All 3 Captain America movies ranked from worst to best

3. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

It’s rare when the original movie of a series is the weakest, but that’s only because the Captain America trilogy is so good! It gets better from here. The first entry was helmed by Joe Johnston from a script written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It does a great job getting viewers familiar with Steve Rogers’ origin story and why he’s such an important part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The film takes place during World War II and sees Steve transform from a thin and sickly young man into a super-soldier all thanks to a top-secret government experiment. As a superhero, he then has to fight against the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), who plans to use a powerful artifact called the Tesseract to take over the world.

The cast of Captain America: The First Avenger is great, with standout performances from Evans and Weaving. The supporting cast includes Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. The film also features a brief appearance by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, setting up the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

One of the strengths of Captain America: The First Avenger is its portrayal of the character. Evans perfectly captures the essence of Captain America, showing his dedication to justice and his willingness to put himself in harm’s way to protect others. The film also has great action scenes and impressive visual effects.

However, one weakness of the movie is its pacing. The first half of the film is slow, spending a lot of time on Steve’s transformation and his initial training, which gets a tad boring. On the flip side, the love story between Steve and Peggy feels rushed.

Overall, the first Captain America movie is a solid entry in the MCU and sets up the character and his story for future movies. While it has its flaws, it’s still an enjoyable ride.