Over nearly two decades, The Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven itself as a behemoth franchise that consistently puts out new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. While fans are looking forward to upcoming Marvel movies, there’s also a great deal of affection for what came before. For instance, Robert Downey Jr. named his favorite Marvel movie, and it’s one of the few titles he didn’t star in before Tony Stark’s death in Endgame.
Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order know that RDJ helped to start it all when he was cast in Iron Man. He starred in a whopping ten movies prior to his upcoming return as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, and during an appearance at TIFF (via The Toronto Sun) the actor name-dropped his favorite Marvel movie by saying:
Galaxy in some ways is the best Marvel movie ever. And it’s odd for someone with — on occasion — an ego the size of mine to actually say that!
Honestly, Guardians of the Galaxy is a solid choice. James Gunn did the impossible with that cosmic story, taking a relatively unknown group of superheroes and making them into fan favorites. The Guardians would end up starring in their own trilogy, and the music and humor of the 2014 inspired a number of superhero movies that followed. RDJ has some taste!
Of course, the Oscar-winning actor did give himself some flowers while talking up Guardians. Namely that the unconventional blockbuster was only made a possiblity after megahits starring the more well-known Marvel heroes. In Downey’s words:
We’re talking about how the Iron Mans and the Thors and the Captain Americas and the Avengers movies have afforded Marvel the opportunity to essentially take what was a third-tier, minor, kind of upstart bit of potential from one of their comic books series and say: ‘Look!’
Another fair point. Guardians was a risk, one that fans were willing to entertain after the first Phase and a half of MCU blockbusters offered good will to moviegoers. So that cosmic team does owe some respect to Robert Downey Jr. opening the door in Iron Man and The Avengers. In the same appearance he joked about James Gunn’s beloved blockbuster winning so many hearts, saying:
It’s like you have a great quarterback, and his brother plays for another team, and then you say: ‘Look, this is their second cousin and we think he has a great arm and he should start.’ And then he goes and wins the Superbowl!
I didn’t expect a sports analogy to come from this conversation, but I’ve got to see RDJ’s point. Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most beloved franchises in the entirety of the MCU, and that came as a surprise to even the folks within the shared universe. The entire trilogy ended up being acclaimed, in addition to the Guardians Holiday Special that I re-watch annually.
The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is streaming in its entirety over on Disney+. The next Marvel movie hitting theater is Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31st as part of the 2026 movie release list. As for Robert Downey Jr., he’ll return to the MCU this winter in Avengers: Doomsday.
