15 greatest superhero movies of the decade

8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Released: April 4, 2014

One thing that separates Marvel’s trio of Captain America movies from the rest of the MCU trilogies is that each film tries to do something different while still maintaining the very essence of what Steve Rogers is all about. Thus, after kicking off his story with a World War II-themed period piece, it was up to the second installment to give us a Captain Rogers for the modern world.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier took place in a post-Avengers world and was heavily focused on the inner workings of S.H.I.E.L.D., particularly how all was not what it seemed and how the resurgence of the villainous Hydra had spawned defectors and traitors.

As a result, our beloved war hero had to figure out a way to take down the government – a government that had branded him a war criminal. And that ultimately led to one of the most thrilling comic book films of all-time, as Steve’s hopeful outlook was challenged like it had never been before, at the same time that he was physically challenged by an old friend.

It’s become somewhat of a modern tradition to infuse superhero movies and/or TV shows with underlying themes of politics and espionage, but in most cases it ends up falling flat because the subtext isn’t so, well, sub. The Winter Soldier, however, is a shining example of how to do it right, as it successfully managed to use corrupt government officials, conspiracy theories and traitorous organizations to bring its titular hero into the modern age and, in the process, kick-started a new era of realism for the MCU (and other superhero movies).