first comic book appearance for Captain America to anchor a theatrical movie that didn’t star J.D. Salinger’s son, this Marvel Comics legend has made up for lost time in the last 14 years of cinema history. This patriotic hero has become a fixture of movie theaters across the planet thanks not only to the various Avengers titles but also to a quartet of Captain America movies. These features span from the retro-adventure Captain America: The First Avenger to the political thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier to the 2025 blockbuster Captain America: Brave New World, among others.

Along the way, the big-screen versions of Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson have proven quite successful at taking this character once thought of as a quaint relic to a theatrical cinema icon. However, that doesn’t mean every step of Captain America’s big-screen journey as a solo movie star has been perfect. Ranking the four solo Captain America movies (including Brave New World) from worst to best illustrates the problems this franchise has faced in its time, but also the unique cinematic joys Captain America has delivered.

4) Captain America: Brave New World

After finally embracing the Captain America identity in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson suits up as Captain America on the big screen for the first time in Captain America: Brave New World. Director Julius Onah and company get the most inspired sequences of this Marvel Cinematic Universe entry out of leaning into Sam Wilson’s status as just a normal guy. He’s got no superhero serum to back him up, which lends some extra tension to fun set pieces involving Wilson being chased around a junkyard or Captain America soaring to stop a potential war.

Unfortunately, Brave New World isn’t quite as enamored with Wilson as past Captain America ventures were with Steve Rogers. Wilson’s plight and personal life easily fade to the background of a movie too enamored with Incredible Hulk mythology. The Brave New World elements just never coalesce together, while the sillier comic book elements are frustratingly simmered down.

3) Captain America: The First Avenger

It’s easy to see how Captain America: The First Avenger could be juiced up even further as a piece of cinema. Imagine if this period piece set in the 1940s had actually been shot on film like a movie from this era of history? Or if that time-jump ending had been pushed to a mid-credits scene rather than giving The First Avenger a cliffhanger conclusion? Overall, though, this is a nicely sincere ode to old-school adventure movies that entertainingly leans into the unique possibilities of this strain of cinema, like a delightful musical number montage set to the tune “The Star-Spangled Man.”

Chris Evans is also utterly transfixing right from the start as Steve Rogers/Captain America while supporting players Hayley Atwell and Tommy Lee Jones are just bursting with personality. A lighter, zippier creature compared to other Captain America movies, The First Avenger is still a treat even after so many sequels.

[RELATED: Captain America: Brave New World First Reactions Now Online (And They Are Surprisingly Good)]

2) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Friends become enemies, trustworthy institutions are revealed corrupt, and the world is turned upside down in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Steve Rogers gets tossed into a darker world in this entry that features some of the most exciting action sequences in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Grounded backdrops like a highway or various Washington D.C. streets prove perfect environments to set really tactile skirmishes in. It’s also a delight to see Samuel L. Jackson receive and flourish with more screen time compared to his previous MCU appearances.

Best of all, though, Steve Rogers/Captain America remains a compelling character in the middle of all the darkness in The Winter Soldier. Juxtaposing a red-white-and-blue superhero with the moral complexities of 2014 America just makes the heroism of Rogers all the more impressive. How can you not get chills during his big third-act Winter Soldier speech about how “the price of freedom is high,”? The rapport between Captain America and Black Widow is also a hoot, ditto also the inspired action beats The Winter Soldier conjures up for Cap’s mighty shield. Captain America: The Winter Soldier took these solo Captain America movies to new heights of pop culture notoriety and for good reason.

1) Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War has often received joking prods as “an Avengers movie” rather than being a straightforward Captain America film. It’s true this installment makes tons of room for other Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes, including Black Panther and Spider-Man’s inaugural appearances in this franchise. What makes Civil War so grand, though, is how well it works in showing what makes Captain America who he is. This is a man not just defined by his shield, the Avengers, or even his home country. Kindness towards downtrodden folks like Bucky Barnes and Wanda Maximoff defines this crime-fighter caught out of time.

Emphasizing this virtue (not to mention hinging Civil War’s story around classic Captain America comics baddie Zemo) truly makes Civil War a dream Captain America movie. The fact that it gets so much inspired mileage out of superheroes like Spider-Man, Black Panther, and The Vision is just a delightful bonus. Even with an expansive scope big enough to make room for one of Robert Downey Jr.’s greatest MCU performances, Captain America: Civil War thrives by never forgetting what makes its titular hero so special.

Captian America: Civil War is now streaming on Disney+, Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on February 14th.

What is your favorite Captain America movie? Let us know in the comments!