Criteria
3 or more films with a wide theatrical release, live-action, based on a comic book, in the same continuity but focused on the same character(s) (so MCU is not a film series for these purposes).
As far as I can find, only 10 film series fit those criteria (in English anyway). I've ranked them from 10th to 1st according to my personal preference. Do you have a different opinion? Great! Let me know in the comments.
I'll give special mention to The Crow film series. Although all 4 films technically had a cinematic release, only the first two had a wide release, so I've excluded it from this list.
And as another side note, if we were judging all of comic book films based solely on 3rd and 4th films in a series? Well, I think we'd be in trouble.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III)
Directors: Steve Barron (1), Michael Pressman (2), Stuart Gillard (3)
Starring: Robbie Rist, Brian Tochi
Ah, nostalgia. I remember loving these films as a kid - renting them on VHS. But I made a crucial mistake - I rewatched them recently, and no, I don't think they hold up very well. Still enjoyable if you can switch your brain off, but even that can't save the third film. I was so naive as a kid I didn't even notice they changed the actor for April between film 1 and 2.
9. Men In Black
(Men in Black, Men in Black II, Men in Black 3)
Directors: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones
These films are a lot of fun, but not much more than that. Jokes, some cool SFX, with Will Smith at the height of his popularity. Upon repeated viewing they become a little stale though, especially the 2nd film, which struggles to define itself. I actually thought the 3rd film was an improvement on the 2nd.
8. Superman
(Superman, Superman II, Superman III, Superman IV: A Quest For Peace)
Directors: Richard Donner (1, 2*), Richard Lester (2, 3), Sidney J. Furie (4)
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder
Okay, if I was rating these films individually - Superman and Superman II would receive a much kinder rating. Although those original 2 films can seem cheesy now, they helped lay the foundations of what was to come. But the final 2 films were terrible, particularly the last film. And if you're judging a film series, the ending really needs to factor into things, and I had to mark it poorly.
I thought about including Bryan Singer's Superman Returns - but in the end wrote that off as more of a reboot. In either case, it wouldn't have changed the rankings that much.
7. Batman
(Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin)
Directors: Tim Burton (1, 2), Joel Schumacher (3, 4)
Starring: Michael Keaton (1, 2), Val Kilmer (3), George Clooney (4), Michael Gough, Pat Hingle
Similar to Superman, if I was rating the films individually, I'd give a lot more respect to Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns. But I hated Batman Forever and absolutely despise Batman & Robin as one of the worst films I've ever seen. Post Burton/Keaton, the quality of this film series declines so drastically, it is real tough to put it much higher.
6. Blade
(Blade, Blade II, Blade Trinity)
Directors: Stephen Norrington (1), Guillermo del Toro (2), David S. Goyer (3)
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson
I'll be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of the Blade films. I respect them, and some of the action set pieces are amazing, particularly in del Toro's Blade II. Again, the final film really hurts the overall quality - but not to the same extent as say Batman and Superman film series. It was tight though, I could have easily place this below both Batman and Superman, but thought overall Blade was more cohesive.
5. Iron Man
(Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3)
Directors: Jon Favreau (1, 2), Shane Black (3)
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Jon Favreau
While the first film is lauded as the film that started the MCU and resurrected Downey's career (with good reason), the last two films have been a mite more controversial. The 2nd film accused of doing too much to set up the Avengers, while the third criticised for the Mandarin twist. However, I don't think 2 or 3 are terrible films at all and had some fantastic moments, and I think history will be kind to these films.
4. X-Men
(X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand)
Directors: Bryan Singer (1, 2) & Brett Ratner (3)
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin
The original X-Men was one of the films that started the comic book movie resurgence, and X2 is considered among many (including me) to be in the top 10 CBMs of all time. However, as with many of the series on this list, it was the third film that let it down. I personally think The Last Stand gets too much hate. A massive step down from X2 yes, some strange character choices and introduced some serious continuity errors, but if you look at the film in isolation - the action pieces are enjoyable and the acting strong (still, overall not a good film).
Though this trilogy finished, this is the oldest ongoing CBM film continuity - with 4 films to be released over 2016 and 2017.
3. Spider-Man
(Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3)
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons
Along with X-Men, the Spider-Man films of the early naughties were basically all we had as CBM lovers. Spider-Man was a very strong opening, and Spider-Man 2 an all time classic. AGAIN we run into the 3quel-itis, with the overstuffed Spider-Man 3 letting the series down. However, as with The Last Stand, the film gets too much. All the criticisms are true! But it does have some positives, and I don't think significantly detracts from the first 2 films.
2. The Dark Knight Trilogy
(Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
Now this was hard to pick. An incredibly close race between this series and my #1. No question, Nolan's series is an amazing quality and there's a massive gap between #2 and #3 in Spider-Man. It is one of only 2 series in this list that doesn't have a big let down at some point. Although The Dark Knight Rises has copped some criticism, it was nowhere near to the extant of the other 3quels in this list, while The Dark Knight and Batman Begins are considered all time classics. Nolan created something special, and although art is subjective, I'm unsure on how you could argue that it isn't in the top 2. Some will have it at #1, and I'm more than ok with it. My list may change as time goes on!
1. Captain America
(Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War)
Director: Joe Johnston (1), Joe & Anthony Russo (2, 3)
Starring: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Hayley Atwell
I really liked the First Avenger - I think it is just about the most underrated film in the MCU. I loved the Winter Soldier as one of the best CBMs of all time, and Civil War absolutely blew me away - no other 3rd film in a series comes CLOSE to how good Civil War is. This is an incredibly statisifying trilogy, based on the friendship of two soldiers accentuated with major action set piececs, comic book lore and reflecting world issues. Who knows? Maybe time will drop my ranking of it? But I doubt it, because I love First Avenger and Winter Soldier the more and more I watch it, I doubt it will be different to Civil War.
Coming up later this year is the X-Men: First Class trilogy, and soon enough Thor and The Avengers will also qualify.
What are your thoughts? Batman or Captain America? Or somebody else? I don't begrudge people liking Nolan Batman over Captain America, and I hope you don't begrudge me for like Cap over Bats.