As American fans are gearing up to experience Captain America: The Winter Solider, the reviews are coming in and it looks like this could be Marvel’s greatest offering yet. As the ninth installment from the Marvel Cinematic Universive, Captain America: The Winter Solider has a lot of competition if it wants to be known as Marvel's finest movie. Just to compare, we’ve taken a look back at the reviews for Marvel’s previous cinematic outings to see just how Captain America: The Winter Solider really measures up.

Is Captain America: The Winter Soldier really the best Marvel movie?Is Captain America: The Winter Soldier really the best Marvel movie?

Iron Man (2008)

If you can, cast your mind back to 2008, when we had our first instalment of the Marvel cinematic universe and Robert Downey Jr dawned the Iron Man suit for the first time. In the film that kicked it all off, Downey delivered a career resurrecting performance and the critics lined up to praise the movie. The consensus from Rotten Tomatoes reads. ‘director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey make this smart, high impact superhero movie one that even non-comics fans can enjoy’ and the movie holds a 93% rating on the site.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Just over two months later, the second Marvel instalment, The Incredible Hulk, came our way, with Edward Norton taking on the role. The character had previously had a millennial movie outing in 2003, but this reboot set to reimagine the Hulk giving him a new backstory. Reviews were mostly favourable, with Rotten Tomatoes saying it ‘provides the action and excitement to please comic book fans and re-ignite this fledgling franchise’, overall however, its fresh rating only stands at 67%, comparatively lower than Iron Man.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Downey Jnr returned to our screens in 2010 in a sequel to the successful Iron Man and the third instalment in Marvel’s cinematic universe. The film introduced audiences to Scarlett Johansson’s character who would later become the Black Widow. Whilst it beat its predecessor at the box office critics found the second Iron Man instalment not quite as exciting as the first. Rotten Tomatoes rounds up the reception by saying, ‘it isn't quite the breath of fresh air that Iron Man was, but this sequel comes close with solid performances and an action-packed plot’ and puts its fresh rating at 73%.

Chris Hemsworth as ThorChris Hemsworth as Thor

Thor (2011)

Next came the turn of Thor, who got his big screen outing in 2011 with Chris Hemsworth in the title role and Tom Hiddleston as his adoptive brother and foe Loki. Mostly critics responded positively to the god of thunder on the big screen, which certainly delivered on the action front. Rotten Tomatoes calls it ‘a dazzling blockbuster that tempers its sweeping scope with wit, humour, and human drama,Thor is mighty Marvel entertainment’ and gives it a 77% fresh rating, putting it above the Hulk's debut but below Iron Man’s.

Next page: Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3